Gunnison, Colorado - The Cowgirls competed at the Western Colorado Mountaineer Open on Saturday. While there was no team scoring, NMHU posted several strong performances in the event.
Ashley Barrett posted NCAA qualifying marks in winning both the 60 (7.53) and 200 (24.56) meter races.
Cemore Donald also bettered the NCAA mark in the 400 meters running down defending RMAC 400-meter hurdle champion Kaiya Firor of host Western State in the final few meters to post a national mark of 56.94.
NMHU showed signs of returning to prominence in the jumps on Saturday. Cowgirls
Chisom Obioha,
Patreece Clarke and
Rojrika Campbell went 1-2-3 in the long jump and Campbell - a freshman from St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, came back to win the triple jump after taking third in the high jump earlier in the day.
Senior
Lucia Harrison set a huge personal best in the 800 meters, the senior from Albuquerque Sandia HS ran 2:21 to grab second place and move into the national top 15 with a converted 2:18.08.
Harrison, Barrett and Cemore are all ranked in the NCAA top 20 after the weekend results.
"A really encouraging opener," said Head Coach
Bob DeVries. "Coach Russell and Coach Hemmings have done a great job preparing our student athletes this fall. It's a long year for track and field athletes, indoor nationals aren't until March and outdoor goes until May, so this meet is a bit of motivation for the fall training and seeing where are are. I'm very excited to see what this group can accomplish this year."
The Cowgirls will return to action in 2024 when they compete at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Invitational at the University of New Mexico on January 20th.
