Two-time Division 1 champion and 13-time All-American at New Mexico joins Flagstaff-based elite group coached by Stephen Haas and Shayla Houlihan, wlll be making pro debut in first 10,000-meter race since winning NCAA title last year

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Weini Kelati, the reigning Mountain West Conference Female Athlete of the Year along with a two-time NCAA Division 1 champion and 13-time All-American at New Mexico, has decided to forgo her remaining eligibility with the Lobos and sign a professional contract with Under Armour, joining the elite Dark Sky Distance team coached by Stephen Haas and Shayla Houlihan, based in Flagstaff, Ariz.

“I will stay here (in Albuquerque) until I finish school, but I will be coached by Stephen and Shayla,” Kelati said. “This is the team that I was looking for. This is a dream team.”

Kelati, 24, will be making her pro debut Saturday in the Under Armour kit and representing Dark Sky at the Sound Running Track Meet, competing against several other elite athletes in the women’s 10,000 meters.

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Kelati first competed in the U.S. at the 2014 World U-20 Championships, representing her native Eritrea in the 3,000 meters at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., before attending Heritage High in Virginia and capturing the 2015 Foot Locker national cross country championship.

She added a Division 1 individual cross country title in 2019 at the LaVern Gibson championship course in Terre Haute, Ind., after helping the Lobos win the team championship in 2017 in Kentucky.

Kelati has not competed in a 10,000 race since winning the 2019 Division 1 outdoor title 18 months ago in Austin, Texas. Her personal best in the event is 32:09.10 from May 2019 at the Mountain West championship meet, but Kelati will attempt Saturday to achieve the Olympic standard of 31:25.

It will mark Kelati’s first race at any venue since the Mountain West indoor championship meet in February, with the Division 1 indoor finals scheduled for March 13-14 in Albuquerque one of the first major sporting events canceled as a result of Coronavirus concerns.

Kelati has remained in Albuquerque throughout the pandemic, working on pursuing her undergraduate degree in public health, and spending time training with multiple groups during different stretches of the fall.

“I am still here in New Mexico, but went out to Flagstaff and did a few runs with my new teammates,” Kelati said. “I am so excited to race again.”

Although Fiona O’Keeffe, who is also racing Saturday in a different section of the 10,000 in her unofficial debut for New Mexico since transferring as a graduate student-athlete from Stanford, won’t have the opportunity to compete as Lobos’ teammates next year with her fellow All-American, she is excited for what the future holds for Kelati in the professional ranks.

“Weini is very kind and hard-working,” O’Keeffe said. “I’m pumped for her to get in there and mix it up in that fast 10k heat.”