Lobo Track & Field Set to Host New Mexico Team Invite
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New Mexico Team Invitational
Faced with a team-scored meet in the second week of a young season, Lobo head coach Joe Franklin was focused on one thing: How will his team compete?
After logging a strong season debut last weekend, the University of New Mexico track & field team will vie with a challenging early-season test as it hosts the New Mexico Team Invitational this Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
With most of the team’s top athletes expected to see action this weekend, the Lobos will be aiming for wins as they invite Grand Canyon, New Mexico State, San Diego State, TCU, Texas State, Utah State and Washington State for a team-scored meet.
“We’re looking for competitiveness this week,” Franklin said. “How do you compete? What do you do when there’s a first place, a second place and third place and times don’t matter?”
Although a number of Lobos kicked off their 2018 campaigns last week at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational, more of New Mexico’s standouts will make their season debuts this Saturday, including the team’s vaunted group of distance runners.
But, beyond the implications of this Saturday, this meet will also provide Franklin and his staff a gauge on how the team is progressing through the opening stages of the season en route to the Mountain West Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, which are less than a month away.
Leading the charge this weekend will be member of the the Lobos’ national champion women’s cross country team, including a pair of cross country All-Americans.
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That duo of Weini Kelati and Charlotte Prouse are among eight runners entered in the mile run. Joining them will be Alondra Negron Texidor, Kieran Casey, Emily Martin, Elizabeth Reyes, Samantha Dicker and Kaitlin Franklin.
Additionally, Casey and Mackenzie Everett will compete in the 800-meter run, with Kendall Kelly, Sophie Eckel and Johanna Briscoe entered in the 3000.
“It’s purely about racing and winning and times are all irrelevant,” Franklin said about the distance runners. “Do you win or do you lose?”
On the men’s side, New Mexico will counter the field with a bevy of athletes in the distance events, led by Ian Crowe-Wright in the 800 and mile.
Crowe-Wright, the MW leader in the 3000, will run alongside Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen and Michael Wilson in the 800 and mile, with Iolo Hughes and Chris Graham both running the 800 and Taylor Potter taking aim in the mile.
Jacob Simonsen and Jonny Glen will both compete in the mile and 3000.
The men will also look their burgeoning crew of sprinters, led by Carlos Salcido (200) and Mark Haywood (600). Isaac Gonzales (400), Bryan Cutler (200, 400) and Ben Parmoon (600) will also compete in the sprint events.
For the women, it will be Shalom Keller and Nakala Watson in the 200, Mariah Gordon and Elisabetta Mackin in the 400 and Larimar Rodriguez and Steffi Jones in the 600.
In the field events, the Lobo men will compete their trio of horizontal jumpers in Tanner Battikha, Omarei Gregory and Miles Brinson, with Jason Atencio (pole vault) and Brent Dionisio (high jump) taking on their own specialties. Daniel Lam, Camillo Dunninger and Beau Clafton will also be competing in individual events before opening up in the heptathlon next week.
The women’s field events will consist of Ada’ora Chigbo, Shannon Fritz and Kyra Mohns in the high jump; Sarah McKeever and Fritz in the pole vault; Mohns in the long jump and Allison Mady in the shot put and weight throw.
The meet starts with the field events at 9:30 a.m. MT, before the track events kick off at noon. Check liverunningresults.com throughout the meet for live results and GoLobos.com after the meet for a full recap.
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