AZUSA, Calif. – Between the weather and the results, the Lobos’ trip to Southern California was nothing short of sensational.
Behind a strong all-around performance, the University of New Mexico track & field team posted a number of personal records and all-time marks as it soaked up the sun Thursday and Friday at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
The Lobos were paced by 12 top-three finishes at the Cougar Athletic Stadium in Azusa as their distance runners, jumpers and combined events athletes shined against a talented and deep field in picture-perfect conditions.
“As a whole, that’s the best trip to California we’ve ever had,” head coach Joe Franklin said, referring to the team’s annual mid-April trip to SoCal. “It’s just going to get better and better. We’ve put ourselves in a good position.”
Now that the outdoor season is rounding toward its midpoint, the Lobos have begun to compile their credentials for the postseason.
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| Allan Hamilton | |
With the Mountain West Championships in less than a month and the first round of the NCAA Championships two weeks later, New Mexico has started to put athletes in position to make an impact in the postseason.
The top 48 athletes in each event in the NCAA’s West Region advance to the NCAA West Preliminary Championship, which is the qualifying meet for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.
And underneath a brilliant California sky in quality track conditions, the Lobos made the most of this weekend’s trip.
New Mexico’s jumpers sizzled during Friday’s action, with a handful of Lobos earning top marks.
Markus Miller captured the win in the men’s high jump via a personal-record clearance of 6 feet, 10 ¾ inches. He moves into a tie for 10th all-time in UNM history and was one of six UNM field event athletes to place top three in their event.
Joining Miller were Sam Trigg and Allan Hamilton on the men’s side, as Trigg leaped a season-best 50-4 ¾ to win the triple jump and Hamilton popped a lifetime best in the long jump for second place collegiately.
For Hamilton, his mark of 25-10 ¼ was a four-inch improvement on his previous PR and makes him the fourth-best jumper in New Mexico history. He unofficially climbs to fifth in the NCAA with his mark.
On the women’s side, Aasha Marler claimed the long jump with a leap of 19-8 3/4, while Jannell Hadnot took second in the triple jump with a mark of 42-9 ¾.
Hadnot moves into a tie with Marler for third all-time at UNM and for seventh in the NCAA in 2016.
Additionally, Katherine Whiting cleared 12-4 in the pole vault to tie for third at the meet, while Annie Stirling scaled 11-10 to take 10th place. Whiting is now ninth all-time at UNM in the vault.
New Mexico’s multi-event athletes also posted tremendous performances on Thursday in their first combined events of the season.
Samantha Bowe had a banner day in the heptathlon, posting personal records in six of the seven events to finish with a final total of 5349 points. A 235-point PR, Bowe strengthened her hold on fourth in UNM history and climbs to 20th in the NCAA prior to this weekend.
Kyra Mohns also set a new PR, totaling 4923 points for 19th place. She ranks sixth in all-time at New Mexico.
For the men, Daniel Lam registered new PRs in nine of the 10 events in the decathlon, finishing with a new personal best of 7079 points for third place. His performance moves him to seventh in UNM history and 22nd in the NCAA.
But the field events weren’t the only disciplines to produce superb performances, as the track yielded a number of remarkable results.
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| Alice Wright | |
The women’s 1500-meter run featured three new additions to the New Mexico record books. Calli Thackery’s event-winning time of 4 minutes, 14.99 seconds merited second all-time at UNM, while Sophie Connor (second, 4:16.40) moved to third all-time and Courtney Frerichs (sixth, 4:18.92) moved to sixth all-time.
The threesome ranks 2-6-18 in the NCAA prior to this week’s action.
Emily Hosker-Thornhill just missed an all-time mark of her own, finishing 10th in the meet with a time of 4:21.16 that ranks 11th in UNM history.
The men’s metric mile was also productive, as Josh Kerr outkicked his competition en route to a heat-winning time of 3:42.09. Behind his new PR, Kerr moves to sixth in the NCAA.
Elmar Engholm (sixth, 3:42.65) and Adam Cotton (12th, 3:44.02) also rose in the rankings, moving to 13th and 24th, respectively.
Thursday also saw some strong marks in the 5000, as Alice Wright won the women’s 5K in a meet-record time of 16:01.80 and Natasha Bernal took fifth in 16:27.45.
The Lobos’ sprinters also tallied some strong results, with the women’s relays really soaring.
UNM’s 4×400 meter relay team of Haley Sanner, Zoe Howell, Larimar Rodriguez and Holly Van Grinsven combined for a runner-up time of 3:45.11 that ranks fifth in New Mexico history. It’s the fastest time by the Lobos since 2013.
The team’s 4×100 team also dazzled as Sanner, Van Grinsven, Hadnot and Marler ran 46.77 for fourth place.
Van Grinsven also ran a season-best time of 13.70 in the 100 hurdles for sixth place.
The men’s sprinters received solid marks from Mark Haywood in the 400 (10th, 48.24) and Ridge Jones and Carlos Salcido in the 200 (season bests of 21.70 and 21.81, respectively).
The Lobos will head back to California next weekend as they compete at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational next Friday-Saturday in Berkeley, Calif.