AUSTIN, Texas — Two days in, two Lobos advancing.
University of New Mexico track & field athlete Graham Thomas advanced to the NCAA Championships Friday night as he placed third overall in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2017 NCAA West Preliminary Round.
A senior from Dulce, New Mexico, Thomas will now compete at next month’s NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, after running a time of 8 minutes, 50.65 seconds on the second day of the three-day meet at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
The top 48 athletes and top 24 relay teams in the NCAA West Region qualify to the West Prelims, where the top 12 finishers in each event advance on to the NCAA Championships.
Thomas advanced to his first NCAA Outdoor Championships via his third-place finish in the steeplechase. He took third in his section of the event — the fastest of three on the evening — which secured one of the automatic berths to Eugene.
After starting the race near the middle of the 16-athlete section, Thomas made a move with about four laps remaining in the race. He finished the final three laps alternating between third and fourth place before pulling away on the bell lap.
Thomas, who ran the 1600-meter leg for UNM’s distance medley relay team at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, is the second Lobo to make the NCAA Championships in the steeplechase in the last two years, joining Elmar Engholm.
Prior to Thomas and Engholm, the last time a New Mexico athlete made the national championships in the event was 1983, when Ibrahim Hussein qualified.
Thomas is just the sixth New Mexico athlete to make the NCAA finals in the steeplechase.
Also on Friday, Natasha Bernal placed 21st in the women’s 3000 steeplechase, running a non-qualifying time of 10:41.64.
New Mexico will have four athletes in action on Saturday, including Josh Kerr in the quarterfinal round of the men’s 1500-meter run. Along with Emil Danielsson, Kerr will run at 5:45 p.m. MT, followed by Sophie Eckel in the women’s 5000 at 7:05 p.m. In the field events, triple jumpers Sam Trigg (2 p.m. MT) and Jannell Hadnot (5 p.m. MT) will compete.
The Lobos already advanced one athlete on to the NCAA Championships on Friday as Alice Wright won the women’s 10,000-meter run to advance a third-straight national final.
Fans can follow the Lobos on Twitter (@lobo_track) and Instagram (@lobo_xc_tf) for information and updates on the team!