Women Finish 2nd, Men Are 3rd

The University of New Mexico women finished second and the men took third place in the Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships that concluded Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

The Lobo men finished with 141 points, behind champion Air Force (156.5) and Boise State (154), with TCU, Colorado State and Wyoming in fourth through sixth.

It is the first men’s Mountain West championship for Air Force.

In capturing their second league crown, the TCU women enjoyed a larger margin of victory with 141 points to UNM’s 116 in the eight-team competition.

The Lobos set four school records during the three-day meet.

The Lobos garnered victories in the mile run from both the men and women. Senior Ross Millington ran the second-fastest mile in league championship history in four minutes, 7.23 seconds. In the women’s race, junior Josephine Moultrie ran a 5:08.80 to edge out teammate Imogen Ainsworth.

Other UNM victories came from junior Shirley Pitts in the women’s 400 (53.89), sophomore Gabe Aragon in the men’s 800 (1:51.24), and junior Floyd Ross in the triple jump (51-7 1/4) — the Lobos’ first-ever victory in that event at the league meet.

Moultrie also ran an impressive 2:09.27 in the women’s 800 to come in second and establish a school record. Other Lobos with runner-up performances included super freshman Beejay Lee in the 60 meters (6.78) and the 200 meters (21.5), junior Sean Stam in the men’s 3,000 (8:27.33), sophomore Logan Pflibsen in the pole vault (17-1).

The indoor season has concluded for most of the team, with a select few eyeing the NCAA Championships on March 9-10. A few more Lobos will try to punch their ticket to the national championship at the Notre Dame Last Chance Qualifier in South Bend, Ind., on Friday and Saturday.
— This article appeared on page D8 of the Albuquerque Journal