Open Announce

Lobos Land Transfer Fiona O'Keeffe

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The University of New Mexico track and field team received a big-name transfer in All-American runner Fiona O’Keeffe.

An elite distance runner, O’Keeffe joins the Lobos with a long list of accolades after competing four years at Stanford in both track and cross country.

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Most recently, she won the Pac-12 individual cross country championship in 2019 and went on to become an All-American with a 27th-place finish at the NCAA Championships, her fourth All-America honor in cross country. In addition, she was named the Pac-12 Women’s Athlete of the Year, All-Pac-12 First Team and led the Cardinal to a Pac-12 team championship in 2019.

O’Keeffe mainly competed in the 5,000-meter and the 3000-meter on The Farm, winning two MPSF championships in the 3,000-meter, broke a school record in the indoor 5,000-meter and landed on the all-time list in the mile and the 3,000 indoors, as well as the 5,000 outdoors. Throughout her career, she would go on to collect two outdoor first team All-America honors, one indoor first team All-America selection and one indoor second team All-America honor. 

As a freshman, the California native earned her first All-America First Team honor on the track in the 5,000-meter after breaking her then-personal best by nine seconds at 15:46.93 to finish fifth at the NCAA outdoor championships.

The next year, as a sophomore, the new Lobo finished 10th at the NCAA indoor championship in the 3000-meter to earn second team All-American honors, following a title in the MPSF 3,000-meter championship. In the outdoor season that year, the UNM graduate transfer set a lifetime best in the 5,000-meter with a time of 15:34.44 and moved to 10th all-time in Stanford program history in the event.

Her junior year, she broke the indoor school record twice in the 5,000-meter, first with a time of 15:37.61 and then with 15:35.77 and later went on to add a first team All-American nod with a third-place result in the 5000 at the NCAA championship. She also repeated as the MPSF 3,000-meter champion. During the outdoor season, O’Keeffe turned in a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championship in the 5000-meter for another All-America First Team nod, her second of the track season.

After completing the 2019 cross country season, she did not compete in the latest indoor season.

O’Keeffe finished her career at Stanford ninth in the 5,000-meter outdoor, third in the 3,000-meter indoor and the record holder in the 5,000-meter indoor with a time of 15:35.77. On the all-time freshman list, she currently sits third in the outdoor 5,000-meter and fourth in the outdoor 3,000-meter.

Academically, O’Keeffe was named CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team, USTFCCCA All-Academic, MPSF All-Academic and Pac-12 All-Academic First Team as a junior, and Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team, MPSF All-Academic and USTFCCCA All-Academic as a sophomore. In her final season at Stanford, O’Keeffe picked up a Pac-12 All-Academic honor roll selection.

Prior to her collegiate career, O’Keeffe won the 5,000-meters at the 2016 U.S. junior nationals, setting the meet record with a 15:56.84 and qualified for the World Under-20 Championships in Poland.
 

In addition, O’Keeffe joins her sister Olivia in Albuquerque, who is currently a sophomore cross country and distance runner for the Lobos.