NEW ORLEANS — The University of New Mexico women’s cross country and track & field program is ranked second in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Terry Crawford Program of the Year award standings for the 2017-18 academic year.
Led by head coach Joe Franklin, the Lobos have combined to gain 11.5 points in the in-progress report, which accounts for the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships and 2018 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
It’s the first time in two years that the Lobo women are in contention for the award through two of the three national championships in cross country and track & field.
The women’s cross country team got New Mexico in the standings first as the Lobos won the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November. Just the third national title in school history, it’s the program’s second such title in the last three years.
Four All-Americans — individual champ Ednah Kurgat, Weini Kelati, Charlotte Prouse and Alice Wright — powered the Lobos to the team’s eighth-straight top-10 performance at the NCAA Championships, which is the longest active streak in NCAA history.
Kurgat and Kelati continued the trend of scoring performances during the indoor season as both earned All-American honors in two events, the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs, at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships last week in College Station, Texas.
Kurgat was the NCAA runner up in the 5000 and eighth in the 3000, while Kelati took fifth in both disciplines.
Overall, UNM tied for 10th with 17 team points at the NCAA Indoor Championships, which are the best finish and point total in program history.
The only championship left to determine the final standing for the Program of the Year award is the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held June 6-9 in Eugene, Oregon.
Presented annually since 2009, the NCAA Division I Program of the Year Award recognizes the most outstanding cross country and track & field programs in Division I based on the institution’s performance through the academic year. Final standings are predicated on the institution’s combined finishes at the NCAA Division I Championships in cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field.
To be eligible for the award, teams must qualify for all three NCAA Championships. Scores for the award are calculated from the team’s finish at those championships (i.e., first place earns one point, second place two points, 31st place 31 points, etc.). The team with the lowest total score for all three championships receives the award.
21 women’s teams have scored at the first two 2017-18 championships. Oregon is leading through two thirds of the year with 10 combined points, with New Mexico second and Stanford third (12 points).
The New Mexico women have placed in the final standings for the award just twice: in 2012 (finishing 16th), 2015 (14th) and 2016 (eighth). UNM was also ranked in the in-progress report in 2010, as well, but did not finish the season in the standings.
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