ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico track & field team tallied strong performances at the 2017 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships as both the men and the women placed fourth overall to conclude the three-day 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 meet at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
“It was a really good day,” New Mexico head coach Joe Franklin said. “We don’t have incredible depth, but where we do have people scoring, they scored really well. We had lots of lifetime bests, some personal bests, and school records, so you can’t complain.”
Overall, the New Mexico men totaled 78.5 team points in the championship, while the Lobo women combined to score 72.5 points. The Colorado State men and women swept the titles.
For the Lobos, their solid team performance was powered by their standout athletes, as UNM racked up 15 top-three performances over the course of the meet.
Of those top-three finishes, four were event victories, with two each by the men and women.
Josh Kerr had a part in both of the men’s event victories, winning the mile after anchoring the men’s distance medley relay to a win on Thursday. For the women, Alice Wright (5,000-meter run) and Jannell Hadnot (triple jump) won titles.
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| Josh Kerr |
For Kerr, he became the first freshman in league history to win the mile. He finished with a time of 4 minutes, 3.41 seconds in his victory, which converts down to 3:58.11 for altitude.
“I’ve been looking forward to this race for a long time,” Kerr said. “Our guys come out every single day even if they’re not running and you’ve got to give them a bit of excitement when you’re running.”
That performance was just two days after running the 1600-meter leg in the Lobos’ victorious DMR, as he combined with Elmar Engholm (1200-meter leg), Mark Haywood (400) and Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen (800) to set a new UNM record of 9:38.83.
Kerr has put himself in position to advance to the NCAA Championships in both the mile and DMR. The top-16 marks in individual events and the top-12 marks in relays make the NCAAs, which will be March 10-11 in College Station, Texas.
“Getting to nationals is the easy part, it’s about performing there,” Kerr said. “This is setting me up great, I’ve got a lot of confidence heading into nationals.”
Engholm (third place, time of 4:09.36) and Taylor Potter (eighth, 4:15.67) also scored in the mile.
Along with a new school record in the DMR, New Mexico posted a new school record in the 4×400 meter relay for the second straight meet as the quartet of Cheyne Dorsey, Isaac Gonzales, Carlos Salcido and Haywood ran 3:10.35 to place second.
“They ran incredibly well,” Franklin said. “To have that group of four do what they’ve done and lower that record and keep getting better and better is quite outstanding.”
Elsewhere on the track, the Lobos earned scoring marks in five other events, including Ben Shields in the 60-meter dash (third, 6.82), Salcido in the 200 (fifth, 21.63) and Gavin Sleeter in the 800 (fifth, 1:51.29).
Graham Thomas scored in both the 5000 (third, 14:56.08) and 3000 (seventh, 8:.23.67), while Alexander Palm added a scoring mark in the 5K (sixth, 15:03.52).
In the field events, the New Mexico men scored in bunches, with multiple scoring marks in both the long jump and pole vault.
In the long jump, Tanner Battikha placed third (23-11 ¾), followed by Alejandro Goldston (seventh, 23-3 ½) and Ryan Chase (eighth, 23-3 ¼). In the pole vault, Jason Atencio and John Harari both cleared 16 ¾, with Atencio tying for sixth and Harari (who set a new personal best), placing eighth.
Chase also chipped in a medalling mark in the heptathlon, tallying 5,333 points to move to second in UNM history in the event.
On the women’s side, the Lobos compiled a great deal of their points in the field events, including Hadnot in the triple jump. Hadnot matched her school record in the event, leaping 43-6 for her second straight triple jump title.
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| Jannell Hadnot |
“She did a great job,” Franklin said. “She’s sitting 14th as of right now for the NCAA Championships, so it looks positive that she’ll get into the championships, which is really good.”
Hadnot also scored in the long jump, leaping 19 feet to place seventh.
Additionally, Amaris Blount nabbed a school record in the weight throw, placing third with a mark of 63-6 ¾. Kyra Mohns took third in the pentathlon (3,660 points), while Shannon Fritz and Katherine Whiting both tied for seventh in the high jump (5-4 ¼) and pole vault (12-9 ½), respectively.
On the track, Alice Wright won the 5,000 in a new meet-record time of 16:22.94, giving her two career titles in the 5K.
Sophie Connor took runner-up honors in the 800 with a new school-record time of 2:06.55, while Calli Thackery was second in the 3000 (9:40.09). Natasha Bernal scored in both the 3000 (fourth, 9:45.62) and 5000 (seventh, 17:03.38), and Kendall Kelly placed seventh in the mile (4:48.85).
New Mexico’s two relays rounded out the scoring, as the DMR of Connor, Larimar Rodriguez, Hannah Riker-Urrutia and Thackery placed second in 11:29.04 and the 4×400 team of Mohns, Abigail Smith, Rodriguez and Riker-Urrutia placed sixth in 3:48.51.
Overall, the Colorado State men won with a total of 183 points, just ahead of second-place Air Force (177 points). Utah State (third, 110.5), New Mexico (fourth, 78.5 points), Wyoming (fifth, 60), and Boise State (44) rounded out the team standings.
Colorado State took the women’s title with 102.5 points, edging UNLV’s second-place total of 99 points. Finished third to 11th were San Diego State (third, 79), UNM (fourth, 72.5), Nevada (fifth, 59), Fresno State (sixth, 54), Boise State (seventh, 50), Air Force (eighth, 43), Utah State (ninth, 42), Wyoming (10th, 36) and San José State (11th, 23).
New Mexico’s indoor season has concluded for most of the team, with a number of Lobos eyeing the NCAA Championships.
Fans can follow the Lobos on Twitter (@lobo_track) and Instagram (@lobo_xc_tf) for information and updates on the team!