New Mexico Team Invitational – Albuquerque, N.M.
When: Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016
Where: Albuquerque Convention Center
Live Results: LiveRunningResults.com
Meet Notes | Schedule/Heat Sheets | REVISED 60H/60 Heat Sheets | Live Results
It’s a relatively short one-day meet, but it won’t be lacking in fireworks.
The University of New Mexico’s track & field team is taking on a superb collection of talent, including five top-25 squads, as it hosts the New Mexico Team Invitational Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Air Force, California, Colorado State, Kansas State, Nebraska, Texas Tech, TCU, and Utah State will face off against the Lobos in the team-scored meet as UNM looks for continued progress in its second meet of 2016.
Kansas State, with its fourth-ranked women and 24th-ranked men, has both its teams ranked in the top-25 nationally by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, while the No. 10 TCU men, No. 13 Nebraska men and No. 15 Texas Tech men are all top-25.
Additionally, a number of schools tabbed as top-50 teams in the NCAA by the USTFCCCA, including the UNM women (40th) and men (50th), Air Force men (37th) and Texas Tech women (50th).
This meet is will also see the season debut of a number of Lobos squad as they look to finish high in the team standings.
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| Elmar Engholm |
Last week at the Cherry & Silver Invitational, New Mexico competed just a portion of its team in only certain events as it took to the recently resurfaced track at the Convention Center for the first time this year.
For the women, this distance group of Calli Thackery, Sophie Connor, Emily Hosker-Thornhill, Heleene Tambet and Lindsey Andrews will open their seasons.
Thackery qualified to the 2015 NCAA Championships in the 3,000-meter run and was an All-American on the UNM women’s NCAA champion cross country team.
On the men’s side, Elmar Engholm is running, while Harvard transfers Adam Cotton and Dan Milechman make their UNM track debuts.
In the short sprints, the men are running Ridge Jones, Scott Bajere, William Carter, Carlos Wiggins, Mustafa Mudada, Parker Jones and Isaac Gonzales.
Rounding out the men’s track events are Mark Haywood (400), Chris Kline and Cheyne Dorsey (600), and Yannick Roggatz, Ryan Chase and Beau Clafton (60 hurdles).
The women will run Peri Moran, Erynn Caldwell, Abigail Smith and Samantha Woodman in both short sprints, with Haley Sanner, Larimar Rodriguez and Faith Cobb in the quartermile and Zoe Howell in the 600. Entered in the 60 hurdles are Holly Van Grinsven and Kyra Mohns.
Out in the field events, reigning Mountain West men’s field athlete of the week Allan Hamilton will take on the long jump alongside Roggatz, Chase, Lam and Clafton, while the latter three also compete in the shot put.
The women’s pole vault will also compete, with Annie Stirling, Katherine Whiting, Alissa Söderberg, Anna Duvall and Morgan Smith entered.
Mohns (high jump, long jump) and Hadnot (long jump) are also slated to compete in the jumps, while throwers Amaris Blount and Allison Mady take aim in the weight throw and shot put.
The rest of the meet also features some exceptional talent, with 28 top-10 competitors between both the men’s and women’s fields.
Men’s track events to watch include: the men’s 200 with TCU’s Sam Watts (fifth in the NCAA), Nebraska’s Malcolm White (sixth) and Kansas State’s Terrell Smith (eighth); and the men’s 60 hurdles with Texas Tech’s Chris Caldwell (fourth) and Nebraska duo Antoine Lloyd (sixth) and Oladapo Akinmoladun (10th).
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| Jannell Hadnot |
The Lobos’ Engholm, a two-time NCAA qualifier in the mile, will also face a challenging field that features Colorado State’s Jefferson Abbey.
The men’s high jump has the K-State’s Miles Bearden (sixth) entered against TTU’s Trey Culver (sixth) and Nebraska’s Landon Bartel (eighth).
New Mexico’s Hamilton is the top-ranked athlete in the men’s long jump, coming in at 19th in the NCAA.
The women’s events to keep an eye on are the high jump and the long jump, as K-State’s Kimberly Williamson is ranked first in the high jump and Texas Tech’s Shanice Stewart is ranked eighth in the long jump.
UNM’s Hadnot (18th) will also have a tough test versus Tierra Williams (10th) from Nebraska.
The meet starts with the field events at 9 a.m., before the track events kick off at noon. Check liverunningresults.com throughout the meet for live results and GoLobos.com after the meet for a full recap.