Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships — Albuquerque, N.M.
When: Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 26-28, 2014
Where: Albuquerque Convention Center
Live Results: LiveRunningResults.com
The Lobos did something last year that they had never done before when they swept the indoor conference titles.
Now, they get a chance to do it again.
The University of New Mexico’s track and field team is eyeing a repeat as it hosts the 2015 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships this Thursday through Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
The Lobos, hosting the conference championships for the first time since 2012, are primed to defend their crowns, but will have to contend with a conference looking to knock New Mexico off its perch atop the Mountain West.
“[The goal is to] get your shot at a chance to win two championships,” Lobo head coach Joe Franklin said. “That’s what you want. That’s what you want in any sport.”
And the Lobos will get their shots as they look to translate two-straight men’s titles and the first-ever women’s title into another sweep.
But UNM will probably have to take some shots, too.
Like virtually every conference meet this decade, there’s no clear-cut favorites among the 17 teams (six men, 11 women) vying for the team titles. There are, however, teams looking to usurp UNM’s place.
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| Calli Thackery |
The No. 25 New Mexico women lead the conference in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association national rankings, while the No. 30 New Mexico men lead on their side.
And while that portends a good weekend for the host Lobos, Franklin knows it will be a challenge.
“The men, it’s going to be a difficult task with Colorado State,” Franklin said, “… On the women’s side, with San Diego State and Colorado State, it’ll be very close.”
The Colorado State men, while ranked 85th nationally, lead the Mountain West in the USTFCCCA’s Mountain Region rankings. The Rams are third in that index, ahead of Utah State (fourth), New Mexico (fifth) and Air Force (sixth).
The Lobo women hold the lead in their regional index, coming in at second in the Mountain Region, ahead of Colorado State (third), Utah State (eighth) and Wyoming (10th). In the West Region, San Diego State is 10th, UNLV is 11th and Boise State is 13th.
However, Franklin’s attention is focused more on his teams than the rankings: “If we just go out and do what we do, we have a shot to step up to the plate.”
The women will look to their balance across the team in their pursuit of their second straight — and just second ever — conference title.
Sammy Silva leads the Mountain West in the 800-meter run and the mile, and aims to pace New Mexico’s vaunted distance crew. She will be joined by Calli Thackery, Sophie Connor, Alice Wright, Tamara Armoush, Heleene Tambet, Nicole Roberts, Nicola Hood, Anna Burton and Emily Hosker-Thornhill.
The group, which helped power UNM last year, is key to the Lobos’ chances of repeating, especially considering those runners will compete in events ranging from the 800-meter run to the 5000.
It was the same expectation for the men’s harriers last year, and their distance aces were undoubtedly one of the biggest factors in their 2014 title.
“I see a lot of similarities with the women’s team this year to the men’s team last year,” Franklin said.
New Mexico will also look to receive strong contributions in the horizontal jumps from Aasha Marler (the 2014 indoor long jump champ), Jannell Hadnot and Casey Dowling.
The pole vault is another potential source of points, with Annie Stirling and Katherine Whiting, and the multi events, with Samantha Bowe, Kyra Mohns and Dowling, can also produce points on the opening day of the meet.
Marler is also a frontrunner for the Lobos’ sprint squad, which features Brittany Myricks, Peri Moran and Erynn Caldwell in short sprints and Holly Van Grinsven, Haley Sanner, Lucretia Vigil, Kelsi Lewis, Ariel Burch and Faith Cobb across 400 meters.
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| Ridge Jones |
Van Grinsven will also compete in her speciality, the 60 hurdles, while Zoe Howell will help New Mexico’s relays while also running the 800.
On the men’s side, the Lobos will rely on their distance runners as they did last year, but can receive significant contributions from virtually every event area.
Adam Bitchell and Elmar Engholm are the headliners for New Mexico’s distance corps, and they both lead the MW in three events (Bitchell in the 3000 and the 5000, Engholm in the mile).
But the rest of UNM’s runners, including Patrick Zacharias, Graham Thomas, Ross Matheson, Zac Castillo and Matt Bergin, will be needed to pick up points throughout all of the distance events.
The Lobos’ jumpers are also in position to generate key points with three conference leaders. Allan Hamilton leads the MW in the long jump, while Warrick Campbell leaps in the triple jump and Django Lovett leads in the high jump. Both horizontal jumpers will double, too, in an attempt to drum up more points.
Yannick Roggatz and Markus Miller can also contribute in the jumps, while Daniel Lam takes aim in the pole vault and the heptathlon.
Hamilton is also a key player for New Mexico’s sprinters, but Ridge Jones is the leading man as the school-record holder in both short sprints.
Jones will be joined by Scott Bajere and Carlos Wiggins in the short sprints, while Charles Lewis leads Mustafa Mudada, Cheyne Dorsey, Mark Haywood and Dominic Davis in the 400 and the relays.
The meet starts Thursday with the women’s pentathlon at 11 a.m. MT, and continues Friday with field events at 12:30 p.m. and track events at 1:30 p.m. Saturday’s activities start at 10 a.m. in the field and at noon on the track, with the awards ceremony slated for about 3 p.m.
Tickets for the MW Championships are $8 for adults and $4 for youth and students and can be purchased at UNMTicket.com or in person at the main entrance of the Convention Center.
Live results are located at LiveRunningResults.com, and daily recaps will be posted at GoLobos.com.
Follow New Mexico track & field on Twitter at @Lobo_track