Staff Report
Shadrack Biwott and Matt Gonzalez came in first and second, respectively, and helped the 23rd-ranked Lobos to a third-place finish at this weekend's Mountain West Conference Cross Country Championships.
With the win, Biwott became the first New Mexico runner to win a conference championship since 1966.
No. 10 Brigham Young was the overall winner, followed by No. 12 Air Force, UNM and No. 17 Colorado State.
The third-place finish matches head coach Matt Henry's best conference record in his five years with the program, and the team's 69 points were the lowest at a conference meet since 1988.
Jacquelyne Gallegos placed fourth on the women's side and earned All-MWC honors. She finished the 6,000-meter race in 22:16. BYU's Laura Turner was the winner, 53 seconds ahead of Gallegos.
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Despite Gallegos's strong showing, the Lobo women finished sixth out of the eight teams competing. No. 12 BYU won its 17th-straight conference title. No. 23 Colorado State was second.
Gallegos's performance was the best finish by a Lobo woman since 1992.
In the 8,000-meter men's race, Henry said Gonzales took a wrong turn and suffered a slight delay. The slip-up proved to be inconsequential, however, as he and Biwott pulled away from the pack and sprinted down the final stretch together.
Biwott is only the fourth runner in the program's history to win a conference cross country title. He also earned MWC Runner of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors. Gonzalez was named All-MWC for the third time in three years.
Junior Cameron Clarke ran his best race of the year for the men, finishing 14th. He was named to the all-conference second team.
The Lobos next run in the season's biggest event - the NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Nov. 11, with team and individual berths in the national championships on the line.
