Event Wins Highlight Final Day of Bryan Clay Invitational for UNM
RESULTS (PDF) | RESULTS
AZUSA, Calif.— Whereas Thursday’s schedule allowed the runners to shine, on the second and final day of the Bryan Clay Invitational, The University of New Mexico track and field team had several standouts in the field events, led by two event wins by Ada’ora Chigbo in the women’s high jump and Beau Clafton in the javelin.
Chigbo tied for first in the high jump with a height of 5-7.25 (1.71m), and was one of three competitors who finished first, beating out 43 other competitors. The sophomore cleared her first two bars on the first attempt at 5-5.25 (1.66m) and 5-7.25 (1.71m).
Clafton threw 190-6 (58.08m) on his third attempt to take the lead in the competition and held the lead through the fourth round. After Dylan Kipp of Montana threw 191-11 (58.51m) to take the lead, Clafton answered with an improved mark of 194-0 (59.13m) to not only retake the lead but win the event. The senior Lobo beat 33 other competitors to earn the win.
The Lobos had seven finishers in the top 10 of their events, including two in the top five in the men’s long jump, with five coming in field events.
Ryan Chase led the Lobos in the long jump with a third-place result after recording a mark of 24-10.5 (7.58m) on his first attempt. The mark held as the best jump through the first two rounds.
Junior Tanner Battikha finished tied for fourth in the long jump, achieving a jump of 24-9.75 (7.56m) with a wind of +1.4 m/s on his second jump. Battikha was one of three jumpers who finished with that mark.
Aidan Quinn produced a mark of 49-3.50 (15.02m) on his third attempt of the triple jump to finish second in his flight and had the fourth-best mark overall amongst all competitors in the four flights.However, the freshman posted the second-best mark among collegiate competitors.
On the track, UNM’s 4×100 relay team comprised of Beau Clafton, Alejandro Goldston, Lawrence Johnson and Jay Griffin IV placed sixth out of 25 teams with a time of 41.46.
Kristian Hansen finished ninth out of 154 runners in the 800-meter run to gain the top-10 finish with a time of 1:48.45 followed closely in the standings by Max Wharton, who ran 1:48.61 to finish 12th.
Wharton was one of eight Lobos who finished in the top 20 on the day.
Senior Allison Mady posted a 14th-place finish in the shot put, throwing 42-9 (13.03m) on her third and final attempt to earn her placement.
In the men’s high jump, Brent Dionisio tied for 15th with a height of 6-7 (2.01m) after clearing the bar on his second attempt, which was the first bar he attempted.
Ben Parmoon and Isaac Cole finished 15th and 16th out of 98 runners running the 400-meter dash with times of 48.17 and 48.21, respectively.
Katherine Whiting tied for 20th in the pole vault on a clearance of 11-9.75 (3.60m) to lead the Lobo entries, clearing the bar on her first attempt of the day on her first bar.
In one of the last events on Friday, Ednah Kurgat ran 4:18.61 in the 1500-meter invitational run to place 18th out of 143rd finishers, leading the Lobo finishers that competed in the race.
A short while later, Michael Wilson produced a top-20 finish, running 3:43.96 in the men’s 1500-meter invitational to finish 20th out of 162 runners.
Up next for UNM is the Brutus Hamilton Invite next Friday and Saturday in Berkeley, Calif. The Lobos have just two meets before the Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships set to start May 8.