Just one year after cross country head coach Matt Henry saw his men's team finish in ninth place at the NCAA Championships, the Lobo squad suffered another big loss earlier this summer.
After seniors Matt Gonzales, Ben Ortega, Sean Flaherty and Nick Martinez - all key to last year's squad - graduated, Shadrack Biwott packed up his bags and left UNM for The University of Oregon, according to Henry.
Biwott was one of the many shining stars for the UNM men's team last season, garnering All-American honors with his 14th-place finish at the NCAA Championships as a freshman. He also won the Mountain West Conference Championships and had another first-place finish at the UNM home meet.
After that successful cross country season, Biwott went on to struggle a little bit in the 2004 indoor and 2005 outdoor track seasons. He failed to qualify for the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships after placing 14th at the cross-country NCAA Championships.
Henry said that is when Biwott began getting frustrated.
"He got discouraged during that last track season," he said. "He didn't run as good as we would have liked him to, but he was hurt a lot during the season."
Henry said the departure of Shadrack did not make him happy and it was not a fun subject to talk about.
"He's a great athlete and everything, but he didn't want to be here and we have some guys who really want to be here," he said.
As for why Biwott decided to leave UNM after just one year, Henry said there were a few reasons.
"Basically he didn't feel like he was getting the right coaching and he didn't feel like he was welcome with the team," he said.
Henry also said the move came as a surprise to him, as many were looking forward to seeing Biwott improve and lead the Lobos this season.
"I never really thought he would leave," he said. "He may have had some other reasons, but I'm not going to get into that."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
As for the overall impact on the men's team, Henry said he knows it is a big loss the Lobos are going to have to deal with.
"You basically go from a guy that will win the conference, to not knowing who will fill that gap," Henry said.
After the successful season last year, Henry said he knows it will be tough to try and have the same kind of season with the young guys on the team. The ninth-place finish at the championships was the best a UNM team has finished in school history.
"For me, finishing ninth was huge, it was the highlight of my coaching career," Henry said. "I'm not saying that we can't do that again this season, but we'll really have to go work at it."
While the transfer of Biwott hurts the Lobos, Henry said there is nothing the team can do but pick up and continue to work hard.
"I personally think it's going to be a tremendous challenge for our team, but it also gives our guys an opportunity to step up," he said.
Henry also said he continues to think positively for this upcoming season.
"I still think we are going to have a good season," he said. "I'm not putting down the guys that are here, and I think both the men's and women's teams will do well."
The Daily Lobo tried to contact Biwott, but was unable to find a valid number at which to reach him.
