Lobos Sweep Men's & Women's Team, Individual Titles at MW XC Championships
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — New Mexico Men’s and Women’s Cross Country completed its first sweep of the conference team and individual titles since 2012 at Friday’s Mountain West Championships hosted at Air Force, with Pamela Kosgei becoming the first freshman to win an individual championship and Habtom Samuel becoming the first man to win back-to-back individual titles since 2006.
With 32 points in total in the team score, the UNM women returned to the top of the podium after a 15-year streak of conference titles was snapped last season. The UNM men finished 1-5 as individuals — the first time in conference championship history a men’s team has done so — for a perfect 15-point team score to win back-to-back conference titles for the first time since 2014.
It’s the first time since 2014 and seventh time in program history that UNM has won both the men’s and women’s conference championships in the same year — it’s only the third time they’ve done so with Lobos winning both individual titles (2011, 2012). The Lobos have now won either a Mountain West women’s and/or men’s title in cross country in 17 consecutive seasons, with 24 team championships in that span in total.
Following the completion of both races, Kosgei was named MW Athlete & Freshman of the Year, with Samuel earning his second cross country MW Athlete of the Year honors in as many tries and Vincent Chirchir named Men’s Freshman of the Year for his runner-up finish. Darren Gauson was named both Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year — his second and third conference COTY honors after being named Men’s Coach of the Year in 2023 and the first time a Mountain West coach has won both awards since former UNM Head Coach Joe Franklin did so in 2014.
WOMEN’S 6K CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
Kosgei took the lead a kilometer into the race and never looked back, outrunning the rest of the field by 47.8 seconds with a 19:36.2 time that anchored a 32-point outing for the Lobo women to finish ahead of Mercy Kirarei (4th, 20.27), Christina Nisoli (6th, 20:43.4 ), Natalie Bitetti (10th, 21:00.1) and Sophia McDonnell (11th, 21:00.4) and secure the Lobos’ 16th MW women’s cross country championship. The Lobos finished 22 points ahead of second-place Boise State (54 points) –holding the top position in the team score from start to finish — with Colorado State (79 points), Air Force (84 points) and Wyoming (103 points) rounding out the top five in the team score.
First freshman to win a #MWXC title since 2015 ✅
Second-fastest time in conference championship history behind Weini Kelati ✅
pic.twitter.com/a2wz7VXsHK— New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) November 1, 2024
Even at above 7,000 feet in elevation at the Eisenhower Golf Course, Kosgei’s time was the second-fastest in Mountain West Championship history behind former Lobo NCAA Champion and 2024 Olympian Weini Kelati’s 19:11.2 finish in 2019. Kirarei never fell out of the top four as she became the second Lobo to cross the finish line for the first time this season, adding First Team All-MW honors to her MW Indoor 3,000m and 5,000m titles from last semester.
A 42nd-place finisher at the 2023 MW Championship with a time of 21:36.9, Nisoli showed up in a big way with a new personal best (20:43.4) and the first All-MW First Team honors of her career. After finishing fourth overall in the Women’s Open race at Pre-Nats on Oct. 19 as part of the Lobos’ “B” Team with a 20:43.8 finish, she shaved 0.4 off that time on Friday even with an increase of 7,258 feet in elevation from Madison as the Lobos’ third overall finisher.
MEN’S 8K CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
Up next in the men’s 8K, Samuel finished in 23:20 – the fourth-fastest time in MW Championship history behind his conference record of 22:57.7 in 2023 – and was followed by four Lobos in succession to seal a team title immediately. Vincent Chirchir (23:41.5) finished as runner-up in his first cross country conference championship race to secure Freshman of the Year honors, with fellow freshman Collins Kiprotich (23:52.6) just behind. The trio took the 1-3 spots early at the 1.1-kilometer mark and held them through the duration of the race. Behind them, 2023 Freshman of the Year Evans Kiplagat crossed in 24:09.9 and Lukas Kiprop (24:16.6) moved from seventh to fifth over the final kilometer to complete UNM’s perfect 15-point outing.
𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝟮 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞!@UNMLoboXCTF sophomore Habtom Samuel wins his second straight Men’s 8k title at the 2024 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Cross Country Championships!
First #MWXC men’s runner to win two straight since 2005-06 👏 pic.twitter.com/a0g91cRJs1
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 1, 2024
Last season, Samuel, Kiplagat and Kiprop finished 1-2-3 to lead the Lobos to their first conference title since 2014 after the Lobos were picked to finish sixth in the preseason polls — but they needed a strong showing from their fourth and fifth scorers to close the gap late and narrowly beat out second-place Air Force by two points. This time around as preseason favorites to repeat, UNM went 1-2-3-4-5 and left nothing to chance, beating second-place Colorado State (70 points) by 55 points. Behind the Rams, Wyoming (80 points) finished third, Boise State (85 points) finished fourth and Air Force (127 points) finished fifth.
| WOMEN’S 6K TEAM SCORE | MEN’S 8K TEAM SCORE | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Points | Team | Points |
| 1. New Mexico | 32 | 1. New Mexico | 15 |
| 2. Boise State | 54 | 2. Colorado State | 70 |
| 3. Colorado State | 79 | 3. Wyoming | 80 |
| 4. Air Force | 84 | 4. Boise State | 85 |
| 5. Wyoming | 103 | 5. Air Force | 127 |
| 6. Utah State | 176 | 6. Utah State | 137 |
| 7. Nevada | 199 | 7. Nevada | 183 |
| 8. Fresno State | 255 | 8. San José State | 261 |
| 9. San Diego State | 289 | 9. Fresno State | 276 |
| 10. San José State | 309 | ||
| 11. UNLV | 315 | ||
DARREN GAUSON: MOUNTAIN WEST MEN’S & WOMEN’S COACH OF THE YEAR
Following the conclusion of both races, Darren Gauson was named both Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year — his second and third conference COTY honors after being named Men’s Coach of the Year in 2023. It’s also the first time a Mountain West coach has won both awards since former UNM Head Coach Joe Franklin did so in 2014.
With the honor, Gauson joins an exclusive club. Only five other coaches in Mountain West cross country history have been named Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year in the same year — Franklin (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014), BYU’s Patrick Shane (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006), UNM’s Matt Henry (2005), Wyoming’s Randy Cole (2004) and CSU’s Del Hessel (2000).
UNM FINISHERS
| WOMEN’S 6K FINISHERS | MEN’S 8K FINISHERS | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Athlete | Time | Athlete | Time |
| 1. Pamela Kosgei* | 19:36.2 | 1. Habtom Samuel* | 23:20.7 |
| 4. Mercy Kirarei* | 20:27.5 | 2. Vincent Chirchir* | 23:41.5 |
| 6. Christina Nisoli* | 20:43.4 | 3. Collins Kiprotich* | 23:52.6 |
| 10. Natalie Bitetti^ | 21:00.1 | 4. Evans Kiplagat* | 24:09.9 |
| 11. Sophia McDonnell^ | 21:00.4 | 5. Lukas Kiprop* | 24:16.6 |
| 12. Klara Dess^ | 21:05.0 | 12. Rikus Van Niekerk^ | 24:45.7 |
| 28. Jasmine Wood | 21:51.3 | 34. Corne de Fouw | 25:34.1 |
| 31. Tilly Simpson | 21:54.9 | 41. Iker Sanchez Lopez | 26:04.3 |
| 56. Meadow Drebert | 23:08.1 | ||
Bold denotes MW Champion/Athlete of the Year
* denotes All-MW First Team honoree
^ denotes All-MW Second Team honoree
UP NEXT
The Lobos will race for an automatic bid to NCAA Championships at NCAA Mountain Regionals in Reno, Nev. on Nov. 15, but are widely considered a safe bet to qualify both men’s and women’s teams as at-large bids even if they don’t finish in the Top Two at Regionals. Mountain Regionals will not be streamed, with live results available via GoLobos.com/XCResults. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on IG and X for raceday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.