Four Golds Highlight Day Two

CLOVIS, Calif. – Day two of the Mountain West Track and Field Championships was full of Colorado State success stories as CSU collected eight medals on Friday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Four Rams earned gold on the day while event groups on both sides brought in hoards of points for the team total. At the end of day two, the CSU men's team sits atop the standings with 82.50 points, while the women sit second with 58.

Iron Sharpens Iron
The men's high jump was a testament to the talent of the CSU men's jump squad as four Rams combined to collect a massive 24.5 points in the event. In one of the most entertaining battles of the championships thus far, it was CSU's Rhys Travis and Timothy Johnson dueling it out for the top spot.

Four competitors advanced to the height of 2.12 meters/6-feet-11.5, the mark at which the battle for the podium would take place. Travis, a Fort Collins native, stepped up and cooly cleared the bar on his first attempt, sending the CSU cheering section – and Johnson – into a frenzy to celebrate Travis' personal best performance.

Johnson – the conference indoor champion in the event just a few months ago – was unsuccessful on the first two attempts at the height, but there was no doubt in his mind the third would be different. Despite making slight contact with the bar, Johnson cleared the height and was greeted with an embrace from Travis as soon as he got off the pad.

The two Rams were the only competitors to make it over the bar, and Travis was awarded the gold medal for clearing it in fewer attempts.

25MWTFTravis2

Lesnar Makes It Four
Mya Lesnar cemented her legacy even further on Friday as she captured a fourth-straight Mountain West shot put title. Lesnar threw 18.61/61-0.75, more than two feet further than the next closest competitor, and confirmed her place atop the conference once again.

The national leader in the event will look to the upcoming NCAA West Regional to secure a second-straight trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.

Lesnar's efforts led a slew of Rams collecting points in the event. Makayla Long (17.03/55-10.5) collected a bronze medal, while Erin Brown (Seventh; 14.34/47-0.75) also notched points for her team. In total, the Rams gathered 18 points from the shot put, which put them on top of the team standings at the conclusion of the event.

25MWTFLesnar2

Dembele, Kimpson Soar to Victory
A pair of juniors put together peak performances as Ismael Dembele captured gold in the men's long jump, while Maria Kimpson did the same in the women's pole vault.

Dembele entered the meet second in the conference, with a little more than two inches separating him and Wyoming's Remar Pitter. Dembele set the tone early with a mark of 7.50/24-7.25 on his first jump to immediately establish himself as the athlete-to-beat. Nobody in the field could match his mark, and on his second-to-last try he extended his lead for good measure with a jump of 7.59/24-11, a quarter of an inch short of his personal best that stands No. 3 in CSU history.

Kimpson displayed great poise in her run to the gold as she had to fend off three other competitors at the 4.02/13-2.25 mark. The trio of challengers needed just two attempts to clear the mark, but the Ram junior was staring down a now-or-never situation as she lined up for her final try. Kimpson cleared the height and went on to surpass the next while her competition fell, securing a second conference pole vault championship this season.

"I was kind of a little nervous jumping," Kimpson said. "I think I made 4.02 on my third attempt which was definitely not my goal, so I'm glad I could make it on the third and keep going for two more bars. That was super exciting."

"It means a lot [to score points for the team]. That's kind of the goal coming into a conference meet. I don't necessarily want to PR, although that would be cool, but just want to win points for the team."

TF combo

Babicka Battles Back
The women's heptathlon was a hard-fought battle across the two days of competition, and in the end Tereza Babicka's clutch gene helped her earn some hardware on Friday. In the penultimate event, the javelin, Babicka faulted on each of her first two attempts, but on her third try she registered a 37.69/123-8 which moved her up to third in the event and kept her in the thick of things.

Despite the solid showing in the javelin, Babicka's final score was still outside of a podium spot entering the final event of the competition, the 800. After sitting amongst the pack for the first lap, Babicka and Fresno State's Ella Spaulding separated from the group and pushed each other to the brink. The Ram crossed the line a split second behind the Bulldog, but Babicka still clocked a massive 2:15.71 PR that pushed her into a podium spot.

The Czech Republic native finished the multi event with a score of 5,342, a lifetime best and the sixth best in program history.

Babicka

Collins Relentless in Decathlon
More points came for Colorado State in the men's decathlon as Zach Sell (Fifth; 6,900), Elijah Scott (Sixth; 6,625), and Cameron Collins (Seventh; 5,707) combined to collect nine overall for their team.

Despite finishing last in the field, Collins' two points might have been the most impressive of all. Midway through the pole vault, the Colorado Springs native pulled up with an injury that forced him to exit the event and put the rest of his meet in question

"I've been dealing with it like all season," Collins said. "I felt it at the end of yesterday, and I thought I could finish, then it just popped in pole vault and gave away finally."

In a situation in which many athletes would ask if it was worth it to pull out of the competition, Collins' answer to that question was quick and clear.

"No," he said. "I mean it was my last dec, my last meet at CSU ever. So I just wanted to get it done and finish my last meet as a Ram."

Collins persevered and stepped back onto the field for the javelin. Even with a modified form, the Ram placed fifth in the event. He then battled through a grueling 1,500 meters in the final event, finishing the race in his final competition wearing the Green and Gold.

The men's team won the 2025 indoor conference championship by a margin of just four points, showing how slim the margin in the sport can be. With everything on the line on Saturday, Collins' understands how important his two points could be in the end.

"Yeah obviously I wanted to do better. I mean there were seven decs and I got seventh and I wanted to do a bit better than that. But, you know, get those two points and maybe that's the difference."

Collins

Closing With a Bang
The men's shot put was the final event of the day for Colorado State, and a trio of Rams put on a show to collect 11 total points. Despite entering the meet fifth in the conference, Leonardo Ramos put on a big-time performance to earn a bronze medal. The Ram junior became the fourth athlete in school history to record a throw of 60 feet, registering a monster mark of 18.63/60-3 to secure six points.

Kyle Bigley (17.92/58-9.5) followed behind Ramos with a fifth-place finish, while Daniel Baroumbaye's 16.09/52-9.5 earned an additional point toward the team total.

Ramos

Looking Ahead
The finale of the Mountain West championships will take place on Saturday, with events beginning at 2 p.m. MT. The meet is free to watch on the Mountain West Network.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tereza Babicka

Daniel Baroumbaye

Kyle Bigley

Erin Brown

Cameron Collins

Ismael Dembele

Timothy Johnson

Maria Kimpson

Mya Lesnar

Makayla Long

Elijah Scott

Zach Sell

Rhys Travis