BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— Weini Kelati led The University of New Mexico women’s track and field representatives at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex on Friday evening with a runner-up finish in the 5000-meter final.
Kelati was just one of three Lobos to finish in the top five, with Ednah Kurgat and Charlotte Prouse finishing in nearly identical times to place fourth and fifth, respectively, to give UNM three more first team all-Americans.
More importantly, the Lobos picked up 17 team points in the race and currently lead the women’s team standings with a three-point lead over Oregon and Stanford. For comparative purposes, the 17 points earned in the 5000-meter ties the highest point total that the women’s team has scored at the NCAA indoors in program history.
The sophomore from Virginia ran in the front of the pack in the 16-member race for a good portion of the 5000-meters, with Alicia Monson of Wisconsin pulling away in the bell lap for the event win. Kelati crossed the finish line at 15:32.95, 1.69 seconds behind Monson, to take runner-up in the event and earn eight points for UNM. Kelati improved on her time in last year’s NCAA Championship 5000-meter race by 23.78 seconds and improved her standing by three places while earning her third career indoor first team all-America distinction.
Fiona O’Keeffe finished third in 15:37.61 and Kurgat and Prouse finished essentially simultaneously with times of 15:39.031 and 15:09.036, respectively, to add nine more team points on their fourth- and fifth-place result. Kurgat earned her third indoor all-America honor and Prouse earned her second career indoor all-America honor while at UNM, but the first as a first team all-America and her first in an individual event.
The women also produced the fifth-, seventh- and eighth-fastest times in school history in the race.
Historically, the Lobos now have 26 indoor all-Americans, 12 of which were first team.
The trio return to the track Saturday afternoon for the 3000-meter final at 5:10 p.m. MT to conclude UNM’s events in the two-day championship meet.
In earlier competition on the track, Michael Wilson ran 1:49.97 in the semifinals of the 800-meter run, but unfortunately was not one of the eight that qualified for the event final.