The men’s track team dominated the Convention Center this weekend at the New Mexico Invitational.
UNM had four first-place finishes. Freshman sprinter Beejay Lee won the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.81 seconds, and sophomore mid-distance runner James Senior won the 600-meter run with a time of 1:22.31. Senior hurdler Chad Clark won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.92 and freshman jumper Markus Miller won the high jump by clearing a height of 1.99 meters.
“The men did very well,” head track coach Joe Franklin said. “We’re making a lot of progress and that’s good because our conference championship is in exactly four weeks.”
The Lobos also had four second-place finishes and had three top-5 finishers in the long jump, pole vault and 600-meter run.
The four second-place finishes include junior jumper Kendall Spencer with a leap of 7.48 meters in the long jump and sophomore pole vaulter Logan Pflibson with a height of 5.22 meters.
Junior sprinter Derek Montoya finished with a time of 1:24.07 in the 600 meters. Junior triple-jumper Floyd Ross jumped 15.56 meters in the triple jump, which was only .13 meters short of first place.
Despite losing the event by narrow margins, Ross said he is happy with his performance.
“I think I was pretty good, but I could always do better,” he said. “It’s just a matter of time before everything comes together and I get that big jump. I just have to be patient.”
Even though Ross and Spencer finished second in their respective events, Franklin said his jumpers are skilled.
“Floyd (Ross) has a lot of ability and Kendall Spencer right now is one of the best long jumpers in the country,” he said.
Ross also finished third in the long jump, with a distance of 6.92 meters.
Other third-place finishes include senior distance runner Matt Everett in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.12, junior hurdler De’Vron Walker in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.1 seconds, and junior pole vaulter Robert Warensjo with a height of 5.07 meters in the pole vault.
Ross said that the team can easily take the MWC championship in late February at the Convention Center.
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“I think we have a pretty legitimate team,” he said. “Everybody’s good; we all work hard. When conference comes, I think we’re going to easily take that.”
