July 31, 2006
Complete Indoor/Outdoor Season Review in PDF Format
OUTDOOR SEASON REVIEW
The 2006 outdoor campaign was another banner season for the University of New Mexico under sixth-year head coach Matt Henry. After an outstanding regular season, the New Mexico men and women also shined when it mattered most at the Mountain West Conference and NCAA Midwest Regional championship meets. The following are some of the highlights from the `06 outdoor season:
Lobo pole vaulters Derek Mackel (Sr., Albuquerque, N.M.) and Robert Caldwell (Jr., Socorro, N.M.) both advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the first time…the duo were the first UNM athletes in thirty years to qualify for the national outdoor meet in the same event…they were also the first New Mexico pole vaulters since 1991 to qualify for the outdoor national meet and the third and fourth Lobos ever to qualify in the event.
UNM has sent a pair of men to the NCAA Outdoor Championships each of the past three seasons and has had at least one qualifier each year since 2003…the Lobos had just one men’s athlete qualify twice in the eight years (1993-2000) prior to sixth-year head coach Matt Henry’s arrival…seven of the nine NCAA Outdoor Championship qualifiers under Henry have been from the state of New Mexico, including all five men and women over the past two seasons.
The men of New Mexico finished a program-best 16th with a two-day total of 15 points at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship meet…Derek Mackel became the second Lobo to win a Midwest Regional title, capturing the pole vault with a career-best and Midwest record-setting mark of 18-01.00 to secure an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship meet…Robert Caldwell recorded an outdoor personal record of 17-05.00 en route to a sixth place finish in the pole vault and an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships…freshman Anthony Fairbanks finished seventh in the javelin (206-03) to cap the men’s scoring, while fellow rookie Katie Coronado scored for the women’s team with a seventh place finish in the women’s javelin (159-07)…Fairbanks and Coronado were the first UNM freshmen to score at the elite Midwest Regional meet.
The UNM women used a balanced attack on the track and in the field to move up to fifth (67.5 points) in the new nine-team Mountain West Conference Championships…it was the Lobos’ highest conference finish outdoors since they were also fifth in a nine-team field at the 1996 Western Athletic Conference Championships…the addition of track power TCU, however, pushed UNM down to fifth (79 points) in the men’s standings after five straight fourth place finishes at the MWC outdoor meet.
Senior Jacquelyne Gallegos (5,000m), sophomore Ariel Burr (400m) and freshman Katie Coronado (javelin) earned all-MWC honors for the women…senior Derek Mackel (pole vault), senior Mike Powdrell (long jump), sophomore Jarrin Solomon (400m), freshman Josh Cosio (high jump) and the 4x400m relay team of Solomon, Taylor Siemon, Randle McCain and Kurt Henry medaled on the men’s side.
Seven men and five women earned NCAA regional qualifying marks in 10 different events during the season, while freshman Sandy Fortner was an NCAA provisional qualifier in the heptathlon…sophomores Ariel Burr (400m – 53.04), Whitney Johnson (pole vault – 13-00.25) and Stasia Ploskonka (3,000m steeplechase – 11:14.96) set school records…12 men’s and women’s event marks were the best in Matt Henry’s six-year tenure.
Senior middle distance runner Frank Hemingway (Las Cruces, N.M.) was a second team selection to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America men’s track and field/cross country team, becoming the second Lobo under Matt Henry to earn Academic All-America honors…Hemingway was also awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship – one of just 13 offered to Division I men’s athletes during the spring.
INDOOR SEASON REVIEW
The 2006 indoor season proved to be one of the most memorable in recent UNM track and field history. The Albuquerque Convention Center quickly earned a reputation as America’s best new indoor venue and the Lobos thrived in their new world-class facility. The following are some of the superlatives from the winter of `06:
New Mexico qualified two athletes (pole vaulters Robert Caldwell and Derek Mackel) to the NCAA Indoor Championship meet for the first time since 1990…UNM had two national qualifiers in the same event for the first time indoors…junior Robert Caldwell became the second Lobo to earn All-America honors in the pole vault, tying for eighth (17-06.50)…Caldwell (Socorro) was the second New Mexican in the past two years to earn All-America honors indoors, joining Santa Fe native Matt Gonzales (5,000m).
The UNM men (5th – 67 pts.) and women (5th – 57 pts.) matched their highest finish at the MWC Indoor Championships…the teams had their best combined performance (127 pts.) in 15 years of joint appearances at the indoor conference championship meets…the New Mexico men defeated Wyoming for the first time since it joined the MWC, despite losing 79 percent of their (53) points from the 2005 MWC indoor meet.
UNM athletes earned all-MWC honors 10 times, including a program-record six medals for the women…five school records fell during the season, including four on the women’s side…12 Henry Era (2001-06) event records were set as well.
