LOGAN, Utah — The University of New Mexico track & field team registered solid performances at the 2017 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the men finished in fourth place and the women took ninth.
Behind a number of individual titles and medalling performances, the Lobos combined for a strong team showing as they battled a deep and talented Mountain West over the last four days at Ralph Maughan Track Stadium in Logan.
“We had some great individual performances and we had a really good meet,” New Mexico head coach Joe Franklin said. “The place on the women’s side don’t reflect that when you look across the board at the lifetime bests of the athletes. With all the injuries we’ve had this year and the setbacks, we did really well. Overall, I’m happy.”
Overall, the New Mexico men totaled 102 team points in the championship, while the Lobo women combined to score 41.5 points. The San Diego State women and the Air Force men won their respective titles.
For the Lobos, their team performance was powered by their standout athletes, as a handful of conference-leading athletes came through with titles for UNM. The Lobos finished with fourth individual victories, with two apiece for the men and women.
For the men, Josh Kerr took home a pair of titles on Saturday, joining women’s champions Jannell Hadnot and Alice Wright.
Behind Kerr’s outstanding championship, the Lobo men relied on some strong balance as they logged scoring results in virtually every event in which they competed.
Kerr posted two individual titles for the men, defending his 2016 title in the 1,500-meter run via a time of 3 minutes, 46.39 seconds. He’s just the second athlete in league history to win the metric mile in back-to-back years, joining Colorado State’s Rob Vermillion (2001-02).
Kerr also snapped up the victory in the 800, rallying on the homestretch for a 1:48.05 win. His time, which ranks third in UNM history, makes Kerr just the second MW athlete ever to sweep the 800 and 1500 at a single championship.
“Yesterday’s conditions were treacherous with the wind and the heat,” Franklin said, “so for him to do what he did today against a very good 1500-meter field and then come back and run that against a bunch of 1:47 guys on no rest is unbelievable.”
Between both events, Kerr contributed 20 points to the UNM men’s cause, the most by a single Lobo since Allan Hamilton in 2015.
However, the men received strong performances across the board en route to their ninth straight top-four team finish.
On the track, Graham Thomas posted two top-three races, running to second place in the 3000-meter steeplechase (9:14.44) and third in the 5000 (15:17.26).
Carlos Salcido moved into the UNM top 10 in the 200 with his fifth-place time of 20.94, while Mark Haywood added a personal-record of 47.55 to place sixth in the 400. Also scoring were Gavin Sleeter in the 800 (sixth, 1:52.45) and Emil Danielsson in the 1500 (seventh, 3:50.69).
In the 400 hurdles, Mustafa Mudada (fifth, 52.12) and Cheyne Dorsey (seventh, 53.39) added scoring performances.
The men’s relays also contributed, as Haywood, Salcido, Tanner Battikha and Alejandro Goldston scored in the 4×100 meter relay (fourth, 41.39) and Haywood, Dorsey, Salcido and Mudada scored in the 4×400 (fourth, 3:11.29)
In the field events, Sam Trigg and Battikha each notched a pair of scoring finishes in the horizontal jumps, with Trigg placing second in the triple jump (50-6) and fourth in the long jump (24 ¾) and Battikha going fifth (47-1 ¾) and seventh (23-9 ½), respectively.
Additionally, Jason Atencio took fourth in the pole vault (15-7 ¾), Malik Matthews-Gordon claimed sixth in the javelin throw (196-5) and the decathlon duo of Daniel Lam (7277 points) and Ryan Chase (6563) went 2-4 on Thursday.
On the women’s side, the Lobos were paced by their two titlists, as Wright and Hadnot earned wins on Saturday.
Hadnot leaped 42-2 ¼ to capture her third-straight title in the outdoor triple jump, while also adding an eighth-place finish in the long jump (18-10).
“Jannell just keeps doing it,” Franklin said. “To win three straight championships is very, very impressive.”
Wright led essentially wire-to-wire in the women’s 5000, finishing in 16:17.42 to earn the team’s first victory in the event since 2011.
“Running right at a season best at altitude by herself was very positive for her,” Franklin said.
Elsewhere, Kyra Mohns cruised to a medalling effort in the 400 hurdles (third, 1:00.40) to along go with a fourth-place finish in the heptathlon (5280 points). Her hurdle time ranks sixth in program history, while her heptathlon score ranks fifth all-time.
Natasha Bernal added a fifth-place time of 10:51.92 in the 3000 steeplechase, while Kieran Casey scored in the 1500 with an eighth-place time of 4:31.84.
Rounding out UNM’s scorers were Amaris Blount in the hammer throw (sixth, 183-10) and Shannon Fritz in the high jump (T-7th, 5-7). Blount is the program’s first scorer in the hammer throw since 2007.
In the men’s standings, Air Force scored 218.5 points to take the team title, while Colorado State (165.5 points) finished second, Utah State third (133 points) and UNM fourth (102).
The Lobo men’s 102 points extended the team’s streak of scoring at least 100 points at the championships to nine straight years.
The Boise State men took fifth with 92 points, followed Wyoming (sixth place, 81.5) and Fresno State (seventh, 19.5).
San Diego State won the women’s crown, totalling 159.5 team points. In second was Colorado State (134 points), followed by UNLV in third (93). Rounding out the standings were Nevada (fourth, 92.5), Fresno State (fifth, 67), Boise State (sixth, 61), Air Force (seventh, 59), Utah State (eighth, 42.5), UNM (ninth, 41.5), Wyoming (10th, 36) and San Jose State (11th, 33).
With the conclusion of the conference championships, New Mexico’s outdoor season has ended for most of the team. A handful will travel to the NCAA West Preliminary Championships in Austin, Texas, on May 25-27 as they look to qualify to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on June 7-10.
“Our goal is to be top 30 at the NCAA Championships on both sides,” Franklin said.
The top 48 athletes in each event in the NCAA’s West Region advance to the NCAA West Preliminary Championship. From there, athletes can qualify to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Fans can follow the Lobos on Twitter (@lobo_track) and Instagram (@lobo_xc_tf) for information and updates on the team!