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No. 20 New Mexico Runs For First NCAA Berth In 16 Years
Gallegos Also Looking For Triumphant Return To National Meet
Nov. 9, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
UPCOMINGThe 2004 season comes down to one meet for the University of New Mexico cross country teams as the UNM women and 20th-ranked men travel to Fort Collins, Colo. this Saturday, Nov. 13, for the elite NCAA Mountain Region Championships. Following a strong performance at the Mountain West Conference Championships, the Lobos will be looking to extend their season as they run for both team and individual berths to the NCAA Championship meet on Nov. 22. The women's 6,000-meter competition gets underway at 11 a.m. (MST), followed by the men's race, which is extended to a 10K for NCAA competition.Perennially of the country's most powerful groups, the Mountain Region boasts six nationally ranked teams on the men's side this year. Fourth-ranked Colorado leads the pack, followed by No. 9 BYU, No. 14 Air Force, the 20th-ranked Lobos, No. 24 Colorado State and No. 28 Northern Arizona. Only the Great Lakes Region Championship meet, which features seven ranked squads, rivals the depth and talent that will be on display during the men's race this Saturday at the Collindale Golf Course. Though down slightly this fall, the women's field remains one of best in the country. Third-ranked CU, No. 11 BYU and No. 23 CSU are the cream of the crop, while Texas Tech has been in and out of the top-30 throughout the year. The top two teams (seven person teams) at each of the nine regional championship meets automatically qualify for the 2004 NCAA Cross Country Championships (Nov. 22) in Terre Haute, Ind. Thirteen additional at-large teams and will be selected on Nov. 15 by the NCAA championship committee. From each regional championship meet, the first four individuals not on a qualifying team automatically advance to the finals. Two additional qualifiers will be selected at-large based on the highest non-qualifying finish in regional championship meets. All individual qualifiers must finish in the top 25 in their region. Unfortunately, New Mexico could be without freshman phenom Shadrack Biwott, who fell ill with a severe case of food poisoning earlier in the week. The 2004 Mountain West Conference champion has been receiving fluids through an IV and has not been ruled out for Saturday's meet, but head coach Matt Henry has said that he will be cautious with the 19-year-old, particularly with the longer 10,000-meter course looming. Biwott's absence would be a significant blow to the men's chances of earning a team berth to the NCAA Championships, a feat the program has not achieved since 1988. The Lobos are currently ranked fourth in the Mountain Region and will likely need to finish among the top six to put themselves in position for an at-large bid to the national meet. MEET INFORMATION/RESULTSComplete information and results from the 2004 NCAA Mountain Region Cross Country Championships can be found on the official website of the host Colorado State Rams or the NCAA Sports website:REDEMPTION TIMEAfter redshirting four of its top seven athletes last year, the New Mexico men will be looking to take care of some unfinished business on Saturday. Two years ago at the 2002 Mountain Region Championships in Albuquerque, the Lobos limped into the meet after falling out of the top-30 rankings and with several runners nursing injuries. New Mexico turned in a gutsy performance, however, finishing seventh and knocking off No. 26 Utah State. In the end though, UNM fell six painful points shy of upending No. 15 Colorado State (6th) and securing what turned out to be the fourth and final at-large berth in the region. With its final at-large choice, the national championship committee selected Texas A&M out of the South Central Region, despite the fact that the Lobos finished above the Aggies in the final coaches poll of the season.UNM AT THE MOUNTAIN REGION CHAMPIONSHIPSSince taking over the program at New Mexico in 2000, head coach Matt Henry has qualified four athletes (2001: Matt Gonzales, Ben Ortega, Jacquelyne Gallegos. 2002: Matt Gonzales) to the NCAA Championship meet and just missed sending the men's team to nationals in 2002. The following is a list of the Lobos' performances at the Mountain Region Championships under Henry.MEN - 10K 2000: 12th/17 (298 pts.) Top Runner: Ben Ortega - 26th (31:59.7) 2001: 9th/17 (189 pts.) Top Runner: Matt Gonzales - 9th (31:28.6) 2002: 7th/18 (186 pts.) Top Runner: Matt Gonzales - 8th (30:36) 2003: 13th/14 (313 pts.) Top Runner: Sean Flaherty - 48th (32:35.9) WOMEN - 6K 2000: 14th/17 (344 pts.) Top Runner: Ashley Othick - 34th (22:39.2) 2001: 12th/18 (332 pts.) Top Runner: Jacquelyne Gallegos - 19th (22:29.8) 2002: 15th/17 (417 pts.) Top Runner: Sarah Gonzales - 74th (23:11) 2003: 13th/16 (317 pts.) Top Runner: Sarah Gonzales - 30th (22:11.1) LAST TIME OUT (at MWC Championships) - BIWOTT MAKES HISTORYSAN DIEGO - True freshman Shadrack Biwott and senior Matt Gonzales proved to be the class of the Mountain West Conference, finishing first and second, respectively, on Oct. 30 at the MWC Cross Country Championships at Balboa Park. Biwott ended a 38-year drought by becoming the first University of New Mexico runner to win a conference championship race since 1966 as he and Gonzales led the 23rd-ranked Lobos to a third place finish (69 points). No. 10 BYU reclaimed the league title, besting 12th-ranked Air Force, the 2003 champ, 39-57. No. 17 Colorado State, meanwhile, was fourth, behind UNM, with 75 points. New Mexico matched its best Mountain West Conference finish under fifth-year head coach Matt Henry (2002) and turned in its lowest score at a conference meet since winning the 1988 Western Athletic Conference title with a score of 63 points.On the women's side, senior Jacquelyne Gallegos turned in her best conference meet performance, earning first team all-MWC honors with a fourth place finish. Gallegos crossed the finish line of the hilly 6,000-meter course with a time of 22:16, 53 seconds behind the winner, BYU senior Laura Turner. New Mexico (163 points), however, finished sixth out of eight teams on the women's side. No. 12 BYU (24 points) cruised to its 17th straight conference title, while 23rd-ranked CSU was second with 59 points. "We had a pretty good day, but we're still trying to reach our peak," UNM head coach Matt Henry said of his men's performance. "The women are a little younger than I thought, but you can't say enough about how Jackie has run this season." According to Henry, Gonzales was leading the 8,000-meter race, but was delayed briefly when he took a wrong turn and had to hurry back to the correct path. Nevertheless, he and Biwott gradually pulled away from the lead pack and, in a scene reminiscent of their performance in the season-opener in Albuquerque, sprinted down the final stretch together. The former La Cueva High School standout was able to pull ahead at the tape, clocking a time of 24:44, one second faster than Gonzales. With the victory, Biwott became just the fourth runner in 42 years of New Mexico cross country to bring home a conference cross country title, joining Ed Coleman (1963), John Baker (1964) and George Scott (1965 & `66). The Eldoret, Kenya native also earned MWC Runner of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors with the win. Gonzales, meanwhile, earned first team all-MWC honors for the third time in his three seasons at New Mexico and matched his best career finish at the conference meet. The Santa Fe native was also second in his MWC debut in Albuquerque as a sophomore in 2001. The Lobos got a big boost from junior Cameron Clarke, who turned in his best race of the year, finishing 14th (25:39) to earn second team all-conference honors. Fellow junior Nate Clem also provided a big lift, scoring for the second time this year with a 26th place finish (26:22), his best at the conference meet. Sophomore Stephen Martinez also notched his best MWC Championship finish, placing 30th (26:41) to cap the Lobo scoring. Sophomore Juan Ortega (34th) and senior Ben Ortega (35th) rounded out the UNM top-7, clocking identical times of 26:57. Gallegos, meanwhile, had a historic performance of her own. The Pojoaque native recorded the best finish by a UNM woman at the conference championships since current UNM volunteer assistant Kelly Dunbar (formerly Kelly Dix) placed third at the 1992 WAC Championships. Gallegos improved 58 spots on her 2003 MWC race, which came at the end of a grueling season of recovery, following her 2002 auto accident. Her previous best finish came during her freshman year when she was 19th at the 2001 MWC Championships. Gallegos is the second straight UNM woman to earn first team all-conference honors. Sarah Gonzales finished seventh last year in Albuquerque to become the first ever all-MWC honoree for the women. New Mexico's other scoring runners were a sophomore (Riann Lucy) and three freshmen (Lindsay Barr, Stasia Ploskonka and Leslie Luna), who all gained valuable experience and should be factors at the conference meet in the years to come. Lucy finished 38th with a time of 24:26, while Barr was two spots behind in 40th (24:51). Ploskonka and Luna both scored for the first time this year, finishing 44th (25:22) and 47th (25:26), respectively. Junior Janice Tosa (51st - 25:51) and senior Vanessa Funston (52nd - 25:59) rounded out the UNM top-7. CLIMBING THE NATIONAL CHARTSThe men of New Mexico continued their ascent in the latest national rankings, jumping three spots to No. 20 after downing 17th-ranked Colorado State at the Mountain West Conference Championship