LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After a solid regular season, the New Mexico State track and field team travels to Nampa, Idaho, for the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships. The three-day meet is slated to begin on Thursday, Feb. 22, at the Ford Idaho Center.
Coming into the conference championships,
Tanisha Scott (7.59) and
Lashira Tremble (7.60) post the second and third best times in the 60m dash. Scott also leads the league in the 200m with a time of 24.68.
Arniesha Mitchell ranks second in the WAC in the 60m hurdles as she posts a season-best time of 8.63.
Athletes to watch in the field events include
Keyarha Wilson, who posts a personal best mark of 1.71m (5-7.25) in the high jump this season, which is atop the conference rankings.
Hannah Smith's personal record of 12.01m (39-5) in the triple jump is also the best mark in the WAC for the event this season. In the shot put,
Yemisi Oroyinyin tallied a league-leading mark of 14.42m (47-3.75) during her 2018 indoor campaign.
Grand Canyon comes into the meet as the favorites to claim the WAC title on the women's side, according to votes by the leagues head coaches. The Lopes received five first place votes and 47 points overall. Utah Valley was predicted to place second, claiming 44 points and three first place votes. NM State was predicted to finish third, receiving 36 points, followed by UMKC with 32 points. The fifth and sixth positions were claimed by UT Rio Grande Valley (25) and CSU Bakersfield (14). There was a tie for the seventh spot at 13 points each for Chicago State and Seattle U.
NM State took home third at the indoor championships in 2017.
Crissey Amberg was earned the Outstanding Track Performer award while Tremble was named the Freshman of the Year following the meet.
The 2018 WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships begins with the men's heptathlon and women's pentathlon on Thursday, Feb 22. Friday's events begin with the women's high jump at 11 a.m. MT. The first individual running event for the women's squads begins at 2 p.m. with the mile.
Fans can follow along with the results from at the
WAC.org.
