WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. —Out at the JDL Fast Track in North Carolina, the Lobos’ goal was to qualify to the NCAA Championships.
After a sensational four legs and 4,000 meters, they did just that.
The University of New Mexico’s distance medley relay team of Sophie Connor, Holly Van Grinsven, Emily Hosker-Thornhill and Calli Thackery ran a superb time of 11 minutes, 8.95 seconds at the UCS Invitational on Saturday.
That time, which is officially converted down to 11:01.86 due to track size, ranks seventh in the NCAA and all but guarantees the quartet a spot at the NCAA Championships next month in Birmingham, Ala.
The top 12 relay teams in both the DMR and 4×400 meter relay advance to the national meet.
“Great run for the women,” New Mexico head coach Joe Franklin said. “They flew all the way across the country with one purpose: to qualify the relay for the NCAA Championships. They did that in remarkable fashion.”
It’s likely the second straight NCAA berth for the Lobos in the DMR, after UNM ran a school-record time of 11:01.44 at the Alex Wilson Invitational last February.
This season, the Lobos relied on three of the same runners — Connor, Van Grinsven and Thackery — from last year’s qualifying squad, while adding Hosker-Thornhill for the graduated Sammy Silva.
But personnel changes notwithstanding, the relay achieved its goal, running to the second-best time in UNM history and the third-best time in Mountain West history.
Connor, who last week qualified to the NCAAs individually in the mile, continued her torrid streak, taking the Lobos’ out in front through the opening 1,200-meter leg.
She clocked a split time of 3:24.34, which was over two seconds faster than the second-place team, Clemson.
Connor handed off to Van Grinsven, who toured the JDL Fast Track’s flat 200-meter rack twice to the tune of a 55.89 split for the 400-meter leg.
The Lobos still held a narrow lead over Clemson through the first two legs, coming through 1600 meters at 4:20.24 to the Tiger’s 4:20.96.
Hosker-Thornhill took the baton for the 800-meter leg, running a split of 2:11.59 before handing off to Thackery. With just the 1600-meter leg remaining, the Lobos were right behind Clemson and virtually tied with Duke.
However, Thackery, a NCAA qualifier in the 3000, guaranteed New Mexico its NCAA berth with a stellar anchor leg of 4:37.11, the best in the race.
Overall, the Lobos finished second to Clemson, which ran 11:07.51 (officially converted to 11:00.44).
New Mexico also had two other athletes competing at the UCS Invitational, with Zoe Howell and Elmar Engholm.
Howell, the alternate for the DMR team, finished second in the women’s 600-meter run with a time of 1:35.45, while Engholm took third place in the men’s mile with a time of 4:09.49.
New Mexico is back in action February 26-27, as the Lobos turn their attention to defending their conference titles when they host the Mountain West Indoor Championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center.