meet. UNM earned 133 votes, just ahead of Florida and 12 behind Texas, as it continues to post its highest ranking in 15 years. The Lobos made their top-30 debut this season in the Oct. 19 coaches poll, three days after knocking off six top-30 teams at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet. UNM vaulted into a No. 23 ranking after entering the Pre-Nationals with just four votes in the national poll, which was the equivalent of a No. 40 ranking. The Lobos have received at least one vote in every national poll this year, despite having its top seven runners race together only once in five meets this fall.After laboring in obscurity for nearly a decade, the Lobo men's team created a buzz once again among national cross country coaches in 2002. New Mexico was ranked as high as 27th in the country (Oct. 1) following its victory at the Stanford Invitational, but fell from the national top-30 after injuries to three of its top-five runners limited the squad's effort at the Pre-National Invitational (Oct. 19). The Lobos received votes in every Mondo Men's Cross Country poll in 2002, finishing the season ranked 34th in the nation with 14 votes. Early in the `02 season, UNM earned 44 votes to move into a tie (with Michigan) for 29th place in the Sept. 17 national rankings, the team's first appearance in top-30 since 1989, when it was ranked as high as 14th in the country. The Lobos also received 11 votes in the 2002 preseason coaches poll, it's first in the national poll since 1993. STUDENT-ATHLETE PRIORITIESNo one can accuse Matt Henry of placing athletics ahead of academics as the UNM head coach has shown considerable patience and understanding of his runners' academic obligations this fall. Three times this season, a top seven runner on the men's 20th-ranked team has missed a meet in order to take an important exam. Junior Cameron Clarke missed the season-opener because of a Saturday test, while senior Ben Ortega, a five-time academic all-conference honoree, did not make the trip to Raleigh, N.C. for the Great American Cross Country Festival due to a scheduled LSAT exam. Last week, senior Sean Flaherty, also a five-time academic all-MWC honoree, was unable to compete at the Mountain West Conference Championships, staying home instead to complete a high-level engineering test.PROGRAM-BEST THREE LOBOS TAKE HOME MWC ATHLETE OF THE WEEK AWARDSFollowing his performance at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet, senior Matt Gonzales became the third Lobo to win the Mountain West Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Week award this year, the highest number of honorees for New Mexico since it joined the league in 1999. Gonzales was also the first two-time selection under head coach Matt Henry.Freshman Shadrack Biwott and senior Jacquelyne Gallegos swept the weekly honors earlier this year on Sept. 16. Gallegos was the first UNM woman, under Henry, to win the weekly honor. Biwott, an Eldoret, Kenya, native, won at the Lobo Invitational on Sept. 11 in Albuquerque, capturing his collegiate debut and leading the Lobos to the team victory. He finished the 8K race in 24:44, edging out Gonzales at the tape, while finishing a full 40 seconds ahead of the third place finisher. Gallegos, from Pojoaque, N.M., had a triumphant comeback performance at the Lobo Invite, finishing third overall (out of 100 runners). She posted a career-best time of 22:13 in the 6K race, 16 seconds better than her previous career-high set in 2001. It was her highest finish since the 2002 Lobo Invite, where she finished second. HAIL TO THE VICTORSIn the five years (1995-99) prior to Matt Henry's arrival as head cross country coach at New Mexico, the Lobo men's team had notched just one meet victory. However, since Henry took control of the program in 2000, the men have captured nine team titles, including the 2004 season-opener, the Lobo Invitational. UNM cruised to a 32-point victory over runner-up Texas A&M, which finished 19th at last year's NCAA Championships, and was 70 points better than the rest of the 12-team field.Last year, the Lobo men won back-to-back mid-season races. UNM defeated Wyoming and Utah in a pre-conference triangular meet in San Diego, then defeated 11 squads at the Canyon West Classic in Tempe, Ariz. two weeks later. The Lobos scored an average of 28.5 points in their two wins. The Lobo women also got into the act in 2003, earning their first team title under Henry at the Canyon West Cross Country Classic on Oct. 18. New Mexico scored a season-low 31 points and ran with a season-low pack spread of 55 seconds to pick up its first win since the 1998 season-opener at UTEP. In 2002, the men of New Mexico opened the season undefeated through three meets (UNM did not field a full team in its fourth meet, the Cowboy Jamboree) before finishing 17th at the Pre-National