Kelati Named MW Women’s XC Athlete of the Week
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— After a strong showing in which she finished runner-up at the premier Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, sophomore Weini Kelati has been named the Mountain West Cross Country Women’s Athlete of the Week, as announced by the conference on Tuesday.
This is the first conference weekly honor for Kelati, who earned USTFCCCA All-American, First-Team All-Mountain West, Mountain West Freshman of the Year and USTFCCCA All-Mountain Region in 2017.
Kelati ran a methodical race from the start, sitting with the lead pack in the first two kilometers in sixth, before moving up to third in the second 2K. The sophomore navigated the 6K course at the Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in 19:35.9, narrowly missing out on the individual title by two seconds.
The Leesburg, Va., native improved her time from last year’s Nuttycombe by 31.6 seconds after running 20:07.5 in 2017.
UNM finished third in the Invitational, scoring 130 points. The women had two of the top-three finishers and three of the top seven in an elite field that contained 15 of the current top-30 ranked teams, including seven in the top 10.
Kelati and the Lobos return to the course on Oct. 13, returning to the Zimmer Championship Course and Madison, Wis., for the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals.