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Mountain West Outdoor ChampionshipsAlthough the academic year is drawing to a close, the Lobos have one more test to take. But instead of pens, papers and notes, they’ll need spikes, sand pits and things to throw.
The University of New Mexico track & field team is heading to Clovis, California, as it looks to capture some wins at the Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships this Wednesday through Saturday.
The surging Lobos, hot off some tremendous performances to close the regular season, have the athletes to vie for a league title, but they will have to overcome a balanced Mountain West during the four-day meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
With so many skilled teams and athletes descending on the San Joaquin Valley, the Lobos know that they will have to translate their talent into points to challenge for a podium finish.
UNM has 17 athletes and multiple relays ranked in the top five in the conference in their respective events, with five athletes ranked top five in the NCAA.
But the rest of the conference — 11 women’s teams and seven men’s teams — has the balance and depth to make this week’s championship a true battle.
We’re back in the national rankings, coming in at No. 1??4??! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/dtLApwcmbu
— New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) May 7, 2018
Led by the No. 14 New Mexico women, six Mountain West women’s squads are ranked in the top 75 of the most recent USTFCCCA National Computer Rankings, while four men’s teams, including the No. 56 Lobos, are ranked in the top 75 in the men’s national rankings.
The Lobos will look to their top athletes to spearhead their efforts this week, with a handful of those athletes eyeing both conference titles and berths to the NCAA Championships.
Right after the MW Championships, the top 48 athletes in each event in the NCAA’s West Region advance to the NCAA West Preliminary Championship on May 24-26. From there, athletes can qualify to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.
Josh Kerr leads the men’s charge as he heads to California riding his collegiate record in the 1,500-meter run. The two-time defending MW champ in the metric mile (and three-time NCAA champ in the middle distance), Kerr will look to make it a three-pete.
He’ll be joined by Michael Wilson, Ian Crowe-Wright, Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen, Jonny Glen and Jared Garcia in the distance events.
In the sprints, Carlos Salcido paces a talented and skilled group that also includes Jay Griffin IV and Alejandro Goldston in the short sprints and Mark Haywood, Isaac Gonzales, Ben Parmoon and Bryan Cutler in the quartermile.
The Lobos will also field two relay teams, with both their 4×100 and 4×400 meter relays ranked first and second in the league, respectively.
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| Mark Haywood |
For the women, they have four highly ranked athletes eying titles, including Ednah Kurgat, the MW record holder in the 5000, Weini Kelati, Alice Wright and Charlotte Prouse.
That quartet will be tasked with leading UNM’s deep corps of distance runners that also includes Kieran Casey, Sophie Eckel, Kendall Kelly, Emily Martin, Alex Buck, Elizabeth Weiler and Alondra Negron Texidor.
That group will take aim in multiple events ranging from the 1500 to the 3000 steeplechase to the 10K.
The Lobos women will also look for points from Kyra Mohns in the 400 hurdles, Steffi Jones in the 800 and Erynn Caldwell in the 100.
Out in the field events, the men will lean on their standouts, including Tanner Battikha in the long jump and triple jump, Ryan Chase in the long jump, Brent Dionisio in the high jump, Malik Matthews-Gordon in the javelin and Jason Atencio in the pole vault.
Daniel Lam and Beau Clafton are also slated to compete in the meet-opening decathlon along with the pole vault and javelin, respectively.
The women will also look toward their top field-event athletes, with Ada’ora Chigbo and Shannon Fritz in the high jump; Katherine Whiting and Fritz in the pole vault; Allison Mady in the shot put and hammer throw; and Michelle Traynham and Sara Reyes in the javelin. Mohns will take aim in the heptathlon, as well.
The meet starts Wednesday with the women’s heptathlon at 4:30 p.m. MT, and continues Thursday with the completion of the multi-events at 2 p.m. and the men’s and women’s 10Ks starting 9:15 p.m.
Friday’s activities start at 4 p.m. MT in the field and at 5:30 p.m. MT on the track. On Saturday, events start at 3 p.m. MT with the final events scheduled for 9:55 p.m. MT.
Fans can follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Twitter and Instagram to keep track of the Lobos!