Kelati, Kurgat Qualify for NCAA Championships in 10,000m with 1-2 Finish
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SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Sophomore Weini Kelati and senior Ednah Kurgat became the first two members of The University of New Mexico track and field team to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday night after finishing first and second, respectively, in the 10,000-meter race at the NCAA West Preliminary.
From the start, Kelati made her move to gain position in the 48-runner field, using the outside lane to move to the front of the pack, where she would hold until the 25-minute mark of the race at which point she would pull away for the remainder of the race for the win.
She held her position in the front at the 1600-meter mark and with 19 laps to go, Kelati stayed stride for stride with Arkansas runner Taylor Werner for the lead. At 3200-meters, Kelati was second before a slight shuffle of positioning pushed her back to third. Kelati recovered to move back to the front, just a step behind the leader.
Kelati made her final move with a solid push to the front of the lead pack to take the lead and as is often accustomed to doing, pulled away from the rest of the competition. It started with a 40-meter gap with 25-minutes showing on the timer. With six laps to go, Kelati started to lap runners and the gap stretched beyond 50-meters, which grew to 90-meters with a mile to go. Kelati continued to pass runners and was at 30:48 with two laps to go. At the bell lap, the clock showed 32:02 with the Lobo ultimately finishing at 33:15.19.
Kurgat had a different approach in the beginning of the race, staying in the middle of the runners before she followed suit and worked her way through the pack to the outside lane, which she used to move up to the front of the pack of runners in sixth. With 19 laps to go, Kurgat remained in sixth. At the 12:10 mark, Kurgat made a push up to fifth and eventually moved to third, running behind Kelati.
Kurgat ran with the pack in third before ultimately crossing the line 25.38 seconds after her Lobo teammate at 33:40.59 to finish second behind Kelati.
With their top-two finishes, Kelati and Kurgat advance to the championships for the second-straight year, with both runners scheduled to run in the 5,000-meter on Saturday night with both projected to qualify in that event as well.
The Lobos had three runners advance to the quarterfinals of the 800-meter and 1500-meter with Max Wharton and Kristian Hansen in the 800 and Michael Wilson in the 1500.
In the 800-meter, Wharton ran in the front in the first lap, holding a slight lead at the halfway point. Wharton continued to be in the lead around the final turn before ultimately being passed in the backstretch, but was able to finish third at 1:51.71. He edged out the fourth-place finisher Carter Lilly by 0.06 seconds to take the final automatic qualifying spot in the fourth heat to advance to the quarterfinal on Friday.
Hansen ran 1:49.83 (1:49.822) in the fifth heat, finishing sixth in his heat. Hansen was able to advance to the quarterfinals based on time as the fourth next fastest time. Hansen had the 13th-best time overall.
After holding back in the back of the pack, Wilson and Ian Crowe-Wright made their move at the start of the bell lap of the 1500-meter run. Down the backstretch, Wilson went wide to finish fourth in the heat at 3:45.06, earning an automatic spot in Saturday’s quarterfinals. Wilson ran the ninth-fastest time among all runners in the event.
Crowe-Wright ran a season-best 3:45.80 to finish eighth in the heat, but was among the next four best times through two heats. However, he was bumped out in the final heat to miss the cut for the quarterfinal.
Iolo Hughes ran a 3:49.20, missing the cut in the 1500-meter.
In the solo field event of the opening day of competition, Tanner Battikha recorded a 22-10.50 (6.97m) on his third and final attempt in the long jump, while Ryan Chase was unable to record a mark.
UNM will have three events on Friday, starting with Beau Clafton in the javelin at 1 p.m. MT. The Lobos will close out the day with Adva Cohen, Charlotte Prouse and Alexandra Harris in the 3,000 steeplechase at 9:20 p.m. and Jonny Glen in the 3,000 steeplechase at 10 p.m. MT.
FloTrack will stream the preliminary which can be accessed HERE, but will require a subscription. Live stats will also be available HERE.