Chadron State College track and field stars Isaac Grimes and Ashton Hallsted both made statements in their opening performances of the season at the Colorado School of Mines Alumni Classic in Golden on Thursday.

Sophomore long jumper Grimes, from Rancho Verde, California, went 7.95 meters (26-1) in the men’s long jump on his third try of prelims to win the event in the Eagles’ debut meet. The auto-qualifying mark is fourth-best all-time in NCAA Division II, setting a new school record. In addition, with about 40 top results reported at 25 different events worldwide, the leap is No. 1 for all international competition, according to the International Association of Athletics Federations through December 2.

Former CSC jumper Damarcus Simpson, the previous school record-holder, was the NCAA indoor runner-up in 2016 with his personal best, for the Eagles, of 7.90 meters (25-11). Simpson was also a sophomore at the time.

Junior Ashton Hallsted, on the women’s team, also made her first appearance of the season, launching a 19.72 meter (64 8 ½) weight throw on her sixth and final attempt to win that event. The throw was a provisional qualifying distance, and it was just 15 centimeters short of automatically qualifying her for the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Hallsted’s winning throw puts her atop the NCAA Division II lists for 2018-19 at this early juncture. Had it occurred last season, it would have ranked her No. 4 in the nation headed into the national meet.

Chadron State multi-event athletes also performed Thursday in Golden. Men’s competitors Ty Thurston (2,519 points) and Gregg Peterson (2,452 points) were 13th and 18th, respectively, after four of seven heptathlon events. Thurston  Chasidy Horton finished 11th in the five-element pentathlon with 3,263 points.