EL PASO, Texas — The University of New Mexico track & field team kicked off its 2018 outdoor campaign as it traveled down to El Paso on Saturday for the annual UTEP Springtime Invitational at Kidd Field.
With most of the team competing for the first time since February’s Mountain West Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, the Lobos nonetheless got off to a strong start with four event victories and 21 top-three finishes.
New Mexico’s field events led the way as a number of athletes posting solid marks.
On the women’s side, Allison Mady won the shot put with a toss of 43 feet, 9 ¾ inches, while Katherine Whiting and Shannon Fritz placed first and second, respectively, in the pole vault with clearances of 12-7 ¼.
Fritz was also third in the high jump (mark of 5-5 ¾), while Sara Reyes took second in the javelin throw (138-9).
The men’s field event athletes also contributed some strong marks, with Jason Atencio winning the pole vault with a mark of 14-9.
The Lobos also placed second in their individual events, with Tanner Battikha in the long jump (24 ¾), Omarei Gregory in the triple jump (45-6 ¼) and Brent Dionisio in the high jump (6-5).
Additionally, Daniel Lam finished third in the discus throw (131-11) and fourth in the shot put (43-8), while Beau Clafton was third in the shot put (44-11) and Ryan Chase was fourth in the discus (124-0).
In the track events, Kendall Kelly won the women’s 1500-meter run in 4 minutes, 48.01 seconds, with Sarah Laverty taking fourth (4:53.59).
Kyra Mohns are placed second in the women’s 400-meter hurdles (1:05.04), while Steffi Jones raced to third in the women’s 800 (2:15.74).
For the men, Isaac Gonzales took third in the men’s 200 (21.88), followed by Mark Haywood (fifth place, 22.11). Alejandro Goldston claimed fourth the the men’s 100 (10.81) to round out the Lobos’ top-five finishers at the meet.
New Mexico returns to action next weekend as a small group of Lobos heads to the Stanford Invitational. In two weeks, the Lobos host their only home meet of the season, the Don Kirby Tailwind Invitational on April 7.
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