NEW ORLEANS — The University of New Mexico women’s cross country and track & field program placed fifth 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.
The Lobos combined to gain 29 points for their best-ever finish in the final standings, which combine the teams’ finishes from the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships, 2018 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships and the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
It’s the fourth time in program history that the Joe Franklin-coached women earned the award, after placing 16th in 2012, 14th in 2015 and a previous-best of eighth in 2016.
New Mexico registered the highest finish by a women’s team from a non-Power Five conference.
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, in March at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships 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 Lobos capped the year at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships last week, as Prouse, Wright and Kurgat all ran to All-American status.
Prouse was the national runner-up in the 3000-meter steeplechase, while Wright took fourth in the 10,000 and Kurgat was sixth in the 5000. The UNM women tied for 17th place with 16 team points, the second-best performances in program history (15th place and 18 points in 2016).
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.
15 women’s teams have scored at all three 2017-18 championships. Leading the final standings was Stanford (15 points), with Oregon (17) and NCAA indoor champions Georgia (20) rounding out the top three.
The New Mexico women have placed in the final standings for the award three times previously: in 2012 (finishing 16th), 2015 (14th) and 2016 (eighth).
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