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Cherry & Silver InvitationalSince Joe Franklin arrived in Albuquerque in 2007, his track & field teams at the University of New Mexico have been nothing short of productive.
Consider the following stats the Lobos have compiled under Franklin:
- 107 NCAA Championship qualifiers
- 106 Mountain West individual/relay titles
- 69 All-American honors
- 8 Academic All-American honors
- 7 MW team championships
- 4 NCAA individual titles
It’s a run of success that’s become the culture at New Mexico, which saw the Lobos tally four individual conference titles and two All-American honors last indoor season.
And this season, the 10th season with Franklin at the helm, is shaping up to be no different.
Behind a talented and youthful roster, the New Mexico track and field team is preparing for another season filled with high expectations as the Lobos look to continue building on their success under Franklin.
UNM, which is slated to host a number of high-level competitions this season, has the talent to contend for another year of success at the conference and national level, starting with the Cherry & Silver Invitational this Friday and Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
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| Joe Franklin |
“The goal is to continue to get better,” Franklin said. “We have a lot of work to do. … We have five weeks until the conference championships and that’s when need to be ready to go.”
Although UNM will have to replace a senior class that’s contributed to all seven of the program’s MW titles, the Lobos can make things happen during the season, which includes four straight home meets and the Mountain West Championships in February.
But, with more than six weeks until the MW Championships in Albuquerque, the Lobos are just now getting into a rhythm.
Now that the spring semester has started and athletes have returned to the Duke City, Franklin and his top-notch staff are tasked with getting everyone on the path for more success.
This week’s Cherry & Silver Invitational is that first step, as some athletes get their first taste of action this week against a strong field that features athletes from Texas, Stanford, San Diego State, SMU and UTEP.
“It’s going to be eye-opening for a lot of people,” Franklin said of this week’s meet. “It’s the first meet back. We’re literally back five days and we race.”
But, for a program that has the resume it does, it’s nothing new.
MEN
On the men’s side, New Mexico has a good mix of youth and experience, but Franklin and his staff will have to replace a number of high-caliber athletes.
A lot of the athletes that the Lobos have relied on in recent years have graduated, but their strongest areas are arguably the sprints and the distance events, with some talented returners manning the field events.
All together, UNM can keep pushing for conference relevance, especially if their upperclassmen can perform at a high level.
The sprints feature some veteran 400-meter runners in Mark Haywood, Cheyne Dorsey and Mustafa Mudada, while newcomers Alejandro Goldston, Erik Cisneros, Ben Shields and Jay Griffin IV can also contribute right away in the short sprints.
| Daniel Lam |
The distance is a potential goldmine of productivity, but — as evidenced during a promising cross country season — there’s a considerable amount of youth with those Lobos. .
Elmar Engholm, a two-time NCAA participant in the mile, is back for more one season, but he’s just one of three seniors in the distance team, which also includes Graham Thomas and Jesus Mendoza.
The youth movement among the distance corps will showcase a number of new faces, including freshmen Emil Danielsson, Jacob Simonsen, Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen, Gavin Sleeter and Josh Kerr, who redshirted the 2016 indoor season but had a spectacular season outdoors.
In the field events, the trio of Jason Atencio, John Harari and Nathan Burnett in the pole vault can contend for points at the conference level, while the combined events have four capable athletes in Daniel Lam (a strong vaulter), Beau Clafton (a strong sprinter), Ryan Chase (a strong jumper) and Andris Sturans (strong overall).
The Lobos’ biggest question mark is the jumps, where freshmen will be asked to shoulder the load.
Tanner Battikha and Goldston can helm the long jump, while Caleb Meyer-Hagen is the team’s lone high jumper. However, all three have strong credentials and can potentially score in the MW.
WOMEN
Like the men’s squad, the women’s team will has a lot of new faces, but between a decorated group of returners and all of that incoming talent, New Mexico should be in position for another strong indoor season.
Last year, the Lobos registered their best finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships in program history, scoring at the NCAAs in back-to-back years for the first time ever.
A handful of those athletes that powered UNM to that finish last season are back, including triple jumper Jannell Hadnot and distance runners Sophie Connor and Calli Thackery.
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| Amaris Blount |
They will be tasked with leading this group, which has the pieces to make some noise later in the season.
The Lobos’ distance runners will be key, with so much potential in so many athletes. Along with Connor and Thackery, New Mexico can look to Alice Wright (runner up in the NCAA 10K last spring), Natasha Bernal, Alex Buck, Kieran Casey, Mackenzie Everett, Kathryn Fluehr, Kendall Kelly, Reiley Kelly and Kyoko Koyama, among others, for strong runs.
New Mexico will need to replace a strong group of sprinters, but has Larimar Rodriguez and Hannah Riker-Urrutia primed to make an impact along with Erynn Caldwell, Peri Moran and Abigail Smith.
Hadnot is UNM’s top jumper and school record holder in the triple jump, and is a legitimate threat for the postseason. She’ll team up with freshman long jumper Akeisha Ayanniyi, giving the Lobos a 1-2 combo in the horizontal jumps.
The vertical jumps features pole vaulters Katherine Whiting, Anna Duvall and Morgan Smith and vaulter/high jumper Shannon Fritz.
The Lobos also have some strong throwers, including Amaris Blount — who could be knocking on the door of a new school record in the weight throw — and Allison Mady.
Rounding out the team is Kyra Mohns, the team’s lone multi athlete who is also a two-time scorer in the pentathlon.
Fans can follow the Lobos on Twitter (@lobo_track) and Instagram (@lobo_xc_tf) for information and updates on the team!