GOLDEN, Colo. – After many of CSC's sprinters and field athletes competed Wednesday and Thursday at earlier meets in Golden, it was primarily the Chadron State distance crew's turn to compete against formidable competition at the Kit Mayer Classic on Saturday.
Laynie Goertz (400) and
Paige Kehmeier (800) both placed top 10 at their respective events. Goertz ran her first 400 of the year in a career-best 1:01.70 to place eighth in that event while Kehmeier placed ninth among 22 entries with her time of 2:24.14.
The Eagles had two season-bests in the women's 800 meters, Kehmeier plus
Ivy Hise placing 13th in 2:26.61.
Zelma Rudd ran that event in 2:27.82 while
Jayda Rahming crossed in 2:34.03 to give CSC four of the top 20 placers in that event.
Goertz's eighth place was tied for CSC's highest placing of the day at a meet that featured many of the RMAC's top programs in addition to Division I teams like the University of Colorado, Air Force and Northern Colorado.
Kaden Boltz also placed eighth in the men's 5,000 meters, crossing in 16:07.17 to place near the top third of a field of 22.
Three women's racers earned times that placed them on the RMAC's Top 25 performance list for the 2026 outdoor season. Kehmeier's new season-best put her at No. 25 in the RMAC in the 800 meters this season. That is the freshman from Delta, Colorado's third appearance on the RMAC leaderboards as she also ranks 21st in the conference in the 400 while being part of CSC's No. 9-ranked 4x400 women's relay team.
Additionally,
Lydia Peters ran a season-best 10,000 of 40:36.73, placing 10th at the meet and putting her at No. 25 in the conference in that race. CSC's
Katelyn Beshara put up a season-best time in the 3,000 steeplechase, moving to No. 21 on the conference leaderboards as she clocked a time of 12:02.04, a season-best by over 30 seconds.
On the men's side,
Diego Perez placed ninth in the men's 400 meters, running a lap in 49.74. He finished just ahead of teammate
Hunter Lund in 49.80 seconds (11th) while
Esosa Iyengunmwena, normally a 100/200 sprinter, ran the open 400 for the first time at Chadron State with a time of 50.03 seconds in 13th. Iyengunmwena had previously only raced the 400 indoors or as part of a relay.
Chadron State has two weeks until the RMAC Outdoor Conference Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado from April 23-25. They are scheduled to compete at a meet in Rapid City next week in preparation.
