Thunderbirds qualify seven at UNL Invite

Lincoln, NEBRASKA

The New Mexico Junior College Indoor Track & Field team was originally scheduled to compete in their first meet at the Texas Tech Invitational this past weekend but when Goliath came through, it completely ruined their facility, thus leaving the Thunderbirds in search of another meet.

What was originally supposed to be a three hour, 200 mile round trip over to Lubbock and back, turned into a 26 hour1,640 mile round trip to Lincoln, NE.

The Thunderbirds turned in a total of seven qualifiers in 8 events.  Leading the charge was Hanifah Abdul-Qadir as she qualified in the high jump (1.65m - 5'5) and the triple jump (10.51m - 34'8 ½"). Joining Abdul-Qadir in the high jump was sophomore Kelsey Shannon as she also cleared 1.65m.  Freshman Tamara Moncrieffe qualified in the triple jump (11.66m 38'3 ¼").

Qualifying on the track were sophomores Jahneya Mitchell and Quadaisha Newkirk in the 600m.  Mitchell ran 1:35.77 and Newkirk was right behind her at 1:37.43. Cross Country All-Americans Rose Jebet and Silvia Sosa picked up where they left off in the fall and qualified in the 3000m.  Jebet ran 11:07.81 and Sosa turned in a time of 11:21.08.

The Thunderbirds will travel to Albuquerque, NM on January 24th for the Lobo Collegiate Open hosted by the University of New Mexico.