A pack of Lobos will be on the prowl when the UNM men's and women's cross-country teams take a run at the Mountain West Conference Championships Saturday.
The Lobos are hosting the conference championships, which will be held at the Paradise Hills Golf Course.
Running together is a key for the Lobos as they take on some of the best teams in the country in the conference meet in the women's 6,000-meters and in the men's 8,000-meters.
The conference boasts five ranked teams, three on the men's side and two on the women's side.
The young Lobos have different goals in mind as each team sets its sights on continued improvement.
With seven freshman and three sophomores, the UNM women's team is looking to exceed expectations. The Lobos finished seventh out of eight teams last year in the conference championships and are picked fifth this season.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"I think that if we could just finish fourth that would be unbelievable in this conference," head coach Matt Henry said. "The women are ready to race. That would be so big for our program, finishing fourth."
Henry concedes that second ranked Brigham Young University, 18th-ranked Colorado State University and the Air Force Academy are the top three teams that will be battling for the title.
UNM has posted a successful season after finishing second in two of its three meets, after notching only one second place finish last year.
Leading the way for the Lobos are senior Kim Baca and sophomore Sarah Gonzales. Baca has been the teams most consistent runner because she has three top-25 finishes and holds two of the team's top-10 6K times. Gonzales has stepped in to be the teams number one runner, recording two of the teams best times in the 6K and winning the UNM Lobo Invitational Sept. 22.
The rest of the team will need to increase its pace to stay with the Lobo front-runners.
"We have had a tough time running together; everybody's running at different times," Baca said. "This race we keep telling each other that there is no point you should be comfortable."
The men's side has seen several runners step forward and assume the top spot. Sophomore Chris Orrell won his first collegiate meet Aug. 31 in the Lori Fitzgerald Invitational in the 6,600-meters and Matt Gonzales was victorious in the Arizona State University Invitational Oct. 5th.
However, sophomore Ben Ortega said the team has been struggling this season running consistently, usually having only one runner a meet doing well while the others struggle.
He said that for the team to do well, everybody must run together.
"We have been trying to drill each other to run as a pack and reduce our pack time, which is reduce the time between our first man and our fifth man," Ortega said. "That is how you win cross-country meets."
The men's side has high expectations going into the meet after it had one of its best seasons in years. The Lobos won two meets earlier this season and finished second in another.
The competition will be stiff again, with UNM battling ninth-ranked Air Force, 16th-ranked BYU and No. 22 Colorado State.
However, that does not stop sophomore Ben Ortega from expecting big things from the Lobos.
"Our team has the ability to beat all those teams," he said. "I believe in our guys and I believe we are going to pull it together and do something special for the conference meet."
UNM will be running at the golf course for the second time this year after posting second place finishes for both teams at the Lobo Invitational. Air Force won both the meets.
Henry said being at home gives the Lobos an edge against their opponents.
"It's home, we get to sleep in our own beds, we get to eat the same food we have been eating all the time," he said. "So that is a big advantage. Plus, running in front of the people we get to run in front of. We're hoping everyone will show up wearing red shirts."
The women's meet is at 10 a.m. and the men's race is at 10:45 a.m.
