CLOVIS, Calif. — The University of New Mexico track & field team tallied strong performances at the 2016 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships as both the men and the women placed fourth overall at the meet.
Behind a number of individual titles and medalling performances, the Lobos put together a solid team showing, holding their own during the closely contested four-day meet meet at the Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Clovis, Calif.
“Great weekend with seven Mountain West champions and the numerous other students that did exceptionally well,” head coach Joe Franklin said. “We are very encouraged going into the NCAA Regional in two weeks. We have several students that have put themselves in position to do very well at the NCAA Championship.”
Overall, the New Mexico men totaled 133.5 team points in the championship, while the Lobo women combined to score 88 points. The Colorado State women and the Air Force men won their respective titles, defending their indoor championships.
For the Lobos, their solid team performance was powered by their standout athletes, as a number of conference-leading athletes came through with titles for UNM.
The Lobos finished with seven individual victories, with four by the men and three by the women.
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| Elmar Engholm | |
For the men, Josh Kerr and Sam Trigg both won events on Saturday, joining Friday titlists Allan Hamilton and Elmar Engholm. The women received wins from Calli Thackery on Thursday and Jannell Hadnot and Sophie Connor on Saturday.
It’s the second straight year the Lobos won seven events, and the most since claiming nine in 2013.
On the men’s side, New Mexico was paced by some strong balance, scoring in virtually events in which they competed. They claimed a number of repeat titles, with Hamilton and Engholm going back-to-back.
For Hamilton, his winning mark of 25 feet, ½ inches in the long jump led three scorers, including Trigg (third, 24-2 ¼) and Yannick Roggatz (seventh, 23-5 ¼).
Trigg added his own title, leaping to the triple jump crown with a leap of 51-9, while Hamilton took bronze in the event with a mark of 48-7 ½. It’s the fourth-straight title for the Lobos in the event (including Hamilton in 2015).
The Lobos’ middle-distance runners chipped in two more titles, with Engholm winning the 3000-meter steeplechase in 9 minutes, 7.30 seconds and Kerr capturing the 1500-meter title in 3:50.89.
Also in the mid-distance, Graham Thomas finished second in the steeplechase (time of 9:09.92), Engholm scored in the 1500 (fourth, 3:51.71) and Adam Cotton registered two scoring runs in the 800 (third, 1:50.92) and 1500 (seventh, 3:54.08).
Elsewhere on the track, New Mexico received a number of scoring runs.
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| Sophie Connor | |
In the sprints, the men’s 4×100 meter relay team of Hamilton, Scott Bajere, Carlos Salcido and Ridge Jones ran 40.38 for third place, while Jones ran a personal-record of 10.47 for sixth in the open 100.
Mark Haywood (sixth, 48.79) and Isaac Gonzales (eighth, 49.53) both scored in the 400, with Cheyne Dorsey (eighth, PR of 53.41) adding points in the 400 hurdles.
Salcido, Gonzales, Haywood and Dorsey combined for a second-place time of 3:12.89 in the 4×400 relay.
From the distance events, Dan Milechman scored in the 5000 (fourth, 14:14.57), while Matt Bergin scored in both the 5000 (seventh, 14:27.21) and 10000 (eighth, 30:29.47).
Out in the field, the men recorded multiple scorers in every event.
High jumpers Markus Miller (third, 6-8 ¾) and Joe Kloeppel (T-6th, 6-6 ¾) and pole vaulters John Harari (sixth, 15-3) and Daniel Lam (seventh, 14-3 ½) all scored. Lam also added a score in the decathlon (second, 7047 points), where he was joined by Beau Clafton (sixth, 6769).
The javelin throw contributed the UNM men’s final scoring marks, with Nik Aston (sixth, 181-9) and Clafton (eighth, 172-6).
Overall, the men tallied 133.5 points, exceeding 100 points for the eighth-straight year.
On the women’s side, the Lobos’ performance was spurred on by their event winners, including two championships from their vaunted distance squad.
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| Allan Hamilton | |
Thackery notched the first title, winning her first-ever competitive 10000 in 34:30.24, while Connor posted the second via her personal-record time of 2:05.95 in the 800. Connor moves to fourth in school history with her time.
Courtney Frerichs and Alice Wright both added runner-up performances in the 1500 (4:25.77) and 5000 (16.19.11), respectively, while Emily Hosker-Thornhill chipped in another medal in the metric mile (third, 4:26.81).
Also scoring on the track were Holly Van Grinsven in the 100 hurdles (fifth, PR of 13.42), Natasha Bernal in the 3000 steeplechase (seventh, 10:36.36) and Haley Sanner in the 400 (eighth, 56.53).
Van Grinsven and Sanner also joined up with Zoe Howell and Hannah Riker-Urrutia in the 4×400 relay, placing sixth with a time of 3:48.17.
In the field events, Hadnot posted her second-straight MW title in the outdoor triple jump, winning with a leap of 42-8 ¼. She finished right in front of Aasha Marler, who finished runner-up (42-1 ½).
In the long jump, Samantha Bowe medalled with a third-place performance (PR of 20-1 ½), ahead of Marler (fourth, 20 ¾).
Bowe also scored in the heptathlon (fourth, 5168 points) alongside Kyra Mohns (eighth, 4913), while Katherine Whiting posted a scoring mark in the pole vault (eighth, 11-10 ½).
In the men’s standings, Air Force scored 202 points to take the team title, while Utah State (176 points) finished second and Colorado State third (142 points). Boise State took fifth with 85.5 points, followed Wyoming (sixth place, 44) and Fresno State (seventh, 31).
The Colorado State women won the MW crown, registering 165.5 team points. In second was San Diego State (156 points), followed by Fresno State in third (96). Rounding out the standings were UNLV (fifth, 68), Utah State (sixth, 59.5), Nevada (seventh, 42.5), Boise State (eighth, 39.5), Wyoming (ninth, 35), Air Force (ninth, 35) and San Jose State (11th, 31).
With the conclusion of the conference championships, New Mexico’s outdoor season has ended for most of the team. A handful will travel to the NCAA West Preliminary Championships in Lawrence, Kansas, on May 26-28 as they look to qualify to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 8-11.
NOTES: Kerr’s title in the 1500 is the third for New Mexico in the last five years (Peter Callahan, 2014; Sam Evans, 2012) … Between Frerichs and Hosker-Thornhill, it’s the fourth-straight year that two Lobos medalled in the 1500 … Van Grinsven ran 13.42 in the finals of the 100 hurdles, giving her three of the top four time in UNM history (Angela Whyte, 13.41)