Parsons named MW Track Athlete of the Week

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A pair of personal bests last week at the New Mexico Team Open earned Lobo senior Stefanie Parsons Mountain West Track Athlete of the Week honors announced by the conference office on Tuesday.

Parsons finished second in the invitational mile last Friday at the Albuquerque Convention Center, running a time of 4:35.51 minutes (converted from 4:41.64) for the best time of her career. She followed with an 800-meters time of 2:07.44 (2:08.15) to place third in that heat and set a PR in the event as well.

“Stef over the last two years has developed into one of the best milers in the country,” said UNM head coach Joe Franklin. “For her to get athlete of the week shows affirmation that she truly is one of the best runners in the NCAA.”

As of Tuesday, Parsons’ mile time was the 15th-best in the NCAA this season, and it was just under four seconds off Weini Kelati’s school record time of 4:31.70 set on Feb. 23, 2019. It is the best mile time by a Mountain West athlete this season, with her teammates Elise Thorner (4:37.27) and Samree Dishon (4:37.68) giving the Lobos’ the top-three spots on the conference performance list. After the altitude conversion, Parsons narrowly edged her previous best time of 4:36.19 minutes which she ran on Jan. 14 at the University of Washington Preview.

This is the first weekly award for Parsons and the third of the year for the Lobos. Rebecca Grieve was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Week on Dec. 6, and Elizabeth White was named the Women’s Field Athlete of the Week last week.

The Lobos are in action again at home this weekend, with the New Mexico Collegiate Classic set to run Friday-Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.