STANFORD, Calif. — Alice Wright, a redshirt junior distance runner on the University of New Mexico track & field team, raced to a new school record in the 10,000-meter run on Friday night at the Payton Jordan Invitational.
Wright, the only collegian running in the women’s 10K at Stanford’s Cobb Track & Angell Field, clocked a time of 32 minutes, 29.28 seconds to eclipse Sarah Waldron’s five-year-old school record set on the same track in 2012.
Since its inception in 1996, the Payton Jordan Invitational had been one of the best collegiate meets in the middle-distance and distance events during the outdoor season.
However, the 2017 edition of the meet was reformatted to give elite collegiate, national and international athletes the chance to run national and international qualifying standards.
Wright proved to be up to the task of racing against a field of 36 professional, international and unattached runners, zooming to a new UNM record late Friday night.
In her first competitive 10,000-meter run since claiming runner-up honors at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships last June, Wright ran in the middle of the pack for almost the entire race, crossing the finish line in 16th place.
However, her time, a new personal record, gives her five of the seven fastest 10K times in New Mexico history.
Only Waldron (with the second- and sixth-fastest times in UNM history) has multiple times in the program’s top-10 list for the 10K.
Wright, who clocked her PR in the 5,000 (15:45:87) and previous PR in the 10K (32:36.11) at the 2015 and 2016 Payton Jordans, also moved to second in Mountain West history in the event.
Wright’s time also climbed to No. 3 in the NCAA in 2017 as she became one of just three collegiate runners to break the 33-minute mark in the 10K this season.
The Lobos return to action on Wednesday as they open up the Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Logan, Utah, on May 10-13.
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