Upload a Photo Upload a Video Add a News article Write a Blog Add a Comment
Blog Feed News Feed Video Feed All Feeds

Folders

 

 

Ednah Kurgat leads New Mexico's total team effort for NCAA women's title

Published by
DyeStat.com   Nov 18th 2017, 10:24pm
Comments

Kurgat leads Lobos 'family' to second NCAA title in three years

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

LOUISVILLE -- The University of New Mexico women had a near-perfect day for the second time in three years, led by individual national champion Ednah Kurgat

Two years ago, when the Lobos won their first national title under coach Joe Franklin, Kurgat finished in 12th place running for Liberty University. 

After sitting out for a year, the sophomore from Kenya was the dominant female in the country this fall and proved it again Saturday at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park. Kurgat broke the course record and covered 6 kilometers in 19 minutes, 19.5 seconds. She was eight seconds clear of second-place finisher Amy-Eloise Neale of Washington. 

"For me, to see my team winning, I'm so overjoyed I don't know how to express this," Kurgat said. 

The women's race got off to an early 9 a.m. start when meet officials adjusted the shifted the schedule an hour and 45 minutes early to avoid an impending storm. 

Wind and blowing leaves did little to affect the race. Rain was a no-show in Louisville until 4 p.m. 

Kurgat put a field of top contenders under pressure early and put a gap on San Francisco's Charlotte Taylor and Boise State's Allie Ostrander by 2 kilometers.

Defending champion Karissa Schweizer kept her eyes on the lead for about half the race but then began to fall back. She finished 11th. 

Colorado, rated by some as the pre-meet favorite after finishing nine points away from the title in 2016, had an off day. Dani Jones, who led the Buffaloes with a 10th-place finish, said injuries and illness took a toll on her team.

San Francisco, winner of the NCAA West Region, had a good day. The Dons led Colorado by five points and New Mexico by 10 points at the 4K mark and ultimately finished second.

Behind Kurgat, New Mexico hit three more times with freshman Weini Kelati taking seventh, junior Charlotte Prouse taking 12th and senior Alice Wright getting 14th for her fourth All-America honor.

"I consider it a huge privilege to be among these girls," Kurgat said after her Mountain regional win. "I count it as one of the great blessings in my life. Despite the challenges (of transferring), all my gratitude to coach Franklin for accepting me, even when I had to sit out for a whole year. He trusted in me and I'm so grateful to have him."

But even with the Lobos putting their excellent top four all in the top 14, the championship could not have been won without freshman Alondra Negron Texidor, who went from 110th to 85th in the final 1,000 meters. 

Negron Texidor ran the final kilometer as fast as Kurgat did.

UNM's sixth, Alex Buck, moved up a few spots as well. 

"I think coming into the race we felt like us three -- myself, Kieran (Casey) and Alondra -- felt like people were going to try and break us at number five," Buck said. "But we're the Lobos. We're a strong family. And we tried to do everything we could to not let that happen.

"We had it in our minds that we were going to completely fly the last 2K for the team."

Neale closed in 3 minutes flat over the final 1,000 meters and rallied from 11th to second. 

"I tried to get as many people as I could," said Neale, who was eighth last year after missing the NCAA meet with injuries in 2014 and 2015. "I didn't start reeling people in until about 2K to go."

Taylor, the NCAA 10,000-meter champion, and Ostrander, the NCAA 3,000-meter steeplechase champion, finished third and fourth, respectively. 

"I feel like I gave my best effort," Taylor said. "(Second) is better than we've ever done before (as a team). We ran well all season and I think we can be proud."

Stanford split 39 seconds on its five scorers, led by Fiona O'Keeffe's 13th-place finish. 

New Mexico's winning total was 90 points. San Francisco was second with 105, followed by Colorado (139), Stanford (165) and Oregon (203).



More news

History for NCAA D1 Cross Country Championships
YearResultsVideosNewsPhotosBlogs
2023 1 75 8 377  
2022 1 20 8 176  
2021 1 49 20 221  
Show 18 more
 
+PLUS highlights
+PLUS coverage
Live Events
Get +PLUS!