COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The University of New Mexico’s nationally-ranked cross country teams received two conference honors Tuesday, as Charlotte Arter and Adam Bitchell earned recognition from the Mountain West for their performances in races contested this past weekend.
Arter was selected for her first Mountain West Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week honor, while Bitchell claimed MW Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week, the first in his career.
Arter, a senior from Carlisle, England, won the University Division race at the Notre Dame Invitational Friday with a time of 16 minutes, 9.3 seconds over five kilometers. She led the now 11th-ranked New Mexico women to a dominating team title, as the Lobos placed all five scorers in the top 20.
She was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Athlete of the Week Monday and set a new Notre Dame Invitational meet record, besting the former standard of 16:21 set by North Carolina’s Brie Feinagle in 2008.
Bitchell, a senior out of Aberystwyth, Wales, led now 16th-ranked New Mexico to a third-place team showing at the Notre Dame Invitational with an 11th-place time of 23:35.8 over the five-mile course.
It was Bitchell’s first-ever team-leading performance in three years with the Lobos.
He also bettered his performance from the 2013 Notre Dame Invitational, when he finished 29th. His time is the top five-mile/eight-kilometer time in the Mountain West this year.
The pair’s honors are the first MW athlete of the week selection for New Mexico since Luke Caldwell tallied back-to-back honors last October. Arter’s honor is the first for the women—and the first time that New Mexico swept the honors—since Josephine Moultrie on Oct. 16, 2012.
The Lobos will return to action next weekend when they travel to the Wisconsin adidas Invitational in Madison, Wis., on Oct. 17.