PUEBLO, Colo. – Grace Solarin destroyed her previous program record in the women's discus, and Maya Ries and Brandon Simpson broke their own school records in the women's 100-meter hurdles and men's javelin, respectively, to lead MSU Denver on Saturday at the Chuck Haering Open Invitational.
 
Solarin unleashed a first-place, Division II Nationals provisional qualifying mark of 45.34 meters (148 feet, 9 inches), surpassing her previous best in the events by 6.04 meters (19 feet, 10 inches). Solarin was also sixth in the shot put at 12.12 (39-9), an outdoor personal best that represents just the second effort of better than 12 meters in program history.
 
Ries was second in her event in 14.33 seconds, just ahead of her previous best of 14.35 set last season
 
Simpson was second in the javelin with a toss of 54.75 meters (178 feet, 1 ¾ inches), surpassing his previous best of 54.24 (177-11).
 
MSU Denver had a solid showing in the women's 100, with Allyssa Romero seventh in 12.24, Claire Hummel eighth in 12.28 and Naleia Sowell ninth in 12.30. The personal-best times for Romero and Sowell put them fourth and sixth, respectively, among all individuals in the event in program history. Hummel ranks third on that list with the personal-best 12.19 she ran last season.
 
Hummel also finished fourth in the 200 in 25.34 – she's third in program history in that event with her 2023 best of 25.04.
 
With all that speed, it's no surprise the Roadrunners' first attempt at the 4x100 this season was highly successful, as the unit of Hummel, Sowell, Jessica Hobson and Romero finished second in 47.91. That time makes them the program's third-fastest on its yearly list, while the time was the eighth-fastest ever run by a Roadrunners quartet.
 
And, in the 4x400, the unit of Romero, Audrynn Street, Raygen Ivins and Sowell finished fourth in 3:56.25, the second-fastest time ever run by an MSU Denver team in that event.
 
Also Saturday, Mia Salas won the women's 1,500 meters in 18:11.07, Sean Pecenka was second in the men's 110 hurdles (a personal-best 15.06) and fourth in the 400 hurdles (56.96), Brooklynn Jones was fourth in the women's javelin at 36.36 (119-3 ¼) and JJ Ramey was fifth in the men's 5,000 meters (a personal-best 15:06.17).
 
Freshman Breauna Sorensen placed ninth in the long jump at 5.21 meters (17-1) to become MSU Denver's fourth-best individual all-time in the event, and teammate Taylor Weber was 10^th with an outdoor personal-best 5.17 (16-11 ½) that has her fifth individually in program history. Weber was also fourth in the triple jump at 10.76 (35-8 ½).
 
Taylor Engram finished ninth in the women's 3,000 steeplechase in 11:58.31, becoming MSU Denver's sixth-fastest individual in that event, while Street finished 17^th in the 1,500 in 4:49.29, becoming the program's seven-best individual in that event.
 
Also of note for the women, Marissa Bruno was eighth in the 5,000 in 19:02.82, while Ivins was ninth in the 400 in a personal-best 1:00.42, and Lushous Davis was ninth in the shot at 10.89 (35-8 ½), ninth in the discus at 38.07 (124-10 ¾) and 10^th in the hammer throw at 43.73 (143-5 ½).
 
For the men, other top performances came in the 100, where Kevin Tashie was seventh in 10.97 and Owen Clarke placed 10^th in 11.01. Brendan Sands was ninth in the 5,000 (15:32.85) and Aden Guenther was fourth in the 110 hurdles (15.24).