All-American Wright ready for a big season
Star runner spent summer in ABQ
UNM All-American runner Alice Wright generally heads to a cooler climate in the summer, but this year she remained in Albuquerque.
“I had always wanted to stay a summer in Albuquerque, just so I didn’t have to get used to the altitude change again,” said the junior from Worcester, England, where the average high summer temperature is 72 degrees.
When Albuquerque hit a string of 100-degree days this summer, she questioned her decision.
“Everybody told me it would be a bit cooler,” she said. “So that was interesting. But it was really, really nice. I’m glad I stayed. It definitely gave me a good base for this crosscountry season.”
Last season, Wright helped New Mexico win the NCAA championship. She finished
in the top 10 in all four of her meets in 2015, including a fifthplace showing at the NCAAs.
“We’ve had some very, very good distance runners on the men’s and women’s side,” UNM coach Joe Franklin said. “And she’s clearly one of the best.”
Wright missed her freshman season because of an injury.
“For her to come back and do what she’s done at such a consistently high level is very impressive,” Franklin said. “Usually there’s peaks and valleys, peaks and valleys. And that has not been the case with her.”
Wright followed her All-American status in the fall, with an All-American effort in the spring. She finished second in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA meet after having led the first 8,000 meters.
“As the last few laps came up, I was getting pretty nervous,” she said.
The field drew closer, then threatened to swallow her.
“I was going to hold my ground, no matter how bad I was feeling,” Wright said. “I was so pleased it managed to pay off and I got second. Obviously, you want to win, but I think I thought I was headed for eighth in the last mile. So to get second in the end, I was pleased with that.”
Then-UNM teammate Courtney Frerichs, who went on to win the NCAA steeplechase title at that meet, said she used Wright’s performance as an inspiration for her own effort. Franklin is not surprised. “Alice has that intense determination,” the coach said. “It’s a very positive trait she has. She gets very dialed in in her races. She gets very focused and knows exactly what she wants to do. She changes a little bit. Everyone goes through their proverbial, cliche, game face. But she changes and gets very dialed in, which is a positive for her.”
UNM’s cross-country season begins in earnest Friday at the Notre Dame Invitational, a meet the Lobo women won last year.
“As coach Franklin says, expect nothing, achieve everything,” Wright said. “I don’t think any of us are going in with any set of expectations. But I know I’ve worked hard and I know I’m going to try as hard as I can to have the best season I possibly can.”