Cowgirls in final meet before RMAC Championships

Albuquerque, NM --- The New Mexico Highlands women's track & field program gets ready for the 2021 RMAC Outdoor Championships with a great weekend at the Don Kirby Tailwind Open at UNM on Thursday afternoon.
 
The team finally put together a 4 x 100m relay team for the season that ran their fastest time in the last three years and moved from last in the RMAC performance list this season to third.
 
"It was a bit of a relief to finally get this group on the track" stated head coach Bob DeVries. "If we can clean it up and get just a little more out of everyone, we can battle for a spot at NCAA nationals."
 
The foursome of Charity Johnson, Annie Topal, Kadesha Adams, and Sade de Sousa has a week to work on hand-offs and improvements before the RMAC championships in Pueblo, Co this coming weekend.
 
After missing the Texas Tech meet to travel with the NMHU volleyball team, Elena Rivera came back to set her career best in both the javelin and high jump. Rivera moved up to #5 in the RMAC in the javelin and is now among the conference top ten in high jump.
 
DeVries had some words on Rivera as he commented "Elena had a great day. She is a natural athlete and is figuring out put it together in her events."
 
Taneika Elliston keeps getting better as she focuses on the RMAC Championships. Elliston threw the shot over 40-feet for the first time since the 2020 RMAC indoor meet and improved her 100m hurdle time by over a half- second in her final tune up before the RMAC championship.
 
"Taneika keeps getting better each week. She is going to surprise some people at RMAC."
 
Nieves Pacheco set her fourth consecutive college best in the 800m. The Las Vegas Robertson graduate ran 2:25.7 and will now have to wait and see if that time gets her into the conference meet (Only the top 24 performances among the 14 RMAC programs qualify for the conference meet).
 
"Nieves has raced faster every week, but the RMAC is so darn tough in the distance races. She would be top 15 in a lot of DII conferences."
Kaitlyn Holl, another cross over athlete from the women's basketball team, had all four of her jumps over her previous college best to move into the RMAC top 16 in the long jump.
 
"I told Kaitlyn she needed to hit 5.10 (16'-9") to get a spot at the RMAC championship. She jumped 5.11 on her first attempt and just kept getting better" stated DeVries.
 
Holl finished with a best of 5.37m (17'-7 1/2") to assure herself of a spot in the RMAC field.
 
Saydie Moss stretched her lead in the RMAC discus to over five feet with a new personal best of 45.99 meters (150'-10").
 
"Saydie is getting so consistent with her throws. The discus is a very technical event and she is getting it more and more."
 
Moss became the first HU freshman to ever throw over 150 feet in the discus with her UNM performance.
 
COLLEGIATE BESTS:
Charity Johnson - 100m (12.98 seconds)
 
Reyna Terrazas - 200m (29.99 seconds)
 
Alesa Darley - 400m (1:05.10)
 
Nieves Pacheco - 800m (2:26.44)
 
Elena Rivera – High Jump (1.60 meters) & Javelin (35.33 meters)
 
Kaitlyn Holl – Long Jump (5.37 meters)
 
Saydie Moss – Discus Throw (45.99 meters)
 
"It seemed like the RMAC championship was a light year away back in January," said DeVries, "Now it's here and it's time to step up."
 
The 2021 RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships will begin on Friday, April 30^th, in Pueblo, CO.
 
Results from the 2021 Don Kirby Tailwind open can be found here.
 
GO COWGIRLS!!