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Lobos Running For NCAA Championship Berths On Saturday
Nov. 8, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
UPCOMINGThe University of New Mexico men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Ogden, Utah on Saturday for the most important race of the 2007 season - the NCAA Mountain Region Championships. The Mountain Region traditionally boasts many of America's finest distance runners and this year is no exception with nine nationally ranked teams among the men's and women's field, battling for a place in the NCAA Championship field. The Mountain Region Championships are hosted by Weber State University and will be held at the Riverdale (Utah) Golf Course. The men's 10,000-meter (6.25 miles) race begins at 11 a.m. (Mountain), followed by the women's 6K (3.75 miles) at 12:15.
THE UNM TRAVEL TEAMWOMEN:Jr. Michelle Corrigan (Transfer from Mississippi State...1st team all-MWC - 5th...Lobos' No. 1 runner all year) Sr. Kara Henry (Transfer from Butler...ran in 2004 & `05 NCAA meets...16th at MWC Championships) So. Vanessa Ortiz (`06 MWC Fr. of the Year (18th)...'05 N.M. 5A XC champ...40th at `06 Mtn. Region meet) Jr. Carolyn Boosey (Transfer from St. Mary's University in London...has scored in all 4 races in `07) Sr. Sheyenne Lewis (Has scored 8 times in 14 career races...season-best 22:35.6 (45th) at `06 Mtn. Region meet) So. Polina Ermoshina (All-American Nordic skier for the Lobos...running 3rd career XC race on Saturday) Sr. Stasia Ploskonka (13 career races...1st Mtn. Reg. meet since running career-best 6K of 23:27.8 (91st) in `04) MEN:
NCAA MOUNTAIN REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS AT A GLANCECourse: Riverdale Golf Course (elevation - 4,355 feet)Schedule (Mountain Time): Race Conditions: Saturday is expected be a crisp fall day, but otherwise perfect for elite distance running. The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the mid-50s, 20% chance of rain and light winds. The humidity percentage will be in the mid 50s. The Fields: All Division I men's and women's teams from the states of Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and West Texas are eligible to compete at the Mountain Region Championships. Nationally Ranked Teams: Men's (4) - No. 2 Northern Arizona, No. 3 UTEP, No. 6 Colorado, No. 26 BYU. Meet History: This is the 10th NCAA Mountain Region Championship meet. The first was held at the Riverdale Golf Course in 1997. NCAA Qualifying 101: The top two teams at each regional meet automatically qualify for nationals and the first four individuals not on a qualifying team also earn an automatic berth. As many as four teams from the Mountain Region in previous years have earned at-large bids to the NCAA Championships.
MEET INFORMATION/RESULTSComplete information and results from the 2007 NCAA Mountain Region Championships can be found on Weber State's official athletics department website. Results will also be available on NCAASports.com:NCAA Mountain Region Championships Headquarters
FROM HEAD COACH Joe Franklin"I think we're going to surprise some people on Saturday. On the men's side, if we can beat BYU and Weber State I think we'll have a very good chance to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships. We just need to run the way we did at the MWC Championships and we'll be in a great position to do that. We train for the 10K all year, so we're ready for this race.""Jeremy (Johnson) is having fun out there and he just needs to go run and keep doing what he's doing. On the women's side, I think Michelle Corrigan has a very good chance to qualify as an individual. I think she'll be in the top-25 on Saturday and will be in great shape if she can pick off the people she needs to. All of our women have improved each week throughout the season and we're excited to see what they can do."
UNM AT THE MOUNTAIN REGION CHAMPIONSHIPSThe current NCAA regional championship format began in 1997 and the first Mountain Region Championships were hosted by Weber State Univerisyt in Riverdale, Utah. New Mexico hosted the meet in 2002 and 2006 at the historic UNM North Golf Course. The 2007 season will mark the first Mountain Region competition for the Lobos under new head coach Joe Franklin, who was named Great Lakes Region Men's Coach of the Year in 1998 while at Butler University.After languishing near the bottom of the regional standings, former head coach Matt Henry (2000-06) made the UNM men and women a factor in the region once again. Under Henry, New Mexico qualified one team (2004 men) and six individuals (2001: Matt Gonzales, Ben Ortega, Jacquelyne Gallegos. 2002: Gonzales. 2004: Gallegos. 2006: Timmie Murphy) to the NCAA Championship meet. In 2004, Matt Gonzales became the first and only Lobo to win a Mountain Region title. The Lobo women have notched back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Mountain Region Championships, including a sixth place performance in 2005. The UNM men, meanwhile, have finished among the top-10 four times since 2001, including a fourth place effort in 2004 to earn the region's second at-large bid to the NCAA Championships. The following is a list of the Lobos' performances and all-region honorees at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships: MEN - 10K WOMEN - 6K Men's All-Region Honorees - 3 runners, 6 awards Women's All-Region Honorees - 4 runners, 9 awards 2006 NCAA MOUNTAIN REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS REWINDFifth-year senior Timmie Murphy couldn't have scripted her final home cross country race any better. Running in front of her friends and family for the last time at the UNM North Golf Course, Murphy secured her first berth to the national meet with a fifth place finish at the 2006 NCAA Championships Mountain Regional. The Farmington, N.M. native turned in the best finish by a Lobo woman at the regional meet since 1988, completing the 6,000-meter course in 21 minutes even. Junior Leslie Luna joined Murphy on the all-Mountain Region team, placing 18th (21:26.5) and just missing a berth to the national meet.New Mexico finished seventh in the women's standings, one spot above its regional ranking entering the meet, and placed four runners in the top-45 of the 119-woman field. The Lobos received a strong performance from freshman Vanessa Ortiz, who finished 40th (22:20.4). Junior Sheyenne Lewis, meanwhile, turned in the finest race of her career, using a late kick to finish 45th (22:35.6) in her first Mountain Region appearance. Junior Melanie Velarde capped the UNM scoring in 74th place (23:26.3). On the men's side, senior Juan Ortega capped his storybook cross country career with a memorable performance in front of his hometown crowd. Ortega established himself as one of the premier distance men in the area, finishing 20th (31:26.7) to earn all-region honors for the first time in his career. The Albuquerque Rio Grande High School product battled with the top-15 for much of the race, then drifted back before charging into the top-20 once again down the final straightaway. Ortega improved 19 placed on his 2005 regional finish and was 58 spots higher than his first Mountain Region 10K as a freshman in '03. Junior Jeremy Johnson, meanwhile, turned in a courageous performance, finishing 33rd (31:57.7) despite being weakened by the flu. Johnson, who was receiving fluids from an IV 24 hours earlier, kept himself within striking distance of the lead pack much of the race before fading over the final 3,000 meters. Junior Joseph Garcia was the Lobos' No. 3 runner, crossing the line 51st (32:32.4), while fellow junior Chris Bratton had one of his best collegiate races, finishing 66th (33:19.6). Freshman Jason Petty placed 73rd (33:34.7) in the 105-man field to cap the UNM scoring. The UNM men also improved one spot higher on their regional seed entering the meet, finishing 11th with a score of 243.
