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Mountain West ChampionshipsNo matter who’s there, or what they’re ranked or where they’re running, the goals never change for the Lobos.
At the conference championships, the goal is to win.
And, over the last nine years, they’ve been very, very good at that, winning eight straight women’s titles and six of the last seven men’s titles.
The University of New Mexico cross country program is looking to continue its run of success Friday as it heads to Boise, Idaho to take on a strong field at the 2016 Mountain West Cross Country Championships.
Behind the seventh-ranked women’s team and an improving men’s team, the Lobos have designs on winning at the Falcon Crest Golf Club, and will have to outduel a handful of ranked teams and talented runners to obtain their goals.
“Our goal is to win as a team, for sure,” Lobo senior Kathryn Fluehr said. “This sets us up well for nationals and improving on the past two races.”
For Fluehr, a transfer from Princeton, she’s seen the success the program has had under 10th-year head coach Joe Franklin, both at the conference and national level.
She’ll get her first chance to contribute Friday morning when the women run at 10 a.m. MT. The Lobo men run at 10:45 a.m. MT.
The Lobos’ domination on the Mountain West level is virtually unparalleled, with the women’s eight straight titles tied with former league member BYU for the most in MW history.
The men’s success, although snapped last year as UNM placed fifth, is also remarkable considering only BYU (nine titles) has more championships than the men’s six straight from 2009-14.
New Mexico will have to contend with some strong competition, however, to continue those trends.
Although the Lobo women are ranked seventh in the nation and were picked to finish first in the MW’s Pre-Championship Coaches’ Poll released Wednesday, a talented Boise State squad provides stiff opposition.
“On the women’s side, you have Boise State,” Franklin said. “Boise is very good and it’s on their home course. They have one of the best runners in the country, Brenna Peloquin.”
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Peloquin won the Roy Griak Invitational and the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, beating Lobo frontrunner Alice Wright by a second at the latter.
The men’s competition is even deeper, as No. 17 Colorado State, No. 24 Boise State and No. 28 Air Force stand in way of the Lobos.
“On the men’s side, you have two top-25 teams in Colorado State and Boise State,” Franklin said. “For the Mountain West to have two top-25 teams in any sport is quite remarkable.”
Franklin and his staff counters with some remarkable teams of their own, featuring some exceptionally talented runners.
For the women, Wright and Calli Thackery will be expected to lead the way, as they did at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational and the Wisconsin Invite.
They’re a duo that can contend for the individual crown in Friday’s six-kilometer race, since both placed top-10 against the best of the nation in their last two meets.
They also have the benefit of a strong team, as the Lobos can turn to a relatively deep pack for scoring times.
Senior Sophie Connor has been a steady No. 3 runner so far, with sophomore Natasha Bernal and freshman Alex Buck also scoring twice this season. UNM will also look to Fluehr, Kendall Kelly, Kieran Casey and Kyoko Koyama for strong runs.
“I think the coaches here really try to train us so that we’re peaking at the end of the season,” Fluehr said. “So I think everything up until nationals is building on what we’ve done before.”
The men’s team will lean on seniors Graham Thomas and Jesus Mendoza for strong runs after they led the men to a win in the “B” race at Wisconsin.
With such a youthful squad, the Lobos have endured some growing pains this years, but they came together for the win in a race that will likely closely resemble Friday’s eight-kilometer race.
“We need to make sure our time gaps are small and work hard and be willing to literally put yourself out there and expend all of you energy,” Franklin said.
The Lobos managed to post a small team spread at Wisconsin via solid performances from Jacob Simonsen, Zac Castillo and Alexander Palm. That group finished within six seconds of each other at Wisconsin, helping the men register a spread just over 25 seconds.
Finding low finishes from Adam Cotton, Emil Danielsson, Jared Garcia and Tyler Valdez, will also be key as the men look to improve on their selection as the No. 4 team in the league’s pre-championship poll.
The meet will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network, and check back Friday afternoon on GoLobos.com for meet results and a New Mexico recap.