University of New Mexico Lobos athletics
Open Search
Open Announce
Track & Field

Kerr's Mile Title Paces Strong Showing at NCAA Championships

Complete Results | Team Scores

COLLEGE  STATION, Texas — No one expected it last year. Almost everyone expected it this year.

But, no matter the expectations, Josh Kerr wasn’t going to be stopped.

Kerr defended his national title in the mile run and Ednah Kurgat and Weini Kelati both ran to All-American status in the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs as the University of New Mexico track & field team shined at the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Behind their elite distance runners, the Lobos’ excelled inside Gilliam Indoor Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M, as the eighth-ranked women’s team tied for 10th place overall with 17 points and the 18th-ranked men’s team finished tied for 21st place with 10 points.

“It was overall a great competition,” UNM head coach Joe Franklin said. “We had amazing performances. When you have people run season bests in relay splits and individual events, it’s just very positive.”

This finish was the New Mexico women’s best at the NCAA Indoor Championships, surpassing the previous best finish of 30th place and seven team points set at the 2016 championships.

For the men, it’s their second straight year with 10 team points as they improved from 22nd last year to 21st in 2018.

Kerr’s title defense provided the New Mexico men all of their team points, as he became the first male athlete in the NCAA to win back-to-back NCAA mile crowns since former Lobo Lee Emanuel did it in 2009-10.

But this season, after bursting onto the scene at last season’s NCAA Championships with an upstart upset of former Oregon runner Edward Cheserek, Kerr was the man to beat.

Winner of both the mile title and 1,500-meter title outdoors in 2017, he was the odds-on favorite during the 2018 campaign, a position he strengthened after running the sixth-fastest time in NCAA history in February and winning his preliminary-round heat on Friday.

In Saturday’s final, Kerr moved up to the front after the first lap before ceding the position halfway through the eight-lap race. He eventually moved back into the lead with about three laps to go, out-kicking the field over the final 600 meters.

He closed the final 400 meters of the race in a field-best 54.23 seconds.

Kerr’s final time was 3:57.02, more than 1.3 seconds ahead of runner up Vincent Ciattei of Virginia Tech. Kerr’s mark was also the eighth-fastest time in NCAA Championship history.

Overall, Kerr’s win is the 16th individual title in program history, and the 15th for the men’s track & field team indoors or outdoors.

However, Kerr wasn’t the only Lobo to stand out at the championships, as Kurgat and Kelati both tallied All-American races in the 3,000 and 5,000.

In the women’s 5,000 on Friday, Kurgat captured runner-up honors in 15:47.46, while Kelati finished fifth in 15:56.73.

The tandem ran most of the race near the middle of the 16-athlete field, moving up to their finishing positions about halfway through the race. The both held on during a frenetic last 400 meters, eclipsing Sarah Waldron’s former program-best finish of eighth place set in 2012.

Kurgat’s and Kelat’s times rank as the fourth- and seventh-best times, respectively, in program history.

On Saturday, Kelati logged another fifth-place finish, clocking a time of 9:03.51, while Kurgat held on late for an eighth-place finish and a time of 9:03.81.

Kelati took the lead of the race early, pacing the field through 1200 meters. She eventually settled into the fifth spot, with Kurgat rallying from two early stumbles to join her in the front half of the field. The duo was able to claim All-American honors despite five runners finishing within 1.5 seconds of each other.

Not only are they just the second and third athletes in program history to be All-Americans in the 3,000, but they are also the first pair of Lobo athletes to earn All-American honors in two events at the NCAA Championships.

Alice Wright also came close to scoring in the 5,000 as she registered her second-straight ninth-place finish in the event during Friday’s action. In her first race since running her championship-qualifying time in December, Wright posted a time of 16:07.66.

The Lobos’ distance medley relay teams also raced on Friday, with the women’s squad posting a top-10 finish.

The quartet of Kieran Casey, Shalom Keller, Alondra Negron Texidor and Charlotte Prouse teamed up for a time of 11:13.21, finishing in 10th place.

Casey led off in the 1200-meter leg with a split of 3:24.43, with Keller notching a strong split of 55.59 in the 400-meter leg. Negron Texidor chipped in a superb 2:06.94 split in the 800-meter leg, while Prouse brought the team home in the 1600-meter leg with a 4:46.26 split.

The squad’s time is the fourth-best in program history and the best by New Mexico at an NCAA Championship.

In the men’s DMR, the team of Ian Crowe-Wright, Carlos Salcido, Michael Wilson and Kerr finished in 12th place with a time of 9:55.11.

Crowe-Wright opened with a 2:58.18 leg, followed by Salcido’s race-best 46.71 split on the 400-meter leg. Wilson added a 1:49.94 clocking on the 800-meter, while Kerr ran a time of 4:20.30 on the 1600-meter anchor leg.

The Lobos have concluded the indoor season and are scheduled to open their outdoor season on March 24 as they travel to El Paso, Texas, for the UTEP Springtime Invitational.

Fans can follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Twitter and Instagram to keep track of the Lobos!

Related Stories

Lobos Wrap Up Competition at Fanelli Classic, Stanford Invite
Lobos Wrap Up Competition at Fanelli Classic, Stanford Invite
Lobos Conclude Day One at Stanford Invite, Fanelli Classic
Lobos Conclude Day One at Stanford Invite, Fanelli Classic
Ishmael Kipkurui & Habtom Samuel go 1-2, Finish Under Collegiate 10K Record at Sound Running's THE TEN
Ishmael Kipkurui & Habtom Samuel go 1-2, Finish Under Collegiate 10K Record at Sound Running's THE TEN