Colorado School of Mines Women's Track

The 2024-25 academic year marked Matt Sparks' 12th season as head coach of the track & field programs at Colorado School of Mines. During his tenure at Mines, Sparks has been twice named USTFCCCA South Central Region Men's Indoor Coach of the Year (2018 and 2025), RMAC Men's Outdoor Coach of the Year three times, RMAC Men's Indoor Coach of the Year three times, and RMAC Women's Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year twice. Under Sparks' guidance, Mines athletes have earned a combined 237 All-America honors between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Under Sparks, Mines has won nine RMAC team titles (three men's indoor, two men's outdoor, three women's indoor, and one women's outdoor), including the program's first "triple crown" of men's cross country, men's indoor, and men's outdoor in 2017-18, the first-ever women's conference titles in 2023 (indoor) and 2024 (outdoor), and the first-ever men's and women's sweep of RMAC titles in program history (indoor 2024). Sparks also coached the 2019-20 USTFCCCA National Field Athlete of the Year in Connor McLean, and Mines has had six individual national champions since 2018.  The 2024-25 track season was one of the finest in program history as both the men's and women's teams made history with 30 combined all-Americans. The men achieved their highest-ever NCAA track & field finish coming in third place at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships, while the women captured their third consecutive RMAC Indoor championship in 2025 as well. Sparks was named the USTFCCCA Regional and RMAC Indoor Coach of the Year. The 2023-24 season was a history-making one for Mines, which had its best-ever combined finish in the USTFCCCA Program of the Year rankings as both the men and women finished fifth. The indoor season saw the men and women sweep the RMAC Championships titles for the first time ever, and the women would go on to finish 10th and the men 11th at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships. Outdoor season saw the women's team capture their first-ever RMAC title and go on to finish 12th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Mines had 15 all-Americans between the two seasons as Sparks was named the RMAC Women's Coach of the Year for both seasons.  The 2021-22 campaign featured Mines' men tying for 15th in the nation at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships before taking ninth in the nation at the outdoor championships. The Oredigger women were tied for 27th in the nation at the indoor national meet while taking 49th outdoors. Prior to the national meets, Mines' men finished fifth at indoor conference before bouncing back to take runner-up honors at the outdoor conference championships. Meanwhile, the Oredigger women were spectacular in RMAC action, finishing third at indoors and runner-up at outdoors. In total, Sparks' squad racked up a total of 25 USTFCCCA All-America awards and Dillon Powell raced to a NCAA Division II National Championship in the men's 10,000-meter run. Mines made history during the 2020-21 season despite ongoing adversity presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sparks and the Orediggers opted out of the RMAC Indoor Track & Field Championships before going to the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships where the men finished sixth and the women were tied for 23rd. The men's finish and total points (26) were the highest in program history as 17 individuals brought home 24 USTFCCCA All-America awards including 10 podium appearances as first-team all-America. During the outdoor season, Mines traveled to Pueblo, Colo., for the RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships where the men and women both took third place as a team and Arvid Veidmark IV was name Male Athlete of the Meet thanks to two gold medals and a fourth-place finish in the throwing events. At the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Orediggers made history again with the men taking sixth in the nation and the women finishing 35th. It marked the men's highest finish at the outdoor meet while Mines' combined 15 USTFCCCA All-America accolades proved to be the most in at a single national meet in program history. In total, 13 individuals claimed the 15 awards with nine Orediggers stepping on the podium as Connor McLean made the trip twice in the decathlon and pole vault. The 2019-20 season was heartbreaking due to the cancellation of the NCAA Championships and the outdoor season at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the announcement, Sparks and the Oredigger men had arrived at the championship site ranked #2 in the nation with 15th entries into the national meet along with two women set to compete for national gold. After the championships were canceled, 15 individuals earned USTFCCCA All-America status on the merits of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. At the conference meet, Sparks led the men and women to runner-up finishes which matched the best finish for the women in program history. In total, Mines' men and women broke four program records and added 57 total entries into the Oredigger indoor record book. The highlight of the year was Connor McLean who dominated the heptathlon and pole vault events. He shattered the program's heptathlon record with the fifth-best score in NCAA Division II history on his way to USTFCCCA National Field Athlete of the Year honors. Additionally, Sparks' assistant and Head Cross Country Coach Chris Siemers was named the USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the year for his work with the distance runners. Overall, Sparks led the Orediggers to great success in the 2018-19 indoor and outdoor seasons. Mines' men took silver and the women finished fifth at the RMAC Indoor Championships. Twelve individuals advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships where the men finished #12 in the nation and the women #27 while taking home a combined 13 All-America awards. Additionally, the Orediggers claimed 17 all-region nods for the indoor season. The outdoor season saw Mines' men