Wright Signs Pro Contract With HOKA NAZ Elite

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Former University of New Mexico track & field standout Alice Wright has signed a professional contract with HOKA ONE ONE and will be a member of the Northern Arizona Elite based out of Flagstaff, Arizona.

Wright, hailing from Worcester, England, had a successful career at New Mexico under head coach Joe Franklin, winning two NCAA team titles in cross country and becoming the only woman in NCAA history to earn four-straight All-American honors in the 10,000-meter run.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be joining Northern Arizona Elite and to become a member of the HOKA ONE ONE family,” Wright said. “I’ve been so inspired watching the success of the team thus far and am excited to train with, and learn from, such a talented group of men and women.”

Over the course of her time in Albuquerque, Wright emerged as one of the nation’s top long-distance runners.

Alice Wright

She was a four-time All-American in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, with back-to-back second-place finishes in 2016 and 2017. She was also eighth in 2015 and finished fourth in 2018.

She set the school record in the 10,000 during the 2018 season, running 32:15.73. She also owns eight of the 12 fastest 10K times in program history.

Along with her unprecedented run of four-straight All-American finishes in the 10K, Wright is also the first female athlete in Mountain West and UNM history to be a four-time All-American in any event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Her success also extends to cross country, where she helped New Mexico win the 2015 and 2017 NCAA team titles. She also led the Lobos to a third-place team finish in 2014 and a seventh-place team finish in 2016.

Wright paced UNM to four of its 10-straight Mountain West cross country championships as well, becoming the only woman to earn four First-Team All-MW honors.

She was a four-time All-American on the grass, placing 20th in 2014, fifth in 2015, 19th in 2016 and 14th in 2017. She is one of 17 female athletes in NCAA history to earn four All-American honors in cross country.

On her career, Wright has earned eight All-American honors between cross country (four) and track & field (four). No athlete in program history has as many honors.

Wright is a five-time Mountain West individual champion, winning the indoor 5000 twice (2015 and 2017), the outdoor 5000 once (2017), the 10,000 once (2015) and cross country once (2016).

She was also named MW Women’s Student-Athlete of the Year for cross country in 2016 and USTFCCCA Mountain Regional Female Athlete of the Year in 2014 and 2016.

Academically, she is a three-time First-Team Academic All-America recipient, the only athlete in any sport at New Mexico to ever earn three such selections.

Wright joins Colorado’s Erin Clark and Utah’s Grayson Murphy in signing with HOKA Northern Arizona Elite, which also includes 2018 USATF 10k Road champion Stephanie Bruce, Kellyn Taylor and Aliphine Tuliamuk.

HOKA Northern Arizona Elite is a professional sports organization whose mission is to recruit, develop and produce distance runners to compete at the very highest level of international athletics and operate as a successful business by building a global fan base for the team and its athletes through comprehensive and ongoing marketing efforts on a local, national and international level.

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