CLOVIS, Calif. — The University of New Mexico track & field team wrapped up the third day of the Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a number of strong results, picking up some momentum heading into the final and decisive day of the meet.
With most of Friday’s events at Veterans Memorial Stadium holding just preliminary rounds in anticipation of Saturday’s finals, the Lobos put themselves in position to contend for top finishes as the women sit tied for second place and the men set in fifth.
Through Friday’s events, the New Mexico women have 36 team points, while the UNM men have 31.5 points.
The Lobo men relied on a handful of solid performances in the the long jump, pole vault and 3000-meter steeplechase on Friday, where they received a bevy of scoring performances.
In the long jump, Tanner Battikha captured his first Mountain West title in the event on his final attempt of the competition, leaping 24 feet, 8 ½ inches for the win. His title is the Lobos’ third since 2013.
Alejandro Goldston (sixth place, season-best mark of 23-2 ½) and Ryan Chase (seventh, 23-2) also scored in the long jump, giving UNM three scorers in the long jump for the second time in three years.
Jason Atencio also chipped in a scoring effort, tying for fifth in the pole vault (15-3). In the men’s one track final of the night, Jonny Glen weathered a 40-minute delay in the steeplechase to place sixth overall in 9 minutes, 21.86 seconds.
On the women’s side, Charlotte Prouse logged a runner-up finish in the 3000 steeplechase — the best finish by a Lobo in the event since 2011 — in 9:59.25, while Ada’ora Chigbo placed fifth in the high jump (5-7 ¼).
Most of the other track events ran preliminaries Friday, with UNM advancing athletes to the finals in a number of races.
The New Mexico men rolled in every preliminary-round event in which they competed on Friday as all of the team’s 14 entries in the track prelims qualified to the finals.
Josh Kerr, the two-time MW champ in the 1500, led the way with a pair of qualifying races, taking second overall in the 800 (1:51.71) and seventh in the 1500 (3:56.84).
Ian Crowe-Wright (second, 3:54.26) also advanced in the 1500, with Michael Wilson (third, 1:52.22) and Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen (eighth, 1:54.08) moving on in the 800.
In the sprints, Carlos Salcido won the 200 prelims in 21.11, while Ben Parmoon (third, 48.69) paced four qualifiers in the 400 alongside Mark Haywood (fourth, 48.78), Isaac Gonzales (seventh, 49.33) and Bryan Cutler (ninth, 49.92).
Additionally, Jay Griffin and Goldston advanced in both the 100 and 200. Griffin placed fifth in the 100 (10.62) and third in the 200 (21.36), while Goldston took sixth in both (10.68/21.53).
For the women, two athletes emerged from the prelims on the track, with Kyra Mohns qualifying to the finals of the 400 hurdles (third, 1:01.31) and Kieran Casey advancing to the final of the 1500 (seventh, 4:37.44).
Through day three, Colorado State leads the women’s standings with 51 points. Utah State and New Mexico are tied for second with 36 points each.
Boise State (fourth, 30 points), Fresno State (fifth, 28.5 points), UNLV (sixth, 26), San Jose State (seventh, 25), Nevada (eighth, 14.5), Wyoming (ninth, 11), Air force (10th, eight) and San Diego State (11th, seven) round out the teams competing.
Colorado State has the lead in the men’s team standings with 80.5 points, ahead of Air Force (63 points). Utah State (41), Wyoming (34), New Mexico (31.5), Boise State (10) and Fresno State (9) rank third through seventh.
The final day of the championships begins in the field at 3 p.m. MT with the women’s javelin and on the track at 6 p.m. MT with the women’s 4×100 meter relay. The meet is slated to conclude with the men’s 4×400 meter relay at approximately 9:55 p.m. MT.
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