by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
With Jacquelyne Gallegos racing on an injured leg, the women's cross country team needed other runners to step up.
On Saturday at the Mountain West Conference Championships in Fort Collins, Colo., that's exactly what they did.
In the most important race of the season to this point, the women's team had its best all-around performance.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The Lobos, ranked fifth in the MWC preseason poll, finished second only to the No. 8 team in the nation, Brigham Young University.
The finish marked the fourth time in UNM history that a women's team has placed second in a conference race.
Head coach Matt Henry said seeing his team's performance was exciting after the women's program had been out of the spotlight for so long.
"We really accomplished a lot," he said. "It was a team effort, and it was really fun to see what we could do."
Timmie Murphy had a historic day, placing third at the MWC meet. The junior ran the 6-kilometer course in 21:06 - a minute faster than her previous career best. Third place was the best of her career, and also the highest a female has ever finished at the conference championships under Henry. It was also the first time since 1992 that a UNM women's runner has placed so high at a conference meet.
Henry said Murphy had some runners to pass, surging during the last 400 meters to pull into third.
"For Timmie to get third in the midst of all those girls is quite a feat," he said.
Another runner who had a good career day was sophomore Leslie Luna. She finished in sixth place after never finishing higher than 19th in any collegiate race. Luna slashed almost two minutes off her career best with a time of 21:17.
Henry said he was proud of the way the young runner performed.
"For Leslie to do what she did was really special," he said.
Despite running on a bad hamstring, Gallegos also had an amazing performance, gutting her way to a 10th-place finish.
Henry said when she was first injured he was not sure if she would be able to run again this season.
Henry said it was tough luck for Jackie to get hurt after being one of the favorites to win the race. He also said Gallegos showed a lot of character to pull off first-team all-conference honors by finishing in the top 10.
"I think that tells you a lot about Jackie," Henry said. "Jackie's been through a lot. She's had a lot of adversity. This is just another hurdle that she had to go over."
Henry said this meet will provide a boost for the women's team going into the regional meet.
On the men's side, UNM placed fifth as a team, led by Cameron Clarke.
Clarke finished 11th, earning second-team, all-conference honors for the third time in his career. The senior completed the 8-kilometer course in a time of 25:03.
Henry said the men did not have their best showing Saturday, but he said they gave a good effort.
"You look at it and you probably think it's a little disappointing, and it is, but it's not like our men didn't try really hard," he said. "We were in great shape up until about halfway through. We just couldn't hold on like we needed to."
Henry said he is hopeful the men can run better as a team at the regional meet.
"We get another chance too, and maybe it will be an outcome that's a little better next time," he said.
