Staff Report
The UNM men's cross country team finished seventh in its final meet at the NCAA Mountain Region Cross Country Championship last weekend at the UNM North Golf Course.
The seventh place finish was not enough to earn an at large bid in the NCAA Championship. The bids were announced Monday.
However, the Lobos will be represented individually by Matt Gonzales.
Gonzales finished with a time 30:36 in the race, good enough for eighth place overall edging Utah's Delfino Arevalo. Gonzales' time was also nearly a minute better than his regional meet time in 2001.
The Santa Fe native is looking to improve on his 30th place finish in last year's NCAA Championship meet where he earned All-American honors.
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Other Lobo runners include sophomore Cameron Clarke who finished 31st with a time of 31:05.
Junior Ben Ortega, who qualified for the NCAA last fall, fought through injuries that had not allowed him to run since Sept. 28, and finished a gutsy 37th with a time of 31:38.
Junior Nick Martinez and freshman Jeremy Johnson finished in 51st and 59th respectively to round up the UNM scoring.
On the women's side, the Lobos dropped two spots from last year's finish, coming in at 14th place. Sarah Gonzales, battling a weeklong illness, finished 74th overall.
She was followed by freshmen Janice Tosa (78th) and Timmie Murphy (84th). Sophomores Vanessa Funston (97th) and Racquel Ricci (99th) rounded out the scoring for UNM.
Top ranked and defending national champions BYU cruised to a victory, while Northern Arizona and Colorado rounded out the top three.
NAU took first place on the men's side with Colorado and BYU coming in second and third respectively.
The NCAA Championship meet takes place on Nov. 25, in Terre Haute, Ind.
