by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
Matt Gonzales led the men's cross country team to a fourth-place finish at the Rocky Mountain Regional Championships, likely earning the team an at-large bid to this year's national meet.
The Lobos finished behind Air Force, runner-up BYU and regional champion Colorado.
Gonzales, a two-time cross-country All-American, won the race in a career best time of 29:45. Gonzales stayed with the front pack for the entire 10,000-meter race before pulling away from UTEP's Mircea Bogdan in the last stretch to claim the Regional Championship.
Though Gonzalez was happy with the win, he said he was proud to see that his entire team might make the trip to nationals with him.
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"I'm very excited about the team," he said. "Our guys came up huge today."
Senior Ben Ortega finished in 8th place overall with a time of 30:07. Ortega's performance helped put the Lobos in position to place as one of the top teams.
"I am proud to represent UNM, and very happy to have us competing at the national level," he said.
Following Gonzales and Ortega for the Lobos was sophomore Stephen Martinez who placed 40th overall with a time of 31:14.
The Lobos had a successful meet despite missing one of their top runners. Freshman Shadrack Biwott was out with a stomach virus.
"This is a day I'll never forget," head coach Matt Henry said. "We've missed at least one of our guys every meet this year. We were faced with that again today, and the guys stepped up to the challenge."
The NCAA Championship Committee will get together to decide the final 31 teams competing for the national championship in Indiana. With the strong performance and a No. 20 national ranking, the Lobo men are likely to be picked to compete for the big prize on Nov. 14.
In the women's race, senior Jacquelyne Gallegos finished 8th and earned herself a ticket to Indiana with the men's team. In the 6,000-meter course, Gallegos crossed the finish line in 21:03.
"We knew all year that she was in the running to make it to nationals," assistant coach Kelly Dunbar said. "She had a nice group of girls to train with."
That group of girls did not make it to nationals as a team.
Freshman Lindsay Barr came in second for the Lobos, finishing 61st with a time of 22:49. Trailing her was sophomore Riann Lucy (23:13) at 79th, and junior Janice Tosa (23:15) in 80th place.
Gallegos' teammates said they were happy for her and are looking forward to a bright future.
"This is a perfect way to end our season," Lucy said. "We ran as a team and finished strong."
