NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships — Terre Haute, Ind.
When/Where: Saturday, LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
Men: 10 a.m. MT — 10 kilometers
Women: 11:15 a.m. MT — six kilometers
Results: GoLobos.com, BranchSportTech.com
Live Stream: NCAA.com
As school reaches its fever pitch during the final weeks of the semester, New Mexico’s cross country student-athletes are preparing for term projects and finals.
But, before their academic exams, the Lobo harriers have another test to take.
The University of New Mexico’s nationally ranked cross country teams are aiming to ace their final test of the season as they head to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday.
New Mexico has sent its women’s team to seven straight NCAA Championships and the men to six in a row, and travel to the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course searching for the program’s first pair of top-10 national finishes.
“The goal is always top 10,” Lobo head coach Joe Franklin said. “Across the board on the men’s and women’s side, that’s the goal.”
And while the Lobos are still searching for a pair of top-10 finishes at the same championship, Franklin has his harriers in position to make that happen when the No. 9 women and No. 26 men take the course in Terre Haute.
During Franklin’s eight years at the helm, New Mexico has posted some strong performances at the national meet.
The women have notched four consecutive top-10 finishes—including a fifth-place showing in 2010 and back-to-back 10th-place finishes—while the men have improved from 31st in 2011 to 21st in 2012 and 11th last year.
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| Alice Wright |
New Mexico has also become one of the most consistent programs in qualifying its teams to the NCAAs. Only two other schools, Stanford and Colorado, have sent their men’s and women’s teams to the NCAA Championships each of the last six years.
But those numbers and stats—like class notes and flashcards—aren’t of much use when the final exam starts. Instead, the Lobos are focusing on the test that’s ahead of them.
And Franklin’s group has studied and is ready to just compete
“I think [the goal is to] have a good time,” Franklin said. “That’s what we always try to do. Make sure you’re having fun and working hard. And if you do that, things will take care of themselves.”
Looking to spearhead the charge for the New Mexico women are three runners that have led the women at every meet this year.
Alice Wright, a redshirt freshman, comes in having paced the women at two straight meets, including a victory at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships the Lobos hosted last Friday.
The USTFCCCA named her NCAA Division I Mountain Region Women’s Athlete of the Year for her win.
Charlotte Arter and Calli Thackery are also frontrunners for the Lobos.
Arter, a former USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week, paced UNM at the Notre Dame Invitational (which she won) and at the Wisconsin Invitational. Thackery won the Lobo Invitational in September, finishing just ahead of Wright.
Since October, the trio have been New Mexico’s first three scorers at every meet.
Also running for the Lobos are Tamara Armoush, Amber Zimmerman. Armoush scored at Notre Dame and Wisconsin, while Zimmerman chipped in a scoring run at the Mountain West Championships.
As a group, the Lobos have done exceptionally well during the season, winning at Notre Dame and at the MW Championships and placing second at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships.
However, Franklin knows that his women have studied up for their final.
“The race will take care of itself,” Franklin said. “I know they’ve trained. I know they’ve studied for their exams.”
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| Dan Studley |
During the last six years with Franklin at the helm, the women haven’t finished outside of the top-20 at the national championships. The women have competed at 11 championships overall, counting two trips to the AIWA championships in the 1980s.
On the men’s side, the Lobos are aiming to return to their conference form after winning their sixth straight conference title on Halloween.
The Lobos, who registered a superb eight-second spread among their five scorers at conference, cruised to victory. However, at last week’s regional meet, the men struggled to regain that spread en route to a seventh-place team finish.
“The first goal for the men is to get back to their small spread one to six,” Franklin said. “If that happens, we’ll be fine.”
After working a little too hard the week before the regional meet, the New Mexico men “were just a little flat,” Franklin said. But, behind a balanced group, the men have their sights set on acing their final.
Ross Matheson led the men at the NCAA Mountain Regional meet, taking over for Jake Shelley, who helmed the men at conference. Matheson has scored at every meet this year, while Shelley has emerged as a strong talent for the men.
Also running for New Mexico are Elmar Engholm (third Lobo at regionals), Alex Cornwell (fourth overall at conference), Dan Studley (second Lobo at Wisconsin), Matt Bergin (sixth overall at conference) and Todd Wakefield.
The men’s team is making it 10th championship appearance overall and sixth in a row.
The men will compete at 10 a.m. MT, while the women run at 11 a.m. MT. Check back Saturday evening on GoLobos.com for meet results and a New Mexico recap.