Ridge Jones now shares a piece of the 60-meter dash record while Sammy Silva and Holly Van Grinsven sit atop the New Mexico record books for their performances in the 800-meter race and 60-meter hurdles, respectively.
The rigorous competition featured three nationally ranked teams: No. 11 Alabama men’s track team, No. 12 Kansas State women, and No. 21 UCLA women’s team. UNM’s women finished second on the day while the men were fourth.
UNM head coach Joe Franklin said he was encouraged to see such high-level performances from the teams that came to Albuquerque because the meet is generally seen as low-key.
“It was just an awesome meet,” Franklin said. “The quality is so high, you just have no choice but to compete at a high level.”
Based on UNM’s individual performances, the high level of competitiveness was certainly reached. Van Grinsven was the first Lobo to rewrite the New Mexico history books with an altitude-converted time of 8.37, breaking the previous 60-meter Lobo hurdle mark of 8.43 set by Precious Selmon.
“I’ve been here for three years and I haven’t even gotten close to a school record,” Van Grinsven said. “It’s always been there in the back of my mind. Just to be able to do it here on this track, it’s just incredible.”
Van Grinsven, a junior from Tennessee, said chasing the school record has only made her even faster. Her record-breaking hurdle time among all-time New Mexico runners was only third best among the athletes in the Convention Center.
“It makes you really hungry,” Van Grinsven said. “You’re never satisfied because you know there’s more in the tank to give.”
Later in the afternoon, Jones went flying through the infield to finish in a tie for fourth, but the junior out of Texas also tied a UNM best. Jones’ time of 6.69 tied Beejay Lee for the quickest 60-meter time.
“I can’t just stay here and be satisfied with that time. There’s people out there with faster times,” Jones said. “It gives me more time to progress. It gives me more time to train so I can get to nationals.”
The final record-breaker of the day was in a tight race that came down to the wire. Silva and Sophie Connor both beat out Josephine Moultrie’s 2012 time of 2:08.55.
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In fact, Connor had been leading Silva the majority of the 800 meters. However, a late surge by Silva and an unfortunate fall at the end of the race contributed to Connor’s second-place finish in the race and in school history.
Silva finished in 2:08.14 while Connor lay across the finish line with a final time of 2:08.20. It appeared that Connor had trouble with her spike on the very last step of the 800 meter race.
“They’re both very fit. They’re good teammates. They’re great friends,” Franklin said. “But when they step on the line, they want to win the race.”
Franklin said he knows that Connor’s knees are sore from the fall, but he thinks the junior is going to be just fine. Silva, on the other hand, had the luxury to walk around and catch her breath following the intense photo finish, before helping a sprawled Connor off the track.
Adam Bitchell’s 3,000-meter time of 8:11.64 gives him the fourth overall time in UNM history. Calli Thackery made an impression on the women’s side of the 3,000 meters with her time of 9:33.80, third all-time on the Lobo charts.
Zoe Howell also made some noise with her personal best time of 1:33.23 in the 600 meters, third best in school history.
“It was just an awesome meet for kids to come out and break school records and PRs (personal records),” Franklin said.
UCLA left Albuquerque with team wins from both the men (74) and women (93). The UNM women’s team concluded its day with 91.50 points while the men finished with 60.
Looking ahead, Franklin said he doesn’t think this is anywhere close to what his squad can do. He said the Lobos will need to build off of the competition they saw today and for the conference championships that will be held later this year at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
“I think we could have a really great crowd for the conference championship,” Franklin said. “And then I think we can win another one.”
Liam Cary-Eaves is the assistant sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