win the RMAC Outdoor crown for a second straight season and the women took a best-ever silver-medal finish. Gina Coleman was named RMAC Women's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year and Field Women's Athlete of the Meet. Luke Julian was named RMAC Men's Outdoor Freshman of the Year and Sparks was named the RMAC Men's Coach of the Year. Prior to the national championships, the Orediggers claimed 19 All-Region honors which led to 18 selections in 19 events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Mines' men finished #28 in the nation in outdoors and the women finished #53 as the Orediggers brought home 10-total All-America awards. Additionally, Megan Wenham and Ben Schndeiderman earned the NCAA's Elite 90 award - marking the first time in the accolade's history that both winners came from the same school. The 2017-18 season was arguably the most successful season in program history. Sparks helped the Oredigger men complete the RMAC Triple Crown with RMAC titles in the indoor and outdoor seasons to go along with the Orediggers' men's crown in cross country. Sparks also helped Mines' women to their highest finish in program history at the RMAC Outdoor Championships as the ladies took third. He guided the Oredigger men all the way up to No. 1 in the indoor national rankings and No. 3 in the outdoor rankings. Sparks also coached Mines' women into the nation's top-25 in the outdoor rankings. Sparks' expertise helped the Oredigger men finish 11th at the NCAA Indoor Championships with the women placing 32nd. In the outdoor season, Sparks led the men to a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as the women closed the season 46th in the nation. Connor McLean was named RMAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year and Gina Coleman was named RMAC Women's Outdoor Freshman of the Year. Triston Sisneros was named RMAC Athlete of the Meet at the outdoor championships and Sparks took home indoor and outdoor coach of the year honors. In the 2016-17 season the Orediggers notched nine all-America honors and again appeared in the USTFCCCA National Top 25 rankings.  That followed up the 2015-16 season as Sparks oversaw 27 USTFCCCA All-Region and 17 All-American honorees while leading the men’s indoor track & field team to the first conference championship in program history. A grand total of 14 different school records were broken this past season. In addition to the conference championship, the men finished second at the outdoor RMAC Championships while the women placed seventh and sixth, respectfully, between the indoor and outdoor season. The men’s program spent the entire indoor season ranked in the USTFCCCA national rankings as they reached as high as #3 in the nation. While during the outdoor season they were ranked 10 of the 11 weeks and reached as high as #6.  Sparks was named the RMAC Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year in the 2015-16 season while he guided Triston Sisneros to RMAC Indoor & Outdoor Freshman of the Year, and RMAC Co-Athlete of the Meet honors at the outdoor championships. Sparks oversaw 25 USTFCCCA All-Region honorees, 10 RMAC Athletes of the Week and five All-Americans as well as multiple school records in his first season at the helm. In the 2014-15 campaign, the Mines men and women ranked fourth and eighth, respectively, at the conference indoor races and closed second and ninth at the outdoor championships. Sparks became the program's initial RMAC Men’s Outdoor Coach of the Year recipient since the conference began conferring the honor in 1992. Under Sparks', the Orediggers ranked in the men’s top-25 of the USTFCCCA the last three weeks of the indoor season and were inside the top-20 all nine weeks during outdoors, reaching an all-time high of No. 5 in week four. Mines placed 14th at the NCAA meet for the second year in a row, ending two shy of the program-best score set in 2008 with a three-day, 18.00-point total. A veteran of the coaching ranks in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Sparks came to Golden following a three-year stint as the head track and field coach at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste Marie, Mich. There, he guided both programs to their highest national finishes in school history during the 2012 season. The Laker men finished 18th during the indoor season and 22nd during the outdoor season, while the women ranked 23rd in outdoors. The 2012 GLIAC Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year, Sparks coached one national champion and 12 NCAA All-Americans during his time at LSSU, including two athletes that competed at the USATF Junior National Championships in 2013.  His programs registered more than 50 new school records and won the 2013 Academic Excellence Award, which goes to the team with the highest grade point average each year at Lake Superior State. Additionally, Sparks initiated and led fundraising efforts for the LSSU track and field and cross country programs that totaled more than $80,000.  Prior to being named head coach at LSSU, Sparks was an assistant at Chadron State College in Chadron, Neb. during the 2009-10 season. He coached eight RMAC champions in the combined events, sprints, hurdles and relays as well as four qualifiers to the 2010 NCAA Division II Championships, including one eventual All-American from the quartet.  He was an assistant coach at fellow RMAC member Western State from 2007-09 where he directed six NCAA qualifiers and one All-American. He assisted in leading the men's program to a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in 2009. A native of Gunnison, Sparks was a 10-time All-American during his collegiate career at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Calif. He claimed the 2006 NAIA 110-meter high hurdles national championship during the outdoor season and the 2007 60-meter high hurdles indoor title. He set the NAIA 60-meter high hurdles national record (since broken) and was a member of four NAIA national champion squads, of which he captained three. Sparks received his B.A. in English from Azusa Pacific in 2007. He, his wife, Jocelyn and son Colton reside in Golden.

