Six of UNM’s best athletes gathered outside UNM’s track Friday for interviews, but everyone could tell their minds were already at Hayward Field, the venue for the NCAA Championships.
When championships kick off Wednesday in Eugene, Ore., the Lobos will send seven representatives to compete — Lee Emanuel, Jacob Kirwa, Chris Barnicle, Ruth Senior, Sandy Fortner, Deanna Young and Lamaar Thomas.
Of the seven, five — Emanuel, Kirwa, Barnicle, Senior and Thomas — will compete in track events, while Young will look to bring home hardware in the triple jump and Fortner in the grueling heptathalon.
Until then, all of them wait anxiously for the day to come.
Among the Lobo regulars, there are those who faced great odds, particularly Fortner, who came back from a busted kneecap in 2008 to achieve paramount success this year.
Also facing some disadvantages will be Young, a graduate from Highland High School, who qualified in the triple jump with a mark of 13.05 meters, despite a slight height disadvantage at 5 feet 4 inches. At this point, Young said she’s gotten used to her stature.
“I think there’s only two people my height,” she said. “Most of the girls are bigger than me. They are the people I need to beat. That’s who I compete against. They are always going to be tall; even in the pros they are tall. I got to get used to it.”
Most notably, Emanuel will be looking to extend his indoor dominance to the outdoor season. Emanuel finished with a time of 3:38.81 in the 1,500-meter run at NCAA west preliminaries in Austin, Texas.
Emanuel, who qualified for the 1,500-meter in the NCAA Championships, said the semifinal run was a good start, but it’s just another step toward the final competition.
“I felt good about it,” Emanuel said. “I trained hard the week before, so I was never going to be fresh and running well. I just wanted to qualify. I led from the beginning, so I was very pleased. I got beaten by a few guys, but it didn’t really matter in the end because it was about getting in the top 5.”
Emanuel, the two-year title holder for the indoor mile run, said he’s eager for his chance to win the outdoor equivalent as well.
“I am feeling very confident, and I want to go there and win,” he said. “Coming in second would be a failure as far as I am seeing it right now. I am going to try my best, and, you know, if anyone beats me, they are going to have run very, very hard to do it. That’s the mentality I got right now.”
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Emanuel’s main competition will be Oregon’s Andrew Wheating, a top-notch runner who has beaten Emanuel in the last two races they’ve competed in.
But Emanuel said Wheating won’t beat him this time.
“He’s doing the 800 as well, so he’s going to be tired,” Emanuel said. “And I believe I can beat him anyway. Both times when I’ve raced him, I’ve gone out trying to run fast, not trying to win the race. To beat him, I am going to have to be at 100 percent, but I think I can be and will be.”
Meanwhile, Kirwa, coming off an 11th-place finish in the cross country NCAA Championships, continues to prove himself as one of the premier runners in the country. At NCAA prelims, Kirwa ran the 5,000-meter run in 14:02.01, the second fastest time of the day.
Kirwa said he didn’t turn in a peak performance, but he was still pleased to make it to nationals.
“Compared to last year, I am better off this year,” Kirwa said. “Since I realized I was doing well, I have been going for more and more, so I have been improving my performance times.”
The same can be said for Barnicle and Senior.
During the NCAA preliminary round, Barnicle finished with a time 29:40.45 in the 10,000-meter run, while Senior clocked a time of 10:15.46 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Both said they weren’t satisfied with their performances and are expecting more from nationals. Barnicle said the best thing he can do is be serious and prepared for finals.
“They’re going to be some fast guys,” he said. “But on any given day anything can happen, so we’ll see what happens.”
Which is exactly the case when it comes to Fortner.
Fortner exceeded all expectations by qualifying for NCAA Championships with the third-best score in the nation.
Fortner said she is in the best shape of her life and has a real chance of winning.
“I am going to just focus on one event at time, day by day, and hopefully score 5800 to 5900. And, if that’s the case, I stand a chance to win,” she said.
*NCAA Championships
Wednesday
Eugene, Ore.
All Day
*
