The race to the MWC championship lost a hurdle this year for the men’s and women’s track teams.
Perennial powerhouse BYU, who won both the men’s and women’s MWC titles last year, left the conference last season.
Head coach Joe Franklin said the conference will be more competitive without BYU.
“BYU has a very deep and talented team, and you have a team that is very powerful and is one of the top teams in the country every year,” Franklin said. “BYU has won it easily for the past five years. Now there are four or five teams that can win.”
BYU’s men’s team was nothing but dominant as it won every outdoor championship since the inaugural MWC season in 1999-2000.
Franklin said UNM looks to take advantage of BYU’s absence by becoming the new king of the mountain.
“Our expectations change a lot with BYU out of the conference,”
Franklin said. “It’s definitely to aim for a conference championship and get as many people to the NCAA championships.”
Junior sprinter Lamaar Thomas said with BYU gone the Lobos need to work even harder.
“We need to show the conference what we can do, and turn those second place finishes into wins,” he said.
On the women’s side, junior hurdler Precious Selmon said the Lobos also have a good chance to win.
“For this upcoming season I believe we will do extremely well. I honestly expect conference champs for indoor and outdoor for both men’s and women’s teams,” she said.
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The women of BYU were also the standouts. The Cougars won all the outdoor titles except the 2007-2008 season when Colorado State snatched victory.
On Feb. 10th the Lobos host The Don Kirby Elite Invitational, in which UNM will compete against some of the top teams in the country.
Franklin said Oregon, Florida, UCLA, Ohio State, Texas and Stanford will attend the meet.
“That meet will go a long way in determining in how we do at the conference championships,” Franklin said.
