ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It might have been the first meet of the year, but some Lobos looked to be in midseason form.
The University of New Mexico’s track & field team opened up its 2018 season with a number of strong performances this weekend at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational as it competed in the first of five straight meets at home.
Facing off against a competitive field at the Albuquerque Convention Center, the Lobos earned some historically significant results across the board, including six marks that rank in the program’s all-time top 10.
“We had some really good things happen today,” head coach Joe Franklin said. “… We don’t bring our students back early. They just got here last week. We’ve been practicing for six days, since school started.
“To have the students come out and set a school record, and have two students just off school records is really impressive.”
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| Carlos Salcido |
With New Mexico just beginning a challenging indoor schedule — which features the Mountain West Championships at the end February — the Lobos went into the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitation looking to see what condition the athletes were after a long winter break.
But a handful of Lobos showed they were ready for the season on Friday and Saturday, posting solid marks in a number of events despite starting the spring semester earlier in the week.
On the men’s side, Josh Kerr continued to light up the track, clocking a time of 1 minute, 48.87 seconds in the 800-meter run to win the event and move to second in New Mexico history in the event.
A miler by trade who won the 2017 NCAA titles in the mile and 1500-meter run, Kerr stepped down in distance for this weekend and showed his speed as he zoomed to the No. 3 in the NCAA in 2018.
“800 is a bit of uncharted territory for me,” Kerr said “I love coming and doing it and challenging myself, being able to handle my own nerves and handle the distance, because in an 800 you can’t really make any mistakes.”
Kerr wasn’t the only distance runner scorching the Mondo on Saturday, as Ednah Kurgat tallied a time of 4:41.42 in the women’s mile to place first collegiately.
Her time was good for second all-time at UNM and ranks the 2017 NCAA individual champ in cross country as the NCAA’s No. 1 mile so far this season.
The men’s 4×400 meter relay team also made it into the Lobo records, as the quartet of Isaac Gonzales, Ben Parmoon, Mark Haywood and Carlos Salcido combined for a time of 3:12.18 that ranks fourth in UNM history.
Haywood also had a hand in a school record during Friday’s action, running a time of 1:19.02 in the 600 to snap the 10-year-old school record of 1:19.18 set by Olympian Jarrin Solomon. He placed fifth overall.
Additionally, Salcido ran to second all-time in the 200 with a time of 21.40, with Jay Griffin following close behind at 21.55 for sixth all-time.
Elsewhere on the track, Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen placed seven in the men’s mile with a time of 4:22.35, while Larimar Rodriguez placed fifth in the women’s 600 (time of 1:37.13) and Kendall Kelly took ninth in the women’s mile (5:12.81).
The women’s 4×400 team of Kyra Mohns, Shalom Keller, Steffi Jones and Rodriguez also finished in seventh place with a time of 4:13.70.
New Mexico also earned a number of solid season-opening performances in the field events, tallying five top-10 marks.
Freshman Ada’ora Chigbo took fifth in the high jump in her Lobo debut, clearing 5 feet, 5 ¼ inches. Sarah McKeever also had a productive first meet for UNM, reaching 11-10 ½ in the pole vault to tie for sixth.
On the men’s side, freshman Omarei Gregory lept 46-10 ¾ in the triple jump for the sixth place, while Tanner Battikha claimed sixth in the long jump (23-11) and Daniel Lam tied for eighth in the pole vault (15-10).
New Mexico returns to action next week as they host the New Mexico Team Invitational, a scored team meet, next Saturday.
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