The new year is shaping up to be another record-breaking season for the UNM indoor track teams.
Both the men and women have earned 33 top-15 finishes, in addition to 14 top-five finishes at the Cherry & Silver invitational on Saturday afternoon at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Redshirt sophomore Kendall Spencer said he’s optimistic about the men’s team this season, but said there are areas where the group can improve.
“Our team has a lot of growth and that is what’s awesome about us, because we’re starting off with a bang and I feel with the 4×4, the multi and the sprints, we have a lot to improve on,” Spencer said.
Only three of the top finishes claimed the first place spot.
Logan Pflibsen tied Grand Canyon’s Eric Frawley in the pole vault with 5.07 meters. Spencer won the long jump with a 7.49 meter leap, just missing his career best.
The other Lobo win was one for the record books.
The women’s 4×400 meter relay team posted a 3:47.21 mark, which broke a state record. The team, composed of juniors Shirley Pitts, Rachel Kelchner, Tawsha Brazley, and freshman Mickey Brown squeezed out a victory against UTEP by 45 one-hundredths of a second.
Brown said the fast pace of the indoor track helped the team set the 4×400 record.
“Just seeing all the times go down, it’s such a drastic difference from the meet in Flagstaff last week,” Brown said. “It’s just so much faster.”
Gabe Aragon and John Cordova placed second and third, respectively, in the 600-meter run. Aragon ran 1:19.35 followed by Cordova with 1:20.59.
On the women’s side, Josephine Moultrie was edged out by California’s Angelica Weaver by four-tenths of a second to take second place in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:34.68.
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Margo Tucker and Amber Menke both tied three other athletes for second place in the pole vault with a 3.75 meter jump.
Junior Derek Montoya said that the advantage of the Lobos indoor track is the way that is it very easy to run on, which makes it an ideal track.
“Compared to other indoor tracks, it’s way better,” Montoya said. “The banks make it really smooth to run on.”
Head coach Joe Franklin said the competition will only become fiercer as the season progresses.
“It’s the first meet at home, so some people have little jitters because their friends and family are here,” Franklin said.
“Competing at this level, each meet gets progressively better, so we’ll see what happens in two weeks, three weeks, and the conference championships.”
