Lobos Host Don Kirby Tailwind Open Friday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico Track & Field welcomes six schools to the UNM Track & Field Complex for its second home meet of the year as part of the Don Kirby Tailwind Open on Friday.
Freshman sensation Habtom Samuel — who just ran the second-fastest 5,000m race in the nation last weekend in Azusa, Calif. at the Bryan Clay Invitational — will go for a 10,000m NCAA qualifying mark to start off the day at 9:30 a.m., paced by teammates Evans Kiplagat (28:08.26 PR) and Vincent Chirchir (28:19.01). Samuel has already ran the second-fastest 10,000m time in NCAA history at Sound Running’s the TEN (26:53.49), but because the meet was not NCAA-sanctioned he’ll need to put down another qualifying time. Regardless, he could run 64.74 seconds slower than that time and still be faster than the top time in the nation last season from Stanford’s Charlie Hicks (27:57.47) and will benefit from an elevation conversion he didn’t get in California.
Coach Darren Gauson gives the laydown on this weekend's competition at home.
Action resumes in the afternoon with field events kicking off at 3:45 p.m. and track events starting with men’s and women’s 4 x 100m relay races at 4:30. Other nationally-ranked athletes competing will include Brodie Young in the 400m (No. 29), Elizabeth White in the Long Jump (No. 37), Levente Soos in the 400 hurdles (No. 58) and Mercy Kirarei in the 1500m (No. 57).
Friday’s action will not be streamed, but live results will be available via GoLobos.com/TrackResults. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on IG, Facebook and X for meet day contents and updates.
RANKINGS UPDATE
After a big weekend in California, UNM climbed to the No. 18 spot nationally, No. 8 in the Mountain Region and No. 4 in the Mountain West in the USTFCCCA TFRI Rating Index rankings released earlier this week — the Lobos rose 19 spots from their No. 37 ranking the prior week thanks to
In the USTFCCCA’s #EventSquad rankings, the Lobo men are ranked No. 1 in the 10,000m for the third straight week, with an average time of 28:04.97 among its top four runners that is more than 30 seconds faster than No. 2 Arkansas (28:37.44). They remain in the Top 50 in the nation in the men’s 100m (No. 46), the 1500m (No. 19), the 200m (No. 43) and the 800m (No. 30).
On the women’s side, the Lobos improved to No. 99 nationally to crack the Top 100 for the first time this outdoor season, good for 11th in the Mountain Region and sixth in conference — the UNM women are ranked No. 20 in the 1500m, No. 50 in the 800m, No. 30 in the long jump, No. 24 in the pole vault.
Between men and women combined, UNM has 20 athletes currently ranked in the Top 100 in 14 different events — Nicola Jansen (5,000m; 10,000m), Mercy Kirarei (1500m; 5,000m), Habtom Samuel (1500, 5,000m), Evans Kiplagat (5,000m; 10,000m) and Vincent Chirchir (5,000m; 10,000m) all rank in the Top 60 in the nation in multiple events. In the Mountain West, Brodie Young (400m), Habtom Samuel (1500m, 5,000m), Mercy Kirarei (5,000m), Evans Kiplagat (10,000m) and Nicola Jansen (10,000m) all currently rank No. 1 in their respective events — UNM has 47 in total ranked among the Top 10 in the conference between men and women.
THE LEGACY OF DON KIRBY
A “track nut” through and through, Don Kirby and his wife helped establish an endowment in the 1960’s that still pays dividends for UNM meets, helping to offset costs for visiting schools. His financial and administrative support was instrumental in both the implementation of Albuquerque’s first indoor “banked” board track and UNM’s ability to attract elite programs to its meets.