Kosgei, Kiprotich Collect First MW Weekly Track Awards of Indoor Season
After strong season-opening performances in their indoor track debuts at the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Opener, Pamela Kosgei has been named MW Women’s Track Athlete & Co-Freshman of the Week and Collins Kiprotich has been named Men’s Freshman of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.
Two weeks after finishing as a national runner-up at NCAA Championships in cross country, Kosgei ran the fourth-fastest collegiate 5,000m in history in her first indoor competition on Saturday in Boston, shattering the previous UNM and Mountain West record held by Weini Kelati by more than 14 seconds en route to a 15:00.36 finish to place third behind Alabama’s Doris Lemngole (14:52.84) and Florida’s Hilda Olemomoi (14:52.84). Both finished under Parker Valby’s previous collegiate record of 14:52.79, while Kosgei’s time stands as the fifth-fastest performance in history, moving her up to No. 4 among individuals’ top times on the NCAA all-time list.
In his first collegiate track meet, Kiprotich finished 21st in the fastest 3,000m race in Boston and enters this week with the No. 21 time in the nation and second-fastest in the MW behind teammate Lukas Kiprop. Kiprotich’s 7:56.26 finish in that race moved him into the UNM all-time Top 10 in that event at No. 9, and he is one of the just 24 athletes in the nation that have run under eight minutes so far this season.
It’s the third weekly honor — and first of the track season — for Kosgei, who earned MW Cross Country Freshman of the Year and USTFCCCA Mountain Region Athlete of the Year honors at the culmination of a cross country season that saw her finish as an individual NCAA Runner-Up. It’s Kiprotich’s second Freshman of the Week honor after being named Cross Country Freshman of the Week on Oct. 22.
UP NEXT
After their winter break hiatus, the Lobos return to action at the Albuquerque Convention Center as hosts of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational Jan. 24-25. Head to the 2024-25 Track & Field Schedule page or the Home Meet Info for all live results and streaming links all in one place and follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Instagram and X for live coverage, meet day content and more.