Lobo Men Stay Perfect with Big Victory at Stanford Invitational

No. 30 New Mexico tops 29 squads, including No. 30 Cal Poly and No. 1 Stanford's split squad.

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Sept. 29, 2002

STANFORD, Calif. - ­ Sophomore Cameron Clarke turned in his best collegiate cross country performance to lead the 30th-ranked University of New Mexico men to their third-straight victory at the 29th Stanford Invitational on Saturday night. Clarke finished second, but led all collegiate runners as the Lobos downed 29 other squads, including No. 30 Cal Poly (66) and top-ranked Stanford¹s split squad (84) with a score of 61 points. Meanwhile, junior Sarah Gonzales led the UNM women¹s squad to a 17th place finish in a field of 33 teams.

The men of New Mexico improved their season mark to a perfect 3-0 with another tremendous group running performance over the 8,000-meter course. Clarke, who clocked a personal-best time of 23:51, was trailed closely by a pack of Lobos. Junior Matthew Gonzales also clocked a personal-best 8K time of 23:55 en route to a fourth place finish. Freshman Jeremy Johnson (24:19) and junior Ben Ortega (24:19) crossed the line side-by-side in 16th and 17th place, respectively, while junior Nick Martinez capped the scoring in 51st, just 1:05 seconds behind Clarke. Meanwhile, junior Sean Flaherty and sophomore Chad Dawson also ran strong, taking 72nd and 81st, respectively.

Despite the loss of sophomore Jacquelyne Gallegos, the team¹s top runner, to a season-ending injury last weekend, the UNM women turned in a spirited performance. After missing the first two meets of the year due to illness, Gonzales made a solid return to action with a 55th-place finish in the field of 234 runners. She completed the 6,000-meter course in 22:35, less than a minute ahead of junior Amanda Swann (96th ­ 23:10) and freshman Karina Hill-Hurtado (118 ­ 23:30). Freshmen Timmie Murphy (23:35) and Janice Tosa (23:42) placed 123rd and 135th, respectively, to close out the Lobo scoring, while sophomores Racquel Ricci (143rd) and Vanessa Funston (156th) rounded out the top-seven.

New Mexico will run on back-to-back weeks for the first time this year when it takes on another top-notch field at the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla. on Saturday, Oct. 5.