Open Announce

Lobos Aiming for Progress at New Mexico Classic

   
New Mexico Track & Field
hosting the New Mexico Classic
New Mexico Meet Notes
21939New Mexico Classic
Friday-Saturday, Feb 2-3
Friday: 4pm • Saturday: 10am
Albuquerque Convention Center
Key Links
Schedule  •  Heat Sheets
Coverage Links
Live Results  •  Live Stream via FloTrack

The University of New Mexico track & field team is looking to pick up some experience and improvement at the New Mexico Classic this Friday and Saturday as it hosts a strong field at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

Coming off some strong performances last week at the team-scored New Mexico Team Invitational, the Lobos are starting to prepare for the upcoming championship season as they take on their third of four straight home meets.

“Our goals are just to continue to get better,” New Mexico head coach Joe Franklin said. “Last week was a scored meet where times and distances were irrelevant. But this time, athletes will have the chance to jump far, throw far and run fast.”

After capturing the men’s team title and a runner-up finish on the women’s side at last week’s New Mexico Team Invitational, UNM has shown it can compete tactically.

But now, with the Mountain West Indoor Championships just three weeks away, the Lobos are looking to parlay their home-track advantage and excellent competition into strong performances and progress.

“We just want to continue to compete at a high level,” Franklin said. “We will double a lot of people, and next weekend it will be a lot more single races. It’s just getting used to competing and competing hard.”

This week, most of the team will be in action as they aim for season bests and continued improvement.

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Jason Atencio

For the men, Carlos Salcido, the reigning MW Men’s Track Athlete of the Week, will be in action as he races in the 400-meter dash. He’ll be joined by Mark Haywood, Ben Parmoon, Isaac Gonzales and Bryan Cutler as they look to hone their skills for the coming meets.

Additionally, a number of the men’s distance standouts will be in action, including Michael Wilson, Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen, Jacob Simonsen, Jonny Glen, Iolo Hughes, Jared Garcia and Chris Graham.

That group, which will be without team ace Josh Kerr as he competes in the Millrose Games in New York, will be leaned on heavily during the championship season.

The field events will also get a chance to post improvement. Both Brent Dionisio (high jump) and Jason Atencio (pole vault) did just that last week. The men’s contingent of jumpers — which includes Tanner Battikha, Alejandro Goldston, Omarei Gregory and Miles Brinson — will also have chances for big jumps.

The Lobos’ combined event athletes will also continue preparing for the heptathlon at the MW Championships as Daniel Lam, Beau Clafton and Camillo Dunninger will all compete in various individual events.

On the women’s side, the goals are much the same. The women’s distance runners will by led by Kieran Casey and Alondra Negron Texidor, but Emily Martin, Mackenzie Everett, Kaitlin Franklin, Johanna Briscoe, Samantha Dicker, Elizabeth Reyes and Alex Buck will all get the opportunity to gain some experience.

The sprints will also look for some improvement, with Shalom Keller, Elisabetta Mackin, Mariah Gordon, Tia Harper and Erynn Caldwell competing in different sprint events.

Rounding out New Mexico’s entries are the field events, with Shannon Fritz (pole vault/high jump), Sarah McKeever (pole vault), Allison Mady (shot put/weight throw), Ada’ora Chigbo (long jump/shot put) and Anastasia Daliege (long jump).

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Shalom Keller

The Lobos will also get a chance, as they have in their first two meets, of facing superb teams at home.

On the women’s side, No. 7 LSU, No. 8 Texas, No. 10 Ole Miss and No. 22 Alabama are all sending athletes to Albuquerque this weekend, while the men’s side features No. 6 Alabama and No. 14 Texas.

“To have great teams like LSU, Texas and Alabama is impressive,” Franklin said. “Our meets will continue to grow and it shows that Albuquerque and the University of New Mexico host a first-class competition.”

The meet starts Friday at 4 p.m. with the field events, with action on track kicking off at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the meet starts at 10 a.m.

Check liverunningresults.com throughout the meet for live results and GoLobos.com after the meet Saturday for a full recap.

Fans can follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Twitter and Instagram to keep track of the Lobos!