7 Lobos Named to MW 25th Anniversary Outdoor 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 Outdoor Track & Field 25th Season Teams, with four UNM women’s athletes and three Lobo men named to the lists.
Two UNM 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 as well as the 25th Anniversary Indoor Track & Field Team released in February. 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 Lobos’ seven total honorees across both the men’s and women’s lists is the second-most of any MW instruction behind Colorado State’s eight. Those two are the only schools with at least three representatives on both lists.
The Mountain West’s Outdoor 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.
Josh Kerr
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.
Kerr’s 3:35.01 1500m time on April 20, 2018 at the Bryan Clay Invitational still stands as the fastest in UNM outdoor history.
Kendall Spencer
Spencer won two MW individual titles in the long jump, finishing on the conference podium and reaching NCAA Prelims in the event all four years that he competed outdoors — In his final season of outdoor competition in 2014, Spencer took second in the long jump and third in the 4×100 at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships, leaping 25-2 ¾ (7.69) in the long jump. Spencer went on to advance to the NCAA West Preliminary Round in the long jump, tying for 17th with a mark of 24 ¼ (7.32).
In 2013, he won the MW long jump title with a mark of 24-6 1/2 (7.48m) and reached the NCAA West Preliminary Round, just missing the NCAA finals (13th) with a mark of 24-10 1/2 (7.58m).
Alice Wright
Alice Wright’s four-year run was one of the most consistent and accomplished of any Lobo athletes in program history. Wright finished on the MW podium in the 5,000m four times and was conference champ in the event in 2017 — she also was the conference 10,000m champ in 2015, going on to finish as NCAA runner-up in that event in back to back years and finishing fourth in her final season of competition in 2018 to make it four straight seasons in which she finished among the Top Eight in the nation. She finished her career with seven track & field All-American honors and four First Team All-MW honors.
Courtney Frerichs
After transferring to UNM by way of UMKC, Frerichs put together one of the most dominant single-season efforts in program history — she still holds the UNM women’s 3,00m steeplechase record with her 9:24.41 time from June 11, 2016 at NCAA Championships. Frerichs took second in the 1500 at the Mountain West Championships (4:25.77) and breezed through the steeplechase at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, clocking a winning time of 9:51.48 — she went on to win the NCAA title in the 3000 steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, dominating the field to win in an NCAA-record time of 9:24.41. After finishing her career with four of the top 10 steeplechase times in NCAA history between her time at New Mexico and UMKC, Frerichs was a semifinalist for the Bowerman Award and was named MW Scholar-Athlete of the Year, MW Athlete of the Year and was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. She took second in the steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, advancing to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where she placed 11th in the finals with a time of 9:22.87.
Weini Kelati
One of the most decorated distance runners in UNM history with 13 All-American honors, Kelati still holds indoor program records in the mile (4:31.70), 3,000m (8:53.98) and 5,000m (15:14.71).
In her final season of outdoor competition in 2019, Kelati was an NCAA Champion in the 10,000-meters after winning with a facility record time of 33:10.84 and finished fifth in the 5000-meter (15:54.46) to add two more First Team All-America honors. Following the season’s conclusion she was named the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year. She broke the school and MWC meet record in the 10,000m with a time of 32:09.10 ran at the Mountain West Championships for her first conference title.
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. She was 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 still holds the program record in the outdoor 5,000m (15:20.06) from May 3, 2018 at the Payton Jordan Invitational.
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 Outdoor Track and Field Team
1. Sam Gilman, Air Force
2. Michael Rhoads, Air Force
3. Cale Simmons, Air Force
4. Jamiel Trimble, Air Force
5. Josh McAdams, BYU
6. Leif Arrenius, BYU
7. Niklas Arrenius, BYU
8. Rodrigo Mendes, BYU
9. Kyle Perry, BYU
10. Robison Pratt, BYU
11. Kurt Felix, Boise State
12. Brian Berryhill, Colorado State
13. Trevor Brown, Colorado State
14. Eric Hamer, Colorado State
15. Mostafa Hassan, Colorado State
16. Drew Loftin, Colorado State
17. Lee Emmanuel, New Mexico
18. Josh Kerr, New Mexico
19. Kendall Spencer, New Mexico
20. Demaris Waters, San José State
21. Charles Simon, TCU
22. Sindri Gudmundsson, Utah State
23. Mason Finley, Wyoming
24. Jason Gervais, Wyoming
25. Quincy Howe, Wyoming
MW 25th Season Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Team
1. Mahala Norris, Air Force
2. Emma Bates, Boise State
3. Allie Ostrander, Boise State
4. Kristie Schoffield, Boise State
5. Kassi Andersen, BYU
6. Lexie Keller, Colorado State
7. Shadae Lawrence, Colorado State
8. Loree Smith, Colorado State
9. Nicola Ader, Nevada
10. Courtney Frerichs, New Mexico
11. Ednah Kurgat, New Mexico
12. Alice Wright, New Mexico
13. Weini Kelati, New Mexico
14. Whitney Ashley, San Diego State
15. Tonette Dyer, San Diego State
16. Bonnie Draxler, San Diego State
17. Ashley Henderson, San Diego State
18. Allison Reaser, San Diego State
19. Shanieka Thomas, San Diego State
20. Whitney Gipson, TCU
21. Amanda Bingson, UNLV
22. Destiny Smith-Barnett, UNLV
23. Avi’Tal Wilson Perteete, UNLV
24. Chari Hawkins, Utah State
25. Shauna Smith, Wyoming