Lobos Win 11th Straight MW Title Behind Top-Three Finishers
PHOTO GALLERY | WOMEN’S RESULTS | MEN’S RESULTS | MW VIDEO
SAN DIEGO, Calif.— Although the order of finish was different, the outcome was the same, as the No. 3 New Mexico women’s cross country team won the 2018 Mountain West Cross Country Championship behind top-three finishers and four in the top-10 to earn their 11th-straight MW team title.
Sophomore Weini Kelati led the way for UNM, taking the individual title with a time of 19:49.3, topping her runner-up status just one year ago and improving her time from last year by over 22 seconds. Kelati’s win marked the third consecutive year that the Lobos won both the individual title and the team title. Her time was also the fastest time at the MW championship since 2014.
Over 18 seconds behind Kelati was the 2017 Mountain West individual champion, Ednah Kurgat, who finished the 6K race at Balboa Park in 20:07.4. Senior Charlotte Prouse maintained her result from last year with a third-place finish of 20:11.3.
Kelati, Kurgat and Prouse earned first-team All-Mountain West honors for their results, the second all-conference honor for all three.
Adva Cohen was the next Lobo to finish, taking ninth with a time of 20:57.2, to earn her first second-team All-Mountain West honor. Rounding out the scoring was Sophie Eckel, who finished 18th at 21:25.8.
In a race that as advertised came down to New Mexico and Boise State, the Lobos edged out the Boise State Broncos by just two points in the team total to take the team championship. The Lobos scored 33 team points to the Broncos’ 35 points.
“A fantastic finish. Boise State ranks second in the country and they were the odds-on favorite to beat us,” said head coach Joe Franklin. “They ran an exceptional race and we actually thought they had us by three points with 1000-meters to go, but we finished well and finished on a high-note. It was fun to watch.”
At the first split, Kelati and Prouse sat 0.2 seconds behind the leader (Boise State’s Allie Ostrander) in fourth and fifth, with Kurgat running eighth. Cohen was 10th and Hannah Nuttall was 25th, giving the Lobos 52 team points, 26 points behind Boise State.
The Lobos made their move at the second split, with Kurgat moving up seven spots to take the lead, followed by Kelati in second. Prouse moved up one spot to fourth and Cohen held at 10th. Sophie Eckel and Emily Martin each moved up 20 spots to 14th and 15th, respectively, as UNM cut its point total down by 21 points to trail Boise State by just one point, 31-30.
In the third split, Kelati and Kurgat switched order with Kelati taking the lead by 3.5 seconds over Kurgat, and Prouse moved up another spot to move into third. Cohen improved her place by two spots to move into eighth and Eckel dropped one spot to 15th. As a result, the Lobos held a seven-point lead over the Broncos with 29 team points.
Down the stretch, Kelati pulled further away to win her first Mountain West individual title by 18.1 seconds, and her second individual title in-a-row after winning at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals.
Emily Martin (21:44.6) and Nuttall (21:49.8) placed 21st and 22nd, respectively, and Natasha Bernal finished in 22:32.9 to complete the Lobo entries.
On the men’s side, the Lobos finished sixth with 144 points, improving 30 points from the start of the race to the finish line.
Jonny Glen was the top finisher for the Lobos with a 22nd– place finish at 25:27.9, followed by Toby Cooke (25th, 25:35.8). Jared Garcia was 30th at 25:44.5 and Iolo Hughes was two spots behind him at 25:46.3. Reece Donihi was the final UNM scorer at 25:56.9, finishing 37th overall, 35th in scoring.
“The men keep getting better and better and we get closer and closer,” said Franklin. “Our goal is to make the NCAAs in two weeks (at the NCAA Mountain Region Championship). We trained through this race, and we are gunning for two weeks from now.”
At the conclusion of the championship races, Kelati was named Mountain West Student-Athlete of the Year, while Donihi was named the Mountain West Male Freshman of the Year. Franklin won Women’s Coach of the Year, marking his 10th time winning the award.
The Lobos have two weeks off before they travel to Provo, Utah for the NCAA Mountain Region Championships and, as Franklin said, run for a spot in the NCAA Championships.