Kelati Cruises to MW Title, Sets Records on Day Two

FRESNO, Calif.— From the moment the starters toed the line and took their first steps in the Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships women’s 10,000-meter race on Thursday night, it was evident that The University of New Mexico sophomore Weini Kelati was not going to be caught.   

For Kelati, the mission was all about registering a qualifying time and in the process the Lobo shattered records and illustrated her rightful place among the best in the sport.

Kelati got out quickly and ran into the lead from the start, creating separation and building on it before ultimately winning the race by 2:08.46 with her 32:09.10 championship performance.
 

Way to go, Weini!#GoLobos https://t.co/1kgj0WI1Un

— New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) May 10, 2019

Just two laps in to the 25-lap race, Kelati had built a 21.02 second lead, which doubled to 43.82 seconds four laps in. With 18 laps remaining, the UNM distance runner lapped her first pair of runners and continued to pick off runners until she had officially lapped the entire field of 20 runners.
 

And Weini has officially lapped the entire field.#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/PPGh3xSfWD

— New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) May 10, 2019

Kelati continued to maintain her pace, eventually double lapping the majority of the field en route to a historic finish and a time of 32:09.10.

At the basic level of what Kelati accomplished was a qualifying time for the NCAA Championships, running the third-best time in the NCAA this season, as well as winning the MW 10,000-meter title, the first outdoor conference championship of her career.

Beyond that, however, was a multitude of records that were re-written.

In just her second-ever 10,000-meter race, Kelati shattered the MW Championship record by more than 20 seconds, a time that fellow Lobo Ednah Kurgat set in 2018 with her time of 32:31.55. In that same race, Kelati finished second at 32:41.92, a difference of 32.82 seconds between her time last year and this year.

She broke the school record held by another Lobo great in Alice Wright by 6.63 seconds, a record that was established a year ago on March 30.

In the only other Lobo event on the second day of competition, sophomore Camillo Dünninger concluded the decathlon, maintaining his third-place result from the first day through the majority of the final five events, earning 7269 points in the combined events to secure six team points towards the men’s standings.

Dünninger ran the third-best time of 15.36 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles to start off the second day with 807 more points.

After gaining 645 points in the discus with a distance of 129-1 (39.04m) on his second attempt, the Lobo picked up 746 points in the pole vault, clearing 14-7.25 (4.45m) on his second attempt, while being the third height he attempted.

Dünninger had the top mark in the javelin with a 197-9 (60.27m) on his second throw to add 742 points and moved up one spot in to second with one event remaining.  

In the final event of the competition, Dünninger ran 4:38.91 in the 1500-meter to finish with 687 more points, bringing his total to 7269.  Dünninger finished just three points behind second place and 117 points behind the winner, Hunter Powell of Colorado State.

With Kelati’s 10 points, the Lobo women are tied for third in the team’s standings while the six points from Dünninger place the men in fifth.

Day three of the championships start at 3 p.m. MT with the women’s hammer and 6 p.m. MT on the track with the men’s 1500-meters. 

 Live results will be available HERE with a stream available on FloTrack, which can be found HERE.