After winning the 2015 NCAA women’s cross country title in November, the University of New Mexico’s track & field/cross country program looked unmatched.
And as everyone turns their attention from the grass to the track, the Lobo women will look to continue to push the pace.
Behind its stellar group of distance runners and talented athletes in a number of events, New Mexico women’s track & field is aiming for another successful season during the 2016 indoor campaign.
The Lobos, winners of two straight Mountain West indoor team titles, have designs on capturing a third, and will looked to its veteran depth to power them during the season, which starts next Friday, January 22 with the Cherry & Silver Invitational at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
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| Zoe Howell |
“The goals are to get better each day, progress and get to the end February healthy,” New Mexico head coach Joe Franklin said. “We have some very, very talented women.”
And that talent is readily apparent. Along with their accomplishments in cross country, the Lobos have a number of veteran and skilled athletes looking to make their mark indoors.
The first challenge is defending its run of MW indoor titles. New Mexico hosts the conference meet in February for the second straight year, and will have to contend with a number of challengers.
“The goal is always to win the conference,” Franklin said. “Colorado State is going to be very, very good. But the goal is do everything you can to get close to them.”
Beyond conference supremacy, UNM is also aiming to continue shining at the national championships. This year, the NCAA Indoor Championships are in Birmingham, Ala., on March 11-12.
“We have individuals that can make runs at the national championships,” Franklin said. “We have maybe five women individually and and relay team that can make it. So can we get people to Birmingham for the national championships?”
New Mexico has already had success at the national championships once this year, so more success indoors is certain possible.
SPRINTS, HURDLES & RELAYS
The short sprints are the more youthful events on the team, while the quartermilers are mostly seniors. But both groups will be counted on for points at the conference meet and and a potential NCAA qualifier.
Holly Van Grinsven, a 60-meter hurdler and 400-meter runner, has a shot to make the NCAAs in the hurdles, provided she can shave a few one-hundredths of a second off her personal record of 8.26 seconds.
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| Haley Sanner |
The 2015 Mountain West champion in the 400 and runner-up in the hurdles, she already holds the UNM record in the hurdles, and can become the first Lobo to make the NCAAs in the hurdles.
Van Grinsven, a senior, also teamed up with some classmates, Haley Sanner, Faith Cobb and Zoe Howell, to set the school record in the 4×400 relay last season. That quartet ran 3:43.45 last winter, and all four return for 2016.
Sanner also helps lead the Lobos’ quartermilers, and scored in the 400 both indoor and outdoors in 2014. Van Grinsven led UNM last year in the 400, running 54.36. Freshman Larimar Rodriguez has ran 56.61 in the 400 in high school.
In the short sprints, there’s a fair bit of youth, with two freshmen, a sophomore and a junior. Peri Moran, the junior of the group, ran 7.63 in the 60 last winter, while Erynn Caldwell, a sophomore ran 7.70 in the 60 and 11.94 in the 100 in 2015.
Newcomers AbigailSmith and Samantha Woodman can also contribute right away. Smith has run 11.57 in the 100, while Woodman finished her high school career with a time of 11.99 in the 100.
MIDDLE DISTANCE & DISTANCE
Coming off its spectacular cross country season, the Lobos’ talent in the middle distance and long distance events is unquestionable. How it translates indoors is the big question.
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| Calli Thackery |
“They’re just now getting going,” Franklin said. “It’s a long, long season and they went late during cross country at a very level. They’re just now starting to train and getting ready.”
As New Mexico’s distance runners begin the transition to indoors, they’ll have to deal with a couple of key distinctions between their unparalleled cross country team and the team that will run indoors.
Although Alice Wright (fifth in NCAA cross country), Rhona Auckland (13th) and Calli Thackery (19th) are primed for potential NCAA-caliber seasons, fellow cross country All-Americans Courtney Frerichs and Molly Renfer on the sidelines without indoor eligibility.
Wright, Auckland and Thackery still comprise one of the best distance trios in the conference (and, perhaps, even the nation), so their leadership will be key for the Lobos in their pursuit of conference and national success.
Add in the rest of New Mexico’s distance squad, and the talent is still there.
“The distance runners have done very well for us in the past,” Franklin said.
Sophie Connor ran on the Lobos’ school-record and NCAA-qualifying distance medley relay and is a threat in the 800, while Emily Hosker-Thornhill has run solid times in the 800 and the mile.
Anna Burton and Lindsey Andrews can also help out in the long distance events, with Albuquerque products Kendall Kelly and Reiley Kelly also ready to contribute.
JUMPS & MULTIS
The jumps have always been a strength under Franklin, and this group is no different. A seasoned group, the Lobos’ jumpers have the ability to make noise during the season.
In the last two years, the Lobos have posted seven All-Mountain West performances in the horizontal and vertical jumps, with three individual titles.
Jannell Hadnot, a junior, is one of the top triple jumpers in the conference, taking second indoors and winning outdoors in 2015. She’s leaped 42 feet, 3 inches (12.89 meters) indoors, and has even pushed that up past 12.90 outdoors.
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| Casey Dowling |
The long jumps features combined-event athlete Casey Dowling, who started off in the jumps before transition to the multis. She’s leaped 19-10 (6.06) before, and will be joined by Hadnot (PR of 19-3 /5.87).
The pole vault is another group that can contribute, with senior Annie Stirling (2014 MW runner-up, PR of 13-2 /4.02) leading a youthful group that includes Alissa Söderberg (PR of 13-9 /4.21) and Katherine Whiting (12-2 /3.72).
“The vault group is young but getting better with Annie returning,” Franklin said. “She’s scored lots of points.”
Kyra Mohns, a sophomore pentathlete, rounds out the Lobos’ field athletes. A scorer in the MW pentathlon and heptathlon as a freshman last year, she can help offset the absence of Samantha Bowe, who is also out of indoor eligibility.
Dowling is also primed to help in the multi events, and just missed scoring last year indoors.