Siemers was named the USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Assistant Coach of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor season for his work with the distance athletes. In the fall of 2015, Siemers lead the Mines mens cross country program the first National Championship in school history. The Orediggers got All-American performances from Marty Andrie (18th), Nathanael Williams (21st), Dan Mahoney (22nd) and Grant Colligan (33rd). Along with Seth Topper, Josh Hoskinson and Logan Winfield, Siemers Orediggers upended three-team defending champion and RMAC rival Adams State by 27 points (100-to-127) to claim the first team national title in school history in any sport. For his efforts, Siemers was named the USTFCCCA 2015 NCAA Divsion II Men's Cross Country National Coach of the Year. The 2015 season also saw Ann Miller of the womens program earn All-American honors as the mens and womens team claimed each claimed victory at the Colorado College Invitational, and a top-five finish in every meet they entered. At both the RMAC and South Central Region Championships, the men placed second and the women third. Mines remained one of the countrys powerhouse programs in 2014 under Siemers, combining for two team trophies, eight top-three results and a pair of top-10 scores at the Division II championships for the second time in three seasons. Following wins at the Colorado College Invitational and FHSU Tiger Open, the men produced runner-up at the conference and regional races and timed fourth place at the national meet the squads sixth straight top-five and 10th consecutive top-10 championship finish. The women, runners-up at the CC Invite, gained momentum across the three postseason events, achieving fifth out of 15 at RMACs, third among 18 at regionals and 10th of 32 at the NCAA finale. In 2012, Siemers guided the Orediggers to arguably their best season in program archives as both teams advanced to the national championships for the first time since 2005. With a program-record five runners inside the top-36 All-American threshold, the men claimed runner-up out of 32 teams, while the women obtained their third top-10 in 10 seasons in eighth. The men, who spent the entirety of the regular season ranked in the nation's top-four including a four-week stint at No. 2 finished no lower than third at any meet, capturing the team title at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational and second place at both the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree and RMAC Championships. Named the 2012 CaptainU Division II Men's Cross Country College Coach of the Year, Siemers saw the women rank inside the top-25 in all seven regular season ballots, highlighted by a season-high No. 13 in the final poll. The Orediggers had three fourth-place team finishes and took sixth at the Cowboy Jamboree behind a trio of Division I schools. In his three seasons at the helm, Siemers has coached 12 All-Americans, three Academic All-Americans and two Brechler Award-winning womens teams as owners of the conference's highest GPA. Prior to being named interim head coach in 2012, he was an assistant with the Mines cross country programs for two seasons, helping the men place fourth at the NCAA championships in 2010 and fifth in 2011. During the 2011-12 academic year, the men's cross country and track and field programs finished fourth in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division II Program of the Year standings. Mines ranked eighth in the award classification in 2010-11 and 2012-13 and seventh in 2013-14. A 2004 graduate of Western State with a bachelor's degree in business administration, Siemers was a three-time cross country All-American during his collegiate career and a member of two national championship teams with the Mountaineers (2001-02). Siemers was three-time all-state selection and Foot Locker All-American in 1997 as a prep runner for Fenton High School in Bensenville, Illinois. He twice earned all-state honors in track and field. A two-time Olympic trials qualifier, Siemers broke the 18-year old Colorado state marathon record in 2011 with a time of 2:18.48 at the Rock n Roll Denver Marathon. He and his wife, Paige, reside in Littleton.

