New Mexico Wins Mountain West Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships

New Mexico's Jacob Kirwa and BYU's Cecily Lemmon Lew win individual titles

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Oct. 31, 2009

OREM, Utah -

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The New Mexico men's and women's cross country teams swept the 2009 Mountain West Conference Cross Country Championships hosted by BYU, on Saturday at Cascade Golf Course.

For the first time in the 11-year history of the Conference, the New Mexico Lobos captured the men's title with 29 points, placing all five scoring runners in the top 10. Finishing behind New Mexico in second place was BYU with 34 points, while Air Force (72), Colorado State (118), Wyoming (132) and TCU (186) placed third through sixth, respectively.

New Mexico senior Jacob Kirwa took the men's individual title, finishing the 8K race in 23:34.50, just one second faster than sophomore Miles Batty of BYU, who finished in second place with a time of 23:35.60. Kirwa posted the fastest time in Mountain West Conference Championship history and earned MWC Male Athlete of the Year honors for his performance.

Finishing in third place was Air Force junior Justin Tyner, who covered the course in 23:44.70, followed by New Mexico senior Chris Barnicle in fourth with a time of 23:51.20. Rounding out the top five was BYU's Richard Nelson, a senior, with a time of 24:01.60

For the second-consecutive year, New Mexico earned the women's crown with a total of 24 points. Finishing behind New Mexico in second place was BYU with 45 points, while Colorado State (64 points), Air Force (124 points), Wyoming (165 points), Utah (195 points), TCU (196 points), San Diego State (207 points) and UNLV (210 points) rounded out third through ninth places.

Winning the 6,000-meter race and earning Mountain West Female Athlete of the Year honors was BYU's Cecily Lemmon Lew. The junior clocked a time of 20:47.40, which ranks second in MWC Championship history, to finish ahead of New Mexico senior Ruth Senior (21:10.70).

Finishing third and fourth on the women's side were New Mexico harriers Nicky Archer and Lacey Oeding. Archer, a senior, clocked a time of 21:14.90, followed by Oeding, a sophomore, who finished in 21:17.80. Colorado State sophomore Ellie Rastall (21:18.40) placed fifth.