UNM Indoor Track Returns for UW Preview on Saturday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Indoor season resumes for New Mexico Track & Field on Saturday at the UW Indoor Preview in Seattle, Wash., with 17 athletes – nine men and eight women – set to represent the Lobos at one of the nation’s premier facilities in the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor.
Saturday’s competition in Seattle will be the first indoor meet for the Lobos since Dec. 9, with two newcomers — Dylan Burrows and Gabriella Szabo — making their UNM debuts. Four Lobos that have already put down marks this season that rank among the Top 10 in program history in their respective events — Habtom Samuel, Evans Kiplagat, Samuel Field and Lauren Fowler — will be back in action against elite competition in Seattle.
Live results for Saturday’s events will be available via GoLobos.com. with streaming available via paid subscription to RunnerSpace+. Follow @UNMLoboTFXC on Instagram and @UNMLoboXCTF on X for live coverage, race content and more.
UW Preview
Jan. 13 | Seattle, Wash. | Dempsey Indoor
BEFORE THE BREAK
- UNM’s distance crew got indoor season off to a record-breaking start in Boston at the Sharon Danville-Colyear Opener, with Habtom Samuel and Lukas Kiprop breaking the 5,000m and 3,000m indoor records and Evans Kiplagat also finishing under the prior 5,000m record to claim the No. 2 spot on the all-time list. Also in the 3,000m, Samuel Field PR’d for the first time since the 2021-22 indoor season and moved into the No. 10 spot on the UNM all-time list with a 8:06.54 finish.
- UNM’s sprints and jumps crew made their debut at the Air Force Holiday Opener on Dec. 9, posting 13 new personal bests in the first collegiate competition for the Lobos’ sprint and jump crew since the 2023 outdoor season, with three new times that earned Top-10 spots on the UNM indoor all-time lists. Fowler posted PR’s in event wins in the 60m dash and Long Jump, moving into the No. 9 spot on the UNM all-time list in the 60 meters with a 7.66 elevation-adjusted official mark and from No. 10 to No. 8 on the long jump list. Maja Gebauer won the women’s pole vault in her UNM debut, finishing just .01 meters short of matching the program record set in 2012 to enter the UNM record book at No. 2 on the all-time indoor list.
| UW Preview Entries | ||
| Name | Race | Previous Best |
| Lauren Fowler | 60 Meters / Long Jump | 7.62 / 5.96m |
| Mikyla Harkley | 60 Meters / Long Jump | 8.07 / 6.01m |
| Klara Dess | Mile | 4:45.98 |
| Sarah Eckel | Mile | NT |
| Semira Mebrahtu Firezghi | Mile | 4:59.90 |
| Gabriella Szabo | Mile | NT |
| Sophia McDonnell | 3,000 Meters | 9:30.52* |
| Zennia Gonzalez | Long Jump | 5.74m |
| Victor Akhalu | 60 Meters / 200 Meters | 6.74 / 21.18 |
| Jose Cornejo | 60 Meters / 200 Meters | 6.90 / 21.73 |
| Dylan Burrows | 800 Meters / 1,000 Meters | 4:09.22* / NT |
| Matthew Larkin | 800 Meters / Mile | 1:49.14 / 4:01.83 |
| Osaze Williams-Demund | 800 Meters | 1:53.60 |
| Ethan Brouw | Mile | 4:04.85 |
| Jonathan Carmin | Mile | 4:11.19 |
| Luke Cunningham | Mile | 4:04.97* |
| Samuel Field | Mile | 4:00.98* |
| Evans Kiplagat | 3,000 Meters | 8:16.35^ |
| Habtom Samuel | 3,000 Meters | 7:52.69^ |
*Denotes indoor time from prior college
^Denotes outdoor time from amateur/international competition
| LOBO COMPETITION TIMES | ||
| Time (Mountain) | Race | Competitors |
| 11:10 a.m. | Women’s 60 Meters (Prelim) | Mikyla Harkley, Lauren Fowler |
| 11:30 a.m. | Men’s 60 Meters (Prelim) | Victor Akhalu, Jose Cornejo |
| 11:50 a.m. | Women’s Mile | Klara Dess, Sarah Eckel, Semira Mebrahtu Firezghi, Gabriella Szabo |
| 12:20 p.m. | Men’s Mile | Ethan Brouw, Jonathan Carmin, Luke Cunningham, Samuel Field, Matthew Larkin |
| 1:15 p.m. | Women’s 60 Meters (Final) | Mikyla Harkley, Lauren Fowler* |
| 1:20 p.m. | Men’s 60 Meters (Final) | Victor Akhalu, Jose Cornejo* |
| 1:30 p.m. | Men’s 1,000 Meters | Dylan Burrows |
| 2 p.m. | Women’s Long Jump |
Mikyla Harkley, Zennia Gonzalez, Lauren Fowler |
| 2:50 p.m. | Men’s 800 Meters | Dylan Burrows, Matthew Larkin, Osaze Williams-Demund |
| 3:30 p.m. | Men’s 200 Meters | Victor Akhalu, Jose Cornejo |
| 3:50 p.m. | Women’s 3,000 Meters | Sophia McDonnell |
| 4:30 p.m. | Men’s 3,000 Meters | Evans Kiplagat, Habtom Samuel |
*Must qualify in preliminary
UPCOMING SLATE
The Lobos return in January to play host to four consecutive meets at the Albuquerque Convention Center, where they hosted NCAA Indoor Championships last season. First up is the Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational on Jan. 20, followed by the UNM Team Open Jan. 26-27, the New Mexico Collegiate Classic Feb. 2-3 and the Don Kirby Invitational on Feb. 9-10.
After two more meets in Boston, the Albuquerque Convention Center will also be the host site for the 2024 USATF Indoor Championships on Feb. 16-17 and the Mountain West Championships from Feb. 22-24. All home meet info, including schedules, parking, media coverage and more, will be available via golobos.com/home-track-info.
The Lobos have been the host of the MW Indoor Championship in each season that it has been held since 2014. USATF Indoor Championships will be held in Albuquerque for the third consecutive year.
The top 16 competitors in the nation in individual events and the top 12 in relays will earn berths to the NCAA Indoor Championship Meet, set to take place in Boston at The TRACK at New Balance from March 8-9. Opened last year, the state-of-the-art facility touts a 200-meter hydraulically banked track, a 24,000 square-foot warmup area with a capacity for 5,000 attendees.