Kerr Signs Pro Contract With Brooks Running
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Former University of New Mexico track & field standout Josh Kerr has signed a professional contract with Brooks Running and will be a member of the Brooks Beasts Track Club.
Kerr, hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland, won three NCAA titles, eight Mountain West titles and set the collegiate record in the 1500-meter run during a successful and prolific three-year career at New Mexico under head coach Joe Franklin.
Although his collegiate career has concluded, Kerr intends to remain in Albuquerque for the next two years to complete his Master of Business Administration at UNM while training with Brooks under coach Danny Mackey.
“UNM has made me into the runner I am today and I know I wouldn’t have been in this position if it wasn’t for all the support that they have given me in my three years here,” Kerr said. “Brooks is an awesome company and I love what they stand for.
“This process, as much as it has been stressful, has also been enjoyable and that is thanks to all the support I have had with my family, Joe and Brooks.”
Over the course of his time in Albuquerque, Kerr emerged as one of the elite middle-distance runners in the history of the NCAA.
The product of Edinburgh, Scotland won back-to-back NCAA titles in the mile run in 2017 and 2018, becoming the first male athlete to win back-to-back NCAA mile crowns since former Lobo Lee Emanuel (2009-10).
He is just the ninth male athlete to win consecutive national championships in the mile run over the 53-year history of the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Kerr also claimed the 2017 NCAA title in the 1500-meter run outdoors and is just the 11th athlete in NCAA history — and the first since 2008 — to accomplish the indoor/outdoor sweep during a single academic year.
He earned a second straight All-American nod in the 1500 with his third-place performance at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships earlier in June.
At the conference level, Kerr amassed eight total Mountain West titles, with two consecutive wins in the mile run (2017-18) and three-straight championships in the 1500 (2016-18). He is the only athlete in MW history to win back-to-back-to-back 1500-meter titles
He also anchored New Mexico to back-to-back conference titles in the distance medley relay (2017-18) and won the MW crown in the 800 at the 2017 outdoor championships.
Kerr’s mastery of the middle-distance events also extended to the record books.
In February, he ran a personal-record time of 3:54.72 to place second in the elite Wanamaker Mile at the 2018 NYRR Millrose Games at The New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory in New York City.
That time makes him the fifth-fastest collegian in the mile run in NCAA history with the sixth-fastest mile time in NCAA history. His time also ranks fifth in the world in 2018.
Two months later in April, Kerr set the NCAA record in the 1500-meter run at the Bryan Clay Invitational, clocking a time of 3:35.01 seconds that broke Sydney Maree’s 36-year-old NCAA record of 3:35.30 set at the 1981 NCAA Championships.
That time also broke his own Mountain West and New Mexico record of 3:35.99 set at the 2017 Bryan Clay Invitational.
Between those two races, Kerr owns two of the eight fastest 1500-meter times in NCAA history. He is the only athlete with two times within the all-time top-10.
Kerr is the only athlete in NCAA history to rank top-five in both the 1500 and the mile.
Additionally, at the 2018 MW Indoor Championships, Kerr anchored New Mexico’s DMR to a nation-leading time of 9:33.41 (9:24.73 when converted for altitude) that led the NCAA by nearly a full second and set a Mountain West record.
That time is superior to the standing NCAA record of 9:25.97 when the altitude conversion is applied; however, the conversion is only used for NCAA qualification, not for official records.
Kerr’s resume also included a number of honors and other accolades.
He was a two-time semifinalist for The Bowerman, the highest individual honor in collegiate track & field, in 2017 and 2018, and was named Mountain West Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Student-Athlete of the Year in 2017 and 2018, as well.
This year, Kerr swept the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Athletes of the Year honors between indoor and outdoor track, becoming just the second athlete since 2010 to accomplish that.
Upon the completion of his MBA, Kerr will move to Seattle to train full-time with the Brooks Beasts, joining the likes of Drew Windle, the 2018 world indoor silver medalist in the 800, Garrett Heath, a nine-time All-American while at Stanford, and Izaic Yorks, a eight-time All-American while at Washington.
Fans can follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Twitter and Instagram to keep track of the Lobos!