Track and Field
New Mexico will send four athletes to the NCAA Championships after they qualified for the meet at the 2015 NCAA West Preliminary in Austin, Texas this past weekend.
Redshirt senior Peter Callahan, senior Logan Pflibsen, junior Calli Thackery and redshirt freshman Alice Wright will represent the Lobos at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon this month. This will be the ninth consecutive year that UNM has qualified at least four athletes.
Pfilbsen set a personal record in men’s pole vault with a mark of 17 feet, 6 1/2 inches, taking fifth place in the meet. The top 12 placers earned bids to the NCAA Championships.
The senior from Illinois becomes the first UNM athlete to qualify for the pole vault since Robert Caldwell in 2008.
Callahan earned his place in the NCAA finals with a second-place finish in the 1,500-meter run, clocking in at 3:42.93. Last year, Callahan earned All-American status with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. He becomes the second runner in UNM history to make back-to-back NCAA appearances in the 1,500-meter race.
Thackery finished fourth in the women’s 5,000 with a time of 15:33.26. She is the first female runner since Kelly Dix in 1994 to qualify for the 5,000.
On Thursday, Alice Wright was the first of the Lobos to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships. Wright ran for 34:25.05 in the 10,000 for a second-place finish and a berth to the NCAA finals.
UNM almost had five athletes make the NCAA Championships. Allan Hamilton was one spot off, as he earned 13th place in the long jump (25-4 3/4).
The NCAA Championships will be held on June 10-13.
Women’s tennis
The UNM women’s tennis team begins a two-week tour of France and Spain this week.
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The Lobos will play two team matches in Paris and Barcelona during the tour. The team will also attend the 2015 French Open, which is held at Stade Roland Garros in Paris.
UNM is coming off its first-ever Mountain West Championship title and its first NCAA appearance since 2006.
“We are so excited about our foreign tour to France and Spain,” head coach Erica Jasper said. “It will be an amazing cultural and team-building experience. Traveling abroad is something that many people never get to do, and the fact that we get to take this trip as a team is incredibly special.”
The trip was made possible by UNM supporters Tom and Krista Parr, both of whom are on tour with the Lobos.
~ Compiled by Thomas Romero-Salas
