Sept. 7, 2004
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UPCOMING
The highly anticipated 2004 cross country season gets underway this Saturday as the University of New Mexico welcomes 10 collegiate teams for the annual UNM Lobo Invitational at the UNM North Golf Course. Under fifth-year head coach Matt Henry, the Lobo Invite has become the biggest cross country event in the state of New Mexico. The meet field this year also includes over 30 high school teams, competing in six prep races. The day begins with a 5K community fun run at 7:15 a.m., followed by the high school races from 8-9 and the collegiate competition at 9:20.
New Mexico will field perhaps its best men’s and women’s teams in Henry’s tenure this season. The Lobo men return their top four runners of two years ago, seniors Matt Gonzales, Ben Ortega, Nick Martinez, and junior Cameron Clarke, all of whom redshirted the 2003 campaign. Gonzales is a two-time national meet competitor, earning All-America honors in 2001. Ortega also compete at nationals in `01 and was an all-Mountain West Conference runner the same year. Clarke earned first team all-MWC honors in 2002, while Martinez has been a top-5 runner since signing with UNM in 2000. The Lobos also return their top runner from 2003, senior Sean Flaherty, and will receive a tremendous boost with the addition of prep All-American Shadrack Biwott (formerly Shadrack Kiptoo).
UNM also boasts its deepest and most talented women’s squad since took over the program. Led by rejuvenated senior Jacquelyne Gallegos and a pair of up-and-coming juniors in Timmie Murphy and Janice Tosa, New Mexico has 19 runners on the 2004 roster. Sophomore Riann Lucy is coming off an outstanding debut season, while local products Lindsay Barr, Leslie Luna, Stasia Ploskonka and Melanie Velarde lead a talented freshman class.
SCOUTING THE LOBO INVITATIONAL FIELD
The collegiate races should be highly competitive with UTEP, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and LSU highlighting the field. The UTEP men are led by 2003 All-American Mircea Bogdan, while the women are paced by Adriana Pirtea, who won the Miner’s Lori Fitzgerald Invitational last weekend. Texas Tech boasts an up-and-coming women’s team that placed a program-best fifth last year at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, while the Texas A&M men finished 19th at last year’s NCAA Championship meet. Two years ago, the Aggies were selected over the New Mexico men for the final at-large berth to the championship meet. Over the summer, Texas A&M hired Pat Henry, the brother of Matt and Mark Henry, to take over as head track and field coach. Pat had spent the previous 17 years at LSU, where he directed the Tigers to 27 national team titles. This marks the fourth straight year LSU has competed at the Lobo Invitational. Regional squads from Eastern New Mexico, Western New Mexico, New Mexico Highlands, Diné, SIPI and Regis University round out the collegiate field.
MEET INFORMATION/RESULTS
Complete information and results from the 2004 UNM Lobo Invitational can be found on the University of New Mexico official athletic department website:
UNM Lobo Invitational: www.golobos.com
Schedule:
7:15 a.m. – Community Fun Run (5,000m)
8:00 a.m. – Junior Varsity Girls (5,000m)
8:20 a.m. – Junior Varsity Boys (5,000m)
8:40 a.m. – Varsity Girls (5,000m)
9:00 a.m. – Varsity Boys (5,000m)
9:20 a.m. – Collegiate Women (6,000m)
9:50 a.m. – Collegiate Men (8,000m)
10:15 a.m. – C Team Girls
11:00 a.m. – C Team Boys
DIRECTIONS: (the golf course is located near the corner of Yale Blvd. and Tucker Rd. on the UNM North Campus)
(from I-25) Take Lomas exit and head east, towards the mountains, on Lomas Blvd. Turn left on Yale Blvd. and continue north before turning right on Tucker Rd. The golf course clubhouse and parking lot will be on the left.
(from I-25 south) Take Lomas exit and turn left, heading east on Lomas Blvd. Turn left on Yale Blvd. and continue north before turning right on Tucker Rd. The golf course clubhouse and parking lot will be on the left.
(from I-40) Exit I-25 south then take Lomas exit and head east, towards the mountains, on Lomas Blvd. Turn left on Yale Blvd. and continue north before turning right on Tucker Rd. The golf course clubhouse and parking lot will be on the left.
INAUGURAL COMMUNITY FUN RUN TO BENEFIT UNM PROGRAM
UNM head cross country coach Matt Henry and his staff announced that they will add a 5,000-meter community fun run to the bustling schedule of the annual Lobo Invitational cross country meet. The community fun run will take place at 7:15 a.m. prior to the six high school races and men’s and women’s collegiate races at the UNM North Golf Course. The cost is $20 per runner (early registration) with all proceeds to benefit the UNM track and field/cross country program.
Runners can register in person at the UNM track and field office (located on Avenida César Chavez, east of University Blvd. at the northeast corner of University Stadium, ph. 925-5735) and at Fleet Feet Sports (8204 A Menaul NE in the Hoffmantown Shopping Center, ph. 299-8922). Walk-in registration closes at noon on Friday, Sept. 10. Late registration will be available on the day of the meet at the UNM North Golf Course for a $25 fee.
Participants can pick up their information packets at the North Golf Course on from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Sept. 10 and 5:45-6:45 a.m. on Sept. 11. The UNM North Golf Course is located at 2201 Tucker NE (north of Lomas, off Yale) on the University of New Mexico’s north campus.
LOBO INVITATIONAL HISTORY
This season marks the fifth running of the UNM Lobo Invitational under head coach Matt Henry. After a six-year absence, Henry brought NCAA cross country competition back to Albuquerque with the 2000 Lobo Invitational, which was also held at the North Golf Course. In 2002, Henry expanded the meet to include six high school races and this year, he added a 5K community fun run to open the day. Each year, thousands of knowledgeable distance running fans flock to UNM’s North Campus to watch the competition on one of the most spectator-friendly cross country courses in the nation.
UNM’s men and women each placed third out of five teams at Henry’s first Lobo Invite before the meet was moved to the Paradise Hills Golf Course in northwest Albuquerque in 2001. Both Lobo squads finished second, behind the Air Force, in a four-team field. New Mexico’s Sarah Gonzales provided the highlight of the day with her wire-to-wire victory in the women’s race.
The 2002 competition was a preview of the elite 2002 NCAA Mountain Region Championship meet, which was also held at the UNM North Golf Course later that year. Five members of the 18-team Mountain Region, which is arguably the premier cross country grouping in the country, were represented at the meet. New Mexico’s Cameron Clarke finished second to lead the Lobo men to an impressive 21-point victory over the field. Jacquelyne Gallegos had a career-best second place finish to help the UNM women finish second.
Last year, Sean Flaherty finished 18th to lead the UNM men to a fourth place finish in the 14-team field. Riann Lucy, meanwhile, placed 27th in her first career race to help the Lobo women finish fifth out of 13 teams.
HOMEGROWN LOBOS
University of New Mexico head coach Matt Henry has built the UNM program by using his greatest natural resource: New Mexico high school distance runners. Of the 40 runners on the 2004 roster, all but four were products of New Mexico high schools, including Kenyan Shadrack Biwott. Every NCAA Championship competitor, All-American and all-Mountain West honoree under Henry has hailed from the Land of Enchantment.
HAIL TO THE VICTORS
In the five years prior to Matt Henry’s arrival as head cross country coach at New Mexico, the Lobo men’s team had notched just one meet victory. However, since Henry took control of the program in 2000, the men have captured eight team titles, including two in 2003.
Last fall the men of New Mexico opened the season undefeated through three meets (UNM did not field a full team in its fourth meet, the Cowboy Jamboree) before finishing 17th at the Pre-National Invitational. After opening with another dominating win at the Lori Fitzgerald, UNM followed with a victory over a 12-team field in their home-opener, the UNM Lobo Invitational, then notched an impressive first place finish ahead of 29 teams at the 29th annual Stanford Invitational.
Last year, the Lobo men won back-to-back mid-season races. UNM defeated Wyoming and Utah in a pre-conference triangular meet in San Diego, then defeated 11 squads at the Canyon West Classic in Tempe, Ariz. two weeks later. The Lobos scored an average of 28.5 points in their two wins.
The Lobo women also got into the act in 2003, earning their first team title under Henry at the Canyon West Cross Country Classic on Oct. 18. New Mexico scored a season-low 31 points and ran with a season-low pack spread of 55 seconds to pick up its first win since the 1998 season-opener at UTEP.
MOUNTAIN WEST RESPECT
The hype began in earnest on Aug. 24 for the University of New Mexico men’s cross country team as the Lobos were picked to finish second, their highest rank ever, in the 2004 Mountain West Conference preseason coaches poll. New Mexico received 19 points, including one first place vote, to tie defending champion Air Force. The UNM women (27 points) were ranked sixth in the preseason poll, just one point behind fourth-ranked Utah and Wyoming, and four shy of No. 3 Air Force. The BYU men (23) and women (49) were the favorites in both coaches polls.
The Lobos previous best rank in the preseason poll was a third place prognostication in 2002. UNM won its first three meets and rose as high as 27th in the country before a wave of injuries took its toll on the team. The Lobos went on to place third at the MWC meet and missed advancing to NCAA Championships by six points at the regional meet.
With its top four runners all redshirting in 2003, the UNM men placed fourth at the conference meet, matching its preseason ranking once again. The women’s team placed fifth, also matching the coaches’ preseason prediction.