12 Athletes to Represent New Mexico T&F at NCAA First Rounds May 22-25

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A dozen athletes – six men and six women – will represent New Mexico Track & Field at NCAA Regional Preliminaries this week in Fayetteville, Ark. (May 22-25), looking to punch their tickets to NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. after concluding the outdoor season with marks that rank among the Top 48 declared athletes in their respective events.

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 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 are 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.

The Lobos’s 12 qualifiers makes it six competitions in a row in which they’ve sent 10 or more athletes to NCAA Prelims – since the two-region model of qualifying began in 2010, they’ve only sent fewer than 10 once.

UNM remains the No. 1 men’s 10,000m school in the nation and ranks No. 8 in the women’s long jump and No. 16 in the women’s 5,000m in this week’s USTFCCCA’s #EventSquad rankings – the Lobos qualified multiple athletes in all three. The UNM men rank No. 30 nationally as a team, with the Lobo women just outside the Top 100 at No. 101.

SPEEDY SUMMARY

• Lauren Fowler (100m) and Maja Gebauer (PV) both narrowly missed the cut on Prelim qualifying with marks that rank No. 50 in the region, but Fowler will compete in the long jump alongside Elizabeth White, an All-American in 2022 who will be competing in her first NCAA Prelims as a Lobo. White jumped a season-best 6.44m at MW Championships to finish as a runner-up in her last conference meet and move up to No. 20 in the region ahead of Fowler (No. 24).
• Three Lobo men – Habtom Samuel, Evans Kiplagat and Vincent Chirchir – will compete in both the 5,000m and 10,000m after qualifying in both distances, as will Nicola Jansen on the women’s side. Samuel ranks No. 2 in the West Region in both events and is a heavy favorite to secure his fourth and fifth All-American finishes in his first year of collegiate competition after winning MW titles in the 1500m and 5,000m at conference championships May 9-11.
• After finishing as a MW runner-up in both events two weeks ago, Jansen ranks No. 6 in the West Region in the 10,000m and No. 24 in the 5,000m behind teammate and two-time MW Indoor Champion Mercy Kirarei (No. 21), who will be looking to bounce back from a DNF in the conference 5,000m finals on May 11.
• Brodie Young (400m) and Victor Akhalu (100m) are both repeat qualifiers, with Young finishing 15th in the 400m semifinals and Akhalu finishing 31st in the 100m preliminaries in 2023. Young moved up to No. 30 in the West Region in the 400m after putting down a season-best time of 46.07 at MW Championships that secured him a runner-up finish.
• The Lobos’ lone steeplechaser, Sophia McDonnell is coming off a massive 10.46-second PR (10:03.68) at conference championships that propelled her to a runner-up finish and a No. 12 ranking in the region that’s good for No. 25 in the nation.
• Representing UNM in the women’s 1500m, Klara Dess’s 4:18.25 personal best set at the Bryan Clay Invitational ranks No. 45 in the nation – she’ll be making her first preliminary appearance after improving from No. 117 in the nation at the conclusion of last outdoor season in 2023.
• Since joining the Lobos over the semester after finishing 10th at D-II Outdoor Championships in the 800m in 2023 while attending Oklahoma Christian, Dylan Burrows will enter his first D-I First Round with the No. 31 time in the region (1:48.40). Burrows also finished fifth in the event at the NCAA D-II Indoor Championships in 2023 and reached NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2022 as well.

This week’s action kicks off on Wednesday with Victor Akhalu in the Men’s 100m First Round at 6 p.m. MT, followed by Brodie Young in the Men’s 400m First Round (6:25 p.m.) and Dylan Burrows in the Men’s 800m First Round (6:50 p.m.) – should they advance, they’ll return to the oval on Friday for Quarterfinals. Habtom Samuel, Vincent Chirchir and Evans Kiplagat will race for spots at nationals to close out the night in the Men’s 10,000m Semifinals at 8:10 pm MT.

All four days will be broadcast via ESPN+, with live results for each day will be available via GoLobos.com/TrackResults. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Instagram and X for live coverage, meet day content and more.