LAST TIME OUT: Mountain West Conference ChampionshipsSenior Jeremy Johnson made sure his final collegiate race in his hometown would be a memorable one. The Albuquerque Manzano product dominated the field in a wire-to-wire victory (24:23) on Oct. 27 at Mountain West Conference Cross Country Championship meet held at the UNM North Golf Course. New Mexico placed its five scoring runners in the top-20 to finish second (51 points) - just five points behind BYU.Later, junior transfer Michelle Corrigan placed fifth (21:20) in her MWC debut to lead the New Mexico women to a third place finish (94 points). Just three days earlier, the MWC office announced that due to the wildfires threatening Southern California the conference championship meet would move from San Diego to Albuquerque. Johnson and the Lobos made the most of the unexpected opportunity to run in front of their home crowd. Johnson, Wyoming's Mark Korir and TCU's Festus Kigen got out quickly, completing the first mile in 4:43. The trio was still tight two miles into the race as they crossed at 9:36 (4:53 second mile). The New Mexico senior, however, began to apply the pressure midway through the race, running his third mile in 4:52 - 12 seconds faster than Korir and well ahead of a rapidly fading Kigen. Johnson continued to pour it on over the final two miles, breaking Korir with a 5:05 fourth mile followed by a blazing 4:50 fifth mile to win by 25 seconds. As Johnson distanced himself the other UNM scorers maintained a tight group near the front f the chase pack. Junior transfer Mat Ashton ran with the top-10 throughout the race and finished eighth with a time of 25:09 - just nine seconds out of fifth place. Sophomore transfer Brock Hagerman, the Big East Freshman of the Year last fall at Notre Dame, ran one of his best races of the season, placing 11th with a time of 25:23. Sophomore Brian Vallie, meanwhile, turned in the biggest performance for the Lobos in the finest cross country race of his young career. Vallie, the MWC 800-meter outdoor silver medalist in 2007, blew by four runners down the final straight to finish 13th with a time of 25:25. The Hardin, Mont. product improved a remarkable 32 spots on his MWC finish a year ago. Not to be outdone, senior Joseph Garcia also used a late surge to pick off several runners and finish 18th - his best MWC performance - with a time of 25:35. Garcia's effort at the No. 5 position allowed UNM to hold off third place Air Force 51-52 and finish two spots above its projection in the preseason coaches' poll. On the women's side, Corrigan continued her outstanding debut season at UNM. The transfer from Mississippi State ran a strong, consistent race, crossing the line just 15 seconds behind the winner, Colorado State senior April Thomas. Senior transfer Kara Henry and sophomore Vanessa Ortiz finished within four seconds of each other, placing 16th (22:20) and 18th (22:24), respectively. Henry was two spots shy of a place on the all-MWC second team, while Ortiz matched her 2006 finish at the MWC meet. Junior transfer Carolyn Boosey and senior Sheyenne Lewis capped the UNM scoring, finishing 28th (22:53) and 29th (22:58), respectively. Lewis improved 16 spots on her MWC finish from a year ago.
NOTES FROM THE MWC CHAMPIONSHIPS• New Mexico placed both its men's and women's teams among the top-three at the conference championships for the first time since 1988 when the men won the Western Athletic Conference title and the women were third in the old High Country Athletic Conference.• The UNM men's team had its best conference finish since winning the WAC in 1988 and its best score (51) at a conference meet since the 1965 team won the WAC title with a program record score of 27. • The men also had all five scoring runners finish among the top-20 at the conference meet for the first time since 1988. • The Lobo women finished among the top-three in the conference for the third straight year - the best run since six consecutive top-three finishes from 1983-88. • The women placed their five scoring runners among the top-30 at the conference meet for the first time since 1986. • Jeremy Johnson clocked the sixth-fastest 8K time in MWC Championship history (24:23) and became the first native New Mexican to win a conference cross country title for the Lobos since John Baker in 1964. • Johnson was just the second UNM runner to win a men's conference title in the last 41 years, joining Albuquerque La Cueva product Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (2004). • Mat Ashton, Brock Hagerman and Brian Vallie all earned second team all-conference honors, giving New Mexico a program-record four all-MWC honorees. • Michelle Corrigan earned a spot on the all-MWC first team, giving the Lobos' a first team all-conference runner for the fifth-straight season - the longest streak in program history.
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