Kiplagat Earns MW Freshman of the Week For Second Consecutive Week
After running the fastest 10,000m by a MW athlete since 2021 at the Stanford Invitational on Friday night, Evans Kiplagat has been named MW Freshman of the Week for the second week in a row, the league announced Tuesday.
The two-time All-American put down the third-fastest outdoor 10K in UNM program history en route to a fifth-place finish in the fastest section of the night at Stanford, putting down a 28:08.26 time that ranks No. 4 in the nation and No. 3 in the West Region and marks an improvement of 55.64 seconds from his best 10K time in the fall cross country season at NCAA Mountain Region Championships (29:03.9). Kiplagat’s time is only 2.16 seconds behind Ibrahim Kivina-Juma’s previous program best of 28:06.1 that stood from 1984 until Habtom Samuel shattered the record with the second-fastest time in NCAA history (26:53.84) on March 16.
Kiplagat’s time is nearly 11 seconds faster than the next-best time in the league ran by teammate Vincent Chirchir in the same race (28:19.01), 12.44 seconds faster than the league’s best time in 2023 (28:20.70) and the fastest by a MW runner since 2021 (Eric Hamer, Colorado State; 27:44.87).
The full Men's 10,000m Invitational race at Stanford on March 28. Kiplagat finished 5th (28:08.26) and Chirchir finished 15th (28:19.01).
The Kenyan-born freshman’s performance was a big reason why UNM’s Men’s 10,000m squad opened the season at the No. 1 spot in the nation in the USTFCCCA’s initial #EventSquad rankings with a 1:52:20 total time between its top four runners and 28:04.97 average — more than 30 seconds faster than second-ranked Arkansas (28:37.44). Kiplagat and Chirchir rank fourth and 13th in the nation in the event, ahead of Thomas Termote (73rd; 37th in West Region). Samuel has yet to secure an NCAA qualifying time because his performance on March 16 was not at an NCAA-sanctioned meet – nonetheless, he could run 64.74 seconds slower than his PR in any collegiate 10K race this outdoor season and still be faster than the top time in the nation last season from Stanford’s Charlie Hicks (27:57.47).
Kiplagat was named MW Athlete & Freshman of the Week last week after opening up his outdoor season with the No. 1 time in the MW (3:45.22) after altitude conversions as the fastest finisher at the UNM Spring Invitational, a new personal best. That time still ranks as the best in the Mountain West so far this season and 20th in the West Region after last weekend’s competition.
UP NEXT
New Mexico Track & Field gets a week off from competition before returning to California April 10-13 for the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific University and the Beach Invitational at Long Beach State. Streaming for the Bryan Clay Invitational will be available via FloTrack, with live results for both meets available via GoLobos.com/TrackResults. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on IG, X and Facebook for meet day updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.