2024 NCAA WEST REGION FIRST ROUND PRELIMINARIES
May 22-25 | Fayetteville, Ark. | John McDonnell Field

RANKINGS UPDATE
At No. 30 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 fifth straight week, with the Lobo’s men’s 10,000m squad ranked No. 1 in the nation for the seventh-straight week in the #EventSquad rankings. UNM’s women’s 5,000m (No. 16) and women’s long jump (No. 8) both remain ranked among the Top 20 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 8 USTFCCCA RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 30
Mountain Region Rank: No. 9
Mountain West Conference Rank: No. 5

UNM WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD – WEEK 8 USTFCCCA RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 101
Mountain Region Rank: No. 12
Mountain West Conference Rank: No. 6

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. 8) from last week, with UNM’s women’s 5,000m squad remaining in the Top 20 at No. 16 after entering the rankings at No. 13 two weeks ago.

UNM MEN’S TRACK & FIELD – WEEK 8 USTFCCCA #EVENTSQUAD RANKINGS (Top 100)
Men’s 100m – No. 58
Men’s 200m – No. 55
Men’s 800m – No. 44
Men’s 1500m – No. 39
Men’s 10,000m – No. 1

UNM WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD – WEEK 8 USTFCCCA #EVENTSQUAD RANKINGS (Top 100)
Women’s 800m – No. 67
Women’s 1500m – No. 28
Women’s 5,000m – No. 16
Women’s Long Jump – No. 8
Women’s Pole Vault – No. 23

THE ROAD TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
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.The Top 12 in each Prelim advancing to the NCAA Outdoor National Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. June 5-8.

INDOOR FLASHBACK
Samuel and Kiplagat both went on to compete at NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston to wrap up the indoor season for UNM, 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.

MW CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP
Habtom Samuel added 1500m and 5,000m Mountain West individual titles to an already expansive trophy case to highlight New Mexico Track & Field’s final day at MW Outdoor Championships on Saturday, with five other Lobos finishing on the podium as competition concluded.
In total, 11 Lobos – six men and five women – finished on the podium to earn All-MW honors, with Maja Gebauer (PV) joining Samuel as an individual champion.
The UNM men finished fifth in the team score with 83 points, with the women finishing sixth with 60. 72 of the men’s points and 19 of the women’s points were scored on the final day, with Samuel’s big wins producing 20 of those points for the men.
Already a conference champion in Cross Country and Indoor Track (3,000m; 5,000m) Samuel remained undefeated in Mountain West Championship races with two more convincing event wins on Saturday. The first was out of his usual wheelhouse – typically a 5K and 10K specialist, he won the 1500m with a 3:44.04 that was 3.84 seconds faster than the time he put down in prelims, overtaking Boise State’s Ollie Newman over the final stretch with a 55.69-second final lap. Behind him, Samuel Field went at Newman as well over the final lap but couldn’t get past him, scoring six points with a third-place finish and near-PR of 3:44.50.
Nicola Jansen finished as a runner-up behind Colorado State’s Sarah Carter in both the 5,000m and 10,000m and Sophia McDonnell PR’d by more than 10 seconds in the steeplechase to earn runner-up honors as well and move up on the Regional Qualifying list. Elizabeth White jumped 6.44m to finish second in the long jump – the second-best mark in UNM outdoor history – and the women’s 4x400m relay squad put down the sixth-fastest time in program history to close things out.

LAST TIME AROUND – 2023 NCAA First Round (Sacramento, Calif.)
The Lobos sent 12 athletes to the NCAA Track & Field Championships last time they competed at NCAA Prelims, hosted by Sacramento State at Hornet Stadium.

A total of 12 individuals earned 15 separate national championship berths across eight different events over the weekend. It was only the second time in program history that the Lobos had 15 separate national qualifiers, with the only other season being the 1965 campaign.

