Lobo Men Secure Return Trip to NCAA Championships, Women Place 3rd at XC Mountain Regionals
RENO, Nev. — Pamela Kosgei remained undefeated in her dominant freshman season with an individual title and Habtom Samuel narrowly finished as individual runner-up on the men’s side to anchor third- and second-place team finishes for New Mexico Women’s and Men’s Cross Country at NCAA Mountain Regionals Friday afternoon at Washoe County Golf Course, with the Lobo men securing an automatic qualifying bid to NCAA Championships with their best finish and lowest point total (61 points) since 2010.
In total, six Lobos finished in the Top 25 of their respective races to take home All-Mountain Region honors — Mercy Kirarei (7th) ran a new personal best to finish behind Kosgei as both secured NCAA individual qualifications, with Samuel, Vincent Chirchir (7th), Evans Kiplagat (10th) and Collins Kiprotich (16th) all earning All-Region status. For Samuel and Kiplagat, it’s their second All-Region finishes after the duo finished first and fifth in 2023.
The women’s 111-point score marked a 67-point improvement from their seventh-place finish in 2023 that snapped a streak of 12 consecutive automatic bids to NCAA Championships. With today’s results, they’re in as solid of a position as they can be to join the Lobo men in Madison next week.
In wintry conditions with snow on the ground, Kosgei surged ahead of runner-up Juliet Cherubet (Texas Tech) over the final stretch to win by 13.7 seconds after keeping pace through the first 4.7 kilometers, finishing with a 19:30.9 time to become the eighth woman from New Mexico to win a Mountain Region title and first since Weini Kelati in 2019. In the men’s race, Samuel hung back with Chirchir, Kiplagat and Kiprotich to help them stay packed into the Top 10 through the first six kilometers before challenging TTU’s Solomon Kipchoge over the final stretch and coming just 3.3 seconds short of repeating as Regional Champion with a 28:59.2 finish.
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Lobo Men punch their ποΈ to NCAA Championships next week in Madison with a second-place team finish in Reno!#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/eySjvmXwDa
β New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) November 15, 2024
With Friday’s results, the No. 6 UNM men are guaranteed a return ticket to NCAA Championships in Madison, Wisc. next week — the No. 10 Lobo women await confirmation that they’ll be joining them tomorrow when the NCAA selection committee announced at-large bids but will do so with little anxiety after outperforming their No. 4 regional ranking and knocking off No. 9 Utah in the team score.
Saturday’s selection show is set to air at 3 p.m. MT tomorrow on NCAA.com, where the complete tournament field will be posted shortly after it is unveiled.
WOMEN’S 6K RECAP
Kosgei held steady behind Texas Tech’s Juliet Cherubet from the onset of the race up until the final kilometer, overtaking her with a 3:50.2 final split to win comfortably by 13.7 seconds after trailing by 0.4 seconds with 1.3K remaining. Through her first four collegiate races, Kosgei has yet to be beaten, winning by an average of 26.95 seconds.
A regional championship in the snow! βοΈ@UNMLoboXCTF‘s Pamela Kosgei takes home the Mountain Region title with a big win.#NCAAXC pic.twitter.com/Zt3OTcuf5L
β NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) November 15, 2024
The UNM women held the top spot in the team score through the first 2,200m meters before BYU and Northern Arizona overtook them at the 3.8K mark — they held on to the No. 3 spot the rest of the way even as fourth-place Utah shed 16 points through the remainder of the race thanks to a seventh-place finish from Mercy Kirarei (19:57.7) — who finished under the 20-minute mark for the first time in her career for a new personal best — ahead of Christina Nisoli (29th, 20:28.6), Klara Dess (35th, 20:36.9) and Natalie Bitetti (39th, 20:43.9) to wrap up the team score with 111 points. Sophia McDonnell rounded things out just behind Bitetti in 41st (20:48.9) to provide quality insurance at the No. 6 spot.
