RANKINGS UPDATE
Moving up to No. 26 in the nation, New Mexico’s Men’s Track & Field squad clocked in among the Top 30 teams in the USTFCCCA’s National TFRI ranking for a fourth straight week, with the Lobo’s men’s 10,000m squad ranked No. 1 in the nation for the sixth-straight week in the #EventSquad rankings. UNM’s women’s 5,000m (No. 13) and women’s long jump (No. 9) both remain ranked among the Top 15 in the nation.
The UNM men also held steady in this week’s regional and conference rankings, sitting at No. 8 in the Mountain Region and No. 4 in the Mountain West. On the women’s side, UNM remained in the Top 100 in the nation at No. 99 for the fourth week in a row, clocking in at No. 10 in the region and No. 5 in the conference.
UNM MEN’S TRACK & FIELD – WEEK 7 USTFCCCA RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 26
Mountain Region Rank: No. 8
Mountain West Conference Rank: No. 4
UNM WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD – WEEK 7 USTFCCCA RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 99
Mountain Region Rank: No. 10
Mountain West Conference Rank: No. 5
In this week’s #EventSquad rankings, UNM cracked the Top 50 in the nation in four events on the men’s side (200m, 800m, 1500m, 10,000m) and four on the women’s side (1500m, 5,000m, Long Jump, Pole Vault) – the Lobos maintain their Top-10 rankings in the men’s 10K (No. 1) and women’s long jump (No. 9) from last week, with UNM’s women’s 5,000m squad remaining at No. 13 after entering the rankings at that spot last week.
UNM MEN’S TRACK & FIELD – WEEK 7 USTFCCCA #EVENTSQUAD RANKINGS
Men’s 1500m – No. 33
Men’s 200m – No. 47
Men’s 800m – No. 40
Men’s 10,000m – No. 1
UNM WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD – WEEK 7 USTFCCCA #EVENTSQUAD RANKINGS
Women’s 1500m – No. 27
Women’s 5,000m – No. 13
Women’s Long Jump – No. 9
Women’s Pole Vault – No. 22
BRODIE PUNCHES HIS TICKET TO PARIS
Brodie Young will represent Great Britain in the Olympics this summer in Paris as part of the mixed 4x400m relay squad after helping Team GB secure one of 14 Olympic Qualifying bids with a heat win on Sunday at World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas.
Young ran the first leg of the mixed 4x400m relay for a Great Britain squad that missed out on Olympic Qualifying and a finals spot by .34 seconds with a third-place finish in its first race on Saturday (3:13.52) but won its heat of the Second Round of Olympic qualifying competition on Sunday with a 3:12.99 season-best time that ranked as the second-fastest overall out of 19 teams.
Young posted a 46.70 400m split on Saturday and ran a near-season best of 46.19 in the second round on Sunday. That 3:12.99 mark would’ve been good for fifth in the Final Round held two hours later that the USA won with a championship record 3:10.73 time.
THE YEAR OF HABTOM
Since the 2023-24 season, Samuel has racked up accomplishments at a pace unseen by any true freshman in UNM history. He’ll add an NCAA Preliminary Qualification in at least two events to an already lengthy list of accolades and achievements:
- 2023 Mountain West Athlete of the Year (XC)
- NCAA Runner of the Week (XC)
- USTFCCCA Mountain Region Athlete of the Year (XC)
- Mountain West Champion (XC)
- NCAA Mountain Region Champion (XC)
- NCAA Championship Runner-Up (XC)
- Mountain West Championship Record Holder (XC)
- UNM Program Record Holder – 5,000m, 3,000m, Mile (Indoor)
- Fastest collegiate mile ever ran at the Albuquerque Convention Center (3:59.12)
- 11th-Fastest 5,000m time in NCAA History (Indoor)
- Mountain West Championship Performer of the Meet (Indoor)
- Mountain West Championship Record Holder – 5,000m, 3,000m (Indoor)
- Mountain West Champion – 5,000m, 3,000m (Indoor)
- USTFCCCA First Team All-American – 5,000m, 3,000m (Indoor)
- No. 2 10,000m time in NCAA History (Outdoor)
- 2024 Mountain West Indoor Track Athlete of the Year
THE ROAD TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
With just two weekends of competition left, the Lobos will turn their attention to the First Round of the NCAA postseason. University of Kentucky will host the East Preliminary in Lexington and Arkansas will host the West Preliminary in Fayetteville, with both set for May 22-25.
