The New Mexico track and field team set a school record by sending the largest amount of female athletes in its history to the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Three individual athletes and a distance medley relay team set the new mark which also extends a record eight consecutive years in which New Mexico has sent at least four athletes to the national championship.
The declaration comes on the heels of the Lobos receiving All-Mountain West selections in 13 events. National Indoor Championship individual finalists Jannell Hadnot, Calli Thackery and Sophie Connor were among those receiving the honor.
Head coach Joe Franklin said the program’s success is a big testament to the hard work the athletes have been putting in.
“It’s great for the students,” Franklin said. “It shows they are making progress and doing all the things right in order to get selected.”
All-Mountain West honors are awarded to the top three finishers in each event at the conference championships. Those athletes join the distance medley relay in Birmingham, Alabama for one last opportunity to score.
Hadnot tied a school record in the women’s triple jump earlier this year when she exploded for a mark of 43 feet, 2 1/2 inches. This is the first indoor championship appearance for her and is seeded 14 in the event.
Thackery will race as the fourth seed in the women’s 3000-meter run. She also set a school record this season, running the event in 9:03.59 at the Husky Classic in Seattle.
Connor is slated to compete as the 10 seed in the women’s mile. Her best time in the event this season is 4:36.37. The individual performances of Connor and Thackery could have a larger impact than just one race.
Connor and Thackery both have championship experience and are also part of the distance medley team. They, along with Emily Hosker-Thornhill and Holly Van Grinsven set the qualifying time of 11:01.86, but it hasn’t been determined who will actually run in Alabama.
Franklin said the lineup probably won’t be decided until about 90 minutes before the race. He said a lot of the decision will depend on how Connor performs in the 1-mile run, which occurs about three hours prior.
The team also sent Mackenzie Everett and Zoe Howell as alternates for the distance medley relay.
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The head coach added that the relay team advancing to nationals is a huge accomplishment. He said there are a total of 48 relay teams, 12 men’s and women’s team in both the distance medley and the 1600-meter relay. UNM is one of two schools that are not from a BCS conference.
“From our initial count, there are only two relays out of the 48 that are not BCS schools, so that’s a big deal,” he said.
The head coach said he and his staff spoke with the athletes about having fun with an experience they will remember for the rest of their lives.
He said the competitors will have to pay attention to detail and do all of the little things to put themselves in position to score. Everything will be monitored including staying hydrated, stretching, practicing and even sleep. He said it’ll be a great day if everyone is able to score.
“The goal is for everyone to score,” Franklin said. “That’s always the goal once you get there.”
Championship results will be posted on recordtiming.com. In addition, the meet will stream live on ESPN3 on March 11-12 at 5:00 p.m. local time and a re-air of the championship can be seen on March 20 at 5:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Robert Maler is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers cross country, tennis, and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
