Da Silva Breaks Weight Throw School Record, T-Bird (W-T&F) Qualifies 17 for Nationals in 1st Meet

The NMJC women's track and field team started the 2025 indoor season Jan. 17-18 at the Corky Classic in Lubbock, Texas.

The women finished the meet with one new school record and 17 national qualifying standards.

Thrower Tania Millena Ancelmo Da Silva smashed her school record of 19.23m in the weight throw with a 20.82m toss. The throw is just .09m off the NJCAA record which was set in 2016. The sophomore's throw is currently No. 1 in the NJCAA and No. 14 collegiately.  

Nandy Kihuyu had a great weekend for the T-Birds. Kihuyu qualified for nationals in the 400m on Friday with a time of 56.32 and followed up that performance with another national standard in the 200m with a time of 24.33. The 400m finish is ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA and the 200m time is No. 2 in the NJCAA.  

Esteisy Salas-Lozano was excellent in Lubbock as she met the national qualifying mark in both the the weight throw and shot put. Friday saw Salas-Lozano throw 15.36m in the weight and Saturday culminated with the Colombian tying her school record in the shot put with a toss of 15.19m. The sophomore is No. 1 in the NJCAA for the shot put and No. 5 in the weight throw. 

Sophomore Jody Ann Mitchell finished the 800m with a blazing 2:16.53 to slot into the No. 1 spot in junior college for the event. Mitchell also nationally qualified in the 1000m race with a time of 3:02.19. The finish is No. 5 in JUCO for the event. 

Amal Kachouri was the fourth and final member of the Thunderbird squad to nationally qualify in two separate events. The Tunisian breezed through the track in the 1000m to record a finish of 2:58.74. Kachouri ran a 2:18.51 in the 800m earlier in the meet. The 800m time was No. 4 in the NJCAA and the 1000m finish was No. 2 in JUCO.

Kamaria Knight reached the national standard for the 60m on Friday. The sophomore ran the race in 7.55 seconds to hold the No. 6 spot nationally for JUCO. Ysanne Peart raced in the 600Y where she registered a 1:28.00 time. The finish was converted to 1:38.56 because at nationals the race is 600m. The time ranked No. 8 in junior college for the event.  

A trio of triple jumpers met the national qualifying mark for the event on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Janita Antipina was the top performer with an NJCAA No. 5 ranked jump of 11.68m. Sofia Mosquera Rodriquez was slightly behind ranked No. 6 in the NJCAA with a leap of 11.67m. Sophomore returner Kavel Ritchie leapt 11.47m on her way to a No. 7 junior college national ranking.  

Distance runner Francesca Alvarado registered a national qualifying standard in the 3000m running a 10:32.73. Alvarado's finish is No. 16 in the NJCAA. Ines Mrabet also reached the standard in the 3000m. The freshman recorded a time of 10:46.53 and is currently ranked No. 23 in JUCO for the event. 

The mile relay team earned a spot at nationals with their performance at the Corky Classic. The quartet of T-Birds (Nandy Kihuyu, Jody Ann Mitchell, Tuwana McLean, and Kamaria Knight) ended the meet with 3:51.10 4x400m finish. The time has the Thunderbirds as the No. 3 ranked team in junior college.  

The T-Birds next meet is Jan. 24-25 in Albuquerque, NM at the MLK Invite inside the Albuquerque Convention Center.