LOGAN, Utah — The University of New Mexico track & field team opened up competition at the 2017 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships with strong performances from their multi-event athletes in the heptathlon and the decathlon.
Daniel Lam took runner-up honors in the decathlon and Kyra Mohns and Ryan Chase placed fourth in the heptathlon and decathlon, respectively, as the Lobos opened the championships at Ralph Maughan Track Stadium.
Between the combined events and the 10Ks, the only two events to go final so far at the championships, the Lobo men sit in third place with 13 team points. The women are eighth with five team points.
Lam helped the men to their early standing, notching top-three finishes in eight of the 10 events of the decathlon to finish second overall with a personal-record score of 7,277 points.
The junior from the Netherlands logged wins in the long jump (mark of 23 feet, 7 ½ inches), discus (124-9) and the pole vault (16 ¾) to go along with solid finishes in the 100-meter dash (second place, 11.26 seconds) and shot put (second, 42 ¾).
His score of 7,277 points gives him back-to-back second-place finishes in the decathlon at the MW Championships. He also moves to seventh in program history.
For Chase, he placed top-three in three events, finishing in the top five in all but two events in his first collegiate decathlon. The redshirt freshman tallied 6,563 points to finish fourth.
His best performances came in the pole vault (third, 13-9 ¼), 100 (third, 11.29) and 110 hurdles (third, 15.05).
On the women’s side, Mohns took fourth in the heptathlon, registering a new personal record of 5,280 points to place fourth overall. The Albuquerque junior rode PRs in the 100 hurdles (fourth, 14.47), shot put (second, 39-8) and 200 (third, 25.33) to go along with a solid mark in the javelin (third, 124-11) for her score.
Her total of 5,280 points strengthens her hold on fifth in program history, a 155-point increase on her previous PR and season best of 5,125 points.
Her fourth-place finish also extended a run of fourth-place heptathlon finishes for the Lobos as Samantha Bowe notched four straight fourth-place finishes from 2012-16.
Through Thursday’s action, Colorado State lead the the men’s standings with a score of 31 points, while the Nevada women lead the women’s standings with 18 points.
Day three of the championships start Friday at 10 a.m. MT with the women’s hammer throw, while action on the track is slated to start at 4 p.m. MT with the qualifying rounds of the men’s 110-meter hurdles.
Keep up-to-date with results by visiting the MW’s official website and check back tomorrow for an update on the Lobos’ progress.
Fans can follow the Lobos on Twitter (@lobo_track) and Instagram (@lobo_xc_tf) for information and updates on the team!