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Lobo Duo Finalizes National Championship Plans
Veteran Sari-Bentzur, newcomer Gonzales headed to Sacramento, Calif.
June 3, 2003 INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - For the second-straight year, the University of New Mexico will send a pair of athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The NCAA championship committee announced the field for the 2003 national championships, which will be held in Sacramento, Calif., June 11-14. New Mexico senior Keren Sari-Bentzur will make her second-straight championship appearance after earning an at-large berth in the heptathlon. She will be joined by sophomore Matt Gonzales who was an automatic qualifier in both the 1,500 and 10,000. Gonzales, however, will only compete in the 10,000, where he is ranked fourth in the country. The 5-5 Gonzales captured an unexpected victory in the 1,500 last weekend at the NCAA Midwest Regional meet, running a career-best 3:42.83 which was the fastest regional championship time in the nation. Due to the rarity of an athlete competing in both the 1,500 and 10,000-meter races, however, the NCAA schedules the preliminary heats of the 1,500 just 2 hours and 15 minutes before the start of the grueling 10,000. With the option to double eliminated, UNM head coach Matt Henry and Gonzales opted to keep their focus on the 10K. This will be just the second 10,000-meter race of the season for the Santa Fe native, who earned an automatic qualifying time of 28:38.64 in his season-opener at Stanford on March 28. Gonzales' time is the fastest in Mountain West Conference history and the best by an American collegiate athlete this year. Meanwhile, Sari-Bentzur will be looking to improve on her ninth place finish of a year ago in the heptathlon at the national championship meet. The Omer, Israel native is currently ranked 19th in the country with a season-best score of 5,236 at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 16. Last year, Sari-Bentzur recorded a career-best score of 5,371 at Mt. SAC and missed earning All-America honors (top-eight) by 36 points with her score of 5,285 at the NCAA Championships.
The UNM coaching staff and athletes will depart on Monday, June
9 for Sacramento, Calif. Gonzales will compete late Thursday
(June 12) night, stepping to the line at 10:40 p.m. (MST) for the
start of the 10,000. Sari-Bentzur, meanwhile, will start the first four
events of the heptathlon at 11 a.m. (MST) on Friday (June 13)
morning and will conclude the final three events beginning at 11
a.m. (MST) on Saturday, June 14.
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