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Lobos Set For Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships
The meet begins Thursday, Feb. 22.
Feb. 22, 2001
UPCOMING The University of New Mexico track and field team will wrap up its indoor season at the 2001 Mountain West Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo. The meet begins Thursday, Feb. 22 with the pentathlon, continues Friday with the qualifying heats for most track events and concludes Saturday with all event finals. Last year, the UNM men's team finished sixth out of the six teams competing, while the women were sixth out of eight teams. LAST TIME The University of New Mexico track and field team received several strong individual performances at the Red Raider Classic in Lubbock, Texas on Feb. 16 and 17. Although many of New Mexico's top athletes did not compete in order to prepare for the MWC Championships, a strong group of athletes represented UNM well. For the women's team, junior Carolina Geisseler was an easy winner in the pole vault, clearing a height of 10-06.00, which was nearly a foot better than her closest competitor. On the track, junior Jackie Morgan finished second in the 5,000 meters in her first indoor meet of the season. Morgan's time of 18:00.24 was just six seconds behind the winner, Texas Tech's Leigh Daniel. Sophomore Hannah Radzinski also had a strong race in the 3,000 meters, finishing in fourth place with a time of 10:53.02. On the men's side, sophomore Joe Gonzales recorded UNM's fastest time of the season in the 800 meters with a time of 1:56.63. In his first competition of the season, Gonzales finished fourth in the event, less than two seconds behind the winner. Freshman Chris Rogers finished fourth and also notched a team-best time of 15:51.28 in the 5,000 meters. In the field events, freshman John David Nance had another strong performance in the long jump, finishing third with a leap of 21-09.50. Fellow freshman Mark Johnson took fifth in the triple jump (43-11.75) in his first indoor meet of the season. LOBO INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW The New Mexico men's and women's track and field teams will both be looking to improve on last year's sixth place finishes this week at the MWC Indoor Championships. The following is an event-by-event breakdown of the Lobo men's and women's teams heading into the conference championships. MEN'S TEAM SPRINTS, HURDLES & RELAY - Seniors Ian Stewart and Larry Davis are New Mexico's leaders in the sprints. Stewart is UNM's best hope for an individual championship in the 400 meters after finishing second in the Mountain West Indoor Championships last year. He enters the meet with the conference's second-best time in the event (47.61) and is one of just two athletes in the MWC to run under 48 seconds in the 400. Meanwhile, Davis could contend for conference honors in the 60 and 200 meters. He enters the meet ranked ninth in the 60 and seventh in the 200 meters. Sophomore Nick Lott also could surprise some people at the indoor championships. Lott has been the Lobos' second-best 400-meter runner, behind Stewart and owns three of New Mexico's top five times in the event this season. He is also ranked seventh in the conference in the 400. In the 60-meter hurdles, junior Justin Massey and sophomore Matt Bishop could both be in contention for conference honors with strong races this weekend. In addition to hurdling, Massey and Bishop are also strong 400-meter runners and will join Stewart and Lott on New Mexico's 4x400-meter relay team. The foursome recorded the Mountain West's third best time in the relay this season, running a 3:14.95, which was just two seconds behind BYU's top ranked relay team. DISTANCE - Although the New Mexico distance crew is largely young and inexperienced, several individuals could score points for the Lobos in the distance events. UNM has its best chance in the 800 meters, where sophomore Joe Gonzales, junior Brendan Maas and sophomore Joe Lopez have established themselves among the Mountain West's top runners. Gonzales enters the MWC Championships fresh off his team-best 1:56.63 at the Red Raider Classic. Maas and Lopez have also been steady, with each running below two minutes in the 800. Lopez could also make an impact in the mile, where he is ranked 14th in the conference. Freshmen Ben Ortega and Chris Rogers are New Mexico's best hopes in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, respectively. Ortega is ranked 17th in the MWC while Rogers is ranked 12th. JUMPS & THROWS - While the Lobos lack depth in most of the field events, they do have several individuals who could factor into the team's success. Freshman John David Nance only competed in the long jump twice this season, but his mark of 21-10.75 at the Flagstaff Invitational was good for eighth in the Mountain West. Fellow freshman Mark Johnson competed in the triple jump for the first time last weekend at the Red Raider Classic, but he is also ranked among the conference top 10. Another UNM jumper worth watching is senior Jammy Kiggundu. Kiggundu competed in the long jump for the first time this season at the Red Raider Classic, but finished sixth in the event at the 2000 MWC Indoor Championships. In other field events, sophomore Paul Martello leads New Mexico's young corps of pole vaulters, while freshman Jordan Parker is the team's best hope in the shot put. WOMEN'S TEAM SPRINTS, HURDLES & RELAY - Sophomores Arline Smith and Dayna McMillen have paced the Lobos throughout the season in the short sprints. Smith is ranked third in the Mountain West in the 200 meters and should contend for the conference championship in the event. Meanwhile, McMillen is ranked 13th in the conference in the 60 meter and has the potential to finish among the leaders in the event. Junior Monica Christofferson leads a solid group of 400-meter runners, that was nonexistent at last year's indoor championships. Christofferson is ranked tenth in the MWC (58.89), followed by senior Felicia DeVargas, who is 16th in the 400. Junior Penny Lord could also contribute in the event for the Lobos. New Mexico has a chance to make a major impact in the 60-meter hurdles with senior Lisa Coleman, junior Keren Sari and junior Kisha Smith competing in the event. Coleman is ranked 11th in the conference and has notched four of the team's top five times. Sari is the team's best all-around athlete and notched the 14th-best time in the MWC in her one and only 60-meter hurdle race at the J.D. Martin Invitational. Smith rounds out the list, as the MWC's 18th ranked hurdler. In the 4x400 relay, Coleman and Kisha Smith join Christofferson and Arline Smith to form the Mountain West's third ranked relay team. The Lobos' top time of 3:54.75 is just one second behind number two BYU. DISTANCE- Like the men's squad, UNM is young and inexperienced in the distance events. Sophomores Andrea Montoya (800 meters) and Hannah Radzinski (mile) have the best chance to score in the distance events. JUMPS, PENTATHLON & THROWS - The Lobos expect to do most of their scoring in the field events and pentathlon. New Mexico has the Mountain West's top ranked triple jumper in junior Monique Harris and the No. 2 long jumper in junior Keren Sari. Harris is one of only two MWC athletes to jump over 40 feet (which she has done twice) in the triple jump this season while Sari is the UNM school record holder in the indoor long jump. Harris is also ranked sixth in the conference in the long jump, while junior Kisha Smith notched the MWC's eighth-best triple jump mark in her only competition in the event this season. Sari is also the Mountain West's best pentathlete. In her first meet as a Lobo at the Air Force Invitational, she shattered the school record and established the top mark in the conference with 3,671 points. Sari will be joined by junior Kat Callahan, who is the seventh ranked pentathlete in the MWC. New Mexico's best hope in the shot put is freshman Bobbi Hall, who is
ranked 16th in the conference and has the team's top four marks in the
event.
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