Kurgat Leads Trio of Track Record Breakers at BU
BOSTON — Coming off an NCAA Championship in cross country, the University of New Mexico’s trio of Ednah Kurgat, Weini Kelati and Alice Wright were all primed for a strong track season.
And, just weeks after cruising on the grass, they took the track by storm.
Kurgat, a sophomore for the Lobo track & field team, set the UNM and Mountain West records in the 5,000-meter run Saturday at the BU Season Opener, joining Kelati and Wright as they all posted superb performances to open the 2017-18 indoor track & field season.
“For the women to come off a national championship in cross country and run the first-, second- and third-fastest times in school history in the 5K is an amazing accomplishment,” UNM head coach Joe Franklin said. “This will set them up well for the NCAA indoor season.”
Kurgat, the reigning NCAA champion in cross country, looked to translate her fitness from the grass onto the track, and did so in record-setting fashion, clocking a time of 15 minutes, 19.03 seconds over 5,000 meters at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center.
That mark breaks the previous UNM 5K standard of 15:54.29 set by Natalie Gray in 2011 and the Mountain West standard of 15:21.85 set by Boise State’s Allie Ostrander in 2016.
Kurgat now ranks sixth in NCAA history in the 5,000, right behind Missouri’s Karissa Schweizer, who won the race with a time of 15:17.31.
Additionally, Kelati and Wright also parlayed their tremendous cross country campaigns into stellar results on the track. The both dipped under the old New Mexico record in the 5K, as Kelati finished with a time of 15:37.03 and Wright a time of 15:46.85.
The duo placed third and sixth, respectively, in a race that featured eight runners who entered the race with personal record under 16 minutes.
For Kelati, a freshman, she now ranks third in Mountain West history after lowering her personal best by nearly 30 seconds. Wright also set a new PR by almost 10 seconds and sits fourth in the conference record book.
All three look to be in solid shape to potentially compete at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in March. The top-16 times in each event qualify for the championships, and the cutoff for No. 16 in the 5,000 tends to sit around 15:50.
The rest of the Lobos will look to open their indoor track & field season next month as New Mexico hosts the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational on January 19-20, 2018, at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Fans can follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Twitter and Instagram to keep track of the Lobos!