ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After this weekend, the New Mexico records books have been turned inside out and upside down. Six school records will do that.
The University of New Mexico track and field team exploded for six marks that either tied or set new program records as the Lobos shined at the largest meet in Albuquerque Convention Center history in terms of teams and entrants.
Ridge Jones (60- and 200-meter sprints), Sammy Silva (mile run), Zoe Howell (600), Aasha Marler (long jump) and Django Lovett (high jump) all set new UNM standards during the two-day meet, propelling the Lobos into the upcoming Mountain West Championships.
“We can on and on about the individuals performances,” New Mexico head coach Joe Franklin said. “… It was a unbelievable competition that’s going to prepare us well for the conference championships.”
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| Django Lovett |
With the MW Championships in two weeks at the Albuquerque Convention Center, the Lobos were aiming to register some good marks before the battle to defend their indoor titles began.
And with six school records and a handful of NCAA hopefuls, New Mexico did just that.
Ridge Jones was one of many highlights for the Lobos, as he broke both New Mexico records in the short sprints.
On Friday, he clocked a time in the 200 of 21.36 seconds (which converts to 21.43 for altitude), which eclipsed Larry Davis’ 14-year old record of 21.44. His time was good for seventh in a large and competitive field.
The junior followed that up by breaking a tie for the school record in the 60, running a time of 6.65 to place second at the meet. He was tied with former Lobo and current USC Trojan Beejay Lee at 6.69, and now owns the title outright.
Sammy Silva also nabbed her own school record in the mile, emphatically dropping a time of 4:39.57 (which converts to 4:33.48) to take the distinction from former All-American Josephine Moultrie.
Her time, which won the event, tentatively puts Silva in position to advance to the NCAA Championships next month in Fayetteville, Ark. The top 16 individual athletes (and the top 12 relay teams) in the nation advance to the national meet.
From Friday, the Lobos added three other marks that either tied or set school records.
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| Aasha Marler |
Django Lovett was the first, clearing 7 feet, 3 inches in the high jump to tie Ivan Hella’s mark set all the way back in 1992. He won the event and put himself in contention to advance to the NCAA Championships in a month.
Zoe Howell also claimed her own top spot in the 600, translating a time of 1:32.90 to break teammate Sophie Connor’s record of 1:33.06.
Marler added her own school record, as she surpassed her own mark in the long jump by a centimeter. Her leap of 20-5 ¼ (6.23 meters) just edged her mark of 20-5 (6.22) set last year when she won the Mountain West indoor title. She placed four overall.
But, beyond the six school records, the Lobos produced strong results across the board.
Elmar Engholm barely missed a school record in the men’s mile, winning the event in 4:03.25 (which converts to 3:57.96). However, like Silva, he put himself in position to qualify to the NCAAs.
Also in the mile, Graham Thomas notched a personal record of 4:10.31 to place fourth, while Ross Matheson finish seventh in 4:19.22. Tamara Armoush (time of 4:52.02) ran to sixth place in school history for the women, followed by Connor (4:57.95) in fifth place at the meet.
From Friday’s mile, Nicola Hood claimed a PR of 5:06.09.
The field events also produced some superb marks for the Lobos, including Annie Stirling vying with the school record in the pole vault.
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| Zoe Howell |
Stirling cleared 13-2 ¼, equalling her personal record which is the third-best in UNM history, and put together three attempts at 13-8 ½, which, had she have cleared it, would have been a new record. She finished tied for ninth.
Jannell Hadnot took third in the triple jump with a season-best leap of 42 ¾, while Marler posted a sixth-place leap of 41-2 ¼.
For the men’s field athletes, Warrick Campbell notched a season-best of 51-5 in the triple jump, while Allan Hamilton (24-7 ¼) and Yannick Roggatz (24-4 ¼) were sixth and seventh, respectively, in the long jump.
On the track, Patrick Zacharias and Zac Castillo went 1-2 in the 3000, as Zacharias finished in 8:28.25 and Castillo notched a personal record at 8:29.86 .
Charles Lewis claimed fourth (time of 48.66) and Cheyne Dorsey placed 10th and set a new PR (49.23) in the unseeded 400, while Chris Graham posted his own PR (seventh place, 1:57.60) and Matt Bergin placed 10th (1:59.84) in the 800.
The 4×400 meter relay team of Mustafa Mudada, Dorsey, Lewis and Mark Haywood was fifth in 3:13.49.
Holly Van Grinsven ran to eighth place in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.37, and the women’s 4×400 squad took seventh in 3:45.30.
The Lobos are almost done for their regular season, with just a couple of distance runners in Seattle left to finish on Saturday. New Mexico is off next week as it prepares to host the Mountain West Indoor Championships Feb. 26-28 at the Albuquerque Convention Center.