Cross Country Posts Strong Marks at Lobo Invite

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Although meet results won’t starting counting qualifying for the NCAA Championship until next Friday, the Lobos wanted to see what kind of team they had.

And, after their season opener on Saturday, they had an idea of their potential.

The University of New Mexico cross country team kicked off its 2017 season with a strong team performance and strong individual results as it hosted the Lobo Invitational Saturday at the UNM North Golf Course.

In what essentially amounts to a preseason tuneup, the Lobos nonetheless showed well as they earned team wins in both the men’s and women’s races, proving they have the depth to contend when the meets start to count for postseason qualification.

“Today is the start as we get ready for 27 days from now when we’re going to be racing against some of the best in the country at Notre Dame,” New Mexico head coach Joe Franklin said. “Some of the men and the women haven’t run in a while, so today was about going through the motions to give yourself a little warm up so they can be ready in 29 days.”

With most of the team still getting into the competitive groove, the Lobos competed a number of runners who were looking for spots on the team’s competitive travel squad.

Those runners stated their respective cases to make the travel squad, which will debut at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational on September 29.

“There were some real positives out there today,” Franklin said.

Great first meet of the year! Next up: Notre Dame! #GoLobos https://t.co/aKr8Tr7eqN pic.twitter.com/ssCszXqjg1

— New Mexico T&F/XC (@UNMLoboXCTF) September 2, 2017

On the women’s side, Elizabeth Weiler made the most of her first race in a New Mexico uniform, leading the fourth-ranked Lobos over the women’s five-kilometer course with a third-place time of 17 minutes, 36.20 seconds.

An All-American during her time at Lehigh University, Weiler didn’t compete last fall. But her showing Saturday epitomized the meet goals for Franklin and his staff.

“There were nerves,” Franklin said. “We had Elizabeth Weiler who hasn’t run in 18 months and for her to come out and do what she’s done after persevering through her injuries was positive.”

Newcomers Sarah Laverty (fourth place, time of 17:43.90) and Sophie Eckel (seventh, 18:29.80) also scored as they made their UNM cross country debut.

Kieran Casey (nineth, 18:48.40) and Kendall Kelly (11th, 19:01.00) rounded out the Lobos’ scorers. New Mexico finished with a team score of 23 points in the low-score-wins format, besting runner-up New Mexico State’s total of 79 points.

Also running for the Lobo women were freshmen Elizabeth Reyes (12th, 19:05.60) and sophomore Samantha Dicker (16th, 19:38.00).

For the men, they earned victory behind some strong team running, as their top three finishers placed 4-5-6.

Newcomer Ian Crowe-Wright took top honors for the New Mexico men, racing to fourth place overall in 15:34.70. Jonny Glen was fifth (15:45.20) in his UNM debut, while Albuquerque native Taylor Potter placed sixth (15:49.80).

Tyler Valdez (ninth, 16:09.00) and Gavin Sleeter (12th, 16:38.20) also scored for the men, who tallied a team score of 24 points. Fresno State (51 points) took second place.

Chris Graham (13th, 16:41.80) also ran, just missing out on a scoring finish.

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