EUGENE, Ore. — University of New Mexico track & field athlete Josh Kerr advanced to the finals of the men’s 1,500-meter run Wednesday as the Lobos opened the 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Kerr, a sophomore from Edinburgh, Scotland, won his semifinal-round heat of the men’s 1,500 with a time of 3 minutes, 44.60 seconds as he qualified to Friday’s final of the event at Hayward Field in Eugene.
He was one of two Lobos that competed on the first day of the four-day meet, with Graham Thomas also seeing action in the opening day of the men’s championship.
Kerr easily secured his spot in the metric mile finals as he claimed the top-five finish required for an automatic bid to the final round.
The defending NCAA champion in the mile run indoors, Kerr opened his prelim heat near the front, surging to the lead about halfway through. He maintained his lead over the bell lap, holding off the 12-athlete field en route to his winning time.
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He finished 10th overall among the 24 total entrants.
The 10th-place finisher in this event last year, Kerr is the third Lobo ever to make the finals of the 1500 in back-to-back years, joining two-time All-Americans Lee Emanuel (2009, 2010) and Peter Callahan (2014. 2015).
Kerr will run the finals of the 1500 at 6:42 p.m. MT on Friday.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Thomas put the final touches on his Lobo career as he competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Thomas, a senior out of Dulce, New Mexico, finished 20th overall in the preliminary round of the men’s steeplechase, finishing the event in 9:01.75.
Although Thomas finished outside of the top 12 that advanced to the event final, he registered a strong performance in his final race in a New Mexico uniform.
Thomas was just the sixth Lobo in program history to make the NCAA Championships in the steeplechase.
The Lobos will return to action Thursday with Alice Wright running in the finals of the 10,000-meter run at 8:08 p.m. MT.
Fans can follow the Lobos on Twitter (@lobo_track) and Instagram (@lobo_xc_tf) for information and updates on the team!