Lobos land six champions at MW conference meet
CLOVIS, Calif. – Lokesh Sathyanathan was among six champions for the New Mexico track and field team over the weekend at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, and was named the Performer of the Meet to highlight the Lobos’ competition at the 2023 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Sathyanathan unleashed a lifetime-best long jump of 8.02 meters (26’ 3.75”) on Friday evening, picking up his first Mountain West title in the event. “It feels great, and it’s the hard work that pays off,” Sathyanathan said after claiming his gold medal. “The faith and trust our coach has in us, it was all there today. Everything hyped me up, and that’s how it happened.”
The Lobos swept the steeple chase titles, with Maisie Grice winning on the women’s side and Awet Yohannes claiming his second title on the men’s side on Friday night. Stefanie Parsons won the 1,500-meters, breaking the Mountain West championship record with her time of 4:17.17 minutes. Amelia Mazza-Downie won her fourth overall conference title on Saturday night, crushing the competition in the 5,000-meters. Victor Akhalu tied the school record in the 100-meters, with a mark of 10.28 seconds to finish as the runner-up. He then helped the Lobo men’s 4×400-meter relay squad successfully defend its conference title to close out the meet on Saturday night.
After fouling on his first attempt, Sathyanathan got off to a good start at 7.69 meters (25’ 2.75”) which was 0.10 meters off his season best this spring. It temporarily put him into first place, until San Jose State’s Ajamu Reed unleashed a jump of 7.86 meters (25’ 9.5”) to take the lead.
Sathyanathan’s next two jumps came up short of his established mark, but the freshman delivered in a big way on his fifth attempt of the night. “That was unbelievable, and it was one of the best feelings in my life,” said Sathyanathan, a native of Karnatka, India. “I have been trying to jump above eight (meters) for years, but I haven’t been able to. Today I knew it was big, but I didn’t know the exact mark. When I saw my jump I was really happy.”
Sathyanathan leapt into the arms of senior Aidan Quinn when the mark was revealed on the scoreboard, celebrating with the four-time Mountain West triple jump champion before embracing fellow long jumper Jake Burkey. The 2023 Mountain West indoor champion and All-American in the event, Burkey drew inspiration from Sathyanathan’s monstrous leap.
Sitting in fourth place entering his sixth and final attempt, Burkey vaulted up the leaderboard with a jump of 7.92 meters (26’ 0”) (+3.3) to finish right behind Sathyanathan in second place. “It’s everything, and it’s what we put the hard work in for,” Burkey said of the duo’s finish on Friday. “I get to train with him quite a bit and see what he does in practice, and it has been clear to me that he was going to have a huge jump at some point. I was hoping it was either going to be me or Loki, so I’m happy for him but I’m not surprised.”
Burkey suffered an injury on his first attempt at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, and did not compete in a single outdoor meet until the championships on Friday. “There were loads of times I didn’t know whether I would be able to jump this season,” said Burkey, who was an All-American during the indoor season. “But I worked really hard and believed I could come and jump well, and that’s why I decided to do it. I am thankful to come away healthy. Having an injury like that changes your perspective, and it could have been worse. Being out for six weeks was not fun, but I’m delighted it all worked out.”
Burkey surpassed his top indoor mark of 7.87 meters – which won him the indoor title – and credited Sathyanathan’s PR leap with motivating him to jump onto the podium. “I was so excited for Loki – eight is a huge barrier,” said Burkey. “I know how hard he works, and the tough times he’s gone through. To see him jump that – it is such a huge mark in the long jump. It made me go and want to do the same thing. It got late in the competition, and I just used it to hype me up and the results showed. The reactions were so cool.”
“Apart from being my teammate, he has been a good friend to me outside of track,” Sathayanathan said on Burkey. “That’s what makes it more special for me. In track and field it’s always a competition, whether it’s a in a meet or with your teammate. He has always been a great competitor for me, and he’s what makes me go further and further.”