Invitational. After opening with another dominating win at the Lori Fitzgerald, UNM followed with a victory over a 12-team field in their home-opener, the UNM Lobo Invitational, then notched an impressive first place finish ahead of 29 teams at the 29th annual Stanford Invitational. THE HEART OF A CHAMPIONSenior Jacquelyne Gallegos would probably earn the Comeback Runner of the Year award if the Mountain West Conference had such an honor, but instead she may just have to be content with a return to the NCAA Championship meet for the first time in three years.As a highly touted true freshman in 2001, Gallegos established herself as New Mexico's top runner on the women's side. She led the Lobos in three meets and recorded four of the team's top-10 6K times. Gallegos placed 19th at the MWC Championships and then finished 19th once again at the elite NCAA Mountain Region Championships to earn an automatic bid to the national meet. One of the youngest Lobos ever to compete on the national stage, the 18-year-old Gallegos finished 217th out of 244 runners. Gallegos was enjoying a terrific start to the 2002 season, having led the team in its first two meets with a pair of top-5 finishes, including a career-best runner-up performance at the 2002 Lobo Invite. The following week, however, Gallegos was involved in a near fatal auto accident on Sept. 21, and suffered broken bones in her back and pelvis. On crutches for several weeks, Gallegos didn't even begin to jog again for five months. Last year, she endured a grueling and often frustrating fall, finishing just three races. However, Gallegos battled back to notch her best performance in the season-finale at the Mountain Region Championships and hasn't slowed down since. Following a solid indoor season, Gallegos earned outdoor all-conference honors on the track (1,500m) for the first time in her career, serving official notice that she was indeed back. This fall the Pojoaque, N.M. native has notched three top-5 finishes and has lead the team in all five meets. On Oct. 16, she turned in one of the best races of her career, clocking the second-fastest 6K time in the MWC (21:00) to finish 15th at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet. Gallegos then had her finest performance ever at the MWC Championships, placing fourth to earn first team all-conference honors. Her finish was the best by a UNM woman at the conference meet since 1992. With her place secure as one of the top runners in the Mountain Region, Gallegos is now primed to carry to flag for the New Mexico women at the NCAA Championships. However, head coach Matt Henry remains hopeful that November will not be her final month of collegiate cross country competition. Henry said that he and his staff will appeal to the NCAA to seek a fifth year of eligibility for Gallegos to replace her ruined 2002 season. With a little goodwill and empathy from the NCAA office, Henry hopes Gallegos can return in 2005 to put a story book ending on her memorable UNM career. WELCOME BACK GONZALESAfter a year off from cross country competition, senior Matt Gonzales showed no rust in his return to off-road racing at the Lobo Invitational. The four-time track and cross country All-American and freshman phenom Shadrack Biwott quickly left the field behind, cruising to the finish line 40 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. Gonzales' second place performance was his best finish in three years, since earning the silver medal at the 2001 Mountain West Conference Championships."It was a little different being on the course again after so much on the track the past year, but it felt really good.," said Gonzales. "It was an easy race for us. Shadrack was awesome. We decided to come in together and just finish up strong." Seniors Ben Ortega and Nick Martinez also made a successful return to cross country after sitting out in 2003. Ortega finished third on the team and ninth overall, while Martinez was the Lobos' seventh runner, placing 16th overall. The fourth Lobo coming off a 2003 redshirt season, junior Cameron Clarke, was held out of the race due to illness. "It was strange," said Ortega of his return to cross country. "One minute I felt great and the next I was dead, but all-in-all it wasn't too bad for a season-opener. We can still do a lot better as a team and I think we're just scratching the surface." HOMEGROWN LOBOSUniversity of New Mexico head coach Matt Henry has built the UNM program by using his greatest natural resource: New Mexico high school distance runners. Of the 40 runners on the 2004 roster, all but four were products of New Mexico high schools, including Kenyan Shadrack Biwott. Every NCAA Championship competitor, All-American and all-Mountain West honoree under Henry has hailed from the Land of Enchantment.
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