ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships return to the Albuquerque Convention Center for the ninth time this weekend on Feb. 22-24.
The Lobos enter their first MW Track Championship under Head Coach Darren Gauson ranked No. 2 in the USTFCCCA TFRI rankings on the women’s side and No. 3 on the men’s side — the same as their indoor conference team finish in 2023 under Coach Joe Franklin. Habtom Samuel (3,000m, 5,000m), Mercy Kirarei (3,000m, 5,000m) and Ethan Brouw (800m) all posted the fastest times in the conference in their respective events so far this indoor season, and UNM’s DMR squad’s time of 9:28.79 from last weekend in Boston ranks first in the league and second in UNM history. 25 UNM athletes in total enter this weekend’s competition ranked in the Top 5 in the MW in their respective events.
FOLLOW THE MEET
Real-time scoring and results, along with post-race interviews and recaps from the 2024 MW Indoor Track & Field Championships, which runs through Saturday, Feb. 24, will be available on the Championship Central page. Head to GoLobos.com/TrackResults for easy access.
The Mountain West Network will provide live coverage of the 2024 MW Indoor Track & Field Championships. Fans can watch the indoor track & field championships on their phones or connected TVs via the Mountain West app. Watch every moment of the MW Indoor Track & Field Championships live on your own TV through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV or Roku. Mobile applications are available through the iOS App Store and Google Play. Visit TheMW.com/app for more information.
For more information regarding the Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships, including live results, visit TheMW.com or follow the Mountain West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
MW INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Feb. 22-24| Albuquerque, N.M. | Albuquerque Convention Center
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS / FOLLOW THE MEET
Day One for UNM on Thursday opens with some distance racing, with Mercy Kirarei (MW No. 1), Hanna Bruckmayer (No. 4) and Sophia McDonnell (NT) up first at 4 p.m. before the men’s race at 4:20 p.m. featuring 2023 MW XC Athlete of the Year and NCAA Runner-Up Habtom Samuel (MW No. 1), 2023 XC NCAA All-American and MW Freshman of the Year Evans Kiplagat (No. 2), Thomas Termote (No. 14) and Jonathan Carmin (NT). Day One concludes with the men’s and women’s distance medley relays — UNM’s men’s DMR squad ranks first in the conference after putting down a 9:28.79 time in Boston last weekend that ranks No. 2 in UNM program history.
Day Two for UNM opens with women’s and men’s long jump trials and finals at 1 p.m., with one men’s athlete and three women — Fabian Biondina, Lauren Fowler, Mikyla Harkley and Zennia Gonzalez — set to represent the Lobos. The women’s mile prelims (Hanna Bruckmayer, No. 7; Sarah Eckel, No. 12) are set for 1:30 p.m. and the men’s mile prelims (Samuel Field, No. 3; Luke Cunningham, No. 7) at 1:45 p.m. Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer (MW No. 3) and Annamaria Leszczynska (No. 16) are up next in the women’s 400m prelims at 2:30 p.m., with Brodie Young (No. 3), Tim Harris (No. 15) and Levente Soos (No. 19) competing in the men’s prelims at 2:45 p.m. Four women pole vaulters that rank among the Top 10 in the conference — Maja Gebauer (No. 2), Alyssa Gregory (No. 4), Kiara Quezada-Arzate (No. 5) and Isabel Thomas (No. 6) — will compete for UNM in the finals at 3 p.m.
Continuing Saturday’s full day of events at 3:30 p.m. is the women’s 800m prelims, with 2023 seventh-place finisher Klara Dess (MW No. 3), Gabriella K. Szabo (No. 8), Harriet Tuson (No. 11) and Analisa Ibarra (No. 18). In the men’s prelims at 3:45 p.m., Ethan Brouw (MW No. 1) and Dylan Burrows (MW No. 2) lead the field along with Osaze Demund (MW No. 7) and 2023 MW 800m champion Matthew Larkin (No. 8). UNM’s final three events on Day Two include the women’s 200m prelims (Lauren Fowler, Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer; T-No. 2) at 4 p.m. and the women’s high jump finals (Alyssa Magallanez, No. 8) and men’s 200m prelims (Victor Akhalu, No. 4; Brodie Young, No. 13; Jose Cornejo, No. 15; Elijah Jefferson, No. 17) both starting at 4:15 p.m.
Adam Giron Jr. — making his third appearance at MW Championships — opens up the final day of competition in the men’s high jump, ranked eighth in the conference. Finals for the women’s mile (11:10 a.m.) and men’s mile (11:20 a.m.) are up next, with freshman Kyle Hatler making his MW debut in the Pole Vault finals at 11:30. Biondina (MW No. 6) returns for the men’s triple jump trials and finals at the same time, followed by women’s and men’s 400m finals at 11:50 a.m. and Noon, respectively. Men’s and women’s 800m finals are set for 12:30 p.m. and 12:40 p.m., followed by the 200m finals at 12:50 p.m. and 1 p.m. The women’s 3,000m finals featuring Mercy Kirarei (MW No. 1), Semira Mebrahtu Firezghi (No. 6), Sophia McDonnell (No. 7) and Hanna Bruckmayer (NT) is set for 1:10 p.m., followed by the men’s race featuring Habtom Samuel (No. 1), Evans Kiplagat (No. 3), Samuel Field (No. 12), Jonathan Carmin (No. 14) and Thomas Termote (No. 36) at 1:35 p.m.
Men’s and women’s 4x400m relay action closes out the weekend at 1:50 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. — UNM’s men’s relay team ranks No. 2 in the conference with the women ranking No. 8.
A PREMIER SURFACE
The current surface – the same WSTY Mondo used at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo – at the ABCC was unveiled in March 2021 and cost $3 million in total, with renovations that helped solidify the city’s ability to attract and keep hosting national meets that bring the best competition to Albuquerque. Since 2005, 102 indoor track meets have been hosted at the ABCC — 16 being national championship events at either the collegiate or national level — and indoor track has generated over $30 million in revenue for the city of Albuquerque in that span.
SEASON SO FAR
In the USTFCCCA’s initial TFRI team ranking, the UNM men clocked in at No. 12 in the nation — their highest team ranking in history. In the most recent conference TFRI rankings, the Lobo women rank No. 2 in the Mountain West and the men rank No. 3. UNM ranked in the Top 25 in the nation in nine different events in the USTFCCCA’s #EventSquad rankings released this week: the men’s 800m (No. 14), men’s mile (No. 18), men’s 3,000m (No. 6), women’s 800m (No. 20), women’s mile (No. 23), women’s 3,000m (No. 21), women’s long jump (No. 20), women’s triple jump (No. 12) and women’s pole vault (No. 13).
Through nine meets so far this indoor season – two before the break – UNM athletes have produced 31 marks that rank among the top 10 in program history in their respective events. Habtom Samuel has led the way with three broken UNM records as well as a Mountain West record in the 3,000m.