Kendall Spencer only needed one jump to make history at the Don Kirby Invitational track meet this past Saturday.
Spencer, the national indoor long jump champion, jumped past a national best, and snagged the second longest jump in the world this year with a 26-foot, 9.25-inch mark.
Spencer said his hard work is reflected in his performances in both the indoor and outdoor track seasons.
“It feels good. God has been really good to me up to this point,” Spencer said. “I feel great working hard, and practice is going well. It has really shown.”
Head coach Joe Franklin said Spencer is in the zone right now, with the way he is jumping.
“Kendall is in a good spot. It was the top jump in the country right now, college or professional,” Franklin said. “He may be one of the top (jumpers) in the world.”
The jump also tied the 47-year-old school record set by Clarence Robinson in 1965 and has an Olympic A standard, which means he automatically qualifies for the Olympics if he finishes in the top three at the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer.
In the men’s 1500 meter run, sophomore Gabe Aragon finished sixth with a 3:59.98 mark, and won his heat with a win over Western State’s Gabe Proctor by three hundredths of a second.
In the second lap, Aragon took the lead on turn four and held it until Proctor overtook him on the second straightaway of lap three.
Aragon found an extra burst to retake the lead and pulled out the win by narrowly edging past Proctor at the finish line.
“He got out there and I just tried to stay relaxed and keep my composure,” Aragon said. “I found a kick that I never have normally and he came back up on me, but I was barely able to hold him off.”
However, Aragon ran unattached as both he and Franklin decided he should redshirt this outdoor track season.
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“This way it gives him two more years at the University of New Mexico and he just keeps getting better and better,” Franklin said.
In the women’s steeplechase, two Lobos finished in the top five as junior Imogen Ainsworth placed second with a 10:51.72 time, and Emma Reed finished fourth with a 11:20.12 time.
Ainsworth’s mark moved her into fifth all-time in the Lobo record books, above Reed.
The Lobos also had four top 10 finishers in the women’s pole vault, with sophomore Margo Tucker tied for second with a 12-6.75 mark.
In the men’s 4×100 relay, the team composed of freshman sprinter Beejay Lee, Spencer, junior sprinters De’Vron Walker and Lamaar Thomas finished third, with a time of 41.13 seconds.
The Lobos had a chance for victory as Walker handed off the baton to Thomas at the same time as the runners from Wayland Baptist and Grand Canyon University handed off their batons.
Thomas couldn’t hold his speed down the final stretch, and he finished five hundredths of a second behind Grand Canyon’s Dominique Hubert, the winner.
Franklin said the race could have gone better.
“It went okay,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that it went great by any sense of the imagination.”