Mazza-Downie, a three-time All-American in the 5,000-meters, gained strength throughout a dominant performance that saw her cruise to a time of 15:44.37 minutes on Saturday evening. “The strongest part today was probably the middle (of the race), and I just wanted to stick at that pace and not fall off,” said Mazza-Downie.
That time was good enough for the 25th-best in the NCAA this year, while she also ranks fifth on the NCAA performance list in the 10,000-meters. Mazza-Downie won the 5,000-meters at the 2022 Mountain West Indoor Championships as well. Gracelyn Larkin took second place with a time of 16:03.44 minutes, Emma Heckel finished seventh in 16:19.12, Elise Thorner took 11th place in 16:36.13 minutes, and Sarah Eckel was 16th among the field of 38 in 17:00.61 minutes. “We are definitely a big family,” Mazza-Downie said. “I know it means a lot to them when I do well, and vice-versa. They really are my sisters.”
The Lobos’ 4×400-meter relay team was in command from the starting gun on Saturday night, with O’Bryant propelling his team to an early lead that it never relinquished. The Lobos posted a season-best time of 3:05.55 minutes, winning the race by nearly five full seconds ahead of second-place San Jose State. “We had a long week, and the main thing we wanted to do was win the relay,” said O’Bryant. “We knew as the defending champs that everyone would be coming after us, and we just wanted to seal the deal. We wanted to close it out with a win.”
Young brought home the title after middle legs from Jovahn Williamson and Akhalu, as the relay squad helped UNM finish the meet on a positive note. “We were a little banged up from the 200, so coach just wanted me to put us out in front with the first leg,” O’Bryant said on his race strategy. “I gave it all for them, and we all just pushed after each other. That was the main goal was getting the lead.”
The foursome’s performance in the relay race came after each had success individually earlier in the meet. Akhalu hinted he was on his way to a big performance on Friday, when he ran a personal-best time of 10.33 seconds in the 100-meter preliminaries. He followed that by shaving off 0.05 seconds, and tying Beejay Lee’s 2012 school record of 10.28 seconds in the event. Akhalu crossed the finish line just 0.03 seconds behind champion Javin Bostic of Air Force. “He’s our 100 and 200 guy, and we have known since the fall what he is capable of,” O’Bryant commented on Akhalu’s contributions both individually and on the relay squad. “For him to get a regional qualifier for the 100 was big time, and that was his main goal. He has been around 10.4 all season, and for him to get into the regionals was big. It also gave him more confidence getting on the 4×4 and splitting a good time.”
The Lobos finished second-through-fourth in the 400-meters, with Williamson leading the way in a time of 45.78 seconds. Young also got on the podium in third at 45.82 seconds, and O’Bryant was close behind in fourth at 45.87 seconds. “We do it in practice almost every day,” O’Bryant said on the 400-meter group’s inner competition. “Anyone can win on any given day. We knew it was going to be a fast one, and this was probably the fastest (400) at the Mountain West that I’ve seen. To see there were four 45s, everybody pushed for a good time. We are just trying to solidify New Mexico as a 400 school.”
Williamson finished in third place in the 200-meters, clocking a time of 20.88 seconds on Saturday. Young also competed in the finals, taking seventh place with a mark of 21.48 seconds.
Competing in the outdoor championships for the first time, Grice won the steeple chase by a healthy nine seconds to claim her first conference crown with a time of 10:01.69 minutes. “Joe (Franklin) gave me a race plan, so I was sticking to that regardless of what the other runners were doing,” said Grice, a native of Portsmouth, England. “I felt strong halfway, and I was enjoying it. I felt like I could just stride out and just push on. It was really fun working with the girls and running strong the whole way through.”
