UNM Women Solidify NCAA Bid with Mountain Regional Win
WOMEN’S RESULTS (PDF) | MEN’S RESULTS (PDF)
PROVO, Utah— For the 11th consecutive year, and the 14th time in program history, the University of New Mexico women’s cross country team has advanced to the NCAA Championships as the women placed six runners in the top-16 finishers to win the NCAA Mountain Regional title on Friday morning at the East Bay Golf Course.
Sophomore Weini Kelati won her third-straight individual title, turning in a personal-best time of 19:15.0 on the 6K course to win the Mountain Regional by a margin of 16.7 seconds. Kelati’s win also marked the third consecutive year that the Lobos have won the individual title as Alice Wright won in 2016 and Ednah Kurgat won last year.
With a time of 19:15 @UNMLoboXCTF‘s Weini Kelati takes the individual title in the Mountain Regional. pic.twitter.com/TxTjz0nXJr
— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) November 9, 2018
Kurgat finished runner-up for the third meet in-a-row with her time of 19:31.7, which is a season best for the junior.
Senior Charlotte Prouse finished in 20:05.5 for 11th overall, followed by sophomore Adva Cohen, who crossed the line 0.1 seconds behind her at 20:05.6 for 12th. Emily Martin finished 15th in 20:18.4 to complete the team scoring and Sophie Eckel made it six Lobos in the top-16 finishers with her 20:19.2 time and 16th-place finish.
Hannah Nuttall rounded out the entries for the Cherry and Silver with a 44th-place finish of 21:12.6, but had been in the top 25 in the first two kilometers of the race.
UNM won the regional for the first time since 2011- after previously finishing second- with 41 team points, the lowest point total for the Lobos at the regionals in program history. The team score was an improvement of 29 points from last year’s second-place finish and nine points less than the point total in 2015. Colorado finished second to earn the other automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, finishing with 53 points with six runners in the top 19.
The Lobos led in the team standings from the start with Kelati leading the charge in third. Kurgat, Cohen and Prouse sat in ninth, 10th and 11th, respectively and Martin was 21st in the first 1,000-meters of the race. At the 2K mark, Kelati moved up into second with Kurgat (seventh), Prouse (eighth) and Cohen (ninth) also moving up two places each. Martin moved up three spots into 18th.
Kelati remained in second at the halfway point of the 6K race, sitting at 9:48.2 and two seconds behind the leader, Jaci Smith of Air Force. Kurgat continued to improve her placement, this time by three spots into fourth at 9:52.7, while Prouse and Cohen dropped into 12th and 13th, respectively. Martin moved into 16th, but Eckel moved into the picture, improving from 48th to 23rd.
With just 2K remaining in the race, Kelati made her move and moved into the lead, building a 7.7 second gap between the next runner, Smith. Kurgat moved into third at 13:14.9, while Prouse improved three spots to move back into the top 10 at ninth. Cohen held at 13th, Martin moved up one to 15th and Eckel continued to pass runners, moving from 23rd to 17th. Kurgat passed Smith to take the runner-up spot with just one kilometer remaining in the race, but by that point Kelati had built a 15.1 second cushion with her time of 15:55.6, compared to Kurgat’s 16:10.7. The gap grew to 16.7 seconds in the final stretch of the race as Kelati took the title, followed by Kurgat.
The duo have finished first and second in the last three races, dating back to the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals.
Hugs for @UNMLoboXCTF after a 1-2 Mountain Regional finish pic.twitter.com/BKVknkwW1o
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) November 9, 2018
Jared Garcia made a late push in the final 3K of the men’s race to move from 29th into 27th to earn the top finish for UNM on the men’s side. He completed the 10K in 29:58.1, getting as high as 23rd at the midway point as well as at the 9K mark.
Iolo Hughes was the next to finish at 30:37.5, 48th overall, followed by Reece Donihi, who placed 50th at 30:41.4. Jonny Glen finished in 3:59.7 for 60th and Toby Cooke was next at 31:16.0, after running in the top 25 from the 6K to the 8K mark. Michael Wilson completed the Lobo entries with a time of 33:16.2.
As a team, the men finished 10th in the team standings with 256 points, an improvement of four points from 2017.
The women will have eight days before the championships, held at the Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 17. The women’s race will begin at 9:45 a.m. MT.