SO LONG, SENIORS
UNM said good-bye to 14 seniors in 2006, including seven fifth-year competitors in Jamie Fishencord (throws), Jacquelyne Gallegos (distance), Jaime Hall (mid-distance), Cameron Clarke (mid-distance), Frank Hemingway (mid-distance), Matt Keeran (javelin) and Derek Mackel (pole vault). The 2006 senior class included two NCAA Championships qualifiers, six NCAA regional qualifiers, one conference champion, five all-MWC honorees, two school record holders and an Academic All-American.
The 2006 University of New Mexico seniors: Kimilia Davis (Bellaire, Texas), Jamie Fishencord (Littleton, Colo.), Jacquelyne Gallegos (Pojoaque, N.M.), Jaime Hall (Albuquerque, N.M.), Jessica McIntyre (Farmington, N.M.), Jon-Paul Barabe (Albuquerque, N.M.), Jason Bigott (Los Alamos, N.M.), Aaron Brack (Austin, Texas), Cameron Clarke (Albuquerque, N.M.), Frank Hemingway (Las Cruces, N.M.), Matt Keeran (Albuquerque, N.M.), Brenton Laws (Albuquerque, N.M.), Derek Mackel (Albuquerque, N.M.), Jerrell Malone (Rowlett, Texas).
THESE ARE NEW MEXICO’S LOBOS
Over the past six years UNM head coach Matt Henry has worked to rebuild the track and field program primarily using in-state and in-city athletes. Few D-I athletics programs in the state of New Mexico can match Lobo track and field when it comes to being a truly New Mexican product.Zia pride is what fuels the program, coaches and athletes alike.
The 2006 roster featured 75 in-state products, including 38 from the Duke City. Thirty-one men and women were former New Mexico high school track & field champions.
Ten of the Lobos’ 11 NCAA regional qualifiers graduated from New Mexico high schools, including all four point-scorers at the elite Midwest Regional Championships meet. Both NCAA Championships qualifiers, Derek Mackel (Albuquerque) and Robert Caldwell (Socorro), also hail from The Land of Enchantment.
The New Mexico connection is just as strong with the coaching staff as Matt Henry (Albuquerque), Mark Henry (Albuquerque), Scott Steffan (Aztec, N.M.), Keren Bentzur (Israel) and Matt Kraft (Albuquerque) all competed at and graduated from the University of New Mexico.
More and more, the elite athletes in the state are choosing to stay home at New Mexico, even declining offers from big name out-of-state schools with greater financial resources.
The best prep sprinters in the state this year, Albuquerque Cibola’s Tressi Richardson and Albuquerque Highland’s Jerrell Miller, will both attend UNM in the fall of 2006. Richardson picked New Mexico over North Carolina and Oklahoma, while Miller signed with the Lobo football team and also intends to run track during the spring. Miller’s Highland teammate Kelly McCabe (4-time 5A state champion) also signed with the Lobos this spring.
Former Highland javelin star Anthony Fairbanks signed last year, as did Albuquerque JournalFemale Athlete of the Year Sandy Fortner (Fort Sumner). Two years ago, the Henry’s also landed the best female sprinter in the state in Carrizozo’s Ariel Bur, while La Cueva’s Jarrin Solomon passed up an offer to play soccer at North Carolina to stay home and sprint for UNM.
The New Mexico connection is just as strong with the coaching staff as Matt Henry (Albuquerque), Mark Henry (Albuquerque), Scott Steffan (Aztec, N.M.), Keren Bentzur (Israel) and Matt Kraft (Albuquerque) all competed at and graduated from the University of New Mexico.
NEW MEXICO POLE VAULTING
Sixth-year assistant coach Scott Steffan has established one of the premier men’s and women’s pole vaulting programs in the nation at New Mexico. A former teammate of three-time All-American and UNM record holder Simon Arkell, Steffan rebuilt the vault crew from the ground up since returning to his alma mater.
Under Steffan’s watch, three New Mexico pole vaulters have competed at the NCAA Championships and UNM has had at least three vaulters qualify for the NCAA Regional meet each of the past four years. The Lobos have also earned all-MWC honors in the event eight times since 2003. Since 2002, UNM has boasted seven 16-foot vaulters on the men’s side, including three that have cleared 17 feet and one over the 18-foot mark. Five women have surpassed the 12 foot mark, including two over 13 feet. Four have also been nationally ranked in the event by Trackwire.com
Led by NCAA Championship qualifiers Derek Mackel and Robert Caldwell, the Lobo vaulters have enjoyed perhaps their best year in 2006. Caldwell earned All-America honors with his eighth place finish at the NCAA Indoor meet, while Mackel set the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship record with a winning mark of 18-01.00. Mackel (18-01.00 outdoors),. Caldwell (17-07.25 indoors) and women’s outdoor record holder Whitney Johnson (13-01.50 indoors) highlighted several career performances for New Mexico’s vaulters in `06. Senior Zach Bingham (16-00.00 indoors), sophomore Zach Graham (16-02.75 indoors), junior Nicole Huyge (12-00.75 indoors) and junior Stefany Setliff (11-09.75 outdoors), a first-year vaulter, also recorded their career bests during the year.
