Women's Track and Field Makes Additions for 2021-22 Season
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico women’s track and field team has added some dynamic student-athletes to its 2021-22 roster.
Larkin Chapman | Distance | Iowa State
Larkin Chapman joins the Lobos after spending time with the Iowa State track and field team. During her career at Iowa State, Chapman was a two-time Big 12 Champion (T&F: Indoor: 1,000m, 2018; DMR, 2018), USTFCCCA All-Academic (T&F: 2019, 2020), and earned spots on the Academic All-Big 12 First team in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
In 2017, Chapman was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team and was on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll from Fall 2016 to Spring 2020. She currently holds a 2:06.18 PB in the 800 and a 4:20.62 in the 1500m.
Lauren Fowler | Sprints and Jumps | Buchanan High School
Lauren Fowler will start her collegiate career at The University of New Mexico after graduating from Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif. Fowler currently holds the Central Selection top 100-meter time of 11.63 seconds and broke the Buchanan school record in the long jump with a mark of 19’4″. Her personal best in the 200m is 24.02 seconds. Most recently she was named a three-time Valley Champion, and sits No. 2 in the state of California in the 100m.
Fowler’s love for track and field dates back to when she was in fourth grade. She will be a strong asset to the Lobo squad this upcoming track and field season.
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Sarah Eckel | Distance | Adelaide, Australia
Sarah Eckel will join the UNM squad as a freshman as a middle-distance runner. In 2018, Eckel represented Australia at the World U20 Championships in the 1500m. She began training at the age of 13 with Team Tempo under coach Adam Didyk and started competing in her first proper track races for Hills Districts Athletics Club.
Eckel’s personal best in the 800m is 2:05 and 4:14 in the 1500m.
Eckel’s older sister, Sophia, was also a UNM track and field and cross country athlete, competing from 2017-19.
Abbe Goldstein | Distance | Harvard
Abbe Goldstein has had an impressive collegiate career thus far and will be transferring to UNM from Harvard. In 2020, Goldstein qualified for the NCAA Championships in the mile, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also participated in the NCAA East Preliminary Round in 2018, where she ran a then-career-best 4:22.78 in the 1500m. That same season, Goldstein was named Second Team All-Ivy after posting a time of 11:33.95 DMR. Goldstein now holds a personal-best time of 4:10.94 in the 1500m and 4:35.70 in the mile.
This past season, Goldstein’s mile time placed her within the top 16 in the country, earning her a spot at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Carmen Villanueva Perez | Jumps | New Mexico Junior College
Another signee from New Mexico Junior College is Carmen Villanueva Perez. Villanueva Perez is a four-time NJCAA NCAA National Champion in the pole vault and currently holds a personal-best mark of 4.00m (13’1.5″), which also serves as the NMJC school record.
Villanueva Perez is a tremendous addition to the Lobo pole vault crew.
Mikyla Harkley | Jumps | Aviano High School
Mikyla Harkley will start her collegiate career with the Lobos after completing a successful high school career. Harkley is a graduate of Aviano High School but spent time in New Mexico at Clovis High School. She has competed on varsity track and field teams and has qualified for State Championships since the seventh grade. In 2019, Harkley won the 5A New Mexico triple jump state title with a jump of 38’2″. Most recently, she was a member of the Italian Atletica Brugnera Pordenone Friul Intagali track and field team.
Harkley will be a versatile addition to the Lobo squad this coming season.
Stefanie Parsons | Distance | Edinboro University
Transferring from Edinboro University to New Mexico is Stefanie Parsons, who most recently was named the Women’s Track Athlete of the Year by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. This is the second Track Athlete of the Year title for Parsons, earning the same honor in 2019. This season, Parsons captured All-America honors in the 1500m at the National Championship meet. She broke multiple records this last season, including the PSAC meet record in the 1500m. She also took home the PSAC Championship in the 5000m and took home Track Athlete of the Meet honors. She currently holds a PR of 4:14.22 in the 1500m.
Parsons is a five-time All-American with the Edinboro Fighting Scots.
Emma Heckel | Distance | Rice University
The Lobos will add distance runner Emma Heckel to the 2021-22 roster, coming to New Mexico from Germany. Heckel has continuously improved through her running career, setting four new personal bests in 2021 alone. Those events include the 800m (2:17.16), the 1500m (4:26.33), the 3000m (9:18.64), and the 5000m (16:20.17).
Heckel will join UNM as a freshman, marking her collegiate start with the Lobos.
Samantha Valentine | Distance | Brown University
Samantha Valentine is a transfer from Brown University and will be a great addition to the Lobo distance squad. In 2019, Valentine was an NCAA qualifier in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, took third overall in the 3000m at the Ocean State Invitational. She also set a personal-record 1500m (4:30.82) with a 13th-place finish at the Sam Howell Invitational and a personal-record 3000m run (10:22.87) for a fourth-place finish and a fifth-place finish in the 4×800 at the Ivy League Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
For the 2020 cross country season, Valentine earned Academic All-Ivy honors.
Lauren Bettencourt | Distance | Texas
Lauren Bettencourt is a dynamic distance runner who will join the Lobo squad this upcoming season. Bettencourt most recently won the Texas state title in the 800m for the Family Educators Alliance of South Texas in the Homeschool State Track Meet and also aided her team in winning the state team title. Bettencourt holds her school title in the girl’s 400m with a time of 54.00. She will start her collegiate career this upcoming track season.
She currently holds a 4:55.0 PB in the 1600m.
Alicia Quintana | Sprints | Pojoaque, New Mexico
Alicia Quintana will start her collegiate career as a Lobo after graduating from Pojoaque Valley High School. The incoming freshman claimed three medals at the 2019 Class 4A-5A state track and field meet at the Great Friends of UNM track and field facilities in Albuquerque after a reclassification of Pojoaque into the 5A bracket. In her first race, she flashed to fourth place with an outstanding time of 12.59 seconds. In her next race, she ran a personal record of 58. 5 seconds in the 400-meter dash, taking third place. In her final race, she took fourth place in the 200-meter dash with another great time of 26.47 seconds. Quintana will have a strong career with the Lobos.