Saturday’s preseason meet featured competing spots, community runners and high school competitors as UNM hosted the Lobo Invitational.
Many of the starters for the men and the No. 1 defending national championship women’s squad were sidelined to prepare for the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 30, where meet results will officially count towards standings.
However, you couldn’t tell local product Kendall Kelly the meet was for nothing. She finished on top of the New Mexico leaderboard, vying for a spot on the travel squad.
Kelly’s time of 18:34.70 was good enough for a third place overall finish in the women’s 5K. Among the teams competing were New Mexico, University of Texas at El Paso, and Eastern New Mexico, in addition to multiple unattached runners.
Kelly and her twin sister Reiley (19:37.0) were the top two finishers for the UNM women. Reiley finished 12th, followed by 13th place Ruth Haynes (19:44.3), 15th place Mackenzie Everett (19:58.0) and 17th place Samantha Dicker (20:12.0).
On the men’s side of things, Jesús Mendoza was the top Lobo finisher with his time of 15:53.0, good for ninth overall.
The remaining competitors for UNM featured 16th place Taylor Potter (16:22.2), 18th place Tyler Valdez (16:26), 19th place Chris Graham (16:35.7), and 21st place Adam Monroe (16:37.5).
Though the meet was dubbed as a preseason tune-up by head coach Joe Franklin, he said prior to the meet that he was excited to get to be with friends and family and watch the community come out to participate.
Community and High School Races
The day started off with the co-ed community run at 8:00 a.m. Paul LeFrancois took home the gold as an individual runner with his time of 17:18.40. Andrea McArdle had the top time of all the females, and 2nd overall, with her time of 18:19.00 as a member of the Dukes Track Club.
In the High School run, Albuquerque Academy finished atop the boys’ 5K with 85 total points. Kashon Harrison out of Kirtland Central finished first individually with his time of 15:33.90.
For the girls, the Cleveland Storm’s Amanda Mayoral took the top spot with a time of 19:09.80. But it was Rio Rancho that won the team trophy with 50 total points.
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Up next for UNM is the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Indiana, on Sept. 30, the official start to the season.
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
