The UNM men's and women's track and field teams kick off the Lobos' first outdoor home meet of the season Saturday in the Modrall Sperling Lobo Open at the Great Friends of UNM Track Stadium.
UNM's second meet of the season is a non-scoring competition. The Lobos will be going up against seven regional opponents, including Mountain West Conference foes University of Wyoming and Colorado State University, the conference indoor champion on the men's side. The other five colleges include Colorado College, Fort Lewis College, Hobbs Junior College, Dine College and intrastate rival New Mexico State University.
UNM head coach Matt Henry said he is using the meet to size up his team's talent and where he can use the players' talents the best.
"I'm glad to be home; that's really exciting for us," he said. "It's early in the season, so we are trying to see where the guys and the ladies belong. Because it is a non-scoring event we are, more or less, finding out where the team is and seeing where we need to go."
The Lobos will look to continue their impressive performance from last weekend in their first meet of the season in San Antonio, Texas, at the Whataburger/UTSA Relays.
Junior David Lloyd will try for a repeat of his performance in which he ran a time of 51.44 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles, which is just 0.24 seconds shy of an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Junior Arline Smith and freshman Amanda Barnes led the women's team with victories in the 400-meter run and the shot put, respectively.
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Henry said he also expects strong performances from his men's long distance runners, who had stellar outings during the indoor season. Sophomores Matt Gonzales, Ben Ortega, Chris Orrell and freshman Cameron Clarke lead the way in the long distance meets.
Senior Monique Harris will try to build on her impressive performance during the indoor season in the fall. Harris captured her second straight MWC indoor triple jump championship. Although she is competing in the long jump Saturday, Harris said she is looking forward to improving.
"I plan to go out there and do my best," Harris said. "The results will show if we keep putting forth the work and time."
Senior Keren Sari-Bentzur is also expected to do well in the long jump.
Saturday's meet begins at 12:30 p.m. with the hammer throw and long jump and ends with the 400-meter relays at 6 p.m. Admission is free.
