Lobos Conclude NCAA Indoor Championships in Historic Fashion
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— Following a successful first day of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in which The University of New Mexico women’s track and field team scored 17 team points behind three top-five finishers, the women’s team made program history on Saturday afternoon at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
With just one event on the day for the Lobos, the trio of Weini Kelati, Ednah Kurgat and Charlotte Prouse lined up for the 3000-meter and added to their team total, finishing the two-day championship meet with 23 points and a fifth-place finish in the team standings.
The 23 points are the most points scored not only by a UNM women’s team, but the most points scored by UNM period at the indoor championships. The 23 points were enough for a fifth-place overall finish in the team standings, an improvement of five places from last season in which the women finished tied for 10th with 17 points, which at the time was a program best for both points and standing.
The fifth-place finish is the highest all-time finish in the team standings in the women’s program history and the last time that UNM had any team finish in the top five was in 1967 when the men’s team finished tied for fifth with 12 team points.
In addition, the last time a non-Power 5 school finished in the top five of the women’s team standings was UCF in 2013.
Kelati once again led the Lobos, posting a time of 9:02.44 for a third-place result and six team points. The third-place finish is the highest a Lobo runner has ever finished in the 3000-meter at the indoor championships on the women’s side or on the men’s side.
The sophomore runner navigated the 15 laps predominately in the front pack, moving up to fourth within the first four laps, a position she held with six laps remaining. Kelati made her move with five laps to go into the lead and held her standing for the next two laps. Oregon’s Jessica Hull and Arkansas’ Taylor Werner remained in contact with Kelati and made their pass with two laps remaining to push the Virginia native back to third, where she would remain through the finish line. Her third-place finish resulted in the second first team all-America honor for Kelati on the weekend and pushed UNM into historic territory. Her time was 1.07 seconds better than last year’s time in the 3000-meter championship race and was an improvement of two spots in the standings.
Her performance this weekend also marked the second year that Kelati has finished with two first team all-America honors.
Kurgat finished one place outside of scoring, running 9:11.80 for a ninth-place finish. She finishes with a second team all-America honor, as did Prouse, who ran 9:15.28 for an 11th-place result.
With the conclusion of the indoor championship comes the conclusion of the indoor track and field season for UNM. The Lobos will have a short break before UNM opens the outdoor portion on the weekend of March 28th.