The men held off Colorado State on Saturday to win the team’s third straight MW championship. The Lobos finished with 160 points, while the Rams had 140 for second place. For the women, the road to a repeat was much easier, as they won the meet by 53 points (149- 96) over runner-up CSU.
“It just means the world to all of us, especially having it at home,” junior sprinter Holly Van Grinsven said. “It just makes it so much worth it because all your family and friends came to see all the hard work you put in. That’s most rewarding because you put so much time and energy, sweat and tears into this track, and to win it on this track is an incredible feeling.”
As a team, the women had four individuals and one relay team claim gold over the three-day meet.
Redshirt senior distance runner Sammy Silva was the only woman to claim two titles, as she won the mile (4:50.22) and the 800-meter race (2:11.52). Junior Sophie Connor earned third in the mile with a time of 4:52.64, and senior Tamara Armoush was fourth (4:53.05).
Silva said the wins were that much more satisfying after having dealt with numerous leg injuries throughout her career at UNM.
“It’s honestly extremely rewarding to be able to accomplish this in what is my last season,” Silva said. “I’ve been competing for quite some time, and I’ve dealt with so many injuries in the past. Just to be able to contribute points and be a part of this is so amazing.”
The Lobos almost had two athletes win multiple championships, but Van Grinsven came up short in the 60-meter hurdles, losing by just .03 seconds to San Diego State’s Micha Auzenne (8.21). Van Grinsven rebounded by winning the 400-meter dash, clocking in at 54.69. However, the final results were delayed for about an hour because Van Grinsven and another runner bumped during the final turn, forcing a review of what happened.
“That happens a lot of the time when you do a cut in. It just gets a little messy sometimes,” Van Grinsven said. “Sometimes you have some pushing and shoving, so I wasn’t about to get pushed around. I gave a little back, which caused a little bit of controversy.”
The other two individual winners for the women were redshirt freshman distance runner Alice Wright in the 5,000 meters (16:31.85) and senior sprinter/jumper Aasha Marler in the triple jump (12.84 meters). The team composed of redshirt senior Nicola Hood, sophomore Kelsi Lewis, junior Emily Hosker-Thornhill and senior Nicole Roberts won the women’s distance medley in 11:48.59.
“To have some of the performances that we had today is unbelievable,” head coach Joe Franklin said.
As for the men, UNM earned five individual titles on the day. The Lobos were led by senior distance runner Adam Bitchell, who won the 3,000 meters on Saturday with a time of 8:11.05 and the 5,000 meters on Thursday, coming in at 14:30.17.
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Junior sprinter Ridge Jones made history by breaking a UNM and Mountain West record in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.60 seconds.
“I took everything that I was lacking in the prelims and prevailed in the finals. That helped me out a lot,” Jones said.
Franklin said the key for the men winning the championship was the mile run. UNM took four of the top five spots: junior Elmar Engholm won the event in 4:10.13, senior Ross Matheson was runner-up (4:10.53), Bitchell earned bronze (4:10.63) and junior Graham Thomas was fifth (4:12.84).
“It’s one of those days that we had everything happen right,” Franklin said. “The mile started it rolling, and it literally snowballed.”
On the field, redshirt senior jumper Django Lovett won the high jump with a mark of 2.14 meters. Senior Warrick Campbell took first in the triple jump with a leap of 15.67 meters.
Franklin became the first coach in conference history to win the men’s and women’s MW Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons.
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLoboSports.
