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With their combined seven conference championships in the last four seasons, the UNM men’s and women’s cross county teams are turning heads on the national stage. On Friday, the squads will look to continue their run of success in the Mountain West Conference Championships in Las Vegas, Nev.
Despite their as-yet unassuming season, both the men’s and women’s squads are starting to make waves in the national polls. UNM is the only mid-major school to have both teams in the top 20.
According to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the men are ranked No. 12 nationally and No. 3 in the region. The women are No. 17 nationally and No. 2 in the region.
Senior Josephine Moultrie said the lack of attention has helped New Mexico focus.
“It actually provides more motivation for us,” she said. “We think we’re running better this year, so it’s giving us more confidence.”
But before focusing on the NCAA Regional Championships on Nov. 9 and the NCAA National Championships on Nov. 17, UNM must train its sights on a 2012 Mountain West title, head coach Joe Franklin said.
“That’s the goal of every university: to win a conference championship in every sport,” Franklin said. “This is the first step of the championship season. But the season isn’t over after conference play — you still have to play regionals and nationals.
The goal is to finish and give it our all.”
The New Mexico women have won four straight conference titles dating back to 2008. Meanwhile, the men have won three consecutive championships.
Moultrie will arrive in Las Vegas as a two-time winner of the Mountain West Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week. She also has the fastest 6-kilometer in the conference, with a time of 19:56.
Moultrie said the fact that she is one of the best cross country runners in the conference, and maybe nation, is still settling in.
“I’m a little shocked, to be honest,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve run that much faster since training, so it’s all coming as a surprise.”
On the men’s side, junior Sean Stam will be one of four consistent runners entering conference championships, including fellow juniors Adam Bitchell, Luke Caldwell and Pat Zacharias.
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Stam, a former walk-on from Rio Rancho, was last week’s co-Mountain West Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week and represented UNM by recording the fastest 8-kilometer time in the 2012 Mountain West with a time of 23.59.
“It was a lot of hard work,” Stam said. “I knew I could run with all these guys, but I got a lot of work in and had to develop patience. But overall, I’m very excited about it.”
Stam said both teams have what it takes to become a national threat.
“We might not have the top-end talent in previous years, but we have depth that we haven’t had before,” he said. “That’s what you need to have to be a good cross country team.”
