Kurgat, UNM women continue dominant run
MWC championship is their 10th straight
No. 10 hardly could have been more perfect.
The University of New Mexico women’s cross country team earned its 10th consecutive Mountain West Conference championship in dominating style Friday morning. UNM’s Ednah Kurgat easily took the individual championship while the Lobos rolled through the finish line with four of the top five finishers at UNM North Golf Course.
New Mexico, which is ranked second nationally, finished with 22 team points to easily outscore runner-up Boise State (50 points) and third-place Utah State (73) in the 10-team field. The Broncos and Aggies are ranked eighth and 12th nationally, respectively.
“That was impressive,” Kurgat said of her team’s finish. “I looked back (at the finish line) and saw all my teammates coming in and I
was so happy. It was a great effort.”
Kurgat had a unique perspective on the women’s race from far out in front. She finished the 6-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 58.77 seconds, nearly 13 seconds ahead of runner-up and UNM teammate Weini Kelati. New Mexico’s Charlotte Prouse finished third, and 2016 Mountain West champ Alice Wright battled through illness to finish fifth. Boise State’s Allie Ostrander came in fourth to break up the Lobos’ front-running pack.
The course, which winds through the nine-hole golf course, begins fittingly on the first hole and ends on the ninth. Kurgat quickly broke from a pack of 83 runners and had the lead by the No. 1 green, steadily expanding it through the final fairway.
“She’s awesome,” Kelati said of her Kenyan teammate. “Ednah always likes to get out ahead. We just try to do our own work and know she’s going to take care of hers.”
With several hundred fans cheering them on, the Lobos placed all seven of their women’s runners among the top 20. Sophie Eckel finished 11th to record UNM’s final scoring time, Alex Buck was 12th and Alondra Negron was 20th.
“It’s always fun running in front of friends and family,” UNM coach Joe Franklin said, “and we ran really well. This is one of the best women’s training groups in the country and they showed it today.”
Ninth-ranked Colorado State took top honors in the men’s 8K race, with Rams Jerrell Mock and Cole Rockhold finishing 1-2. CSU finished with 31 points, followed by Air Force (59), Boise State (64), Utah State (93) and New Mexico (97) in the eightteam field.
Josh Kerr posted the best individual finish for the Lobos, seventh in the 65-runner field to earn first-team All-Conference honors. Alex Palm was UNM’s second finisher in 12th place.
“I wanted top five and just missed out on that,” Kerr said, “but I can’t be unhappy. The race was made around 4K (when Mock and Rockhold pulled away from the lead pack), and I knew I couldn’t go with them. I just had to work hard after that, stay toward the front and do the best I could.”
Franklin pointed out that UNM finished just four points behind 19th-ranked Utah State in the team standings.
“I thought the guys ran well,” he said. “I think we showed that if we put it all together, we could be running at nationals.”
Both UNM squads compete next in the NCAA Mountain Region Championships in Logan, Utah, on Nov. 10. The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships are Nov. 18 in Louisville, Ky.
AWARDS: Kurgat was named MWC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year, while Kelati was honored as the league’s top freshman. Franklin was selected as the conference’s women’s coach of the year.