Sports Briefs

Men’s Soccer

All four New Mexico men’s soccer team seniors were picked up in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft.

Kyle Venter, UNM’s only three-time All American, was selected in the second round with the 23rd overall pick by the LA Galaxy.

“I am feeling a little bit relieved, but mostly excited,” Venter said in a release on golobos.com. “Going into the whole draft process, I knew I had done everything in my power to put myself in the best situation.”

Venter helped lead the Lobos to the program’s second College Cup appearance and became the team’s all-time leader in career minutes played.

Two Lobos were selected by the same team: forward Michael Kafari was chosen by the Vancouver Whitecaps with the 51st pick and forward Michael Calderon was taken 64th overall by the Whitecaps.
In between Kafari and Calderon, the Houston Dynamo chose UNM goalkeeper Michael Lisch with the 54th pick.

Track and Field

The New Mexico men’s and women’s track and field teams combined for 37 top-10 finishes in the opening meet of the year Saturday.

Sophomore Ridge Jones nearly broke the school record in the men’s 60-meter dash with a time of 6.68, which was a hundredth of a second off the school record. Jones finished second in the event.

Senior Django Lovett took first in the high jump with a mark of 6-feet, 11 3/4 inches, while his teammate Markus Miller finished third thanks to a 6-6 3/4 jump.

Senior Charles Lewis placed third in the 400 meter dash with a time of 48.61.

“Great first meet,” said UNM head coach Joe Franklin. “It obviously showed that the kids trained over break. We had a long, five-week vacation and some kids just got back, and obviously performed well.”

As for the women, junior Yeshemabet Turner placed third in the long jump with a 19-8 mark, which is the third longest jump in UNM history.

In the women’s 800-meter dash, Charlotte Arter placed second (2:10.05) and Chloe Anderson was third (2:10.05). Those times were the second and third fastest times in the program’s history.