Another meet, another impressive performance by the UNM men's and women's cross-country teams as each took second place in the UNM Lobo Invitational Saturday at the Paradise Hills Golf Course.
Both teams finished behind Mountain West Conference rival the Air Force Academy in the Lobos' first home meet of the season. However, the women's team did have an individual meet winner with sophomore Sarah Gonzales, who won her first collegiate meet.
Gonzales set a personal best in the 6000-meter race with a time of 22 minutes, 25 seconds, finishing 21 seconds ahead of runner-up Jessica Zarnt from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
"That is really tremendous, unbelievable; she stole the race," head coach Matt Henry said. "She ran hard and never looked back. I am really proud of her."
Gonzales had a strong meet, racing out to an early lead, and was not threatened much the rest of the way. Before Saturday, Gonzales had never finished higher than 21st-place in a collegiate cross-country meet, which she achieved in the conference championships last year.
The Lobos' impressive performance did not end with Gonzales as four other Lobos finished in the top-20. Freshmen Jackie Gallegos, Kim Marquis and Sarah Fraher crossed the finish line 11th, 17th and 20th, respectively, while senior Kim Baca finished in 13th place.
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"Our girls' meet was nice, but we will get better," Henry said. "We know we are better than what we are. We just need to put it all together."
The men's team also had a good performance in the 8000-meter race, placing seven Lobos in the top-20, including three runners finishing with personal-bests. Leading the way for the Lobos were sophomores Ben Ortega and Chris Orrell, who finished fourth and fifth with Ortega finishing one second ahead of his teammate. Both Lobos broke their personal best times by nearly a minute.
Sophomores Matt Gonzales, Sean Flaherty and Nick Martinez finished the race in eighth, 15th and 17th place, respectively, including a personal best time by Martinez. Rounding out the top seven were freshman Cameron Clarke, who ended up 18th, senior Travis Clark, 19th and freshman Chad Dawson placing 20th.
"On the men's side, we had a solid performance, but we need some more guys to come through," Henry said. "We'll come around."
It was the second straight meet in which both the men's and women's teams finished in first or second place. In the Lori Fitzgerald Invitational on Aug. 31, the women took home second place, while the men won the meet.
