Kerr Sets NCAA Record, Lobos Shine at Bryan Clay Invite

Results

AZUSA, Calif. — Entering this week, Josh Kerr was already in the conversation for the greatest middle-distance runners of his generation.

Now, he has the argument to be among the greatest of all-time.

Kerr, a junior runner for the University of New Mexico track & field team, raced to the NCAA record in the 1500-meter run at the Bryan Clay Invitational on Friday, pacing a strong team effort from the Lobos in their second large-scale competition of the outdoor season.

New Mexico, competing the majority of its team for just the second time during the outdoor season, dazzled at the Cougar Athletic Stadium in Azusa as athletes registered personal records and superb finishes in a massive, nationally broadcast meet.

Josh Kerr

And Kerr headlined the Lobos’ showing, virtually cementing his place among the NCAA all-time elites with his record-breaking run.

The Edinburgh, Scotland, native zoomed across the track in the men’s 1500, holding off a star-studded field to clock a spectacular time of 3 minutes, 35.01 seconds that broke Sydney Maree’s 36-year-old NCAA record of 3:35.30 set at the 1981 NCAA Championships.

Kerr, who ran a time of 3:35.99 at last year’s Bryan Clay Invitational, now owns two of the eight fastest 1500-meter times in NCAA history and is the only athlete with two times within the all-time top-10.

He also ran to the third-fastest time in the world in 2018, and finished first in the fastest section and first among the 254 athletes that finished the event at the meet.

However, Kerr wasn’t the only Lobo climbing the record books at the Bryan Clay Invitational, which hosted thousands of athletes from across the nation.  

With the Mountain West Championships in less than three weeks and the first round of the NCAA Championships two weeks later, New Mexico was able to place more athletes in position to make an impact in the postseason.

The top 48 athletes in each event in the NCAA’s West Region advance to the NCAA West Preliminary Championship, which is the qualifying meet for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.

On Thursday, UNM received a number of fast times in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, including a superb time of 10:03.97 from Charlotte Prouse. Prouse, who now ranks second in New Mexico history, won the entire event that featured 93 finishers.

Alondra Negron Texidor also logged a stellar time, clocking in at 10:24.45 to place ninth overall and move to fifth in program history.

Jonny Glen shone in his first collegiate steeplechase, racing a time of 8:56.82 to finish in 10th place overall in the men’s race. He ranks ninth all-time at UNM in the steeplechase.

In the women’s 1500, Weini Kelati made an outstanding outdoor debut, finishing with a time of 4:16.28 that finished 11th at the meet and ranks fourth in program history.

Michael Wilson also moved up to ninth in UNM history in the 800 with a second-place time of 1:48.33, while Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen placed ninth at the meet with a time of 1:49.82.

The Lobos also performed well in the sprints and hurdles, with Carlos Salcido logging two magnificent times. Salcido climbed to sixth in program history in the 400 with a winning time of 46.53.

He also showed well in the 200, placing second overall with a wind-aided time of 20.91. That time would have ranked fourth all-time at UNM without the wind.

Kyra Mohns broke her own milestone on Friday, dipping under the one-minute mark in the 400 hurdles with an eighth-place time of 59.93 that ranks fourth in program history.

Elsewhere, Jay Griffin IV moved to eighth in program history in the 200 with a wind-legal time of 21.27, while Mark Haywood placed fourth in the 400 with a time of 47.68.

Out in the field events, New Mexico continued to post strong results in multiple events.

Ada’ora Chigbo set a new season best for the third-straight meet, this time clearing 5 feet, 9 ¾ inches to tie for second. She now sits sixth all-time in UNM history in the event.

Also in the high jump, Shannon Fritz tied for seventh with a mark of 5-5 ¾. Allison Mady placed ninth in the shot put with a season-best toss of 44-7 ½.

For the men’s field-event athletes, Malik Matthews-Gordon took fifth in the javelin (181-1), and the duo of Daniel Lam and Jason Atencio both set season bests in the pole vault with clearances of 15-8 ½.

Additionally, Brent Dionisio tied for 12th in the high jump (6-7), while Tanner Battikha (12th place, 23-4 ½) and Ryan Chase (14th, 23-3 ½) placed top-15 in the long jump.

The Lobos return to action next weekend as they head to Texas State for Bobcat Classic on April 27-28 in San Marcos, Texas.

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