Head coach Joe Franklin said he was going to give some of his players a rest after the New Mexico Collegiate Invitational on Jan. 31. However, he said some of his younger athletes needed to step up to gain some familiarity with tough competition.
“We had some really positive things happen,” Franklin said in a release. “They’re making progress ... next week, we’ll gear back up again for the Don Kirby Invite, then two weeks left until conference.”
Holly Van Grinsven gave her personal best performance in the 400-meter dash (56.62 seconds) and achieved a sub-8.5 time in the 60-meter hurdles (8.49 seconds). Van Grinsven already holds the UNM record for the 60 hurdles, and now has five races under the 8.5 mark. Her runs were good enough for seventh in the hurdles and fifth in the 400.
Zoe Howell put up the seventh-best time in UNM history in the 800-meter race, clocking in at 2 minutes, 12.77 seconds — good enough for second overall on the day.
The Lobo jumpers also had a good outing at the Classic.
Aasha Marler was just inches away from claiming the long jump record with her leap of 20 feet and 2 1/2 inches. She currently holds the school record at 20 feet and 5 inches. Her jump was good enough for fourth on Saturday.
Django Lovett cleared 7-1/4 in the high jump, finishing third on the day with his season best. Yannick Roggatz rounded the jumpers off with his jump of 23-9 1/2 in the long jump as he finished eighth.
UNM performed adequately without some of its biggest names competing. However, with two home meets set to take place in the Albuquerque Convention Center, the Lobos would like to ensure the entire squad is fresh for the competitiveness of the two events.
Before the Lobos return home to take part in the Don Kirby and the Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships, New Mexico must venture up to Seattle for the Washington Husky Classic.
The next few meets will help the Lobos clean everything up in anticipation of the final indoor track meets in hopes of making a competitive run in the National Championships.
The Don Kirby Elite Invitational generally brings solid competition to New Mexico, challenging individual competitors without the final tally of the team scores.
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The next three weeks will be to lay in the groundwork to claim the Mountain West Championships again. Last year, the Lobos were able to sweep both titles for the men and the women.
The Daily Lobo sports desk can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLoboSports.
