Open Announce

Lobos End First Day of NCAA Championships as Leacock Advances

by Alma Solis

EUGENE, Ore. — The University of New Mexico track & field team completed its first day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday evening at Hayward Field as Rivaldo Leacock advanced to the final round in the 400m hurdles event.

Jovahn Williamson started the night off as he ran in the first heat of the 400m dash. He ran a time of 46.44s in the event and ended in 22nd overall, not quite enough to advance to the final round of the event.

Rivaldo Leacock then ran in the 400m hurdles event not too long after that. He placed third in heat one and ninth overall, earning the final qualifying time to advance to the final round of the event with a time of 49.86s. He is the first Lobo since 1978 to advance to the final round of the event at championships (last was Fatweil Kimiayo, who Leacock broke his school record in the event earlier this season).

In the final event of the night, the quartet of Victor Akhalu, Williamson, Leacock and Jevon O’Bryant ran in the second heat of the men’s 4x400m relay. Following a protest in which Baylor was disqualified, they finished 20th overall with a time of 3:06.71, ending their record-breaking season as they fell short of the final round of the event.

On Thursday, Abbe Goldstein and Stefanie Parsons will start things off as they run in the 1500m semifinal at 5:46 p.m. (PT). Elise Thorner and Adva Cohen are set to compete in the 3000m steeplechase semifinal round at 6:02 p.m. Amelia Mazza-Downie and Emma Heckel will close the night out in the 10K final at 8:08 p.m.

The top eight finishers in each event will earn USTFCCCA First Team All-American while the 9-16 finishers will earn Second Team, which will be announced by the organization next week.

To keep up with all things Lobo track & field, follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Twitter and Instagram.