by Adrian Doerfler
Daily Lobo
The UNM cross country team capitalized on the familiar terrain at North Golf Course on Saturday.
The men's team had five runners in the top 20 - its best finish since it won the Western Athletic Conference title in 1988.
Senior runner Jeremy Johnson led the pacat the Mountain West Conference Championship. He finished first in his final collegiate race in Albuquerque with a time of 24:23 on the 8K course, the sixth fastest time in MWC history.
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Johnson, a Manzano High School alumnus, is the first native New Mexican conference champ since 1964.
"It felt great," Johnson said. "I tried to establish myself from the get-go, but I also thought that if I control it at the end, I will win. And that's how it unfolded."
The Lobos finished with 51 points, five fewer than No. 26 BYU.
On the women's side, UNM finished third behind No. 12 Colorado State and No. 17 BYU. It is the third top-three finish for the Lobos in as many years.
Junior Michelle Corrigan, the most consistent runner this year for the Lobos, finished fifth on the women's 6K course with a time of 21:20.
Both teams finished in the top three for the first time since 1988.
First-year head coach Joe Franklin, who was hired last spring, said he's excited about the program's progress.
"One of the things we want to do is to start to build a tradition," Franklin said. "When the kids are 35, we want them looking back and thinking about the success that they started. And this is the start of it."
On Thursday, the MWC announced the championships would move from San Diego to Albuquerque because of the fires in California.
Franklin said that even though the Lobos were on their home turf, the team acted like the championships were on the road.
"We treated it like a championship that we're used to," he said. "We didn't want it to feel like a practice where we just wake up and come over from the dorms. We stayed in a hotel and came over like we would have to do if the event wasn't in Albuquerque."
Following Johnson, four other Lobo runners weren't too far behind. Junior Mat Ashton ran with the top 10 the whole race and finished eighth in 25:09.
Sophomore transfer Brock Hagerman, Big East Freshman of the Year last year at Notre Dame, finished 11th with 25:23. Brian Vallie finished 13th, and Joseph Garcia finished 18th.
Johnson was named MWC Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year and earned All-MWC honors. Ashton, Hagerman and Vallie were named to the second team.
Senior Kara Henry was the second-best female runner for the Lobos, placing 16th with a time of 22:20. Sophomore Vanessa Ortiz was just four seconds behind her, finishing 18th on the women's side.
Junior Carolyn Boosey and senior Sheyenne Lewis finished 28th and 29th to cap off scoring for the women.
Lewis, who improved 16 spots from last season, said running at home helped the team.
"It was an advantage running here because we knew the course," Lewis said. "It's home and something we run on every day, and it's good for us because we're use to running at a higher altitude than the other teams."
With the high showings, the men's and women's team will compete in the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships on Nov. 10.
"On the men's side, we're definitely right there with BYU," Franklin said. "It's good to know that we have some runners that can hang with them. As for the women, we are right on the heels of Colorado State and BYU. We'll have to show up and give it our all at regionals."
Cross country at NCAA Mountain Region Championships
Nov. 10, TBA
Riverdale, Utah
