LUBBOCK, Texas — The University of New Mexico track & field team wrapped up its regular season with a number of solid performances on Saturday as it gained more experience for the upcoming postseason at the Masked Rider Open.
With the Mountain West Championships kicking off the postseason next week, the Lobos made progress toward their end-of-season goals, claiming some strong results across the board at Texas Tech’s Fuller Track & Field.
As New Mexico now turns its attention to the conference meet, a handful of Lobos will enter the final phase of the season riding some momentum.
Not only did some athletes move closer to challenging for key points at the conference meet on May 9-12 in Clovis, California, but they also gained some ground on the top 48 in the NCAA West Region’s event rankings.
The top 48 athletes in each event in the NCAA’s West Region advance to the NCAA West Preliminary Championship, which is the qualifying meet for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.
Leading the charge in Lubbock were New Mexico’s sprinters, hurdlers and throwers.
In the men’s sprints, Carlos Salcido continued to shine during his outdoor campaign, running a personal-record time of 20.80 seconds in the 200-meter run to place second overall. He moves to second all-time in program history.
Alongside, Jay Griffin IV clocked a PR of 21.10 to take fourth overall — climbing to No. 7 all-time at UNM — while running a season-best time of 10.76 in the 100.
Salcido also teamed up with Mark Haywood, Isaac Gonzales and Ben Parmoon to clock a meet-winning and potential regional-qualifying time of 3:08.61 in the 4×400 meter relay.
The women’s hurdles and sprints also contributed some strong marks, including Kyra Mohns logging a PR time of 14.45 in the 100 hurdles for fourth place and Steffi Jones running a time of 59.72 in the 400 for eighth place.
For New Mexico’s throwers, they also dazzled, with Allison Mady tallying a stellar performance in the shot put. She launched a throw of 45 feet, 10 ½ inches to place second overall and set a new PR that ranks fifth in program history. It’s the best throw by a Lobo in a decade.
Additionally, Mady placed fourth in the hammer throw (distance of 157-6), while Sara Reyes (130-8) and Morgan Smith (113-10) went 1-2 in the javelin.
In the men’s javelin, Malik Matthews-Gordon placed second (187-9).
In the jumps, Brent Dionisio placed second in the men’s high jump with a season best of 6-9; Jason Atencio took fourth in the pole vault (15 ¾); and Tanner Battikha placed third in the long jump (23-9) and ninth in the triple jump (season best of 45-9 ¾).
Mohns also registered a third-place effort of 5-5 ¼ in the women’s high jump.
Elsewhere, the Lobos claimed some strong time in the men’s and women’s 1500.
In the men’s race, Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen won in 3:53.17 to lead Taylor Potter (second, 3:55.56), Jonny Glen (fourth, 3:56.13), Jared Garcia (fifth, 4:32.04) and Chris Graham (seventh, 4:03.56) in the top 10.
For the women, Alex Buck (third, 4:34.41) and Elizabeth Weiler (sixth, 4:40.41) both notched PRs.
The Lobos return to action on Wednesday with the opening of the Mountain West Championships, which runs through Saturday, May 12, at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, California.
Fans can follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Twitter and Instagram to keep track of the Lobos!