Michael Gusbeth completed his 10th season as an assistant coach for the track and field programs at the Colorado School of Mines during the 2024-25 academic year. Gusbeth’s main focus is with the throwers. Mines' throwers had an exceptional 2025 season with five different Oredigger throwers qualifying for nationals, led by two-season First-Team All-American Holden Murphy, who was sixth indoors in the weight throw and fifth outdoors in the hammer at the NCAA Championship. Jenni Jarnagin and Kitt Rupar were both indoor Second-Team All-Americans in the weight throw and shot put, respectively, and Jarnagin repeated the feat in the hammer throw outdoors while Abbi Gillespie (outdoor hammer) and Franklin Rambo (indoor shot put) qualified for their first NCAA Championships as well. Mines throwers helped the Oredigger women threepeat as RMAC Indoor champions as Jarnagin won the weight throw gold and Rupar, Jarnagin, and Avery Wright scored in the shot put; Rupar was the RMAC outdoor discus champion in the spring.  The 2023-24 season was a memorable one for a young and up-and-coming Mines throwing group, highlighted by double all-American Kitt Rupar, who qualified for the NCAA Championships in three events and stood on the podium in the shot put and discus. Rupar became Mines' first women's shot put all-American since 1987. Mines throwers contributed greatly to the Orediggers' three combined RMAC track titles in 2024, as well, combining for five conference medals including indoor and outdoor shot put silver medalist Brody Welch.  In 2021-22, Gusbeth coached Arvid Veidmark IV to a second straight RMAC Male Athlete of the Meet at the 2022 RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Veidmark IV earned the honor as the top men's point scorer with RMAC gold in the discus, RMAC silver in the shot put and a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw. Kathleen Tomon also proved outstanding for Gusbeth at the RMAC's outdoor championships as she brought home RMAC silver in the shot put and RMAC bronze in the discus. The 2020-21 campaign proved outstanding for Gusbeth's throwing crew. During the indoor season, both Arvid Veidmark IV and Krista Carlo provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with Veidmark IV ranked 28th in the nation in the shot put and Carlo slotted 27th in the weight throw. That success led to an outdoor season in which Veidmark IV and Kathleen Tomon both punched their respective tickets to the NCAA Championships where Veidmark IV finished 12th in the nation and Tomon placed 15th. The national performances followed a RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships where Veidmark IV was named Male Athlete of the Meet thanks to two gold medals and one fourth-place finish. On the women's side, Tomon claimed RMAC bronze in both the shot put and discus while Carlo was fourth in the discus and grabbed her own bronze medal in the hammer. Under Gusbeth's guidance, the Oredigger throwers put together another solid year during the 2019-20 indoor season. Three individuals earned four all-conference nods including a gold medal for Arvid Veidmark IV in the shot put. Veidmark IV also took silver in the weight throw and took down the shot put record just prior to the RMAC Championships. Kathleen Tomon and Veidmark IV both provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. The overall season was shortened after the national meet and outdoor season were both canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to Gusbeth's expertise, Mines' throwers found great success in the 2018-19 indoor and outdoor seasons. Gina Coleman claimed First-Team All-America honors in the indoor weight throw and outdoor discus. Coleman was also named the RMAC Women's Athlete of the Meet at the outdoor championships and RMAC Female Field Athlete of the Year for the Outdoor Season. In total, Gusbeth's throwing group claimed five RMAC gold medals between the indoor and outdoor seasons. The 2017-18 season proved to be a banner year for Gusbeth's throwers - specifically Gina Coleman. Under Gusbeth's guidance, Coleman threw her way to First-Team All-America honors in the discus at the NCAA Outdoor Championships while also being named RMAC Outdoor Freshman of the Year. Coleman also took home gold in the discus at the RMAC Outdoor Championships. Gusbeth also guided Courtney Clark to NCAA Championship appearances in the indoor and outdoor seasons. In his first three seasons at Mines, Gusbeth has had a number of success stories in the throwing events. In 2017, Courtney Clark set the program hammer throw record and was named USTFCCCA All-region in the event, while also becoming Mines' best women's shot putter in 30 years; Amanda Giles continued to put her school javelin record out of reach to earn all-RMAC honors. Jack Root was the RMAC bronze