Hadnot, Kerr, relay team star for Lobos
But Colorado State sweeps team titles
Jannell Hadnot had no trouble defending her league championship, while Josh Kerr won the first of what could be many.
Hadnot and Kerr each won individual titles for the University of New Mexico on the final day of the Mountain West Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
UNM’s men’s and women’s teams each finished fourth. Colorado State won the six-team men’s and the 11-team women’s competitions. It was Colorado State’s first men’s title since 2002. The women repeated by holding off UNLV.
Hadnot, a senior, matched her team-record mark of 43 feet, 6 inches in the triple jump to beat her nearest rival by three feet. Any one of Hadnot’s five scoring jumps would have given her a first-place finish.
“Consistency is something that I work hard for,” Hadnot said. “I wasn’t expecting as much at the
Kirby (Invitational two weeks ago), but today I was loaded and ready to go.”
Hadnot’s best jump this season has her 14th in the nation, which would earn her a spot at the indoor nationals March 10-11 in College Station, Texas.
“As of today I’m in, but you never really know,” Hadnot said.
Kerr, a redshirt freshman, was engaging the crowd over the last 60 meters of the mile as he cruised down the homestretch to win the mile in a meet-record 4:03.41.
Kerr finished four seconds in front of second-place Dillon Maggard, a Utah State junior who put the pressure on early. Maggard ran the first quarter-mile in 58 seconds opening a 10-meter lead.
“He threw it all at me, and I had to respond to it,” Kerr said. “It was tough, I’m not going to lie.”
Kerr took the lead shortly after the half-mile mark, and widened his lead over Mallard to better than 15 meters. Over the final 50 meters, Kerr was pumping his fist and encouraging the home crowd to cheer.
“Mallard is a really good runner and very strong,” Kerr said. “I just had to stay confident and reel him in slowly.”
The Lobos’ Sophie Connor and Calli Thackery brought home runner-up finishes in the 800 and 3,000 meters, respectively.
Connor, a senior from London and UNM’s top miler, went with the shorter distance as a change of pace. She set a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 6.55 seconds to finish behind Boise State’s Sadi Henderson (2:04.83).
“I was working on chasing times and I am on the cusp of qualifying for nationals (in the mile), “Connor said. “I really wanted to have fun with it and see if I could get some speed work in.”
Thackery, a senior from Sheffield, England, led at the halfway mark of the 3,000 meters, but was unable to keep pace with Boise State freshman Clare O’Brien over the final half mile. O’Brien won in a meet-record 9:24.75, and Thackery was next in 9:40.09.
“I’m not really pleased,” Thackery said. “I was going for an NCAA qualifying time, but I didn’t have it in my legs today.”
In contrast, UNM’s men’s mile relay team certainly had its legs in the final event of the championship.
Cheyne Dorsey, Isaac Gonzales, Carlos Salcido, and Mark Haywood broke a 33-year-old UNM record two weeks earlier in the Don Kirby Invitational.
While the previous record stood for over three decades, the most recent record of 3:11.66 lasted 14 days. The UNM foursome shattered its record in placing second to Utah State (3:10.35).
“Coach (Richard) Ceronie made a strategic decision to have the (guys) pull out of their individual events, and run them fresh in the relay,” said UNM head coach Joe Franklin. “To have that group of four do what they’ve done, and continue to get better and better, is quite outstanding.”