PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico track and field teams are ready to return to Lubbock, Texas to compete in their second meet of the indoor season at the Texas Tech Open on Friday and Saturday.
Eastern is going back to Texas Tech after opening the indoor season at the Red Raider Invitational on Jan. 18. The Hounds will have 34 athletes competing in 21 different events over the course of the two-day meet.
On the men’s side, junior middle distance runner Ivar Moinat will headline the Hounds as he is scheduled to compete in the 800-meter and the 4×400-meter relay on Saturday. Moinat is coming off a career day at the Red Raider Invitational two weeks ago, as the Netherlands native broke three ENMU school records in the 400-meter, the 800-meter and the 4×400-meter relay.
Moinat’s time of 1:51.51 (converted to 1:51.19 due to elevation) in the 800-meter provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships and currently holds the fifth-fastest mark in all of Division II. The time shattered his previous school record mark of 1:53.24 set on the same course in 2018. Moinat also broke Avery Rasher’s mark of 48.91 with a 48.74 in the 400-meter while his 4×400-meter relay team of Travonne Armstead, Andrew Villegas, and Brandon Chavez set the new school record with a 3:18.22.
Senior runner Shane Walsh will lead the Hounds in the distance events, as he is scheduled to compete in the Mile, the 800-meter, and the 3000-meter. Walsh turned in a personal best 8:58.66, placing him third out of 21 runners and was the best of the eight LSC runners in the 3000-meter event two weeks ago.
Competing in his second meet as a Greyhound, Villegas is slated to run the 400-meter and the 400-meter relay. Villegas had a strong showing in his first meet with the Hounds, running a solid 22.38 in the 200-meter, placing first out of 12 LSC runners in the event and 15th out of 58 overall to go with being a part of the 4×400-meter relay record-breaking team.
The women’s team will feature senior sprinter and middle distance runner, Danee Bustos, who is slated to compete in the 60-meter quarterfinal, the 200-meter, and the 4×400-meter relay. Two weeks ago, Bustos competed in the 400-meter and the 4×400-meter relay, turning in a 5th place time of 56.97 in the 400-meter and a 4:00.18 in the 4×400-meter relay. Bustos is the current ENMU indoor record-holder in the 200-meter after scoring a 24:52 at the Red and Black Open in 2018 as well as the 4×400-meter record-holder with a 3:59.21 set with her teammates Kiana Covington, Mason Swanson, and Kandice Miles last season.
After coming off a strong showing in their last meet, junior sprinter Maijah Mathis will look for two more strong showings in the 60-meter and 200-meter dash. Mathis turned in a time of 25.78 in the 200-meter at the Red Raider Invite, ranking second out of 15 LSC runners in the event and 24th out of 65 overall with a time of 25.78. Mathis nearly qualified for the highly competitive 60-meter dash finals, placing third out of 15 Lone Star foes in the event and 23rd out of 72 overall.
Swanson will headline for the Hounds in the distance races, as she is scheduled to compete in the 800-meter and 4×400-meter relay. The former Lone Star Conference Champion is competing in her first 800-meter event of the 2019 season after competing in the 600-yard and 4×400-meter relay at the Red Raider Invite. Swanson will look to eclipse her own ENMU school record of 1:36.94 in the 600-meter that she set in last season’s Don Kirby Elite in Albuquerque, N.M.
The Greyhounds are scheduled to start competing at 1 p.m. on Friday before kicking things off at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