medalist in the hammer throw as a freshman in 2017. Before coming to Mines, Gusbeth spent four seasons at Elon University (2011-14) under the same position. While with the NCAA Division I Phoenix he coached three individual Southern Conference Champions and six runner-up finishes. Gusbeth’s throwers re-wrote every single Elon throwing records. Prior to Elon, Gusbeth saw many fine achievements from his throwers during his two years (2009-11) at Chadron State, highlighted in 2011 by a runner-up finish by Jessica Horsley in the women’s hammer throw at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships and an All-American finish by Cody Hunt in the shot put at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships. He also had his throwers rewrite five school records.   No stranger to the RMAC, Gusbeth previously coached the Western State College of Colorado throwers during the 2008-09 season. That season, the Mountaineer throwers saw great success in achieving four NCAA D-II All-American honors. He coached the 2009 NCAA D-II Discus National Champion Ashley Stevens, who also earned All-American honors in the hammer throw and indoor weight throw during the 2008-09 campaign. Gusbeth also coached Ryan Walstrom to All-American honors in the men’s discus. Throughout the season, the Western State throwers rewrote school records in the women’s discus, hammer and weight throw, as well as the men’s discus.   Gusbeth, a former Western State track and field athlete, threw 213-feet, 8-inches in the hammer throw to set a Mountaineers’ record in 2006. He was an All-American in both the 35-pound weight and hammer throws, becoming the school’s first All-American in those events.   A native of Torquay, Australia, Gusbeth earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Western State College of Colorado and a master’s degree in organizational management from Chadron State College. He and his wife, Tiffany, reside in Golden, Colo.

Jocelyn Sparks completed her 12th season as assistant coach of the Colorado School of Mines track and field programs in 2024-25, having built one of the nation's best pole vaulting programs in Golden. A four-time USTFCCCA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year, Sparks has developed one of the nation's best overall event groups with the Oredigger pole vaulters. Sparks has coached 26 all-Americans since 2016, including 2018 outdoor national champion Jake Pinkston and 2023 indoor national champion Hannah Miller.  In 2025, Hunter Potrykus and Hayley Rayburn found the podium for the Orediggers as Rayburn was the NCAA women's indoor bronze medalist and Potrykus claimed fourth in the men's indoor competition. Dale Thompson was a two-season NCAA qualifier, as well, and both Rayburn (indoor) and Thompson (outdoor) won RMAC championships. The women's pole vault squad was once again instrumental in helping Mines earn a conference team title threepeat, scoring a combined 26.5 team points at the RMAC Indoor Championships.  The 2024 season saw Sparks again win regional assistant coach of the year honors after a record-shattering season. Both Miller and Hunter Potrykus became the RMAC's all-time recordholders in the pole vault, and Mines qualified a combined nine vaulters to NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, including a national-best and program-record six outdoors. Miller was the NCAA silver medalist indoor and placed fourth outdoors, while Potrykus finished on the podium in seventh outdoors. The vault group was key to Mines capturing three of the four RMAC team titles in 2024, sweeping the podium three times out of four opportunities, winning all four gold medals and 11 of 12 total medals; Mines vaulters scored an incredible 124.5 team points combined between the RMAC indoor and outdoor meets.  In 2023, Miller won the Orediggers' first-ever women's field national championship when she won the indoor title in Virginia Beach; she would go on to be the runner-up outdoors and earn Colorado Sportswoman of the Year honors for collegiate track & field. Mines vaulters again played a critical role in conference success, as well, with double podium sweeps indoors helping Mines' women win their first-ever RMAC team title.  