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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Five University of New Mexico track & field athletes past and present are set to compete at the 2017 IAAF World Championships, which are slated for August 4-13 in London, England.
Current Lobo and reigning NCAA champion Josh Kerr will represent Great Britain in the 1,500-meter run, while Olympians Courtney Frerichs (United State, 3000 steeplechase) and Jarrin Solomon (Trinidad & Tobago, 4×400 meter relay) are also primed to compete.
Tamara Armoush (Jordan, 1500) and BeeJay Lee (US, 4×100 relay) round out the pack of Lobos heading to London Stadium.
Kerr, the 2016-17 Mountain West Male Athlete of the Year, won a pair of national titles during his outstanding 2017 track campaign, sweeping both the mile run and the 1,500-meter run at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor championships.
He is just the 11th athlete in NCAA history — and the first since 2008 — to accomplish the indoor/outdoor sweep.
Kerr also ran the sixth-fastest 1,500-meter time in NCAA history at the Bryan Clay Invitational in April, clocking in at 3:35.99. That time met the qualifying standard for the World Championships, and Kerr claimed a spot on Britain’s team after a second-place finish at the nation’s World Championships Team Trials in July.
Frerichs was also an NCAA champion during her time in Albuquerque, winning both a team title and an individual title. She helped the Lobo women’s cross country team to the 2015 NCAA championship and also claimed the NCAA title and NCAA record in the 3000 steeplechase in June 2016.
She also represented the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics, finishing 11th in the steeplechase. She took runner-up honors in the event at the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships to secure her spot in London.
Frerichs enters the World Championships with a personal record of 9:19.09 set in May.
Solomon, an All-American for New Mexico in the 400-meter dash, has also competed in the Olympics, earning bronze in the 4×400 meter relay for Trinidad and Tobago at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
An Albuquerque native, Solomon earned silver at the 2015 World Championships and bronze at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2014 World Relays.
Armoush, a 2015 graduate of UNM, heads to London in the 1500 riding a strong season in 2017. A native of Derbyshire, England, Armoush competes internationally for Jordan, including an appearance at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Armoush also won the 1500 at the 2017 South of England Senior Championships and set a new personal record of 4:18.25 at the BMC Grand Prix in June. At UNM, Armoush posted solid results in the metric mile, including two NCAA Regional appearances in the event for the Lobos.
Lee was an All-Mountain West performer for the Lobos, winning the 200 outdoors and earning silver in the 60 and 200 indoor and 100 outdoors in 2012.
Armoush leads off the Lobos competing as she opens in the heats of the 1500 on Friday, August 4. Frerichs follows with heats of the women’s steeplechase on August 9, with Kerr running heats of the men’s 1500 on August 10. Solomon will run in the heats of the 4×400 on August 12.