by David J. Chavez
Daily Lobo
Sophomore Whitney Johnson soared to a height of 13-00 3/4 to set a UNM women's pole vault record on Saturday.
Johnson became the first UNM woman to clear 13 feet at the Don Kirby Memorial Invitational at the Great Friends of UNM Track Stadium.
Johnson solidified her status as one of the best female pole vaulters in UNM history, and she improved on her NCAA Midwest Regional qualifying height at the meet.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The UNM track and field team dominated the 16th annual invitational by winning 10 events, while setting school records and career bests.
There were 11 teams competing in Saturday's meet, including conference rivals Air Force, Wyoming and Colorado State. The Mountain West Conference Championships begin May 10 in Provo, Utah.
Johnson said she is pleased with her record-breaking performance, but she's not satisfied with the height.
"I had a really good day, and I broke a school record, but I want to be vaulting higher at this point in the season," Johnson said. "It's only a matter of time before I break the 13-5 barrier, and I'm going to do it at the conference championships. I've come really close several times, so there's not a doubt in my mind that I can do it."
UNM swept the women's and men's 4 x 100-meter relay. Sophomores Kristan Matison, Ariel Burr, Tabatha Shaw and Shakira Williams crossed the finish line with a season-best time of 46.09. The men's team of Phillip Merritt, Taylor Siemon, Jarrin Solomon and Aaron Brack blew past the competition with a time of 41.27 seconds. The team's closest competition, Colorado State, finished 0.52 seconds behind.
Senior Aaron Brack said he was happy with the win, but he wants to improve as the season comes to a close.
"I'm OK with my performances, but it's not where I need to be going into conference," he said. "I need to work on a few things in practice, including maintaining my pace in the 200-meter dash and picking up my speed on the last 10 meters of the 100-meter dash, because I tend to tighten up on that last part."
The Lobos also swept the men's and women's javelin with a couple homegrown athletes. Highland High School graduate Anthony Fairbanks threw his way to a season-best and first-place finish of 213-9. Katie Coronado, from Ruidoso, also turned out a season-best performance with a throw of 149-6 to beat the competition by more than 12 feet.
Freshman Leslie Luna took first place in the women's 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:52.02, which was two hundredths of a second behind the regional qualifying standard. Jacquelyne Gallegos finished second behind Luna with a career-best time of 16:57.95 in her last home race as a Lobo.
After Solomon and Burr helped their teammates capture first place in the relays, they stepped back on the track and won the men's and women's 400-meter races.
Domnick Meadows and Matison rounded out the first-place finishes, with Meadows getting his first outdoor victory in the long jump and Matison winning the 100-meter dash at home for the second straight year.
UNM head coach Matt Henry said he was happy the Lobos were able to get so many first-place finishes at the home meet.
"We had a lot of first-place finishes in a variety of events here at home today," Henry said. "It's great to have a strong showing in our last meet, because we can carry that momentum into the conference championships."