Highlights for Sparks from the 2022 campaign included Hannah Miller, Avery Herbold and Hunter Potrykus all punching their respective tickets to the national meet. Miller was a two-time USTFCCCA First-Team All-American thanks to a sixth-place finish at the indoor championships and a seventh-place finish at the outdoor championships. Miller also shattered her own program record and the facility record at Stermole Track. While COVID-19 adversity carried into the 2020-21 campaign, Sparks continued to help her pole vaulting group find national success. During the indoor season, true freshman Hunter Potrykus became the third Oredigger to ever surpass 5.00 meters as he advanced to his first-ever NCAA Championships. Hannah Miller punched her ticket to the indoor championships for the women as well and finished ninth in the nation. The outdoor season saw the return and swan song for Mines all-timer Connor McLean who not only reached the podium in the decathlon, but also finished sixth in the nation in the pole vault after breaking his own program record and the Stermole Track record at the Mines Friday Last Chance. Hannah Miller was in the field again for the women and tied for fourth in the nation after breaking her own program record on multiple occasions during the regular season. Additionally, at the conference level, Sparks' vaulters claimed three of the top six spots on the men's side thanks to McLean's gold, Potrykus' silver and Twombly's sixth-place finish. The women proved even more dominant by grabbing five of the top eight positions in the league led by Miller's gold and Avery Herbold's silver with Gabbi Varela taking fifth while Ava Kowalski and Lauren Kelly tied for seventh. Despite an unprecedented 2020 indoor season, Sparks still guided the Oredigger pole vaulters to elite status. Connor McLean, Jake Pinkston and Hannah Miller all earned spots in the field at the NCAA Championships, Miller doing so as a true freshman. Additionally, Zach Clark and Brandon Hinkle provisionally qualified for the national meet. While the championships and outdoor season were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Connor McLean still earned USTFCCCA National Field Athlete of the Year thanks, in part, to Sparks' coaching. At the conference level, Miller claimed silver and Gabby Griner took fourth for a pair of all-conference nods on the women's side. For the men, Pinkston grabbed gold and Twombly claimed sixth for two more all-conference awards. Additionally, McLean, Miller and Pinkston all brought home USTFCCCA All-America honors. Furthermore, Miller shattered the program's women's indoor pole vault record in the first appearance of her collegiate career. The 2019 season saw Connor McLean take silver at both the indoor and outdoor RMAC Championships. McLean also qualified for both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships. Under Sparks' guidance he took #4 in the nation at the indoor championships, earning his third-career All-America award as a pole vaulter. Additionally, Sparks' vaulters added six marks to the Orediggers' indoor and outdoor record books including McLean matching his standing program indoor record of 5.26 meters. In 2018, Sparks coached Jake Pinkston to gold in the pole vault at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. It marked Mines' first individual national title since 2011 as Pinkston matched his own school record on the way to victory. Sparks was also named USTFCCCA South Central Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year in the 2017-18 indoor season as Connor McLean vaulted his way to silver at the NCAA Indoor Championships. In 2017, Mines dominated the point-scoring in the RMAC men's pole vault as freshmen Jake Pinkston and Darin Meeker combined for 11 team points at RMAC Indoors; at the outdoor meet, Mines scored four men as Pinkston won gold and Meeker, Brandon Hinkle, and Zach Clark scored to combine for 19 team points. Pinkston was named the RMAC Freshman of the Year for the outdoor season as he set the program record in the pole vault, and went on to earn Second-Team All-America honors at NCAA Championships. Pinkston was the third Oredigger under Sparks to finish as an all-American after Connor McLean (2016 indoor) and Ben Timmer (2015 indoor). She also has worked with Mines' multi-eventers Triston Sisneros and Austin Smith, who have four combined all-America finishes in the NCAA heptathlon and decathlon. Sparks had previously served as the Horizontal Jumps and Pole Vault Coach at Lake Superior State University from 2012 to 2013. She also coached at Jenison High School in 2012. While on the Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. campus, Sparks oversaw four school records and coached three Lakers to NCAA qualifying marks, including two All-American efforts. Originally from Palatine, Ill., Sparks was an eight-time All-American in the pole vault for perennial track and field power Grand Valley State University, leading the Lakers to four NCAA team championships during her career. She set the program indoor pentathlon record in 2009 before focusing exclusively on pole vault. As a senior in 2011-12, Sparks placed third in the pole vault at the indoor national meet and was runner-up at outdoor nationals, clearing 12-7.5 (3.85 meters). Sparks graduated from GVSU with a Bachelor of Science in exercise science in 2012. She and her husband, Matt, reside in Arvada.