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UNM Posts Personal Bests and Top-10 Finishes on Day 1

DAY 1 RESULTS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—
  Going against some of the top teams in the country in their first competition of the 2020 indoor season, The University of New Mexico Lobos produced seven top-10 finishes and four personal bests at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Friday.

Opening up the indoor season with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Collegiate Invitational, the Lobos had success across the board in both track and in field events, led by a fourth-place finish from Gavin Sleeter in the 600-meter run, posting a personal-best 1:20.34.

Speed was especially prevalent on the track in the 200-meter dash where Texas’ Michiah Harris recorded the fastest time in the NCAA this season with a 20.53 (20.60 when converted for altitude). UNM was well represented in the event with three finishing among the top 15 of the 61 entries, including an eighth-place showing for Jay Griffin IV with a time of 21.38 (21.45 converted). Alejandro Goldston was closely behind the standings in 13th with a personal-best 21.74 (21.81 converted), improving on his time by 0.07 seconds. In his first race back from injury, Carlos Salcido crossed in 21.75 (21.82 converted) to finish 15th. Goldston and Salcido both won their respective heats as well. 

In her first 600-meter race as a Lobo, Abigail Bendle finished in the top 10 in 10th at 1:38.13. Slightly behind her in the standings was Andrea Benites, who won her heat in 1:40.05 to finish 13th overall.

When it came to field events, UNM had its greatest success in the high jump, placing three in the top eight. In her first appearance as a Lobo, Jamari Drake cleared 1.65 meters on her second attempt and cleared the next bar of 1.70 meters (5-7.00) on her first attempt, the final bar she would clear, to finish sixth among the 24 competitors. Following her in the standings was Ada’ora Chigbo, who also finished at 5-7.00 (1.70m) but had two more misses at the bar, and Shannon Fritz in eighth at 5-5.0 (1.65m). Fritz easily cleared her first two bars of the afternoon on the first try and needed the third attempt to clear the 5-5.0 height before fouling out on the next bar height.

Over in the sand pit, Tanner Battikha led the Lobo entries with an eighth-place result in the long jump, earning a mark of 24-00.25 (7.32m) on his second attempt to advance to the finals. However, the senior was unable to improve his mark to finish in eighth. Darryl Thomas also had a strong first result of the year with a personal-best 22-4.50 (6.82m) on his first attempt, ultimately finishing 15th.

Diamond Black also recorded a personal best in the long jump with a 17-11 (5.46m) on her second attempt, an improvement of 0.16 meters (6.25″), to place 11th overall out of 40 competitors.

The Lobos will close out the two-day meet on Saturday starting at 9 a.m. MT with the women’s shot put, while the running events will resume at 10 a.m. with the qualifying round of the women’s 60-meter hurdles. The final field event is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. (men’s shot put) and the women’s 4×400 relay will close the meet at 2:35 p.m.

Live results can be found HERE and the meet will be streamed on FloTrack HERE.