Grice left no doubt down the final stretch of the event, closing with a strong kick to ensure the victory. While her season best time remained at 9:53.79 minutes, Friday’s win proved to be a key confidence booster for the Lobo newcomer who ranks 17th on the NCAA performance list. “Training has been going well, and the group of girls helps each other along,” said Grice. “I felt really confident going into it. It’s really exciting, and it’s nice to be able to do it with such a great team around. It’s very exciting to represent New Mexico, I am very proud, and am in a very fortunate position.”
Shortly after Grice claimed the women’s title, Yohannes turned in one of the most exciting moments of the meet when he chased down his second-career title in the event. The bell lap saw the Lobo veteran several strides behind both Ryker Holtzen of Wyoming and Max Wehrli of Utah State, before he began to pick up the pace and started closing in on the leaders. With 100 meters to go Yohannes made his move to pull even with Holtzen, and the difference came on the final hurdle of the nearly nine-minute race. The slightest stumble from Holtzen and a perfectly clean clearance from Yohannes was enough to propel the Lobo to victory, as he landed in stride and closed out the win with a strong final push.
Yohannes finished with a time of 8:43.06 minutes, and claimed his third podium after winning the event in 2021 and finishing as the runner-up a year ago. Nehemiah Cionelo also competed in the event, finishing in eighth place with a personal-best time of 9:01.60 minutes. Yohannes also competed in the 5,000-meters on Saturday, and led the Lobos with a time of 14:04.20 minutes to finish in fifth place. Jonathan Carmin finished in 14:28.95 minutes to take 11th, and Cionelo finished in 14th with a time of 14:39.15 minutes.
Parsons cruised to the win in the 1,500-meters with a time of 4:17.17 minutes on Saturday, as she ran towards the front of the pack from the outset of the race. “It’s really exciting to cap off my last year in the NCAA like that,” said Parsons. “Being part of a team with such a great history and being able to work out with such a great group of girls is what stands out to me.”
It was the third conference title in the event for Parsons, including a pair of 1,500-meter championships in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference during her career at NCAA Division II Edinboro. She is also a three-time All-American in the 1,500-meters, including last year as a Lobo when she finished 14th in the country.
Elise Thorner also got on the podium in the 1,500-meters, finishing in third place with a time of 4:18.55 minutes. Sarah Eckel took fifth place in 4:24.86 minutes, and freshman Danielle Verster finished in 10th with a time of 4:34.72 minutes.
In the men’s 1,500-meters, Kevin Mulcaire was the top performer for the Lobos as he took third place with a time of 3:42.55 minutes. Carmin finished in sixth place at 3:44.04 minutes, and Matthew Larkin crossed the line in 3:57.14 minutes.
Abigail Goldstein ran her best 800-meter time as a Lobo on Saturday evening, finishing in fourth place in the finals with a mark of 2:06.47 minutes. The senior’s previous best competing for New Mexico was a time of 2:07.60 minutes, which she achieved on April 1 at Stanford. Parsons also raced in the 800-meter finals, crossing the line in seventh place with a time of 2:08.22 minutes.
Ethan Brouw, who broke the school record in the 800-meters during the indoor season, got onto the podium on Saturday with a third-place finish in the event. The second-year Lobo crossed the line with a time of 1:49.65 minutes, finishing just over two seconds behind his PR of 1:47.21 minutes. Harrison Smith III also made it to the 800-meter finals, where he took eighth place with a time of 1:53.81 minutes.
Tianna Holmes led the Lobo women’s sprint crew over the weekend, placing second in both the 400-meters and 200-meters. Holmes clocked a time of 52.79 seconds in the 400-meters, taking second place by just 0.22 seconds behind San Diego State’s Shaquena Foote. Holmes then ran a time of 23.30 – just 0.19 off her school record mark – in the 200-meters to take second place by 0.11 seconds behind champion Emily Costello of Nevada.
