ENMU track team is off and running today

PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico will open its 2018 indoor track and field season this afternoon, as the Greyhounds travel to Lubbock for the Texas Tech Red & Black Open. The event will be held at the Red Raiders’ new Sports Performance Center, with action beginning at 3 p.m. MST.

“Texas Tech’s new facility is a really fast track, so it should be fun,” ENMU track and field coach Jeff Kavalunas said. “Our sprinters haven’t gone in awhile, but they’re coming off of a pretty good fall training session. Our sprinters and hurdlers are adjusting to our training, but I’m pretty impressed with their fitness and conditioning.”

Thus far, Kavalunas says that depth will be an issue for the men’s team, while the Greyhound women look more promising, as last season saw some setbacks due to injury. Eastern’s 2017 indoor season was highlighted by a men’s victory — and women’s second-place finish, in the season-opening Martin Luther King, Jr. Invitational at the University of New Mexico, followed by a fifth-place finish for both the men’s and women’s teams at the Lone Star Conference (LSC) Indoor Championships.

On the men’s side, watch for sophomore sprinter Marcus Parker. The Phoenix product had a number of impressive outings as a freshman last season, finishing first in the 200 meter dash at both the MLK Invitational and LSC Championships.

“Marcus is one of the top sprinters around, and he’s looking fast and fit,” Kavalunas explained. However, Parker is not alone. “Ken Lloyd in high jump has worked on a few things with Coach (Aaron) Gordon, and he’s really showing potential.”

Lloyd, a senior from East Chicago, Indiana, placed in the top two in the high jump on four separate occasions in ‘17, including a first-place outing at the MLK in Albuquerque, with a jump of 6-feet, 8 inches.

As for potential surprises to watch for, sophomore Ivar Moinat from the Netherlands is “looking real strong” in middle distance events, while Lovington’s Lorenzo Juarez has also shown some potential in the distance events, following a solid showing in cross country last fall.

As for the women, Kandice Miles should be the Greyhound to watch. Miles, a sophomore sprinter from Houston, Texas, participated in just three invitationals for the Hounds a year ago, but according to Kavalunas, she is just scratching the surface of her potential.

“Kandice is looking real strong in the 400,” Kavalunas said. “I’m pretty excited about Miles — she’s looking really good in practices. (However) she didn’t really run to her full potential last year.”

In 2017, Miles placed 12th in both the 60 and 200-meter events at MLK, while placing 20th and 22nd in the 200 and 400 at the LSC Championships, respectively. Others to watch for include Danee Bustos and Maijah Mathis.

Bustos, a junior jumper/sprinter from Belen, had finishes of eighth and 11th at the high jump events at the UNM Cherry and Silver Invitational and UNM Collegiate Classic, respectively. Mathis, a sophomore sprinter from Wellington, Florida, had a strong outing at the MLK Invitational, in which she placed fourth in the 200 meters (25.82 seconds) and sixth in the 60 meters dash (7.85).

“The women’s program has more depth than the men’s this year. Our long sprints struggled with injuries last year, but everybody is really healthy this year,” Kavalunas said. “This first meet is just to get the kinks out, and get back into competition mode. It’s really about everybody getting all of their jumps and throws in. Then after that, we’ll try to build on that in the following meets.”