6 Lobos Named to MW 25th Anniversary Indoor T&F Team
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – As part of the Mountain West’s celebration of its 25th Season of excellence on and off the field of play, the conference recognized its Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track & Field 25th Season Teams, with two UNM women’s runners and four Lobo men named to the lists.
UNM’s two honorees on the women’s side — Weini Kelati and Ednah Kurgat — both also earned spots on the MW 25th Anniversary Cross Country Team earlier in the fall. UNM’s four male athlete selections — Django Lovett, Lee Emmanuel, Josh Kerr and Kendall Spencer — are the second-most of any team in the conference.
The Mountain West’s Indoor Track & Field 25th Season Teams feature Conference champions, national champions, all-time and championship record holders and award winners.
Below are the 25th Season Teams for men’s and women’s indoor track & field as compiled from the Mountain West 25th Season Committee, comprised of members from the 11 full-time institutions.
Lee Emmanuel
A former walk-on who became one of UNM’s most decorated runners, Emmanuel defended his NCAA indoor mile crown in 2010 to become the first Lobo to win consecutive titles as UNM finished 8th in the team standings. Emmanuel was named MWC Indoor Athlete of the Year for his efforts after winning the 800m and the mile and finished sixth in the 1500m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships that season.
Django Lovett
Won the Mountain West Championship in the high jump in 2013, clearing 6-11 to earn his first indoor MW crown. Followed up with another conference title in 2014 at Mountain West Indoor Championships, clearing a personal-best 7-2 ½ (2.20). Reached NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2012 and 2013.
Josh Kerr
Posted a tremendous indoor campaign in the middle-distance events in his first season of competition, capping the season with his first individual NCAA title. After punching his ticket to the NCAA Championships via his first-place time of 3:58.04 in the mile set at the Don Kirby Invitational, Kerr won the mile and helped anchor the Lobos’ distance medley relay team to a victory at the Mountain West Championships, running 3:58.11* in the mile and splitting 4:02.2 in the 1,600-meter leg of the DMR. At the NCAA Championships, Kerr upset Oregon’s Edward Cheserek to win the national title in the mile with a time of 4:03.22 to become the first Lobo to win the NCAA title in the mile since Lee Emanuel in 2010. He accomplished another feat that hadn’t been done since Emannuel the next season with his second consecutive mile national title.
Weini Kelati
Ran the final leg of the DMR at the Mountain West Indoor Championships that won in 11:02.10 to earn MW All-Conference honors in 2020, qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the mile, the 3000-meter, the 5000-meter and the DMR that year.
Kelati later finished sixth in the 3000-meter at the NYRR Millrose Games in 8:54.66 as one of only two collegiate runners.
Ran the fourth-fastest time recorded in collegiate indoor history in the 5000-meter at the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener with a time of 15:14.71 – a new school record as well as the MW record. Named Mountain West Women’s Indoor Track and Field Student-Athlete of the Year following the 2020 season.
Ednah Kurgat
Kurgat finished fourth in the 5000-meter final at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship in 2019 to earn first team All-America after running 15:39.031, also posting a time of 9:11.80 for a ninth-place finish in the 3000-meter final for a second team all-America honor.
Kurgat competed in both the 3000 and the mile at the Mountain West Championships in 2018, winning the 3000 (4:41.30*) and placing third in the mile (4:40.30*) while helping her team place second in the DMR (10:57.77*) setting a UNM record. She competed in both the 3000 and the 5000 at the 2018 NCAA Championships, placing eighth in the 3000 (9:03.81) and second in the 5000 (15:47.46)
MW 25th Season Men’s Indoor Track and Field Team
- Sam Gilman, Air Force
- Travis Picou, Air Force
- Michael Rhoads, Air Force
- Jamiel Trimble, Air Force
- Josh Uhle, Air Force
- Leif Arrhenius, BYU
- Miles Batty, BYU
- David Pendergrass, BYU
- Robinson Pratt, BYU
- Bryan Berryhill, Colorado State
- Trevor Brown, Colorado State
- Mostafa Hassan, Colorado State
- Drew Loftin, Colorado State
- Django Lovett, New Mexico
- Lee Emmanuel, New Mexico
- Josh Kerr, New Mexico
- Kendall Spencer, New Mexico
- Jackson Langat, TCU
- Nic Bowens, Utah State
- Clay Lambourne, Utah State
- Mason Finley, Wyoming
- Jason Gervais, Wyoming
- Quincy Howe, Wyoming
- Jeremiah James, Wyoming
- Jake Shanklin, Wyoming
MW 25th Season Women’s Indoor Track and Field Team
- Shelley Spires, Air Force
- Emma Bates, Boise State
- Alexis Fuller, Boise State
- Alli Ostrander, Boise State
- Lacey Bleazard, BYU
- Amy Menlove, BYU
- Lauren Gale, Colorado State
- Lexie Keller, Colorado State
- Loree Smith, Colorado State
- Nicola Ader, Nevada
- Weini Kelati, New Mexico
- Ednah Kurgat, New Mexico
- Bonnie Draxler, San Diego State
- Ashley Henderson, San Diego State
- Karoline Koehler, San Diego State
- Allison Reaser, San Diego State
- Shanieka Thomas, San Diego State
- Whitney Gipson, TCU
- Virgil Hodge, TCU
- Michelle Davis, UNLV
- Rosa Santana, UNLV
- Destiny Smith-Barnett, UNLV
- Chari Hawkins, Utah State
- Jessica Fox, Wyoming
- Shauna Smith, Wyoming