After embracing his contemporaries in the long jump on Friday, Quinn took to his specialty with the triple jump on Saturday and got onto the Mountain West podium for the seventh time in his collegiate career. Quinn’s top leap of the day came on his fourth attempt, when he cleared a distance of 15.65 meters (51’ 4.25”) to climb to second place. Only Allam Bushara of Colorado State bested the Lobo senior, with a jump of 15.79 meters (51’ 9.75”) to take home the gold medal. Quinn also competed in the long jump, finishing in eighth place with a mark of 7.07 meters (23’ 2.5”).
Annamaria Leszczynska picked up a silver medal in the 400-meter hurdles on Saturday, crossing the finish line with a time of 59.06 seconds in her outdoor championships debut. Logan Neely followed in fifth place, posting a time of 59.71 seconds. Both hurdlers also competed on the women’s 4×400-meter relay squad, which finished in fourth place on Saturday night with a time of 3:40.95 minutes. Neely and Leszczynska were joined by Grieve and Wolczak to formulate the relay squad.
Williamson took down his PR in the 200-meters during the preliminary round on Thursday, qualifying for the finals by winning his heat with a time of 20.95 seconds. That was an improvement of 0.04 seconds from his previous lifetime best of 20.99, which he used to win the event at last year’s Mountain West Championships. Young also qualified for the 200-meter finals, running a PR of 21.21 seconds in the preliminary round on Thursday.
Freshman Mckenna Watson had a strong showing in her first outdoor championships, racing to a time of 11.69 seconds in the 100-meters to finish in fifth place in the finals. In the 200-meters, Watson just missed qualifying for the finals by 0.03 seconds as she posted a time of 24.18 seconds to take 10th place in the preliminary round.
Freshman Rebecca Grieve clocked a time of 2:12.13 minutes in her first outdoor championship 800-meters, while junior Isabella Fauria followed in 2:15.40 minutes which was her top outdoor time in the event.
Aleksandra Wolczak participated in the 400-meter hurdles in her first Mountain West Outdoor Championships, completing the preliminary round on Thursday night with a time of 1:02.13 minutes.
Mikyla Harkley competed in both the long jump and the triple jump for the Lobos, finishing in sixth place in the long jump with a distance of 5.95 meters (19’ 6.25”). Harkley followed with a distance of 12.12 meters (39’ 9.25”) in the triple jump on Saturday, to finish in 10th place among a field of 17 competitors.
Tim Harris completed his first season in a Lobo uniform with his second-best 400-meter hurdle time of the spring on Thursday night, as he crossed the line with a time of 54.78 seconds in the preliminaries. That was just 0.18 seconds off his season best of 54.60 seconds, which he ran on April 20 in the Lobos’ home meet. Harris missed out on qualifying for the finals by one spot, and a total of 0.42 seconds.
Building off of her fifth-place finish at the Mountain West Indoor Championships, Alyssa Gregory took seventh place in the pole vault with a height of 3.73 meters (12’ 2.75”).
Adam Giron represented the Lobos in the high jump, clearing a mark of 1.93 meters (6’ 4”) on Friday and finishing tied for seventh place to pick up 1.5 points. A trio of Lobos competed in the high jump on the women’s side, with Alyssa Magallanez and Victoria Plummer each clearing 1.63 meters (5’ 4.25”), and Emily Ho topping a bar set at 1.58 meters (5’ 2.25”).
In her first outdoor championship event, Lobo newcomer Maria Cisneros Llamazares posted a time of 25.93 seconds in the 200-meter preliminaries on Thursday evening. Cisneros Llamazares also competed on the Lobo women’s 4×100-meter relay squad, which posted a time of 46.94 seconds to finish in seventh place. Joining her were Kora Pettengill, Mckenna Watson, and Rebecca Grieve.
Pettengill competed in her first outdoor championship event, posting a time of 26.38 seconds (+2.3)in the 200-meters on Thursday.
NEXT UP: The championship portion of the 2023 outdoor schedule continues with the NCAA West Preliminary Championships, which are set for May 24-27 in Sacramento, Calif. That meet will determine qualification for the NCAA Championships, which are set for June 7-10 in Austin, Texas.