Turquoise Twelve: Lobos set for NCAA Championships

AUSTIN, Texas – Twelve athletes from the New Mexico track and field team are headed to Mike A. Myers stadium this week, to compete at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

New Mexico totaled 15 championship qualifying marks at the NCAA West Region Preliminary meet on May 24-27, and will begin this week’s competition at the University of Texas on Wednesday evening.

The 15 qualifying marks tied for the most in a single-season in program history, with the 1965 New Mexico men’s track and field team also achieving that feat.

To view a comprehensive schedule of events in chronological order, view the Lobo competition guide here.

*All times listed below are Mountain Daylight Time.

Putting forth the best efforts of his career over the last two meets, Awet Yohannes ran his way into the national championships in the steeple chase for the first time. The third-year Lobo is coming off a personal-best time of 8:33.80 minutes at the preliminary championships, where he cruised to an eighth-place finish to earn a spot on Wednesday night. Yohannes will run in the second heat, and needs a top-five finish or one of the next two best times to advance to the finals which are set for Friday night.

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The Lobos’ dynamic duo of long jumpers advanced to the final meet of the year with a strong showing at the preliminary meet, with Jake Burkey placing eighth and Lokesh Sathyanathan following in 11th place. While it wasn’t the longest jump of the year for either of the Lobo stars, Burkey’s mark of 7.67 meters (25’ 2”) and Sathyanathan’s leap of 7.65 meters (25’ 1.25”) were enough to qualify for the national meet. Burkey earned All-America status during the indoor season, while Sathyanathan is coming off a Mountain West title with a personal best leap of 8.02 meters (26’ 3.75”). The duo will stack up against the top-24 long jumpers in the NCAA, with Sathyanathan’s season best ranking him seventh on the NCAA performance list and Burkey’s season best of 7.92 meters (26’ 0”) ranking him 18th.

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After a runner-up finish at the Mountain West Championships, Jovahn Williamson followed by taking sixth place in the 400-meters at the NCAA West Preliminary meet to make it two years in-a-row qualifying for the event. Williamson earned honorable mention All-American in 2022, finishing in 22nd place in the preliminary round of the race. The senior’s top time so far this spring was 45.78 seconds at the conference meet, which slated him at No. 38 on the NCAA performance list. Williamson will need a top-two finish in his heat or one of the next three fastest times to advance to Friday’s finals.

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New Mexico’s school record-holding 4×400-meter relay squad returns to the national championships, where it garnered honorable mention All-America in 2022 with a 20th-place finish in the preliminary round. New Mexico’s seed time of 3:04.13 minutes is 20th on the NCAA performance list (excluding multiple squads from the same schools), as the quartet of Williamson, Victor Akhalu, Jevon O’Bryant, and Brodie Young have continued to whittle down the school record. That foursome made it a sweep of the Mountain West indoor and outdoor championship titles, before running to an eighth-place finish at the west region preliminary meet. The Lobos will run in the third and final heat, and need a top-two finish or one of the next three fastest times to advance to Friday’s finals.

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Abigail Goldstein broke her own school record and set a PR twice at the NCAA Preliminary Championships, topping out with a time of 4:10.32 minutes to seal her spot in the national championships. Goldstein has progressively shaved significant time off her 1,500-meter race throughout the spring, which started with a time of 4:20.22 at the USATF Indoor Championships on Feb. 18. Since then the Lobo senior has run 4:15.64 on March 31 at Stanford, 4:12.98 on April 14 at the Bryan Clay Invitational, and 4:11.50 in the first round at the NCAA preliminary meet. If Goldstein can manage a top-five finish in her heat or one of the next two fastest times on Thursday, she’d qualify for the finals which are set for Saturday night. She was an honorable mention All-American in 2022, finishing in 21st place in the 1,500-meters a year ago.

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Elise Thorner is back in the national meet after earning first-team All-America with a fifth-place finish in 2022, while Maisie Grice qualified for the championship in her first season with the Lobos. Grice has torn up the track in the steeple this season, establishing a baseline time of 9:53.79 minutes for an eighth-place finish at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 14. She followed that by winning the Mountain West Championships title on May 11, and then got herself into the national meet with a personal-best time of 9:48.89 minutes at the preliminary meet. Thorner meanwhile ran a stellar time of 9:39.39 minutes on April 14 in California, which stood up as the No. 1 time in the NCAA for the majority of the outdoor season. She followed by taking fourth in the event at the preliminary championships, as she looks for back-to-back All-America finishes. A top-five finish or one of the next two fastest times on Thursday is required to advance to the championship race on Saturday.

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Amelia Mazza-Downie broke Weini Kelati’s school record in the 10,000-meters on April 14, running a time of 32:07.62 for the fifth-fastest in the NCAA this year. It will be her second time competing in the event at the national championships, where she finished in ninth place a year ago to earn second-team All-America recognition. Thursday will be the first 10,000-meters at the national championships for Gracelyn Larkin, who hit a PR of 32:32.61 minutes on March 31 at Stanford which was good enough for No. 11 on the NCAA performance list. The duo ran strategically at the preliminary championships, ensuring their spots in the national finals with Mazza-Downie placing fifth and Larkin following in seventh two weeks ago.

The standout distance duo is no stranger to the 5,000-meters, with Mazza-Downie running it at nationals in both 2022 and 2021 and Larkin competing at the 2022 NCAA Championships. Larkin garnered first-team All-America last year with a seventh-place finish, while Mazza-Downie took 16th place to claim second-team honors. Larkin holds a season-best time of 15:38.73 minutes on April 21, which elevated her to No. 18 on the NCAA performance list. Mazza-Downie meanwhile has a season-best time of 15:44.37 minutes, which she ran en route to the Mountain West Championship title on May 11.

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