Four current and former Lobos track and field athletes are currently competing at the IAAF World Championships in London, England.
Current Lobo and reigning NCAA Champion Josh Kerr will represent Great Britain in the 1,500-meter run and is joined by Lobo Alumni and Olympians Courtney Frerichs, who will compete for the United States in the 3000-meter women’s steeplechase and Jarrin Solomon, representing Trinidad & Tobago in the men’s 1,600-meter relay.
Armoush, representing Jordan in the women’s 1,500-meter run will round out the field for the Lobos. In total, the Mountain West Conference will have 10 representatives in London.
Kerr, who, in addition to being named the Mountain West Male Athlete of the Year, completed the indoor/outdoor sweep. He became just the 11th athlete in NCAA history, and the first since 2008, to complete the feat, winning the National Championships in the mile and the 1,500 meter run at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor championships.
He qualified for the World Champions by turning in the sixth fastest 1,500-meter time in NCAA history at 3:35.99 at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Kerr also earned his spot on Britain’s team by finishing second at their World Championships Team Trials last month.
Frerichs, who graduated from UNM last year, was also a National Champion during her time as a Lobo. She helped lead the women’s cross country team to a team title in 2015 and capped a brilliant collegiate career with an individual championship last year, setting a new NCAA record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Last summer, she ran her way into the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and finished 11th in the steeplechase. Frerichs also qualified for the World Championships by finishing second at the 2017 USATF Outdoor Championships and set a new personal record of 9:19.09 in May.
Solomon was an All-American for the Lobos in the men’s 400-meter-dash and won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games as part of Trinidad & Tobago’s relay team. The Albuquerque native earned a silver medal at the 2015 World Championships and bronze medals at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2014 World Relays.
Amoush, who made two NCAA Regional Appearances during her time with the Lobos, won the women’s 1500-meter event at the 2017 South of England Senior Championships and recorded a personal best of 4:18.25 at the BMC Grand Prix in June. A native of England, Armoush competes internationally for Jordan.
Results:
Armoush was the first member of the Lobos to compete, finishing 14th in her heat with a time of 4:21.81.
Frerichs ran in the second heat of the 3000 Steeplechase and qualified comfortably for the finals on the Aug. 13, finishing with a time of 9:25.14. She went on to take the silver medal in the finals, beating her previous personal best by 15 seconds with a time of 9:03.77.
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Kerr failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s 1,500-meter, finishing 11th in his heat with a time of 3:47.30.
Solomon ended up not competing in his signature relay, though his Trinidad & Tobago men’s 1,600-meter relay team post a time of 2:59.35 to advance to Sunday’s final, according to iaaf.org.
Cameron Goeldner is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He contributes to baseball, football, basketball and track and field reporting. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @goeldfinger.