RECORD BURR-EAKER
It took just two years for sophomore Ariel Burr to cement herself as the greatest quarter-miler in UNM women’s history. After breaking the school’s 16-year-old indoor record in February, Burr shattered her own outdoor record in the 400 by 1.07 seconds during the spring. The 5-4 Burr was the Mountain West Conference indoor and outdoor runner-up in the event and surpassed the NCAA regional qualifying standard four times during the spring. She won two of her four 400-meter races (finals only) during the spring, along with a 200m title at UC-San Diego.
One of 14 graduates in the class of 2004 at tiny Carrizozo High School (town population 1,043) in southeast New Mexico, Burr dominated the class 1A competition throughout her prep career, capturing 14 individual gold medals and an additional four relay titles in state track meet appearances. She was the top 100 and 400-meter runner in any class as a senior.
STADIUM RENOVATIONS
The 21-year-old Great Friends of UNM Track Stadium began a two-part renovation and expansion project during the 2005-06 season. The first step was to expand the east side of the facility to allow the long jump, triple jump, pole vault and shot put all to be contested in the same area within the stadium.
Two new long jump runways/pits and two triple jump runways/pits have been installed, along with a new pole vault runway, all running north and south to minimize the effect of the notorious New Mexico winds during the spring. A new shot put ring has also been put down on the east side, moving the event from the adjacent practice fields, back into the stadium. A wall was constructed to enclose the east side of the stadium and plans are also in the works to place bleachers on the east side to give spectators a up-close view of the field events.
The second phase of the athlete and fan-friendly stadium renovations began in early June when the original track surface was removed to prepare for the resurfacing of the oval. The new surface is expected to be ready for training in September.
“This project is a real positive for both our athletes and fans at our home meets,” UNM head coach Matt Henry said. “We’re going to have a lot more room to accommodate more athletes in the field events and an outstanding new track surface, which we think will help us attract some top teams to compete in Albuquerque.”
Originally a track-only facility when it was constructed in 1985, the infield of the G.F.O. UNM Track Stadium was modified in 1996 to accommodate the Lobo men’s and women’s soccer field. The addition of the soccer field squeezed the shot put rings and jumping runways into the south end of the oval. In order to alleviate the congestion in the area, Henry and his staff eventually moved the shot, discus and hammer cages outside of the stadium to the practice fields. Due to safety concerns, the hammer and discus events will continue to be held at the practice field.
AMERICA’S BEST NEW INDOOR TRACK & FIELD FACILITY
The Albuquerque Convention Center earned a well-deserved reputation in 2006 as the best new indoor track and field facility in America. The City of Albuquerque and the University of New Mexico hosted eight meets in downtown Albuquerque, including the Mountain West Conference Championships.
Fourteen top-25 men’s and women’s teams, 56 nationally ranked athletes and seven of the nation’s top 4x400m relay teams competed in Albuquerque during the regular season. Six of those individuals and two relay teams went on to win gold medals at the NCAA Indoor Championship meet. On the season, 14 NCAA automatic qualifying marks and 108 provisional qualifying marks were recorded in the Convention Center, including two of the top marks in Division I in 2006. Texas’ Trey Hardee led the way, setting a collegiate record of 6,208 points in the heptathlon during the Zia Classic Multis competition (Jan. 26-27).
LOBO TRACK & FIELD ALUMNI CLUB
Championship track and field programs are not built overnight. They are constructed gradually, built upon a strong foundation of pride, tradition and a commitment to excellence. The University of New Mexico track and field program has built its legacy with the same championship formula.
Since 1930, New Mexico athletes have earned All-America honors 69 times, won 11 NCAA Championship events and claimed 197 conference events. Perhaps the most exceptional group of athletes ever to compete in any sport at UNM were on legendary coach Hugh Hackett’s track and field teams of the 1960s.
A large group of Lobo legends from that era, including coach Hackett and former national champions Adolph Plummer and Art Baxter, reunited in Albuquerque on Jan. 20 for a memorable evening spent sharing memories and reaffirming a commitment to New Mexico track and field excellence. That night, reunion organizer Rene Matison, a two-time All-American at UNM, announced the founding of the Lobo Track and Field Alumni Club.
The Alumni Club seeks to unite all the men and women from the 1960s, `70s, `80s, `90s and even the 2000s who have been part of New Mexico’s proud track and field history. Its goals include celebrating and preserving the program’s proud tradition while helping current and future generations of Lobo track and field athletes establish a championship legacy of their own through facility and equipment upgrades and donations to the track and field scholarship fund.
For more information on the Lobo Track and Field Alumni Club, contact Rene Matison via email at rpmatison@msn.com.