LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Lobos had to wait an extra day to get started on qualifying to the NCAA Championships.
But the wait proved well worth it.
Four University of New Mexico track & field athletes advanced to the finals of the NCAA Championships Friday after placing within the top 12 of their respective events at the NCAA West Preliminary Round at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas.
Courtney Frerichs and Alice Wright both moved on for the 16th-ranked women’s team, while the Lobo men advanced Allan Hamilton and Elmar Engholm to Eugene, Oregon, the site of the finals of the national championships in two weeks.
This foursome equals the number of New Mexico athletes that qualified last year, and UNM still has a number of opportunities to advance more on the final day of the rain-shortened meet.
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| Courtney Frerichs | |
After practically all of Thursday’s events were suspended due to inclement weather, the Lobos had to contend with an abbreviated schedule that did away with qualifying rounds of laned track events and made the margin for error to advance that much smaller. Certain events, including the women’s long jump, were moved to Kansas’ indoor facility, Anschutz Pavilion.
But, in spite of the alterations and the jumbled schedule (and a lengthy weather delay Friday afternoon), the Lobos posted a handful of strong performances Friday.
Wright, a redshirt sophomore from Worcester, England, got New Mexico off to a superlative start, as she captured a NCAAs bid in the 10,000-meter run.
Starting at 8 a.m. local time (7 a.m. MT), the first event of the day — and the first Lobo event of the meet — saw all 48 preliminary-round qualifiers compete at once.
Wright, who advanced through the prelims last year en route to All-American status at the NCAA finals, was undaunted, repeating as runner-up with a time of 34:21.95.
Frerichs also claimed a spot in Eugene, winning the 3000-meter steeplechase as she lived up to her No. 1 ranking in the entire NCAA.
The senior from Nixa, Missouri, by way of UMKC, qualified to the NCAA finals for the third time in her collegiate career, easily topping the field as she cruised to a winning time of 9:51.48. She was the only athlete out of the 44 that finished that recorded a time under 10 minutes.
Last year while running for UMKC, Frerichs won the steeplechase at the West Prelims before capturing silver at the NCAA Championships. She ranks third in NCAA history in the event.
The men also received a pair of qualifying performances from Hamilton and Engholm.
Hamilton, a senior from Edinburgh, Scotland, leaped to eighth in the men’s long jump behind a mark of 24 feet, 10 ½ inches. After missing out on advancing last year by one place (finishing 13th with a leap of 25-4 ¾), Hamilton made good on this year’s appearance.
He is the first UNM men’s athlete to qualify to the NCAA Championships in the long jump since Fidelis Ndyabagye in 1985, and is just the third since 1966.
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| Allan Hamilton | |
Engholm, a senior from Stockholm, Sweden, also qualified in an event that has rarely seen a Lobo qualify, as he registered a runner-up performance in the men’s steeplechase.
A four-time prelim round qualifier, Engholm finally cashed in at his last NCAA West Prelim, running a time of 8:42.29 to advance.
Engholm is only the fifth New Mexico athlete to make the NCAA finals in the steeplechase, and is the first since 1983.
Although more Lobos may still qualify Saturday, it’s the 10th straight year that New Mexico has qualified at least four athletes to the NCAA Championships.
Elsewhere on Friday, the Lobos posted some solid marks, but couldn’t advance anyone else to Eugene.
On the men’s side, Graham Thomas came the closest, running to 16th place in the steeplechase. He finished with a time of 8:59.24 that was less than eight second from qualifying.
Also competing were Yannick Roggatz in the long jump (30th place, mark of 23-7 ½), Dan Milechman in the 10000 (45th, 31:56.82) and Ridge Jones in the 100 (48th, 17.15).
For the women, Zoe Howell saw action in the 800 (37th, 2:11.67), while Samantha Bowe (29th, 18-11¾) and Aasha Marler (35th, 18-9¼) participated in the long jump.
On Saturday, the rest of the Lobos’ contingent will be competing for an NCAA bid.
On the track, it will be Josh Kerr and Adam Cotton in the men’s 1500; Sophie Connor and Emily Hosker-Thornhill in the women’s 1500; Calli Thackery in the women’s 5000; and Holly Van Grinsven in the women’s 100 hurdles.
In the field, it will be Sam Trigg in the men’s triple jump, with Marler and Jannell Hadnot in the women’s triple jump.
New Mexico action starts with the men’s triple jump at 8 a.m. MT, with track events kicking off shortly after 9 a.m. MT. Check back tomorrow night for a recap of the Lobos’ action.