EUGENE, Ore. — It might have been a cool Pacific Northwest day, but the Lobos’ Alice Wright was on fire.
Wright, a redshirt junior for the University of New Mexico track & field team, took runner-up honors in the women’s 10,000-meter run on the second day of the 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
She claimed her third straight All-American honor — and second straight second-place finish — in the 10000 on Thursday, running a time of 32 minutes, 42.64 seconds to become the first female track athlete in UNM history to earn three consecutive All-American honors outdoors.
“To be consistent at an elite level for so long in distance running is very rare,” New Mexico head coach Joe Franklin said. “And Alice is now the most consistent runner in the NCAA.”
She is just one of two athletes in the NCAA to earn All-American honors in the 10K each of the last three years, along with Tennessee’s Chelsea Blaase, who was seventh on Thursday.
The top eight finishers in each event earn All-American honors.
With her finish, Wright scored eight team points for the Lobos, putting New Mexico in a tie for 11th place through the first day of the women’s championship at Hayward Field.
The final day of the women’s championship takes place Saturday, with the conclusion of the men’s championship Friday.
Wright, hailing from Worcester, England, ran near the front of the 24-athlete pack early, taking over the lead in the 25-lap race near the midway point.
She held onto the lead until the final two laps, yielding the lead to eventual champion Charlotte Taylor of San Francisco.
Wright held onto second place over the final 800 meters, finishing four second behind Taylor (32:38.57) and four second ahead of third-place finisher Sharon Lokedi of Kansas (32:46.10).
Wright’s time is the 10th-best performance in meet history.
Wright’s second-place finish gives the Lobos three top-two finishes in the last two years, with two runner-up performances from Wright and an NCAA title from Courtney Frerichs in the 3,000-meter steeplechase last season.
Additionally, Wright is the first female athlete in New Mexico history to earn three straight All-American honors in the same event.
Male athletes Simon Arkell (pole vault, 1989-91) and Buster Quist (javelin, 1957-59) are the only other athletes in program history to score at three consecutive NCAA Outdoor Championships.
On top of that, only four other female athletes in Mountain West history have accomplished the feat, with San Diego State triple jumper Shanieka Thomas being the last. Only one of those four, Wyoming 400-meter hurdler Shauna Smith, was a track athlete.
On her career, Wright has earned six All-American honors between cross country and track & field.
The Lobos will wrap up their NCAA action on Friday with Sam Trigg in the triple jump at 6:40 p.m. MT and Josh Kerr in the finals of the men’s 1500 at 6:42 p.m. MT. Kerr’s race will be televised live on ESPN.
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