Lobos to Take on Best in the West at NCAA West Preliminary
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The University of New Mexico track and field team has one objective this week at the NCAA West Preliminary in Sacramento, Calif. – qualify as many student-athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as possible.
Starting on Thursday, May 23, the Lobos will have 17 student-athletes and 21 entries in a total of 10 events that will vie to be among the top 12 in their respective event to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships over a three-day period. It marks the second straight year that the Lobos have qualified 17 for the prelims.
Nine Lobos will compete on Thursday, with Tanner Battikha and Ryan Chase starting off the UNM entries in the long jump at 4:30 p.m. MT. There will be a total of four flights, with Battikha in the second flight and Chase in the third. The format is a single round with three attempts in which the top 12 placers from the final advance to the championships to be held in Austin, Texas.
The rest of the day’s events will be on the track, with the men’s 1500-meters, the men’s 800-meters and the women’s 10,000-meters.
In the men’s 1500-meters, the Lobos will have three runners in Iolo Hughes, Ian Crowe-Wright and Michael Wilson. Hughes will be in the first of four heats and Crowe-Wright and Wilson are both in heat two. With a scheduled start time of 7 p.m. MT, the top five from each heat plus next four times advance to the quarterfinal on Saturday. In the quarterfinals, the top five from each quarterfinal plus the next best two times qualify for the championships.
Later that night, Max Wharton and Kristian Hansen will face a similar situation in the men’s 800-meter, scheduled for 9:35 p.m. MT. There will be a total of six heats with Wharton in the fourth heat and Hansen in the fifth with the top three from each heat plus next six times moving on to the quarterfinals on Friday. From there, the top three times from each quarterfinal plus the next best three times advance to Austin.
In the final event of the opening day, Weini Kelati and Ednah Kurgat take to the course at Sacramento State in the women’s 10,000-meters with a scheduled start time of 10 p.m. MT. There is just one heat with the top 12 advancing to Austin. Of note, Kelati and Kurgat hold the top two times of the 48 entries in the event.
Opening up on Friday for UNM will be Beau Clafton in the javelin, set for 1 p.m. MT. Clafton will be in the first of three flights with the top 12 placers from the final moving on to Austin.
The men’s and women’s steeplechase conclude the day’s events with the women leading off at 9:20 p.m. MT.
UNM has a total of three entries in the women’s steeplechase in Adva Cohen, Charlotte Prouse and Alexandra Harris. Cohen will run in the first of three heats with Prouse and Harris together in the third. The top three from each heat plus the next three best times earn a spot in the championship.
Going in to the preliminary, Cohen and Prouse are second and third in the preliminaries in the event, respectively, with Cohen’s best time only 0.05 seconds behind Boise State’s Allie Ostrander, who will run in heat two.
Following the women’s race, Jonny Glenn will run in the third of three heats in the men’s steeplechase with a projected start time of 10 p.m. MT. Like the women’s format, the top three from each heat, plus the next three best times advance to Austin.
The final day of competition will have two field events and one track event with five runners and two triple jumpers.
At 4 p.m. MT, Cathilee Mullings will compete in the women’s triple jump with a single round, three attempts format in which the top 12 placers from the final advance to the championships. Mullings is seeded in the first flight out of four.
Aidan Quinn will also compete in the second flight of the triple jump, with the event scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT. The format follows the women’s triple jump with the top 12 from the finals moving on to the championship.
In the final event, the Lobos will have a UNM event-high five entries in the women’s 5000-meters. Running at 9:05 p.m. MT, Cohen, Prouse, Kurgat and Emily Martin have all been placed in the first heat, while Kelati is the lone Lobo in the second and final heat. The top five from each heat plus the next two best times secure their spot in the championship.
The Lobos are set up well in the event with Kelati, Cohen and Kurgat ranked first through third, respectively in the event.
Last season at the preliminary, UNM had seven runners advance to the NCAA championships, including Crowe-Wright (1500m), Prouse (steeplechase), Kurgat (5000m) and Kelati (5000m).
FloTrack will stream the three days worth of events, which can be accessed HERE, but will require a subscription. Live stats will also be available HERE.