Both the men’s and the women’s New Mexico cross country teams will be packing their bags to compete in the national championships.
The women were able to breathe easier knowing they were headed to Terre Haute, Indiana, directly following the second-place finish in the 6-kilometer race at the UNM North Golf Course on Friday.
The men, on the other hand, did not get an automatic bid to the national stage following their seventh-place 10-kilometer bid at the Mountain Region Championships. Instead, the Lobos earned an at-large bid from the Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee on Saturday.
“It was a really good run for the women,” head coach Joe Franklin said. “For the men, I’m not sure what happened.”
Redshirt freshman Alice Wright came in first place for the Lobos despite losing track of the number of kilometers she had run. Wright said she decided to make a move at the 4k mark, but did so when she was only at the 3 kilometer plateau.
The mental mistake wasn’t an issue, however, as Wright had plenty of time to spare on her 20:51.10 run. The England native said not having to travel for the Mountain Region Championships gave her an advantage.
“The support was absolutely amazing,” Wright said. “I feel very at home here, and just having everyone around makes it fun.”
The No. 9 UNM women’s cross country team had three runners finish in the top ten, and the team as a whole ended the day with 56 points, falling short of Colorado’s 43. BYU came next, finishing in third place with 112 points.
Wright said the team did not have to finish first to come out of the race victorious, although finishing first would have been nice.
“Obviously we all want the win,” Wright said. “But we weren’t going in for the win; it was more that we made sure that we qualified for nationals.”
Franklin said Wright is improving rapidly in her redshirt freshman campaign which led to a great day for the women overall.
“She keeps getting better and better and really put the hammer down in the last mile,” Franklin said. “The women were outstanding.”
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On the other hand, the No. 13 male runners didn’t have a single runner finish in the top 10, and only senior Ross Matheson finished in the top 25.
Franklin said he was baffled by the men’s finish, but he knows that it wasn’t due to lack of effort.
“You’re never disappointed,” Franklin said. “We struggled, and I’m not sure why.”
Even though both teams didn’t get an automatic bid, the men and women will be headed to the championships together for a sixth straight year. UNM is just the third team in the nation to send both genders to the NCAA Division 1 National Cross Country Championships from 2009-2014.
Whether it is a runner-up placement at the Mountain Region Championship or an at-large bid, both the men and women will be competing on Saturday among the nation’s best.
Liam Cary-Eaves is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