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

NEW MEXICO MEN’S QUALIFIERS

VICTOR AKHALU | 100m

• Lobos’ top 100m runner finished as a MW runner-up in the event last season, matching the UNM program record in the event in the process (10.28). Akhalu ran a wind-aided 10.27 (10.24 raw) this season at the Don Kirby Tailwind Open.
• Ranks No. 33 in the West Region on the most recent NCAA Outdoor List with that time.
• Concluded his MW Championships career with another podium finish in the 100m two weeks ago, placing third.
• Two-time MW Champion and HM All-American in 2022 and 2023 as part of UNM’s 4x400m relay squad. Reached NCAA Prelims in the 100m but finished 31st in the first round to end his season.
• NJCAA Indoor National Champion in the 400m in 2020 during his time at New Mexico Junior College, where he finished as an outdoor All-American in the 4×4 (2020, 2021) and 400m (2021).

DYLAN BURROWS | 800m

• Since joining the Lobos over the semester after finishing 10th at D-II Outdoor Championships in the 800m in 2023 while attending Oklahoma Christian, Dylan Burrows will enter his first D-I First Round with the No. 31 time in the region (1:48.40). Burrows also finished fifth in the event at the NCAA D-II Indoor Championships in 2023 and reached NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2022 as well.
• Ran a lifetime best (1:48.40) at the Desert Heat Classic April 26, a time that moved him up to No. 1 in the MW going into conference championships. Finished eighth in the event at MW Indoor Championships and third at Outdoors.

VINCENT CHIRCHIR | 5,000m/10,000m

• Chirchir finished as a runner-up at MW Championships as the only Lobo in the 10,000m finals — he ranks No. 15 in the West Region and No. 17 in the nation in the event. His 28:19.01 time at the Stanford Invitational ranks No. 6 on the UNM all-time list.
• Finished eighth at MW Outdoor Championships in the 5,000m after falling back late, but his personal best (13:34.14) is good for ninth-fastest in the West Region this year and 18th in the NCAA.

EVANS KIPLAGAT | 5,000m/10,000m

• An All-American in XC and Indoor 5,000m as a true freshman along with Habtom Samuel – also finished under the previous indoor 5,000m and 3,000m program records and MW Championships records en route to runner-up finishes in both events.
• Ranks No. 27 in the West Region Qualifying in the 5,000m (13:44.64) and No. 5 in the 10,000m (28:08.26).
• Two-time MW Athlete / Freshman of the Week in outdoor season.

HABTOM SAMUEL | 5,000m/10,000m

• First Lobo to finish as an All-American in both XC and Indoor Track in the same season since Luke Caldwell (2014) – NCAA XC Runner-Up as a true freshman, followed up with Indoor All-American honors in the 5,000m and 3,000m. 
• Broke the program records in the 3,000m and 5,000m during indoor season and has broken the UNM & MW outdoor 5,000m and 10,000m records this outdoor season. Ranks No. 2 in the nation in the 5,000m (13:13.34) and No. 3 in the 10,000m (28:08.30) and will be a favorite at NCAA Outdoor Championships in June in both.
• Added two more MW titles in the 1500m and 5,000m two weeks ago, remaining undefeated in MW Championship races.
• Ran the second-fastest 10,000m race in NCAA history on March 19 at Sound Running’s THE TEN (26:53.84) and posted a converted NCAA qualifying time of 28:08.30 that ranks as third-best in the nation.
• MW Indoor Championships Performer of the Meet & Indoor Track Athlete of the Year as well as MW XC Athlete of the Year. Broke the conference championship record en route to runaway wins in both.

BRODIE YOUNG | 400m

• Helped Great Britain & N.I. qualify for the Olympics in the Mixed 4x400m Relay in his second stint competing for the senior national team May 4-5 at World Athletics Relay in the Bahamas, running the first leg for a 46.70 400m split on Saturday and a near-season best of 46.19 in the Olympic Qualifying second round on Sunday as GB won its heat. 
• Posted a season-best 46.07 time to finish as a runner-up at MW Outdoor Championships – touts a personal best of 45.82 from last year’s Outdoor Championships, where he finished third.
• One of two repeat NCAA Prelim qualifiers among this year’s Lobo contingent.
• MW Indoor and Outdoor 4x400m Relay champion in 2022-23 – two-time All-MW Outdoors (400m, 4×4) and three-time indoors (400m, DMR, 4×4). Narrowly missed out on the podium in both the 400m and 4×4 at 2024 MW Indoor Championships with fourth-place finishes in both. 

