Cowgirls Head To Albuquerque For New Mexico Team Open

Las Vegas, New Mexico - The New Mexico Highlands women's track and field team is set to test its mettle against elite competition this weekend at the New Mexico Team Open.

Hosted at the Albuquerque Convention Center, the meet features a field of more than 25 teams. The Cowgirls will find themselves side-by-side with a host of NCAA Division I programs, as well as several familiar RMAC foes, making for one of the most competitive environments of the indoor season.

Chasing the Top 18

Head coach Bob DeVries is taking a strategic, smaller group to the Duke City this weekend. The primary objective is clear: improving conference standings. In the RMAC, only the top 18 athletes on the performance list in each event earn a spot at the Indoor Championships.

"As always, our focus is on getting as many athletes qualified for the conference and national championships as possible," said DeVries. "UNM is a good place to run fast and jump far. The competition is really tough, but it can bring out the best in tough competitors."

National Recognition & Conference Leaders

The Cowgirls enter the weekend with significant momentum. In the first USTFCCCA indoor rankings of the season, the HU women made a splash by jumping into the national top 30, currently sitting at #28.

Highlands currently boasts four conference-leading marks, all of which are also making waves on the national performance list:

60m Dash: Ashley Barrett
60m Hurdles: Patreece Clarke
400m Dash: Amoya Jamieson
Distance Medley Relay (DMR): Summer Abeyta, July Lafferty, Hailey Renteria, and Taylor Begay

Competition begins at 3:30 Friday afternoon with the long jump (Allyssa Casaus, Lucia Burba, Onanda Lowe) and weight throw (Kiara Garcia), followed by the 200M (Leilani Clarke); 3K (Jewels Leslie) 400 (July Lafferty, Aaliyah Maria). Friday's slate will conclude with the DMR (Summer Abeyta, Burba, Hailey Renteria, Taylor Begay). Action continues Saturday , beginning at 10:30AM with the triple jump (Casaus), 60M dash (Clarke, Lowe), 60M hurdles (Burba) Mile (Abeyta and Begay) and 800M (Renteria). 

All of the weekend's competition in Albuquerque will be streamed via paid subscription to FloTrack, with live results available via GoLobos.com/TrackResults.