New Mexico Well-Represented at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22
EUGENE, Ore. – The University of New Mexico will be well-represented at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 as four Lobo alumni and a current Lobo are competing and associate head coach Laura Bowerman is coaching the USATF team.
The 2022 World Athletics Championships Oregon22 is set to run from July 15 through July 24 in Eugene, Oregon. This is the first time the event is coming to the U.S. in its history. The event will be held at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon and will showcase the best track and field athletes from all over the world.
Lobo alumnus Django Lovett is set to represent Canada in men’s high jump with a season-best mark of 2.28m. Lovett competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics last season and earned eighth place with a mark of 2.30m. His collegiate best as a Lobo was 2.21m in the spring of 2015. His career best mark is 2.33m which he hit at the Canadian Olympic Trials in June of 2021.
The qualifying round is set for 10:10 a.m. (PT) on July 15. The final round is set for 5:45 p.m. on July 18.
Two more Lobo alumni will be competing in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. Adva Cohen is set to represent Israel with a season-best time of 9:35.60 and Courtney Frerichs will represent the United States with a season-best time of 9:16.18 in the event.
Frerichs set the NCAA record in the event in 2016 and held that record until just over a month ago when it was broken at the most recent NCAA Outdoor Championships. Frerichs hit a personal best of 8:57.77 – the fifth fastest time in history – at the Prefontaine Classic in August of 2021. Both Cohen and Frerichs competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics just last summer. Frerichs earned her first Silver medal, while Cohen earned 14th in the preliminary round.
The first heats for the women’s 3000m steeplechase are set for 10:35 a.m. on July 16. The final is set for 7:45 p.m. on July 20.
Lobo alumnus Josh Kerr will be representing Great Britain in the 1500m run. In 2018, Kerr broke a 36-year-old NCAA record in the men’s 1500m. He now sits at third on the NCAA record list in the event but held onto that record for three years. The first round of the men’s 1500m is set for 6:30 p.m. on July 16. The final is set for 7:30 p.m. on July 19.
Returning Lobo Gracelyn Larkin will be representing Canada in the 5000m run as the third youngest competitor in this event. She reached her personal best time of 15:29.93 earlier this season at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif. The first round of the event is set for 4:25 p.m. on July 20. The final round is set for 7:25 p.m. on July 23.
The Lobos’ associate head coach Laura Bowerman is representing the university on the coaching side as she was named the women’s distance coach for USATF team on April 20. The Temple Terrace, Fla., is also a Lobo alum as she received her master’s in Sport Administration, while running for New Mexico. She earned All-Mountain West in the 5000m run in 2009.
In addition to the track representation, former Lobo tennis player Mackenzie White is a registered dietician for Team USA, as well. She rotated around the one, two or three singles spots while at New Mexico from 2005-2009. She was also the treasurer and vice president of the Lobos’ SAAC, as well as representing New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference’s SAAC.
To keep up with all things Lobo track & field, follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Twitter and Instagram.