A pack of Lobos crossed the finish line together at the Mountain West Conference Championships on Friday in Reno, Nevada.
What appears to be the top women’s cross country team in the country captured the conference title for the eighth year in the row.
Head coach Joe Franklin was also named Mountain West Women’s Coach of the Year for the eighth consecutive time.
“The women did great,” Franklin said in a release. “They did a good job of making sure they got through the course. They ran a really good race. It was a little surreal, almost.”
The Lobos finished the Mountain West Cross Country Championships in dominant fashion. Seven UNM runners from the women’s team finished in the top 12 for the 6-kilometer race.
Courtney Frerichs led the charge, finishing in second place (22:05.19).
Not long after, Alice Wright (22:24.12) placed fourth, Rhona Auckland (22:39.98) fifth, Molly Renfer (22:54.01) sixth, Calli Thackery (22:55.14) seventh and Heleene Tambet (22:55.47) eighth.
Emily Hosker-Thornhill finished 12th (22:55.47).
UNM’s top five finishers have remained consistent, and all five received First-Team All-Mountain West honors. It is the first time five teammates have received that distinction in the program since 2002.
Boise State’s Allie Ostrander turned in the top time, but with the Lobos running so efficiently, the scoring wasn’t even close. UNM logged a team score of just 24 points, with Boise State finishing a distant 2nd with 71 points.
The 47-point margin of victory is the largest since 2005.
The men’s streak of six consecutive Mountain West Conference Championships came to a close as they finished 5th.
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The men were not able to run as tightly as they had hoped. Elmar Engholm turned in the best time for the men’s team, finishing in sixth (26:43.73).
Dan Milechman finished 11th (27:03.44), but there was a large gap across the team: Graham Thomas finished 26th (27:56.26), Josh Kerr 37th (28:16.58) and Zac Castillo 47th (29:03.35).
“People may look at the results and say, ‘Oh, you got fifth,’” Franklin said in the statement. “Well, we did. They gave everything they could. We just weren’t there today.”
Colorado State’s Jerrell Mock finished 1st in the men’s race, but it was Air Force that placed three finishers in the top 10 to win the event, posting a score of 49. The Lobos finished with a team score of 120.
Even though the women’s team has dominated its competition throughout the season thus far, it continues to show improvement from one event to the next, placing more finishers in the top 10 each race. The men have also showed improvement and hope to make the most out of the next opportunity.
The men will still have a chance to clinch a spot at nationals by placing in the top two at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships.
This will be the first opportunity for Albuquerque to see the team at home, as UNM will host the event at the UNM North Golf Course on Nov. 13.
Robert Maler is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
