The University of New Mexico track and field team concluded the first day of competition at the Pacific Coast Invitational in Long Beach and the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa on April 16, with eight new personal bests and six performances ranking among the Top 10 in school history.
The results reflect strong progress for several Lobos athletes as they continue their outdoor season. These early-season achievements could impact both individual records and team standings as competitions resume.
At the Bryan Clay Invitational, Kipruto Koech opened his outdoor season with a time of 9:32.91 in the men’s steeplechase, nearly 21 seconds faster than his previous season opener. Nicola Jansen finished her women’s 10,000-meter race in 34:17.60, a mark that would place her among the Top 50 in the West Region this weekend. Lukas Ehrle completed his men’s 10,000-meter run with a time of 29:46.66.
During the Pacific Coast Invitational events, Adryana Shelby ran a personal best of 13.55 seconds to finish second in the women’s 100 hurdles—making it the second-fastest performance ever by a Lobo woman outdoors. In women’s sprints, Eva Ngom led teammates Louanne Pouzancre Hoyer and Sofia Pineda to take second through fourth places respectively in the women’s 400 meters; all three set new lifetime or outdoor bests that now rank them within UNM’s all-time Top Ten for this event.
Other notable performances included Kahari Wilbon’s sixth consecutive sub-48-second finish in men’s 400 meters (47.65), Levente Soos winning men’s 400 hurdles (51.57), Taniya Looney taking first place—and moving to No.2 on UNM’s all-time list—in women’s 200 meters (23.17), and Ajia Hughes winning both second place in long jump (6.04m) and first place in triple jump (12.38m). Arian Milicija continued his consistency by clearing over five meters for an eighth straight meet during men’s pole vault.
Competition is set to continue at multiple venues including Long Beach, Azusa, and Walnut for Mt. SAC Relays—with live results available via GoLobos.com/TrackResults.
