DAY 1 RECAP | DAY 2 RECAP | PHOTO GALLERY
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The University of New Mexico track and field team earned three event wins on Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center to conclude the 2019 Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships.
UNM posted 14 podium finishes on the weekend with three event wins, four second-place results and three third-place finishes on the final day on Saturday.
After setting the MW meet record on Friday evening with a 4:42.26 in the mile preliminaries, Weini Kelati improved on her time in Saturday’s final by 4.51 seconds to win the event in 4:37.75. Kelati crossed the line 3.63 seconds ahead of the runner-up finisher, making a pass in to the lead with three laps into the race and continued to pull away from there. With an altitude converted time of 4:31.70, Kelati also broke her own school record in the race by 1.64 seconds.
Jay Griffin IV made it two event wins and two school records on the track a short while later, claiming the 200-meter dash title with a 21.01, which was 0.22 seconds faster than the second-fastest time. The converted time of 21.08 was a UNM school record in the event, breaking the 21.14 record time that Griffin set earlier this indoor season.
Freshman Aidan Quinn jumped 49-3.75 (15.03m) on his third attempt of the triple jump to move into the lead, and it would hold as the top mark for the event win. Quinn jumped 8″ farther than the second-place finisher, although his second mark of 48- 9 (14.86m) would have also given Quinn the victory as well.
The Lobos produced two second-place finishes on the track and two on field events on Saturday.
Ada’ora Chigbo started off the day with a second-place result in the high jump after clearing 5-8.75 (1.75m) on her first attempt before she exited at the 1.79m height.
A short time later, Cathilee Mullings added eight more points to the women’s team score with a second-place finish in the women’s triple jump. The junior set a personal best with her 40-6.75 (12.36m) that she achieved on her sixth and final attempt to move up two spots into second. Her mark was also the seventh-best individual performance in program history.
Back on the track, Michael Wilson led the Lobos with a runner-up finish in the 800-meter final, running a 1:48.27. His time was just 0.45 seconds behind the winner and was also a personal best and school record for the senior even before the time was converted to account for altitude (1:47.67).
Joining Wilson on the podium was Kristian Hansen, who ran a 1:49.56 to place third. With an altitude converted time of 1:48.95, Hansen ran a personal best and the fourth-fastest time in program history. It was also an improvement of three places from last season’s meet for Hansen, for his first medal in the event.
In one of the final events on the track, Charlotte Prouse produced a second-place result in the 3000m with a 9:13.64 time. Converted to 9:00.01, Prouse recorded the fifth-fastest time all-time.
Although she didn’t earn a place on the podium, Adva Cohen’s fourth-place finish of 9:18.81 (9:05.01) was significant in that it put Cohen in the top-16 in the country in the event, the cutoff for the NCAA Championship, giving UNM four runners in the top 16 in the 3000-meters. She previously ranked 20th with her 9:08.40 time run at the Husky Classic earlier this month. It is also the ninth-fastest time all-time in UNM history in the indoor event.
Ben Parmoon won his 400-meter final heat in 48.50 and ultimately finished third between the two heats to claim a spot on the podium. In this event last year, Parmoon placed sixth in the event.
In the final men’s event of the three-day meet, UNM ran its way on the podium in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:15.82 (3 :16.26 converted). The team of Isaac Cole, Parmoon, Gavin Sleeter and Max Wharton gave the Lobos six final team points, finishing just behind Wyoming (3:15.21) for third.
The men’s team finished fourth in the team standings with 86 points and the women’s team also finished fourth with 63 points.
While the majority of the Lobos have concluded their indoor season, for several, the focus turns to the NCAA Championships on March 8 and 9.