EUGENE, Ore. — Three-for-three.
New Mexico senior Peter Callahan earned All-American status in the men’s 1,500-meter run on Friday to give the Lobo track and field team three such honors through three days of the 2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
After Logan Pflibsen on Wednesday and Alice Wright yesterday, Callahan captured the Lobos’ third All-American honor of the championships via his fourth-place time of 3 minutes, 55.22 seconds in the 1,500 at Hayward Field.
“Peter wanted to get out and get in a good position,” Lobo head coach Joe Franklin said. “It was tactically the best race he has run while at the University of New Mexico. He put all his effort into that race and paid off with a fantastic result.”
It’s the second-straight year the Evanston, Ill., product has placed fourth and earned All-American honors in the event.
The top eight finishers in each event earn All-American honors.
After opening the race in the lead, Callahan paced the pack of 13 finalists through the first three laps of the race. Dictating a relatively slow tempo over the course of the race, he remained the frontrunner until the final 200 meters, relinquishing his lead as all the runners began their final kicks on the homestraight.
However, he seized a top-four finish for the second year a row, making his just the third New Mexico track athlete in program history to accomplish that.
Before Callahan, the last time a Lobo placed higher in a track event at an NCAA Outdoor Championship was 2009, when Lee Emanuel placed third in the 1,500.
Callahan is also the ninth New Mexico athlete to capture All-American honors in the same event in back-to-back years.
Overall, three Lobos have earned All-American honors so far during the four-day championships. It’s the first time since 2009, that New Mexico has claimed more than two such accolades. The Lobo received a program-best five All-American plaudits that year.
New Mexico wraps up the championships tomorrow as Calli Thackery run the finals of the women’s 5,000 at 5 p.m. MT.