2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships — Eugene, Ore.
When: Wednesday-Saturday, June 8-11
Where: Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore.
Live Results: FlashResults.com
Live Stream: ESPN Family of Networks
Meet Notes | Women’s Start Lists | Men’s Start Lists | Schedule
On one of the prominent stages in track & field, New Mexico will be taking one of the largest group of athletes in program history.
And that pack of Lobos will be looking for some big results.
| Lobos at the NCAAs | |||
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Sophie Connor (1500) Elmar Engholm (Steeple) |
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| Broadcast Schedule | |||
| Wednesday, June 8 ESPN2/U: 5:30p-6:30p ESPN2/ESPN: 6:30p-9p ESPN3: 1:30p-9:30p Thursday, June 9 ESPNU: 5:30p-6p ESPN: 6p-8:30p ESPN3: 11:30a-9:30p Friday, June 10 ESPN: 6:30p-9p ESPN3: 1:30p-9p Saturday, June 11 ESPN: 4:30p-7p ESPN3: 12:30p-7p All times listed in Mountain |
The University of New Mexico track & field team is aiming for superlative performances as it sends 10 athletes to the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Set to compete for the 16th-ranked Lobo women are Courtney Frerichs, Alice Wright, Calli Thackery, Sophie Connor, Emily Hosker-Thornhill, Jannell Hadnot and Aasha Marler. For the men, it will be Allan Hamilton, Elmar Engholm and Josh Kerr competing.
It’s the largest group of Lobos to make the NCAAs since 2009, and is the largest group of women to qualify in program history.
With so many scoring opportunities, New Mexico is in position to climb the team standings and perhaps make some history in Eugene, the annual home of the national championships.
Although the men’s team has a relatively storied history at the NCAA Outdoor Championships — including nine straight scoring appearances — the Lobo women have scored at the meet just eight times, with only four since 1996.
But this year’s group of athletes can change those fortunes by placing in the top eight in their individual events and scoring team points.
If the Lobos can accomplish that, they would place both the men and the women on the scoreboard in back-to-back years for the first time since 2008-09.
Last year, the UNM men placed 36th, while the women finished tied for 48th.
Leading the charge for the women is their talented and proven group of athletes, including a favorite to win an individual title.
Frerichs, the NCAA leader in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, is back at the national championships after finishing runner up in 2015 while at UMKC. Now at New Mexico, Frerichs has continued to perform at an elite level, and ranks third in NCAA history in the steeplechase.
Her personal-record time of 9 minutes, 29.31 seconds is the UNM and Mountain West record.
Right behind are New Mexico’s other two veterans of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Wright and Thackery.
Wright, a redshirt sophomore, finished eighth in the 10,000-meter run last year, and is making a repeat appearance in the 25-lap race after placing second at the NCAA West Preliminary Round last month. She enters with a PR of 32:36.11 that is less than a second off the UNM record.
Thackery also returns to Eugene after placing sixth in the 5000 in 2015. She’s been one of the Lobos’ most consistent, earning All-American honors in cross country and indoor track. She will look to make it three-for-three this academic year when she runs this week.
She enters with a PR of 15:37.44 that doubles as the New Mexico record.
The final four Lobo qualifiers come from two events, with a tandem in both the 1500 and the triple jump.
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In the 1500, Connor and Hosker-Thornhill are both trending up, having run superb times in May. For Connor, she broke the UNM record with her PR time of 4:14.03, while Hosker-Thornhill has steadily lowered her PR, running 4:18.55 at the NCAA West Prelims.
Together, the duo ranks No. 1 and No. 5 in school history.
Additionally, both competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, with Hosker-Thornhill in the Lobos distance medley relay and Connor notching her first All-American nod in the mile.
The triple jump, featuring Hadnot and Marler, are just the third and fourth athletes in program history have made the NCAAs in the event.
But both are capable jumpers, with Hadnot less than an inch from the school record. She holds a PR of 43 feet, 10 inches, (13.36 meters) which she set in a winning effort at the NCAA West Prelims. She’s also won back-to-back MW titles in the event, and made the NCAA indoor meet in March.
Marler, an Albuquerque native, owns a PR of 42-9 ¾ (13.05m) that ranks her fourth in UNM history. The 2016 MW runner up, Marler is the first native New Mexican and Albuquerquean to make the NCAAs since 2011, when Deanna Young made it in the triple jump.
On the men’s side, three Lobos are set to compete.
Hamilton is making his first-ever appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships after earning All-American status indoors in 2015. A four-time MW champ in the event between indoors and outdoors, the senior heads to Oregon with a PR of 25-10 ¼ (7.88m) that ranks fourth at UNM.
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Engholm is also heading to the national championships for the first time. The senior steeplechaser has been strong in his specialty this season, setting a PR of 8:40.03 in April before winning the MW title and taking second at the NCAA West Prelims.
Kerr, a freshman, is the youngest Lobo on this trip and is the first freshman to make the NCAA for the men since 2012. Running the 1500, he claimed the MW title in May and has run 3:42 twice this season, entering with an all-time PR of 3:42.09.
The meet is separated into the men’s championship on Wednesday and Friday and the women’s championship on Thursday at Saturday.
The Lobos kick off on Wednesday at 5:46 p.m. MT with the men’s 1500 prelims, with each of the following days starting in the late afternoon to early evening for New Mexico. Check back each day for a quick recap on the Lobos’ action and again on Saturday for a full recap.
Fans can follow @Lobo_track on Twitter and @lobo_xc_tf on Instagram to keep track of New Mexico during the meet.