2 track athletes earn All-American honors

At the NCAA D-II Indoor Track Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, March 13-14, CSC freshman Damarcus Simpson, of Lafayette, Georgia, leaped 25 feet, 4 inches tying his season best and placing second with All-American honors.

With that performance, Simpson was awarded the silver medal. He then competed in the 60 meters dash, finishing with a time of 6.76 seconds, placing sixth.

Stachia Reuwsaat, sophomore of Black Hawk, South Dakota, also earned All-American honors, placing sixth in the long jump with a measurement of 19-1 1/2.

Junior Shelby Bozner, of Rock Springs, Wyoming, competed and finished 10th in the pentathlon among 15 competitors. Bozner scored 3,751 points, just 11 points short of earning All-American honors.

The Eagles also competed in the RMAC Track and Field Championships on Feb. 27-28. The men’s and women’s teams both finished third.

Multiple athletes won their events, set school records, and qualified for nationals.

The first Eagle standout was Simpson. Simpson was named both the Male Athlete of the Meet and Freshman of the Year, leading the men’s team to 117.5 points.  The women’s team scored a total of 89 points over the weekend.

Simpson started the meet strong, breaking the school record for the 60 dash in 6.72 during the preliminaries Feb. 27. He broke the RMAC indoor long jump record, going 25-4 1/2 inches on Feb. 27, but most impressively, he finished second in the triple jump at 48-9 1/2 even though it was the first time he competed in the event at the collegiate level.

Another standout for the men’s team was Chris Cutcher, sophomore of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Cutcher won the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.03, and took second place, behind Simpson, in the long jump at 23-4. Cutcher also placed fifth in the 200 and was seventh in the triple jump.

Jazz Bozner, senior of Rock Springs, Wyoming, won the overall title in the heptathlon with 4,550 total points. Bozner’s closest opponent was 28 points behind.

The CSC women earned second in the 4×400, just six tenths of a second behind first place. Shelby Guy, senior of Akron, Colorado; Rochelle Nelson, senior of Kingston, Jamaica; Tiffany Thomas, junior of Kingston, Jamaica; and Shelby Bozner posted the 3:53.54 time.

Another strong performance for the women’s team came from Tessa Gorsuch, sophomore of Rapid City, South Dakota. Gorsuch set the school record for high hurdles on Feb. 27 at 8.53, taking second place in the event. Angelique Urenda, sophomore of Pueblo, Colorado, set a personal record in the pole vault at 11-1 3/4, also placing second. Mel Herl, junior of Eaton, Colorado, earned second in the weight throw with a career-best of 61-2 1/4 and was third in the shot put at 45-2 1/2. Finally, Reuwsaat won third place in the long jump, going 20-1 1/4.

The Eagles will open the outdoor season tomorrow and Saturday at the Colorado School of Mines Invite in Golden.