Nisoli’s 20:28.6 finish as UNM’s third point-scorer marks her third consecutive new 6K personal best — in her last race, she shaved half a second off a personal best from Wisconsin Pre-Nationals with a 20:48.3 time despite an increase of more than 7,000 feet in altitude. This time, she improved again by nearly 20 seconds despite the cold and snowy conditions in Reno.
MEN’S 10K RECAP
In the first full-length 10K race of the year for the Lobo men, they held off No. 8 Northern Arizona for the second automatic qualifying spot to solidify their No. 2 regional ranking, with Samuel’s runner-up finish ( 28:59.2 ) leading the way ahead of three teammates that all packed into the Top 20 — Vincent Chirchir (7th, 29:29.0), Evans Kiplagat (10th, 29:34.8) and Collins Kiprotich (16th, 29:40.3). Rikus Van Niekerk shed a point over the final kilometer to thread the needle and close the team score at 61 points with a 26th-place finish (29:54.0) — an improvement of 17.9 seconds from his previous 10K best — to finish one man shy of All-Region status, with Lukas Kiprop (35th, 30:01.1) and Corne de Fouw (71st, 31:07.2) finishing behind him to ensure all seven Lobo men’s competitors cracked the Top 75.
Habtom finishes as Mountain Region Runner-Up (28:59.2) after an epic battle with Texas Tech’s Solomon Kipchoge down the stretch!
Lobo men finish second behind BYU with a 61-point score and secure an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA Championships in Madison! pic.twitter.com/yAmM9xisj9
β New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) November 15, 2024
UNM took the top spot in the team score with 49 points at the 3.4K mark and held it up until the final kilometer, but No. 1 BYU dropped 56 points over the last 6.6 kilometers to rise from fourth in the team score and overtake the Lobos down the back stretch with 52 points in total. The No. 8 Lumberjacks of NAU shed 48 points in the same span, but it wasn’t enough to drop the Lobos late.
| WOMEN’S 6K TEAM SCORE | MEN’S 10K TEAM SCORE | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Points | Team | Points |
| No. 1 BYU* | 52 | No. 1 BYU* | 52 |
| No. 4 Northern Arizona* | 65 | No. 6 New Mexico* | 61 |
| No. 10 New Mexico | 111 | No. 8 Northern Arizona | 71 |
| No. 9 Utah | 122 | RV Utah State | 152 |
| No. 30 Utah Valley | 161 | RV Colorado | 157 |
| Colorado | 169 | No. 26 Wyoming | 185 |
| Colorado State | 189 | Texas Tech | 190 |
| Texas Tech | 225 | Colorado | 191 |
| Utah State | 267 | No. 23 Colorado State | 202 |
| Montana State | 287 | Air Force | 243 |
UNM FINISHERS
| WOMEN’S 6K FINISHERS | MEN’S 10K FINISHERS | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Athlete | Time | Athlete | Time |
| 1. Pamela Kosgei* | 19:30.9 | 2. Habtom Samuel* | 28:59.2 |
| 7. Mercy Kirarei* | 19:57.7^ | 7. Vincent Chirchir* | 29:29.0^ |
| 29. Christina Nisoli | 20:28.6^ | 10. Evans Kiplagat* | 29:34.8 |
| 35. Klara Dess | 20:36.9 | 16. Collins Kiprotich* | 29:40.3^ |
| 39. Natalie Bitetti | 20:43.9 | 26. Rikus Van Niekerk | 29:54.0^ |
| 41. Sophia McDonnell | 20:48.9 | 35. Lukas Kiprop | 30:01.1 |
| 71. Corne de Fouw | 31:07.1 | ||
| Bold denotes Mountain Region Champion * denotes All-Region finisher ^ denotes new personal best |
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UP NEXT
Saturday’s selection show is set to air at 3 p.m. MT tomorrow on NCAA.com, where the complete tournament field will be posted shortly after it is unveiled. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on IG and X for raceday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.