COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The University of New Mexico’s track & field team claimed a pair of conference honors Tuesday as Sam Trigg and Jannell Hadnot earned recognition from the Mountain West for their performances for meets contested from April 27-29.
After leaping to top-15 marks in the triple jumps this past weekend at the Longhorn Invitational in Austin, Texas, Trigg was selected as the Mountain West Men’s Field Athlete of the Week, while Hadnot earned MW Women’s Field Athlete of the Week.
It’s the first weekly MW award for Trigg in his career and the second ever for Hadnot.
Trigg, a senior from Plymouth, England, won the triple jump with a leap of 52 feet, 10 ¾ inches (16.12 meters) this past Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
Trigg broke the 16-meter mark in the triple jump at the meet, setting a new personal record despite relatively breezy conditions. His winning leap came with a 3.3 meter/second tailwind, which, while countable for NCAA qualification, is above the 2.0 m/s standard for record-keeping purposes.
Nonetheless, Trigg’s whole series in Austin was remarkable, as two of his three wind-legal marks, 52-8 (16.05m) and 51-10 ½ (15.81m), ranked among the top-10 best marks of the weekend, sitting fifth and ninth, respectively.
He also took over the triple jump lead in the Mountain West, and currently holds a seven-inch lead on Wyoming’s Scott Carter. Three of his six legal marks would have set a new MW lead.
Trigg’s leap of 52-10 ¾ ranks 13th in the NCAA.
Additionally, his best wind-legal mark of the competition (52-8) is tied for sixth in UNM history. He is just the second Lobo to leap over 16 meters since 1984.
For Hadnot, the senior from Oakland, California, picked up her own triple jump win, jumping a season-best 43-5 (13.23m) to come out on top in Austin.
Her mark extends her lead in the MW to over three feet. All of her jumps from Saturday’s competition would have led the Mountain West by over 16 inches.
Like Trigg, her best from the Longhorn Invitational was wind-aided, but she managed three leaps over 13 meters, plus another at 12.97 meters.
This is Hadnot’s second career MW Athlete of the Week honor, including a selection during the 2016 indoor season. The duo’s honors are the second and third for the Lobos this outdoor season. Josh Kerr earned the men’s track athlete of the week honor on April 18.
The Lobos return to action next week as they travel to the Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Logan, Utah, on May 10-13.
Fans can follow the Lobos on Twitter (@lobo_track) and Instagram (@lobo_xc_tf) for information and updates on the team!