New Mexico Classic & Multis — Albuquerque, N.M.
When: Friday-Saturday, Feb. 5-6, 2016
Where: Albuquerque Convention Center
Live Results: LiveRunningResults.com
Meet Notes | Heat Sheets | Schedule | Live Results
This week features more nationally ranked teams, more world-class athletes and, for the Lobos, more opportunities to improve.
The University of New Mexico’s track & field team is looking for progress and experience in the sprints and jumps as it hosts another exceptional field of competition at the New Mexico Classic & Multis this Friday and Saturday.
The Lobos, who are in between two of their more competitive meets of the season, welcome another strong field to the Albuquerque Convention Center for the third of four straight home meets.
With the Mountain West Indoor Championships now just three weeks away, New Mexico is looking to gear up for another run at the titles, having swept the men’s and women’s championships each of the last two years.
This weekend will provide ample opportunities for the Lobos to gain experience. While the distance runners will take a week to recover after the New Mexico Team Invitational last Saturday, the Lobos’ sprinters and jumpers will have their chances to gain experience.
So far during the first two weeks of the season, the men’s and women’s jumps have produced some nationally relevant marks, and the sprints have shown flashes.
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| Amaris Blount |
And against a field that includes five top-25 men’s teams and four top-25 women’s team, the hope among the Lobo coaches is that elevated competition will spur elevated results.
Last week at the competitive and team-scored New Mexico Team Invite, Jannell Hadnot certainly shined, jumping to the seventh-best mark in the NCAA in triple jump. She’ll again be entered in her speciality, headlining UNM’s contingent for this weekend.
The Lobos’ field event group includes Casey Dowling in the long jump and the duo of Amaris Blount and Allison Mady in the throws. Blount has risen to No. 2 all-time at UNM in the weight throw, and is on the cusp of contending for a scoring mark at the MW meet.
Also competing in the field are the pole vault quintet of Annie Stirling, Katherine Whiting, Alissa Soderberg, Anna Duvall and Morgan Smith.
On the track, the Lobo women will look to their sprinters, including Holly Van Grinsven, who is entered in the 60-meter hurdles and 400-meter dash. The 2015 MW champ in the indoor quartermile, Van Grinsven gets her first shot at the two-lap race this season.
Haley Sanner, Zoe Howell, Larimar Rodriguez, Faith Cobb and Christina Clark also all entered in the 400, as well, with the group of Abigail Smith, Erynn Caldwell, Peri Moran and Samantha Woodman entered in the 60 and 200.
Reiley Kelly rounds out the New Mexico women competing, as she is slated to run the mile.
For the men, the long jump duo of Yannick Roggatz and Allan Hamilton are taking aim, as both seek improvements on their season bests.
Both are ranked top 30 in the NCAA in the event (and 1-2 in the MW, respectively), and increases at this meet could translate to NCAA berth next month.
The same could be said of the Lobos’ sprinters, including Ridge Jones. Jones, an NCAA qualifier in the 60 last year, needs some strong runs for a chance to repeat. He’ll be joined by Scott Bajere, Carlos Wiggins, Parker Jones and William Carter in the short sprints.
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| Ridge Jones |
Additionally, Mark Haywood, Cheyne Dorsey, Mustafa Mudada, Chris Kline and Isaac Gonzales will run the 400, with the first four teaming up to run the Lobos’ 4×400 meter relay team.
Roggatz and Parker Jones are also slated to run the 60 hurdles, while Adam Cotton, Adam Monroe and Chris Graham run the 800.
Tyler Valdez (mile) and Julian Florez (3000) fill out the men’s competition roster on the track, and Joe Kloeppel (high jump) and Jason Atencio (pole vault) round out the men’s field events roster.
The Lobos will also get a chance, as they have in their first two meets, of facing superb teams at home.
On the men’s side, No. 3 Texas, No. 5 LSU, No. 14 Alabama, No. 15 Texas Tech and No. 17 USC are all sending athletes to Albuquerque this weekend, while the women’s side features No. 5 Texas, No. 7 USC, No. 18 LSU and No. 23 Alabama.
The top-ranked junior college women’s team, New Mexico Junior College, is also scheduled to compete at the Convention Center.
Currently, the Lobo women are ranked 35th in the NCAA.
The meet starts Friday morning with the men’s heptathlon at 10:15 a.m. MT, with the rest of the meet scheduled to start at 4 p.m. On Saturday, the men’s heptathlon will start at 7:15 a.m., while the field events kick off a 10 a.m. and track events at 10:45 a.m.
Check liverunningresults.com throughout the meet for live results and GoLobos.com after the meet Saturday for a full recap.