RESULTS | TEAM SCORES | PHOTO GALLERY
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Two more school records fell on Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center as The University of New Mexico track and field team competed in the New Mexico Collegiate Team Invitational, its second home meet of the season.
Weini Kelati had a memorable meet as she found her way in the UNM record book in her first mile run of the season and of her career, leading the Lobos with a 4:39.43 (4:33.35 altitude conversion) to earn the event win by 8.28 seconds over the next finisher. Her time was 0.13 seconds faster than the previous record set by Sammy Silva on Feb. 14, 2015. In addition, the sophomore’s time was the third-fastest result recorded in the NCAA this season, but the top time by a Mountain West runner.
A week after Jay Griffin IV broke fellow Lobo Carlos Salcido’s school record in the 200-meter, Griffin beat his own time by 0.01 seconds to win the event with a time of 21.07 (21.14 converted). Salcido finished 0.21 seconds behind him for the runner-up finish at 21.28 (21.35 converted), which is the third-fastest time ever recorded in UNM history and is a personal best for Salcido. Griffin are first and second, respectively, in the Mountain West in the 200-meter dash with these times.
On the day, the Lobos posted seven events in which they won outright or had the top collegiate finisher in the event. Six of those wins came in a track event.
Larimar Rodriguez ran the exact same time as one year ago in this meet with a time of 1:34.39 to win the 600-meter run and gave UNM its first win of the meet. Just 0.58 seconds behind Rodriguez was Steffi Jones, who ran 1:34.97 for the runner-up finish, giving the Lobos 18 points in the event.
Sophie Eckel produced the top time in the 3000-meter run, finishing in 10:06.36, which converted to 9:51.42, a full 11.13 seconds ahead of the next runner. Eckel’s time is currently the second-best in the Mountain West.
Michael Wilson edged out teammate Kristian Uldbjerg Hansen in the 800-meter run by 0.07 seconds with a time of 1:49.17 (altitude converted) to 1:49.24 (altitude converted) to finish as the top collegiate runner and earn 10 more points for the men’s team. Max Wharton made it three top-finishers with his converted time of 1:53.46, giving the Lobos a total of 24 points towards the team total. Wilson and Hansen’s times are the fourth- and fifth-fastest times in UNM history in the event.
Jared Garcia was the top collegiate finisher in the men’s mile with an altitude converted time of 4:13.57.
Freshman Aidan Quinn claimed his first collegiate win in the triple jump, recording a mark of 48-6.00 (14.78m) on his third jump to move into first and ultimately take the event. It was the only field event that the Lobos won that day.
While Kelati won the mile run in record-fashion, the Lobos compiled 33 points in the event with five of the top finishers for their highest point total in an event on the day. The one event accounted for one-third of the women’s team overall point total.
Adva Cohen ran 4:47.90 (4:41.63 converted) followed by Hannah Nuttall (4:45.40, 4:51.75 converted), Kieran Casey (4:53.62, 4:47.23) and Emily Martin (4:58.38, 4:51.88 converted). Cohen’s time ranks as the second-best in the Mountain West, with Nuttal, Casey and Martin recording the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-fastest times, respectively.
In the field events, the Lobos added four top-five finishes, including two second-place results. Cathilee Mullings improved on her results from last week’s meet to jump 40-1.50 (12.23m) in the triple jump, a mark that allowed her to finish second in the event. She currently holds the third-best mark in the conference. Tanner Battikha produced another second-place finish in the long jump with 23-6.75 (7.18m), while Ryan Chase finished behind him in third with a jump of 23-4.00 (7.11m). Allison Mady recorded a throw of 45-1.50 (13.75m) on her first attempt in the competition, which would serve as her highest mark, good enough for fourth on the day.
The track continued to bode well for the Lobos as the Cherry and Silver tallied two more top-five finishes in addition to the success in the men’s and women’s mile.
Freshman Isaac Cole ran the 400-meter dash in 48.34 to place third overall, but was the second-fastest collegiate runner. New Mexico’s 4×400-meter relay team of Cole, Salcido, Alejandro Goldston and Wharton ran 3:19.04 to conclude the meet for the men’s team, resulting in a third-place finish.
The men tallied 105 points for a third-place result in the team standings, while the women’s team finished the meet with 99 points for a fourth-place finish in the team standings.
The home meets continue for the Lobos next Friday and Saturday with the New Mexico Collegiate Classic, held at the Albuquerque Convention Center.