As head coach Joe Franklin alluded, the Sun Angel Classic was a meet to gauge where the team is at this point in the season.
With solid individual performances, the Lobo outdoor track and field team continued to gain momentum from its second meet of the season on Saturday in Arizona.
Both the men and women’s squads posted admirable team performance in the meet. The Lobos finished with two open titles, and 13 top-10 finishes in both open and premier events.
On the men’s side, Emil Danielsson won the men’s 1500-meter open run in 3:52.08.
Sam Trigg placed fourth in his season debut in triple jump with a leap of 50 feet, 1 3/4 inches. He was named an All Mountain West athlete for both indoor and outdoor last year.
In the long jump, Tanner Battikhad took seventh place (23 feet, 4 1/2 inches), and Alejandro Goldston leaped to 10th place (22 feet, 7 inches).
Goldston also teamed with Carlos Salcido, Mark Haywood and Isaac Gonzales to compete in the 400-meter relay. New Mexico recorded a time of 41.86 and placed second.
In the javelin throw, Malik Matthews-Gordon ranked second (195 feet, 2 inches), and Nik Aston placed ninth (179 feet, 9 inches).
The women’s team witnessed similar strong marks from distance runners and jumpers.
In the 1500-meter open, Kieran Casey picked up the win in 4:33.01.
Kendall Kelly ran to 10th place in 4:38.15 in the premier 1500-meter run.
Erynn Caldwell took 10th in 12.58 in the open section of 100-meter dash.
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In the premier 100-meter dash, Akeisha Ayanniyi placed 15th (12.30) after taking 10th place in the long jump (18 feet 5 3/4 inches).
Jannell Hadnot also shined in her season debut with a fourth place finish in the triple jump (41 feet, 10 inches). The NCAA qualifier would again aim to head into the nationals.
The Lobos will travel to California to participate in the Bryan Clay Invitational next weekend.
Bo Yu is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers beach volleyball, track and field, cross country and volleyball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Bo_YuB.
