Lobos get outdoor track season started in Lubbock

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – After a successful indoor season, the New Mexico track and field team is set to kick off the 2023 outdoor season this weekend at the Texas Tech Masked Rider Open in Lubbock, Texas.

The Lobos will participate on Saturday, with events beginning at 7 a.m. MDT and running the length of the day. The full meet schedule can be found online here, and live results will be available for the meet through PT Timing online here.

UNM will be represented on the men’s side primarily by the sprint crew, with six athletes entered in both the 200-meters and 400-meters. Jevon O’Bryant, Jovahn Williamson, Rivaldo Leacock, and Brodie Young, who teamed up to win the 4×400-meter relay at the Mountain West Indoor Championships, will all be in action in both races.

Williamson holds a PR of 45.39 seconds in the 400-meters, which he ran at last year’s NCAA regional preliminary meet. His PR time of 20.99 seconds in the 200-meters came at the 2022 Mountain West Championships, where he claimed the individual title.

O’Bryant holds a PR time of 45.67 seconds in the 400-meters, which he ran at last year’s NCAA regional preliminary right behind Williamson. O’Bryant is the reigning Mountain West champion in the event, winning last year’s conference meet with a time of 45.98 seconds on May 14, 2022. His PR time of 21.05 seconds (converted from 20.98) in the 200-meters was achieved at last year’s Masked Rider meet.

Leacock enters his first meet of the outdoor season coming off a PR of 21.52 seconds (21.45) during the indoor season, and holds a 400-meter PR of 47.08 seconds (46.97) which he ran at last year’s Don Kirby Tailwind meet. Young will go into his first collegiate outdoor season on the heels of an all-conference performance in the 400-meters during the indoor season. He ran season best times of 46.63 seconds (46.52) in the 400-meters and 22.00 seconds (21.93) in the 200-meters.

Viktor Akhalu will also compete in both races, holding a PR of 21.25 seconds in the 200-meters which he set on his way to a fourth-place finish at last year’s MW Championships. Akhalu’s outdoor PR in the 400-meters is 46.73 seconds (46.62), which he ran at last year’s Don Kirby Tailwind Open.

Lobo newcomer Ayoub El Ashmawi is also set to compete in both races this weekend, and is coming off season bests in both the 200-meters (21.70 seconds) and 400-meters (48.58 seconds) at the Mountain West Indoor Championships.

After running unattached during the indoor season, Harrison Smith III is set for his outdoor debut and will compete in the 1,500-meters on Saturday at 1:45 p.m. MDT. Smith’s collegiate best in the event is a time of 3:49.92 minutes, which he ran at the West Coast Relays in 2021.

Lobo jumpers Lokesh Sathyanthan, Aidan Quinn, and Adam Giron will also be in action on Saturday. Sathyanathan is coming off an all-conference performance in the long jump, as he placed third at the Mountain West Indoor Championships with a leap of 7.69 meters (25’ 2.75”).

Quinn is a four-time Mountain West champion in the triple jump and will begin pursuit of his outdoor PR of 15.58 meters (51’ 1.5”) which he set when winning the 2022 Mountain West Outdoor Championships. Giron is coming off an indoor PR in the high jump during the indoor season, as he reached a mark of 1.97 meters (6’ 5.5”) on Jan. 22. His outdoor PR in the event sits at 2.01 meters (6’ 7”).

UNM will also be heavy on the sprints in the women’s side, while sending a variety of field athletes to Lubbock this weekend as well.

Mountain West indoor champion Tianna Holmes, who won both the 200-meters and 400-meters at last month’s championship meet in Albuquerque, will focus on the 200-meters Saturday. Holmes broke her own school record in the event with her winning time of 23.56 seconds (23.49) on Feb. 25, and will look to chase down her outdoor PR of 23.12 seconds which she set at the NCAA preliminaries in May of 2021.

Standout freshman Mckenna Watson is coming off a school-record performance in the 60-meters during the indoor season, and is set to compete in both the 100-meters and 200-meters on Saturday. Watson’s lifetime best in the 100-meters is 12.09 seconds, while her indoor time of 24.02 seconds (23.95) she ran on Jan. 27 was her best ever.

After blazing her way into the UNM record books during the indoor season, newcomer Rebecca Grieve is set to run the 400-meters on Saturday in Texas. Grieve broke the school records in the 300-meters (38.81 seconds), 600-meters (1:32.86 minutes), and as part of UNM’s 4×400-meter relay team. Her top time in the 400-meters during the indoor season was 54.27 seconds (54.16), which she ran at the Mountain West Championships. Grieve will be joined in the event by Analisa Ibarra, who ran a lifetime best of 57.92 seconds (57.81) in the 400-meters during the indoor season.

Logan Neely and Annamaria Leszczynska, who were both part of UNM’s record-breaking 4×400-meter relay squad during the indoor season, are entered in both the 400-meter hurdles and on the 4×400 relay unit for Saturday.

Other newcomers set to compete in the sprints this weekend include Maria Cisneros Llamazares, Kora Pettengill, Zennia Gonzalez, and Lilee Kaasch. Cisneros Llamazares will join Watson in both the 100-meters and 200-meters, with the Spanish international holding bests of 11.74 seconds and 24.77 seconds, respectively. Pettengill ran a season-best indoor time of 26.16 seconds (26.09) in her collegiate debut, and she will also compete in the 100-meter hurdles and the javelin for the first time on Saturday. Gonzalez and Kaasch, who competed primarily in jumps during their first indoor season as Lobos, are each entered in the 200-meters and the long jump, while Kaasch will also compete in the triple jump.

One of the longest-tenured Lobos, Emily Ho will make her season debut on Saturday after participating in just one meet during the indoor season. Ho is entered in the 200-meters with a PR of 28.41 seconds (28.34), 100-meter hurdles with a PR of 17.20 seconds (17.16), and the javelin with a top throw of 28.13 meters (92’ 3”).

UNM will also get its first look at true freshman Keagin Brooks and sophomore Alix Rule, who are each entered in the javelin on Saturday. Brooks takes a lifetime best of 41.52 meters (136’ 2.75”) into her collegiate career, while Rule will compete in the event for the first time as a Lobo.

Victoria Plummer earned the Lobos points during her pentathlon performance at the Mountain West Championships, and is set to compete in three events on Saturday. Plummer is entered in the 200-meters with a PR time of 27.01 seconds (26.94), the 100-meter hurdles with a PR time of 14.97 seconds (14.93), and in the javelin where her top throw entering the meet is 23.89 meters (78’ 4”).

Mikyla Harkley will look to build off a productive indoor season, which saw her compete primarily in the long jump and triple jump but also set a PR in the 60-meters at 8.09 seconds (8.07). Harkley is set to run in the 200-meters Saturday with a PR time of 25.87 seconds (25.80), and will participate in both the long jump and triple jump. Her outdoor PR in the long jump sits at 5.80 meters (19’ 0.5”), and her best-ever triple jump came at the 2022 Mountain West Indoor Championships at 12.48 meters (40’ 11.5”).

Alyssa Gregory and Kailey Ludwig will both compete in the pole vault on Saturday, after each making a positive impression in their debut as Lobos during the indoor season. Gregory placed fifth at the Mountain West Championships, clearing a personal-best height of 3.78 meters (12’ 4.75”) on Feb. 24. Ludwig meanwhile hit a personal-best mark of 3.34 meters (10’ 11.5”) on Feb. 3.

Alyssa Magallanez will represent the Lobos in the high jump on Saturday, where she holds an outdoor PR of 1.68 meters (5’ 6”) which she established in 2021.