Participants for the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships first rounds are determined by the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Committee. For each individual event contested at both of the NCAA Regional Preliminary Round sites, the Top 48 declared student-athletes and Top 24 relay squads in their respective regions will be accepted into the competition, with the Top 12 in each Prelim advancing to the NCAA Outdoor National Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. June 5-8.
In total, 17 UNM athletes currently sit in a position to qualify for NCAA Regional action across 15 events between men and women.
Seven Lobo women currently rank among the Top 48 on the West Region Qualifying List in seven events, with four among the Top 25 – Nicola Jansen (10K; No. 6), Lauren Fowler (LJ; No. 18), Elizabeth White (LJ: No. 21), Sophia McDonnell (3K Steeple; No. 18) and Mercy Kirarei (5,000m; No. 20). Jansen, Fowler and Kirarei are currently qualifying in multiple events.
On the men’s side, 10 more Lobos sit in qualifying position in eight different events – Habtom Samuel leads the way with a No. 2 ranking in both the 10,000m (28:03.30) and 5,000m (13:13.34) and 18th in the 1500m (3:41.61), with Victor Akhalu (100m, No. 23), Brodie Young (400m; No. 18), Vincent Chirchir (5K; No. 8 + 10K; No. 15) and Evans Kiplagat (10K; No. 5) making it five Lobo men ranked in the Top 25 in the region. Fabian Biondina joined the list last Saturday with a 7.53m (24′ 8.5″) long jump at the Desert Heat Classic that ranks as No. 48 in the West Region.
INDOOR FLASHBACK
New Mexico Track & Field finished fourth in the team score on the women’s side with 85.5 points and fifth in the men’s score with 66 points at 2023 MW Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center Feb. 22-24, with 10 Lobos finishing with All-Conference honors and four individual titles.
Mercy Kirarei and Habtom Samuel swept the men’s and women’s 5,000m and 3,000m titles, with Samuel and Evans Kiplagat both finishing under the previous MW Indoor Championship record twice with a pair of 1-2 finishes. After the conclusion of the meet, Samuel was named the Mountain West Men’s Performer of the Meet for his efforts.
Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer (400m, 3rd), Kiara Quezada-Arzate (PV, 3rd), Hanna Bruckmayer (Mile, 2nd) and Klara Dess (800m, 2nd) all got on the podium along with a women’s DMR squad comprised of Dess, Annamaria Leszczynska, Gabriella K. Szabo and Sarah Eckel that finished second.
Samuel and Kiplagat both went on to compete at NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston, where Samuel collected two First Team All-American honors in the 5,000m (4th) and the 3,000m (7th) and Kiplagat finished as a Second Team All-American in the 5,000m (15th). Samuel was named MW Indoor Track Athlete of the Year following the conclusion of the indoor season.
LAST TIME AROUND – 2023 MW Outdoor Championships
The Lobos landed six champions at the 2023 MW Outdoor Championships, with Lokesh Sathyanathan named the Performer of the Meet as the women finished third with 101 points and the men finished fourth with 106.5. Air Force won the men’s team title with 237.5 points and Colorado State won the women’s title with 158.4.
Three Lobos that finished on the podium last year – Brodie Young (3rd, 400m), Victor Akhalu (2nd, 100m) and Annamaria Leszczynska (2nd, 400m H) – will be competing in those same events this year.
