It’s championship time again for the UNM cross country team.
The Lobos kick off the first of three championship events with the Mountain West Championships this weekend in Fort Collins, Colo.
The No. 20 nationally ranked women’s team is going for its fourth consecutive Mountain West Championship. This year, the Lobos might have an easier time capturing the title, Ruth Senior said.
“BYU isn’t in our conference anymore,” she said. “We’ve lost who has been our main competitor the last few years.”
Despite the lack of top-heavy competition in the conference, the Lobos have been challenged elsewhere.
Injuries have plagued the women’s team throughout the season, especially key runners such as Natalie Gray and Lacey Oeding, but head coach Joe Franklin said everyone is healthy heading into the weekend.
“This will be the first weekend that we line up everybody,” Franklin said.
Based on their season performance, Gray, Oeding and Senior will lead the team.
Gray, coming off an injury, made her season debut two weeks ago at the Wisconsin Invitational, where she finished in 59th place. Last year at the Mountain West Championships, Gray took first place.
Oeding, also battling injuries, last raced in late September at the Notre Dame Invitational, where she finished 28th.
Senior has been the most consistent and healthiest runner on the women’s squad and has competed in all but one meet. She leads the team in every race she’s been in and finished third last year at the championships.
“Our three front runners are pretty solid, so it’ll be up to our back end to keep the depth going to keep the streak alive,” Franklin said.
The men have fallen off the national ranks but are still looking to capture a three-peat as they try and win their third consecutive conference championship.
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The men, like the women, have been struggling with injuries.
Nicholas Kipruto, one of the Lobos’ key runners, is a race-time decision because of a sore knee.
Ross Millington is among the runners who managed to stay injury-free this season. He has played an important role in the team’s success this season and said he only has one goal in mind for the weekend.
“I’m hoping to win,” Millington said. “I’ve beaten everybody that I’ve run against in our conference, so first is definitely what I’ll be going for.”
The team will be paced this weekend by Sean Stam, Millington and Kipruto.
Fort Collins has been hit with snowstorms throughout the week, and the temperature is expected to be around 34 degrees at the start of the races.
“That’s going to neutralize a lot of people,” Franklin said. “It becomes a little more of a gutsy race than an all-out free-for-all.”
This is the first of three championships for the Lobos. In two weeks, the squad will head to Provo, Utah for the NCAA Mountain Region Championships and then two weeks later finish off with the NCAA Championships.
“Now we start the championship part of the season,” Franklin said. “This is what matters.”
