NMSU celebrate their first outdoor track and field title in 19 years
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- After winning the WAC outdoor track and field title on Saturday, it was only fitting the Aggies celebrated the win in Las Cruces with a lunch.
NM State won the WAC with a score of 136 points, with Stephen F. Austin (113) and Grand Canyon (98) rounding out the top three.
It's the Aggies third outdoor title in program history, the first in 19 years and the first WAC title. It's a title they knew was possible and something they were striving for after finishing sixth at last years outdoor event and then coming up short at indoors this year too.
"I remember how we missed at indoor and how much we feel like we left on the track and how determined we were to go into this season and give it our all and try our bests and persevere and that's exactly what we did," track athlete Jhana Downie said.
The Aggies were led by Downie who won both the 200m and 400m titles, sweeping the events at both the Indoor and Outdoor 2023 WAC Track & Field Championships.
Meanwhile Terice Steen broke the school record in the 400m hurdles and joined four other Aggies who recorded runner-up finishes.
"What's really special is you have so many different events that have to contribute," Head Coach Joseph Rath said. "Distance, throws, jumps, sprints everybody across the board came and did a great job. I'm just so happy this group got to experience that."
NMSU will have at least seven athletes who will compete at Regionals, with the hope of maybe a couple of relay teams also qualifying. Rath expects they will find out about the relay teams later this week.
