The Lobos head into this weekend's NCAA Mountain Region Championships with their season on the line and one of their best runners out of commission.
Freshman Shadrack Biwott, the 2004 Mountain West Conference champion, is too sick to compete after coming down with a stomach virus.
"He's really sick right now," head coach Matt Henry said. "It's hurting him really bad. He's been dehydrated, and it's so unfortunate that it hit right now."
Henry said Biwott came down with a similar condition last year at about the same time.
Despite the loss, the 20th-ranked Lobos still expect to compete for a top spot in the meet and a trip to the NCAA Championship on Nov. 22.
"We have a good group of guys," Henry said. "We know what we have to do this weekend, and we'll do what we need to."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
All-American Matt Gonzalez will lead the remaining Lobos, including Cameron Clarke who finished 14th at the conference championship, as well as Nate Clem, Steven Martinez and Juan and Ben Ortega.
The men will be facing a daunting field that includes six top-30 schools. Fourth-ranked Colorado, No. 9 BYU, No. 14 Air Force, No. 24 Colorado State and No. 28 Northern Arizona are all vying for one of the top two spots, which automatically qualifies a team for the NCAAs.
But besides the automatic berths, at-large spots are also up for grabs. Henry said eight teams have been selected from this region to play in the national championship in the past.
"But hopefully we won't need to rely on that," he said.
On the women's side, Henry said the team's sole shot at more postseason running is Jacquelyne Gallegos, who finished fourth in the conference meet and was named first team all-MWC.
"I can't see our women's team qualifying at all based on what we've done this year," Henry said. "That's not a chop on anybody, it's just realistic. But I think Jackie will qualify individually."
Henry still sees the meet as important for the women's team, he said
"We're still in a very good situation, as far as the great experience we'll get," he said.
The Lobo men have not made it to the NCAA national championship meet since 1988. They will face a 10,000-meter run, longer than regular-season distance, while the woman will run 6,000 meters.
