UNM ATHLETICS
UNM's Taniya Looney runs ninth-fastest 100 meters in NCAA history
She's first Lobo to qualify for women's 100, 200 NCAA outdoor championships since the 1980s
Published
In what was perhaps her biggest race as a Lobo, Taniya Looney ran at her best.
Saturday, New Mexico鈥檚 junior sprinter finished the women鈥檚 100-meter national quarterfinals in 10.85 seconds 鈥� tied for the ninth-fastest time in NCAA history 鈥� to clinch a historic berth in the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships.
Racing at the NCAA West Regional Preliminaries in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Looney won her heat outright with the first sub-11-second time of her collegiate career and finished second overall to Southern Cal鈥檚 Brianna Selby (10.83). She is now tied with former LSU sprinter Aleia Hobbs on the NCAA鈥檚 all-time women鈥檚 100 list, setting a new school record in the process.
Looney also qualified for the women鈥檚 200 semifinals at the outdoor championships after running a 22.66. She is the first Lobo woman to qualify for either event at the outdoor championship since Barbara Bell did so in the early 1980s.
A Pittsburg State transfer, Looney has set UNM program records in multiple sprint events this year. She claimed Mountain West titles in the 100 (11.09) and 200 (22.81) earlier this month; Looney鈥檚 win in the former is the first of its kind in program history.
鈥淚鈥檓 kinda speechless,鈥� she said in an interview at the Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships. 鈥淚鈥檓 beyond blessed 鈥� I transferred from Division II and this is my first time winning any conference (championship).鈥�
Looney was one of three Lobos to advance to the outdoor championships Saturday: Pamela Kosgei led the way for UNM in the women鈥檚 5K semifinals, finishing in 15:17.63 to advance to her second straight national final.
Kosgei finished second overall to Iowa State鈥檚 Betty Kipkore (15:14.28). UNM鈥檚 Marion Jepngetich (15:18.05) finished the 5K in fourth place to qualify while Jasmine Wood (16:40.63), Mercy Kirarei (16:41.10) and Tilly Simpson (did not finish) missed the top-12 cut.
Kosgei also qualified for the women鈥檚 5K final Thursday, finishing second overall to BYU鈥檚 Jane Hedengren. The sophomore from Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya won NCAA titles in the 5K and 10K last season, including a dominant 31:07.28 finish to smash the latter event鈥檚 previous meet record.
Saturday also featured a couple of close calls for the Lobos.
UNM鈥檚 Eva Ngom (52.02) finished 13th overall in the women鈥檚 400 quarterfinals, missing a qualifying spot by just 0.06 seconds. The Katy, Texas native closed her freshman season with Mountain West championships in the 400 and 4x400 relay earlier this season.
Simpson (4:15.29), Wood (4:17.06) and Li-Mari Dekker (4:19.04) failed to make it out of the women's 1500 quarterfinals while Ajia Hughes missed the cut to advance in the first round of the women鈥檚 triple jump and long jump.
The women鈥檚 4x400 relay was delayed due to inclement weather Saturday night. UNM鈥檚 team 鈥� featuring Sofia Pineda, Louanne Pouzancre, Hanna Kiess and Ngom 鈥� had not run at the time of print.
The NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held June 10-13 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The Lobos are sending at least three qualifiers on the women鈥檚 side (Looney, Kosgei and Jepngetich) and two on the men鈥檚: Habtom Samuel, who will run in the men鈥檚 5K and 10K finals, and Matthew Endr枚dy, who will compete in the men鈥檚 1500 semifinals.
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at .
