UNM Men Finishes First, Women Second at Lobo Invitational

RESULTS (PDF)  | COLLEGIATE RESULTS (PDF)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M—The cross country season started with rainy conditions, but it didn’t hinder the New Mexico Lobos as they finished first and second at the Lobo Invitational on Saturday morning.

New Mexico’s men took the top-five finishes in the 5k race to score 15 points for the first-place result, led by senior Ian Crowe-Wright’s time of 15:31.1. Finishing behind him were junior Jared Garcia (15:34), senior Toby Cooke (15:34.7), junior Jonny Glen (15:36.9) and sophomore Iolo Hughes (15:37.6). Sophomore Brandon Parrado completed the race in 16:55.4, but his score was not counted towards the team score.

UNM finished with a 42-point margin over the second-place team, UTEP, with New Mexico State scoring 65 points and New Mexico Highlands rounding out the competition with 86 points.

On the women’s side, UTEP took the top spot, with four runners finishing in sequential order for 34 points. Junior Natasha Bernal was the top-finisher for the Lobos, coming in fifth with a time of 18:07.3. In sixth was junior Catrina Thomas, who finished 25 seconds after in a time of 18:27.5. Senior Kendall Kelly (seventh, 19:00.9) and freshman Juanita Johnson (nine points, 19:05.7) rounded out the top 10 for New Mexico. Freshmen Emily Crall and Chamique Dubois finished 20:04.7 and 20:07.4, respectively, but only Crall’s score of 17 counted towards the team score. Steffi Jones finished in 21:02.2 in her first collegiate race and Samantha Dicker finished .10 seconds behind her. Larima Rodriguez (21:15.4) and Kaitlin Franklin (21:49.4) concluded the race for UNM. The Lobos finished with 44 team points. 

New Mexico State finished in third with 56 points and New Mexico Highlands was fourth with 98 points.

Up next for the Lobos will be the Lori Fitzgerald Memorial Open in Las Cruces on Sept. 15, with the men running a 7k at 7:45 a.m., followed by the women running a 5k at 8:30 a.m.