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UNM Team open

Men's Track & Field Angela Roberts, Assistant AD - Communications

Skyhawks open track season at UNM Team Open, Fankhouser establishes school record

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Fort Lewis College men's and women's track teams got back to it after an extended break, competing at the two-day University of New Mexico Team Open.

The teams had athletes competing in the women's 800m run, women's 1-mile run, women's 3000m run, men's 800m run, men's 1-mile run, and the men's 3000m run.

Women's Results
Highlighting the efforts on Saturday was junior Katie Fankhouser and her eye-catching performance in the one-mile run. Fankhouser turned in a second-place time of 4:59.53, finishing narrowly behind UNM's lead runner (4:59.35). The cross country All-American's time establishes a school record, previously held by Erin Renner with a 5:27.20 indoor mile time at the UNM Classic in 2018. In addition, Fankhouser's time reached an NCAA provisional mark and is currently the 14th-fastest mile time in all of NCAA Division II.

"In her first race of the year and her first indoor track meet ever, Katie proved that she is going to turn more heads going into outdoor by laying down the 14th ranked indoor mile time in division II," said head coach Shawn Jakubowski. "She led all but the last five meters of the race in a competitive field.  Typically, the first meet of the year is used as a rust buster, but Katie had other plans today and picked up right where she left off in cross country."

Fort Lewis was heavily represented in the one mile beyond Fankhouser, including a 10th place finish from Sophia Mena (5:31.05). Marisol Castilleja (5:36.77) led an additional pack of runners who crossed the line in quick succession, including Mikenna Hoffman (5:47.34), Skylar Charlie (5:48.53), Candence Corby (5:52.02), and Celine Nez (6:08.92).

In the 3000m, Carmella Wright was the team's top finisher with an 11th place mark at 11:05.03—16 seconds faster than her seed time heading into the race. The team's next finisher in the race was Katherine Gaughan whose time of 11:24.94 was good for 17th place. Following the pair were Cadence Corby (11:51.90), Maddy Shoemaker (11:57.55), and Madisen Johnson (12:29.78).

The final race that the women's team participated in was the 800m run where three Skyhawks toed the line. The team was paced by a 23rd-place finish from Claire Peterson (2:29.90). Sophia Mena followed closely behind with a time of 2:34.44 while Kaitlyn Gabaldon rounded out the team's effort with a finish of 2:46.40.

"This was an incredible season opener for the women, and they picked up right where they left off from in the fall and all the winter training," noted Jakubowski. "More than half of them walked away with new personal bests. I am so proud of the progress this team has made in the last year, and this meet got us all very excited for the outdoor season. The ladies far exceeded all my expectations and should be going into the outdoor season with a lot of confidence."

Men's Results
The Skyhawks were represented by six student-athletes in the 800m run, and leading the way was the duo of Aaron Busche (1:57.55) and Conner Dossman (1:57.76) who finished in seventh and eighth, respectively. Crossing the line closely behind the duo was Brady Burrough with a time of 1:58.12. Rounding out the pack were Stephen Windsor (2:02.41), Javier Victorino (2:08.41), and Blake Weniger (2:17.44).

Three Skyhawks competed in the one mile, led by Conner Dossman's time of 4:29.40 for 15th place. Additional finishers were Elijah Smith (4:33.64) and Robert Parker (5:06.31). The 3000m was where the Fort Lewis men's team saw the most representation with eight runners toeing the line. Finishing in 10th place and leading the charge was Ethan Bartlett who ran for a time of 8:55.01. Elijah Smith followed at 9:02.32, and both Max Robinson (9:05.41) and Henry Nelson (9:13.94) were close behind. Closing out the pack for Fort Lewis was Ricardo Trejo (9:18.57), Preston Graul (9:22.12), and Noah Douglas (9:48.99).

"It was a great day for the Fort Lewis men today on the track. Overall, they far exceeded the expectations of the first meet and showed up ready to race this weekend," said Jakubowski. "It was a very competitive meet and the men showed up ready to race. I cannot wait to see what they can do this outdoor season. Now we are going to focus on training for and get them ready to turn to compete outdoors."

Up Next
The teams will now look ahead to March 17th for the Dr. Dan Caprioglio Early Bird at the CSU Pueblo Thunderbowl in Pueblo, Colorado to mark the start of the outdoor season.

"This meet was a great opportunity for both teams to get experience racing indoors.  For many of them, this race was their first indoor meet ever so getting them that indoor experience will be very beneficial for next year when we have a full indoor season."
 
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Players Mentioned

Marisol Castilleja

Marisol Castilleja

Freshman
Skylar Charlie

Skylar Charlie

Freshman
Cadence Corby

Cadence Corby

Freshman
Katie Heck

Katie Heck

5' 1"
Junior
Kaitlyn Gabaldon

Kaitlyn Gabaldon

Freshman
Katherine Brown

Katherine Brown

5' 4"
Junior
Mikenna Hoffman

Mikenna Hoffman

Freshman
Madisen Johnson

Madisen Johnson

Junior
Sophia Mena

Sophia Mena

5' 4"
Sophomore
Celine Nez

Celine Nez

5' 6"
Sophomore
Claire Peterson

Claire Peterson

Freshman
Carmella Wright

Carmella Wright

5' 8"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Marisol Castilleja

Marisol Castilleja

Freshman
Skylar Charlie

Skylar Charlie

Freshman
Cadence Corby

Cadence Corby

Freshman
Katie Heck

Katie Heck

5' 1"
Junior
Kaitlyn Gabaldon

Kaitlyn Gabaldon

Freshman
Katherine Brown

Katherine Brown

5' 4"
Junior
Mikenna Hoffman

Mikenna Hoffman

Freshman
Madisen Johnson

Madisen Johnson

Junior
Sophia Mena

Sophia Mena

5' 4"
Sophomore
Celine Nez

Celine Nez

5' 6"
Sophomore
Claire Peterson

Claire Peterson

Freshman
Carmella Wright

Carmella Wright

5' 8"
Senior