Stanford Invitational — Stanford, Calif.
When: Friday-Saturday, April 3-4
Where: Cobb Track and Angell Field in Stanford, Calif.
Live Results: RecordTiming.com
To open the outdoor season, the Lobos are going where the races have postseason implications.
A handful of the University of New Mexico track and field team’s distance runners are heading to the nationally prestigious Stanford Invitational this weekend with an eye on gearing up for the postseason.
Since Stanford’s two home meets — the Stanford Invitational this Friday and Saturday and the Payton Jordan Invitational in May — are some of the best for distance races, four of the Lobos’ harriers are looking to open the season and register some strong times.
This meet, while not always the site of postseason-qualifying marks, has witnessed strong debuts for some of head coach Joe Franklin’s best distance runners.
At this meet last year, the Lobos registered two times that advanced to to the NCAA West Preliminary Championship, which is the qualifying meet for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.
And with the Lobos heading to Stanford’s Cobb Track and Angell Field, this weekend could yield some times that end up ranked in the requisite top 48 in the NCAA’s West Region.
The competition, featuring over 3,200 athletes and over 100 four-year schools, may also help facilitate strong performances for UNM.
But, like in Albuquerque, where New Mexico is hosting the Don Kirby Tailwind Invitational, getting back onto the track is key as the Lobos embark on their journey back to the postseason.
Todd Wakefield is the lone Lobo man competing at Stanford. The Washington State transfer will take aim in the 1500-meter run, where he owns a personal record of 3 minutes, 41.83 seconds.
The Pac-12 runner up in the metric mile two years ago, Wakefield contributed on the grass during the Lobos cross-country postseason and has already opened this season with a 1:51.96 in the 800 at Arizona State.
For the women, Amber Zimmerman is running the 1500. She comes in with a personal record of 4:23.43 that she ran last year at the Payton Jordan Invitational. She qualified to the NCAA West Preliminaries with that time, which she almost matched at that meet.
Alice Wright and Heleene Tambet are also running for the Lobos women, where they’ll compete in the longest track race, the 10,000.
Wright, competing for the first time outdoors for UNM, has shined so far in 2014-15, earning All-American honors in cross country and a Mountain West title in the 3000 indoors.
Although she’s never ran a 10K — either at home in the United Kingdom or in the states — she’s run 16:05.62 over 5000 meters.
For Tambet, she has taken on the 10,000 as a Lobos, running a time of 35:05.56 last year at the Mt. SAC Relays. She led New Mexico in the event last year and is riding a strong 2014-15 season as she’s scored at the NCAA cross country meet and in both longer distance events at the MW indoor meet.
All of the Lobos are scheduled to compete Friday afternoon, starting with the 1500s at 7:25 p.m. MT and ending with the 10Ks at 9:58 p.m. MT. Check GoLobos.com late Friday for a full recap of the Lobos’ results.