The Arizona men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the Lobo Collegiate Open in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday. The meet, hosted by the University of New Mexico, featured a number of West Coast college programs as well as professional athletes.
Three Wildcats finished in first-place on the day. In their competitions, two other Wildcats were top collegiate finishers.
In the men’s triple jump, Jovon Cunningham posted a 51-0.25 (15.55m) mark to earn a top-place finish. With exclusion to other results around the country on Saturday, his jump ranks No. 11 nationally this season.
Collins Kibet ran his first-ever race on indoor track and came out on top of the field in the 800-meter run. Kibet’s time of 1:50.29 beat the next closest competitor by almost a full second.
Also finishing in first place was Sam Macaluso, who won the men’s one-mile run with a time of 4:14.01.
The Arizona men had a number of other strong performances led by heptathletes Harrison Ivie and Myles Hawkins.
Ivie posted a personal-best by clearing the 6 foot, 7 inch (2.01m) mark in the men’s high jump competition. Later, he competed in the 60-meter hurdles where he posted another personal-best with a time of 8.28. His run was good enough for third place overall.
Hawkins also cleared 6 feet, 7 inches in the men’s high jump. It was the first time the freshman had competed in the event at the collegiate level.
In the 60-meter dash, Mohammad Alhasan won his preliminary heat with a time of 6.84 seconds. He finished fifth in the finals with a 6.79 time, the second-best mark of his career in the event.
The Wildcats had a number of competitors in the men’s 400-meter race and all finished under a time of 50 seconds. Pete Lauderdale II clocked the quickest time among Arizona contenders at 48.41. Lauderdale II also placed 10th overall in the 200-meter race with a 21.60 time.
For the women, pentathelete Alyssa Thompson excelled for the second straight week by posting a pair of near personal-best marks in the high jump and 60-meter hurdles. In the long jump, Thompson’s mark of 19 feet, 3.5 inches (5.88m) earned a runner-up finish.
Lisanne Hagens was the top collegiate finisher in the high jump as she cleared 5 feet, 8.5 inches (1.74m). It was the second-straight week that Hagens cleared 5 feet, 8 inches or better.
In the women’s 60-meter hurdles, Traci-Lynn Hicks and Tiana Bonds both advanced to the finals. Bonds finished second overall with a time of 8.44, while Hicks came in eighth at 8.86.
The Arizona men and women now look ahead to a pair of premier events this coming weekend. The Wildcats will send athletes to the Armory Track Invitational in New York City, N.Y., and to the Washington Invitational in Seattle, Wash
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