CLOVIS, Calif. — The University of New Mexico track & field team continued its title bids Friday at the Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Clovis, Calif.
Allan Hamilton and Elmar Engholm both repeated as individual champions to help the Lobo men to third place, while the women are currently tied for third place after the third day of action.
Through Friday’s events, the New Mexico men have 56.5 team points, while the UNM women have 30 points.
With most of the day’s events holding just preliminary rounds heading into tomorrow’s finals, the Lobos put themselves in position to contend for top finishes via their performances Thursday.
Hamilton’s effort in the long jump was one of two individual titles for the New Mexico men, and gave the senior four straight MW long jump titles between indoors and outdoors.
His contributed 10 points by dint of his winning mark of 25 feet, ½ inch, which was right in front of third-place Sam Trigg (24-2 ¼) and seventh-place Yannick Roggatz (23-5 ¼).
Overall, the Lobos scored 18 team points in the event.
Engholm added his own title, winning his second straight and third overall championship in the 3000-meter steeplechase. He finished in 9 minutes, 7.30 seconds, with Graham Thomas coming in at second place with a time of 9:09.92.
Like the long jumpers, the men’s steeplechasers chipped in 18 team points.
The only other event to go final for the Lobo men was the high jump, where they added two more scoring efforts. Markus Miller claimed third (clearance of 6-8 ¾), with Joe Kloeppel tying for sixth (6-6 ¾).
On the women’s side, New Mexico was paced to its score by strong efforts out of the jumps and steeplechase.
Samantha Bowe and Aasha Marler both scored in the long jump, placing third and fourth, respectively. Bowe leaped a personal-record 20-1 ½, moving to eighth in school history, while Marler leaped 20 ¼.
Katherine Whiting also registered a scoring mark, clearing 11-10 ½ for eighth place in the pole vault.
The track events yielded only one scoring opportunity Friday, and the Lobos took advantage as Natasha Bernal ran to seventh in the steeplechase with a time of 10:36.33.
New Mexico already pocketed a title on Thursday when Calli Thackery won the 10000 in 34:30.24.
All of the other track events ran preliminaries Friday, with the Lobos advancing athletes to the finals in a number of races.
For the men, New Mexico qualified athletes in every event that held a prelim.
Ridge Jones posted two qualifying marks, placing eighth in the 100-meter dash (10.61) and ninth in the 200 (21.58). Scott Bajere also advanced in the 100, finishing ninth (10.61).
Mark Haywood (sixth, 48.53) and Isaac Gonzales (eighth, 49.48) both moved on in the 400, as did the duo of Josh Kerr (sixth, 1:52.89) and Adam Cotton (eighth, 1:53.23) in the 800.
The Lobos also have athletes in the finals in the 1500 (Kerr, Cotton and Engholm) and 400 hurdles (Cheyne Dorsey) as neither event held finals on Friday.
Additionally, the women advanced a handful of athletes through the prelims, including Holly Van Grinsven and her stellar performance in the 100 hurdles.
Van Grinsven clocked a fourth-place time of 13.48, setting a new PR that ranks second all-time at UNM.
Also moving on for the UNM women are Haley Sanner (eighth, 56.23) in the 400 and Sophie Connor (third, 2:08.19) and Zoe Howell (ninth, 2:12.87) in the 800.
The women also have two runners, Courtney Frerichs and Emily Hosker-Thornhill, in the finals of the 1500, which, like the men’s race, did not hold a final Friday.
Through day three, Colorado State holds a commanding lead with 89 points. San Diego State is second with 42 points, while Utah State and New Mexico are tied with 30 points.
Boise State (fifth, 16 points), UNLV (sixth, 15), Wyoming (seventh, 14), Nevada (eighth, 11), Fresno State (ninth, 10), Air Force (10th, nine) and San Jose State (11th, seven) round out the teams competing.
Colorado State also has the lead in the men’s team standings with 73.5 points, ahead of Air Force (62 points) and New Mexico (56.5). Utah State (37), Wyoming (23), Boise State (21) and Fresno State (zero) rank fourth through seventh.
The final day of the championships begins at 4:30 p.m. MT with the women’s discus throw and will conclude with the women’s 4×400 meter relay at approximately 9:55 p.m. MT. Check back at GoLobos.com for a complete recap.