PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico track and field team is set to close out the indoor regular season this weekend as the Hounds will be competing at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational being hosted by the University of New Mexico on Friday and Saturday.

The Greyhounds are coming off some strong performances at the Texas Tech Open last week. Junior middle distance runner Ivar Moinat continued to make his marks on the ENMU record books with a pair of record-breaking performances. Moinat ran a 1:51.00 in the 800-meter run to place fourth, eclipsing his previous record mark of 1:51.51 set at the Red Raider Invitational two weeks prior. After being converted to 1:50.68 due to elevation, the provisional qualifying mark was the fastest time in all of NCAA Division II last weekend and is currently the fourth-fastest time overall.

Moinat followed it up with another record-breaking performance in the 4x400-meter relay, as his team consisting of Travonne Armstead, Brandon Chavez, and Andrew Villegas crossed the finish line in 3:17.10. The four-man team broke their own mark of 3:18.22 set at the Red Raider Invite, improving upon their record time by 1.12 seconds. The team finished the race fifth overall and were the top team from the Lone Star to compete in the meet.

On the women's side, senior sprinter Danee Bustos ran a pair of strong races, which included setting an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. In the 200-meters, Bustos completed the event with a 24.66 to place eighth out of 90 runners and was second among LSC competitors. The mark currently ranks as the 18th-fastest time in NCAA Division II. Bustos also set a solid mark in the 60-meter dash, running the fastest 60-meter indoor time of her career and the fourth-fastest time in program history with a 7.82.

After completing an incredibly successful cross country career for the Greyhounds, senior distance runner Mercy Rotich is already leaving an impression in her first collegiate track season. In just the second track meet of her career at the Texas Tech Open, Rotich was victorious in the 3000-meter run after crossing the line in 10:20.75. Her recorded time was the third-fastest 3000-meter mark in the history of the ENMU women's track and field program after passing Sabrina Huelga's mark of 10:24.38 set during the 2016 indoor season.

This weekend's meet will be the Hounds' last indoor meet before competing at the Lone Star Conference Indoor Championships at Texas Tech on Feb. 16-17.

Scheduled Events