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Men's Track and Field Posts Highest Mountain West Finish in School History
Feb. 28, 2009
USAF Academy, Colo.--The University of New Mexico men's track and field team capped a historic meet with a second place finish at the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships hosted by Air Force at the Cadet Field House this afternoon. The Lobos had never finished higher than fifth place and were sixth last year. New Mexico's second place finish also tied the a program record set in 1990 at the Western Athletic Conference Championships, while the 102 points were the most since the 1990 team scored 118. Leading the way for the men was senior Jarrin Solomon who picked up his first individual 400m indoor gold medal with a time of 47.17. The Albuquerque La Cueva product remains undefeated this season at 5-0 in head-to-head action. Solomon came in to the meet with the 10th best time in the nation in the 400m with a time of 46.69 that will likely lead to a berth in the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 14-15 at Texas A&M. The Lobo men also brought home the most All-MWC honors in school history with eight medals including six on Saturday. Senior Lee Emanuel, who has already punched his ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the mile, earned a silver medal in the 800m with an altitude-adjusted time of 1:50.15. Emanuel's time was .15 seconds under his own school record and NCAA Provisional qualifying time. Junior Transfer Rory Fraser also earned a silver medal in the 3,000m with an altitude-adjusted time of 8:21.44. Fellow distance runner David Bishop ran an altitude-adjusted time of 4:14.87 in the mile for a bronze medal finish. Senior Domnick Meadows traded his bronze from last year for a silver medal this season in the triple jump with a leap of 49-03.00 (15.01m) - only 3.75 inches from a gold medal. Meadows became the first Lobo to medal in the event indoors or outdoors last season and has now raised the bar becoming the only Lobo to bring home a silver medal in the triple jump.
In the 200m senior sprinter, Jermane McQueen won a bronze medal with a time of 21.72. McQueen was only .07 seconds off a silver medal. The 4x400m relay team of Solomon, senior Phillip Reid, sophomore Ryan Steadman and true-freshman Dominick Roberts earned silver medal honors with a time of 3:13.80. This is the second time in three years the Lobos 4x400m relay team has finished on the medal stand. The Lobo men's 4x400m relay team finished 1st at the 2007 MWC Indoor Championships at the Convention Center in Albuquerque. The Lobo women's team had a strong showing of their own with a 5th place finish and 53 points, bringing back to Albuquerque four All-MWC honors including two on Saturday. Senior Ariel Burr's last MWC race ended with a silver medal around her neck. The Carrizozo, N.M. native ran a 54.05, which lowered her NCAA Provisional qualifying time by .33 seconds. Burr will see if her time will gain her entry in to the NCAA Indoor Championship Meet. Junior Deanna Young broke her own school record in the triple jump with a leap of 43-01.75 (13.15m) - which is well above the NCAA Provisional qualifying standard - and earned a bronze medal and her second career indoor All-MWC honor. Other New Mexico Highlights from Saturday Included. Men's 60m Men's 200m Men's 800m Men's Pole Vault Women's 3,000m Women's Mile Women's 800m Women's 4x400m Relay |
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