Lobos Complete Day One in Long Beach, Azusa

New Mexico Track & Field wrapped up the first day of its trip to California with six new personal bests, culminating in a probable NCAA Preliminary qualifying time from Sophia McDonnell (3K Steeplechase) to open up UNM’s stay at the prestigious Bryan Clay Invitational over at Azusa Pacific.

McDonnell ran a lifetime best (10:14.14) in her second steeple race as a Lobo, beating her previous best from her time at Bradley University that has stood since May 2022 (10:15.45) to move into the No. 8 spot on the UNM All-Time list in the event. She entered the weekend ranked No. 29 in the nation in that event based on her 10:27.58 season-opening time from the Stanford Invitational two weeks ago. 

Tomorrow’s action kicks off with men’s and women’s 800m races at the Bryan Clay Invitational that get started just before 3 p.m. MT, followed by late-night 5,000m races highlighted by freshman superstar Habtom Samuel’s return to collegiate action and XC All-American Nicola Jansen’s first outdoor 5,000m race as a Lobo.

Live results and streaming options for this weekend’s competition are available at GoLobos.com/TrackResults. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on IG, Facebook and X for meet day contents and updates.

THE ACTION
Rebecca Grieve was the first UNM athlete of the day to record a mark, finishing fifth in the women’s 400m with a 55.30 time. 

Up next, Victor Akhalu came just short of a season best in the Men’s 100m, crossing in 10.45 to finish eighth overall ahead of Jose Cornejo (10.61, 30th) and Elijah Jefferson (10.62, 32nd). Jefferson led the way in the 200m with a 21.70 time to finish 16th, with Akhalu (21.74) in 18th, Cornejo (21.75) in 19th and Brodie Young (21.91) in 28th.

After PR’ing in the 200m dash in her last competition two weeks ago at the Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos, Texas, Lauren Fowler put down another personal best in the 100m (11.81) to finish 11th in the event and followed with a 24.09 200m time to place fourth.

True freshman Levente Soos improved on his time from San Marcos with a 52.22 finish in the men’s 400m hurdles to crack the overall top three. Making her debut in the women’s 400m hurdles, Hanna Kiess placed 33rd with a 1:03.25 time.

In field events, Zennia Gonzalez notched a new personal best of 11.80m (38’8.75”) in the triple jump and finished 34th in the long jump (5.63m, 18’5.75”).

Alyssa Magallanez cleared a season-best 1.66m (5’5.25”) en route to a 14th-place finish in the women’s high jump, just .02m short of her personal best. Kyle Hatler vaulted 4.71m (15′ 5½”) to place 23rd in the men’s PV, with Maja Gebauer and Alyssa Gregory both clearing 3.76m to finish tied for 20th on the women’s side.

Later in the evening over at Bryan Clay, Sophia McDonnell ran a lifetime PR and likely NCAA Preliminary qualifying time in the Women’s 3K Steeplechase Invitational section, finishing in 10:14.14 to place 28th overall in a race that saw the top six finishers run at least 10 seconds faster than the fastest time in the nation (9:48.20) and the top three secure the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying mark. It’s her first PR in the event since May of 2022.

TOMORROW’S SCHEDULE
(All times MT)