Women’s Results | Men’s Results
KUNA, Idaho — At the conference championships, where nothing can be taken for granted and everything must be earned, only one thing was for certain on Friday.
Alice Wright and Calli Thackery are very good and the Lobo women are historically dominant.
The University of New Mexico women’s cross country team stormed to its ninth straight league title, winning the 2016 Mountain West Cross Country Championships Friday at Falcon Crest Golf Club in Kuna, Idaho.
Behind a pair of top-two finishes by Wright, the Mountain West Athlete of the Year, and Thackery, the seventh-ranked Lobo women claimed another championship, breaking a tie with former MW member BYU for the conference record for most team titles.
“Great race on the women’s side,” 10th-year New Mexico head coach Joe Franklin said. “Alice and Calli and [Boise State’s] Brenna Peloquin went out and started hammering it and did a really good job. The break happened going into the third lap and Alice kept driving and Calli kept going, which was very positive.”
The Lobo men also had a solid performance, taking fifth place, as both the men’s and women’s competitions featured multiple ranked teams racing in stellar conditions outside of Boise.
Between No. 7 UNM and No. 28 Boise State on the women’s side, and No. 17 Colorado State, No. 24 Boise State and No. 28 Air Force on the men’s side, this year’s championship was shaping up to be another superb chapter in the MW’s history of strong cross country.
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| Calli Thackery (L) & Alice Wright |
But the story on Friday was all about the New Mexico women as they continued their unparalleled stretch of success.
Wright led the way with a masterful performance, breaking away from Boise State’s Peloquin, a two-time USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week, about halfway through the six-kilometer race to earn her first individual MW title.
Wright finished in 20 minutes, 2.70, to capture her first victory in cross country since winning the 2014 NCAA Mountain Regional Championships in Albuquerque.
However, Wright wasn’t alone at the front, as Thackery finished closely behind with a time of 20:11.30. The duo ran together for the entire race, eventually gaining the decisive separation from Peloquin and third-place finisher Carina Gillespie of Air Force late in the race.
Together, the Lobo tandem are the first pair of teammates to go 1-2 at the MW Championships since Boise State did it 2014. UNM also accomplished that feat in 2012 and 2010.
New Mexico won its title, however, on its depth, as the rest of its scorers finished in the top 20.
Sophie Connor and Natasha Bernal crossed the line in succession, with Connor in 10th place with a time of 20:52.10 and Bernal in 11th with a time of 20:56.20. Kendall Kelly added the Lobos’ final scoring finish, placing 18th in 21:15.80.
Both Bernal and Kelly represented UNM well, as the two Albuquerque natives helped the Lobos to a team score of 42 points.
Although it’s the highest score ever to win a MW title in the women’s championship, New Mexico managed to fend off second-place Air Force (53 points) and third-place Boise State (86 points) in the low-score-wins format.
Also running for the Lobos were Kathryn Fluehr (30th place, time of 21:35.60), Alex Buck (33rd, 21:40.20), Kieran Casey (42nd, 21:51.80) and Kyoko Koyama (58th, 22:17.60).
Wright and Thackery were both named First-Team All-Mountain West, while Connor and Bernal were Second-Team All-MW.
“To do it year in and year out and fight in the last 1000 meters, which they did today, is really positive,” Franklin said about the team’s ninth straight title.
On the men’s side, the Lobos ran to fifth place behind their duo of Graham Thomas and Jesus Mendoza.
Thomas led the men over their eight-kilometer course, finishing in 18th place with a time of 24:36.70. Mendoza was the second Lobo to cross the line, taking 28th place in 25:00.10.
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| Graham Thomas |
It’s the second competition in a row that Thomas and Mendoza led the way, as both paced New Mexico two weeks ago at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational.
The Lobos received the rest of their scoring on Friday in a bunch, as Adam Cotton (31st, 25:06.50), Alexander Palm (32nd, 25:06.70) and Zac Castillo (33rd, 25:08.70) finished within a couple of seconds of each other.
Jacob Simonsen (40th, 25:22.00), Emil Danielsson (49th, 25:35.80), Jared Garcia (50th, 25:44.60) and Tyler Valdez (62nd, 26:50.60) rounded out the men’s finishers.
“I felt that from a team standpoint, it was very positive and moving in the right direction,” Franklin said. “They’re healthy and fit and are running well and building for the future. They’re getting in position to win championships again.”
Overall, the men scored 131 points for their second straight fifth-place finish at the MW meet.
Host Boise State just edged Colorado State 41-48 for its first MW cross country title, while Air Force placed third with 61 points. Utah State took fourth place with 131 points.
New Mexico will return to action in two weeks as it travels to Logan, Utah, for NCAA Mountain Regional Championships on Friday, November 11.