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Two New Mexico athletes earned All-American honors after earning top-eight finishes at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships this past weekend in Eugene, Ore.
Senior Floyd Ross captured a third-place finish in the triple jump, receiving first-team recognition in the process. Junior Luke Caldwell was also named First Team All-American after placing seventh in the 5000-meter run. Both athletes competed on Saturday, the final day of the four-day meet.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association gives the awards to the top eight placers in each event from the NCAA finals meet.
In his second NCAA outdoor meet appearance, Floyd unleashed a 52-foot, 11-inch leap on his fifth attempt and posted UNM’s seventh-best mark in the triple jump. He was the national runner-up in 2012.
Known for posting his final mark on his last leap, Floyd scratched his last jump Saturday. His mark was 2 feet, 5 1/4 shorter than the one hit by Florida’s Omar Craddock, the NCAA champion, and 14 inches shorter than second place finisher Manuel Ziegler of Memphis.
“Floyd now has scored at every championship he has even been in,” UNM coach Joe Franklin said in a press release. “And this was probably his best series of jumps he’s ever had.”
Caldwell, meanwhile, placed seventh after completing the 5k in 13:55.55. He pushed his way from 10th place to seventh by running the final 400 meters in 1:00.35, according to the release.
The junior became the first UNM athlete to be named All-American in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track in a single school year.
“It means a massive amount to me, actually,” said Caldwell, a transfer student from England. “Arriving here, I didn’t think I’d get All-American in any of them, so getting All-American in all three is huge.”
Arizona’s Lawi Lalang won the men’s 5K in 13:35.19.
In the men’s competition, Floyd and Caldwell’s efforts scored eight team points for UNM and the team finished in 26th place.
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Texas A&M and Florida tied for the men’s team title after scoring 53 points each.
Junior high jumper Django Lovett on Friday placed 21st in the high jump with a 6-8 3/4 leap. He cleared that height on his first attempt but scratched all three attempts on the next height.
Indiana’s Derek Drouin took the title with a 7-8 mark.
Senior Josephine Moultrie and juniors Charlotte Arter and Chloe Anderson competed for UNM in the women’s 1,500 on Thursday, but none made it out of the semifinal race. Arter had UNM’s best time at 4:19.27, Anderson clocked a 4:19.82 and Moultrie ran a 4:31.86.
After posting the top preliminary time, Oklahoma State’s Natalja Piliusina won the finals race in 4:13.25.
With all three UNM females missing the finals, the Lobos did not score any points in the women’s standings. Kansas claimed the women’s crown with 60 points.
