TUCSON, Ariz. – The New Mexico State women's track and field team closed out the Willie Williams Classic at Arizona's Roy P. Drachman Stadium on Saturday. In her first race this outdoor season,
Katara Nelson broke the NM State record in the 400m.
"Similar to the indoor season, our first outdoor meet was a mix of performances, but it was exciting to see elevation of our team as a whole," head coach
Doug Reynolds said. "We had a significant number of personal bests, including a school record. That shows great strides that we have made as a team. We're still not where we want to be long-term, but we took some huge steps toward that goal this weekend."
Katara Nelson placed second in the 400m as the senior clocked in at 52.40 for a new personal and program best.
Tanisha Scott placed 10
th in the same event when she posted a time of 56.18.
In the 800m,
Leah Salazar recorded a time of 2:18.47 to place fifth in the event.
Julia Yescas followed closely behind the sophomore when she clocked in at 2:20.66 for seventh place. For the 100m hurdles,
Nia Garcia was the top Aggie finisher as the sophomore posted a time of 14.64.
The 4x100m relay team of
Lashira Tremble, Nelson,
Dominique Joiner and
Tanisha Scott came in second at the meet. The squad's time of 45.30 ranks third among the program's outdoor records.
On the field, New Mexico State had a pair of top-five finishers with personal records in the triple jump.
Hannah Smith (12.34m, 40-6) placed second while
Jocelyn Jordan (11.62m 38-1.5) took home fifth. In the high jump
Keyarha Wilson posted a mark of 1.68m (5-6) to take third in the event.
Taylor Stutely came in eighth in the discus at the meet when she posted a mark of 43.56m (142-11).
"If we continue to press forward and raise the bar of expectation each week, we will see the success in the championship season that we have been striving for since September," Reynolds said. "I am extremely proud of how far this team has comes but we have to stay hungry for more."
New Mexico State travels to El Paso, Texas for its next meet as the team competes in the UTEP Springtime Invitational on Saturday, March 24.
