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Myers Leads Lobos At UTEP Twilight Meet
New Mexico captures seven events on the evening.
May 6, 2002
EL PASO, Texas - The University of New Mexico track and field team seems to be hitting its stride at just the right time. With two weeks remaining before the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Championships, New Mexico enjoyed an outstanding performance on Saturday night in its final regular season tune-up, the UTEP Twilight in El Paso, Texas. Freshman Kelli Myers paced the team with the finest performance of her young collegiate career, winning the high jump with a NCAA provisional qualifying and school record-tying leap of 5-10.75. Myers jump landed her in the UNM record book, where she tied Darcy Ahner (1989) and Heidi Anderson (1990) for the top all-time outdoor mark in the event. The Lovington, N.M. native eclipsed her previous season-best by 2.25 inches en route to her third straight victory in the event, and fourth overall this season. She also cleared .25 inches over the NCAA minimum qualifying standard of 5-10.50 to become UNM1s fourth provisional qualifier this spring, joining junior Keren Sari-Bentzur (heptathlon), junior David Lloyd (400m hurdles), and sophomore Ben Ortega (10,000m). Senior Monique Harris (triple jump) was the team1s only NCAA qualifier last year, but was left out of the final championship field.
Harris just missed becoming the fifth Lobo qualifier, finishing just .50
inches shy of the provisional mark with a winning leap of 41-11.50 in the
triple jump. She picked up her fifth victory of the season and solidified
her standing as the MWC1s premier triple jumper with the season-best mark.
In the long jump, Sari-Bentzur recorded her second-best mark of this
spring, clearing 19-07.00 to finish second. Meanwhile, back on the track,
seniors Kisha Smith (1:02.72) and Monica Christofferson (1:03.02) finished
second and third, respectively, in the 400m hurdles, while freshman Amber
Nolte notched her first collegiate victory in the 100m hurdles. In the
distance events, junior Kim Baca ran a personal-best (altitude adjusted)
time of 4:51.41 to take third in the 1,500, while sophomore Sarah Gonzales
was third in the 3,000m.
On the men1s side, Lloyd won his 400m hurdles race for the second time in El Paso and fifth time this season. The Kingston, Jamaica native clocked an altitude adjusted time of 51.15 on Saturday evening, one month after recording a personal-best time of 50.75 at Kidd Field. Senior Justin Massey followed close behind in second place with a time of 52.86, while sophomore Matt Bishop was fourth (53.15). Sophomore Chris Orrell notched the men1s second victory on the track, leading redshirt freshman Nick Martinez and sophomore Chris Rogers in a 1-2-3 New Mexico finish in the 3,000 meters. Despite finishing fourth, junior Quincy Wright had the strongest performance of his career in the 100 meters, clocking a personal-best (altitude adjusted) and team-leading time of 10.59. In the field, freshman Hank Baskett III completed a UNM sweep in the high jump, clearing a season-best height of 6-10.25 for his second victory in three meets this spring. Fellow freshman Mike Powdrell had his best day as a Lobo, taking second in the high jump with a season-best mark of 6-08.00, and finishing as the runner-up in the long jump with a team-best leap of 23-02.75. Senior Jammy Kiggundu grabbed win No. 4 this spring, leaping 41-07.75 en route to a victory in the triple jump. Kiggundu also finished third, behind Powdrell, in the long jump. In the throws, sophomore Jason Barkermeyer followed up his personal-best effort in the shot put last weekend by shattering his previous best in the discus. Barkermeyer finished third with a throw of 153-03.00, nearly six feet beyond his old personal record, and good for second-best on the team this season. The Belen, N.M. native also placed third in the hammer throw with a mark of 152-09.00, his second-best effort of the season. UNM will get a well-deserved week off from competition, before it travels to Colorado Springs, Colo. for the Mountain West Outdoor Championships on May 16-18. |
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