NEW MEXICO WOMEN’S QUALIFIERS

KLARA DESS | 1500m

• Ranks No. 10 on UNM all-time list in the 800m (2:07.78) but will only compete in the 1500m this weekend, where she ranks No. 45 (4:18.25) in the West Region and No. 3 in the MW. Ran collegiate bests in both events in her last two meets leading up to MW Championships and ran just 4 hundredths of a second shy of her 1500m best en route to a fourth-place finish at MW Outdoor Championships (4:18.29)
• All-MW finisher in XC in 2023 and MW Runner-up in the 800m and DMR at Indoor Championships Feb. 22-24. Was part of MW DMR title-winning squad at 2022 indoors and finished third in the 800m that year.
• Has ran collegiate bests in five different distances this season – the 3,000m (9:31.40) and mile (4:42.16) indoors as well as the 400m (58.56), 800m and 1500m outdoors.

LAUREN FOWLER | Long Jump

• Neck-and-neck with Elizabeth White for the Lobos’ top long jump performer (6.42m) and their top runner in the 100m (11.47) – the Lobos’s women’s long jump squad ranks No. 8 in the nation in the USTFCCCA’s #EventSquad Rankings. 
• Concluded the season at No. 50 in the West Region in the 100 and No. 24 in the long jump. Ranks No. 37 in the nation in the long jump.
• This will be Fowler’s first trip to NCAA Prelims after competing in her first MW Outdoor Championships two weeks ago.
• Ranks No. 5 on the UNM long jump all-time list with her best wind-legal mark (6.21m).

NICOLA JANSEN | 5,000m/10,000m

• Bradley transfer who finished as an XC All-American in 2023 after punching her ticket as an individual with a runner-up finish at Mountain Region Championships but redshirted the indoor season. Also a MW XC Runner-Up.
• Ranks No. 6 in the West Region in the 10,000m with a 32:53.18 time in her debut in the event at Stanford Invitational. That time was the ninth-fastest in UNM outdoor history.
• Also ranks No. 24 in the 5,000m (15:52.03), in which she’ll also compete this weekend.
• Finished as a Runner-Up in both the 5,000m and 10,000m in her first MW Championship meet.

MERCY KIRAREI | 5,000m

• Kenyan freshman joined the Lobos at the semester and dominated the field in the 3,000m and 5,000m at MW Indoor Championships to cap off immense improvement in a short span – she ran more than 25 seconds faster than the next-fastest finisher in the 5,000m.
• Broke the 16-minute mark for a new 15:49.77 best at Bryan Clay Invitational – her second improvement by more than 10 seconds dating back to February – that ranks No. 1 in the MW and No. 21 in the West Region.
• Kirarei was just 9.06 seconds short of qualifying for NCAA Indoor Championships in the 3,000m (No. 33, 9:03.60 ) – she ranked No. 42 in the nation in the 5,000m at the conclusion of indoors.

SOPHIA McDONNELL | 3,000m Steeplechase

• Already had a surefire NCAA qualifying time but shaved more than 10 seconds off that for a new personal best of  10:03.68 that ranks No. 25 in the nation and No. 12 in the region. MW Runner-Up in the event.
• Finished top-four in the MVC in the steeple and advanced to NCAA Prelims twice (2021, 2022) during her time at Bradley. Followed Head Coach Darren Gauson to Albuquerque over the summer.

ELIZABETH WHITE | Long Jump

• MW Runner-Up in the long jump two weeks ago.
• UNM’s indoor program record holder and eighth-place finisher at USATF Indoor Championships (6.29m) in 2024 after finishing sixth at USATF’s in 2023 (6.31m).
• Jumped a new personal best of 6.44m unattached during the indoor season and repeated the feat at MW Outdoors to overtake Lauren Fowler (6.42m) as the Lobos’ top long jumper. UNM moved up to No. 8 nationally in women’s long jump as a result.
• That 6.44m mark ranks as the No. 2 long jump in outdoor program history as well as No. 20 in the West Region and No. 33 in the nation.
• Big Sky Champion in the LJ outdoors (2021) and indoors (2022) while at Southern Utah – reached NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2022 and finished 15th to earn All-American honors.