Lobos Compete at Don Kirby Elite in ABQ & Husky Classic in Seattle this Weekend

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico Track & Field splits up again this weekend for competition both at home and away, with a distance contingent heading to Seattle to compete at the UW Husky Classic while the rest of the squad stays home to host the Don Kirby Elite Invitational at the ABQ Convention Center (Feb. 14-15).

Last week, the Lobos welcomed a field that included 24 men’s and women’s squads ranked among the Top 50 in the nation to the ABQ Convention Center as hosts of the UNM Collegiate Classic. In the first UNM-hosted regular season meet since 2019, he Lobo women (No. 24 in the nation in last week’s USTFCCCA TFRI rankings) finished 7th in the overall team score with 30 points, while the No. 20 men placed 8th with 25 points in total.

Over in Seattle, the Lobos will look for improvements in a variety of men’s and women’s distance events while hunting for an NCAA Indoor Championship qualifying time in the women’s distance medley relay, set for 2 p.m. MT on Friday. Judy Rono (1200), Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer (400), Rebecca Grieve (800) and Pamela Kosgei (1600) will comprise the Lobos’ DMR squad in a field that will likely break the collegiate record.

This weekend’s competition gets started in ABQ on Friday with field events at 11 a.m. and track events starting at 3:30 p.m. MT. Head to GoLobos.com/FollowTrack for all of this weekend’s live results and streaming links all in one place and follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Instagram and X for live coverage, meet day content and more.

Don Kirby Elite Invitational
Feb. 14-15 | Albuquerque, N.M. | Albuquerque Convention Center

Washington Husky Classic
Feb. 14-15 | Seattle, Wash. | Dempsey Indoor

BRODIE YOUNG, LOU-ANNE POUZANCRE HOYER TAKE HOME MW WEEKLY TRACK HONORS
After putting down the fastest 400m times in the Mountain West on Saturday with new personal bests that rank among the Top 25 in the nation, New Mexico’s Brodie Young and Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer have been named Mountain West Track Athletes of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday.

It’s the third week in a row in which New Mexico athletes take home multiple Mountain West weekly track honors, but the first weekly honors of the season for Young and the first of Pouzancre Hoyer’s career. Young won MW Track Athlete and/or Freshman of the Week five times, but this is only his second Indoor honor and first weekly award since 2023.

Young and Pouzancre contributed four points each with their fifth-place finishes in the men’s and women’s 400m and a combined three more between the men’s and women’s 4x400m relays that finished eighth and seventh, respectively.

BRODIE YOUNG | MW Men’s Track Athlete of the Week
Young broke Jarrin Solomon’s nearly 16-year-old school record in the men’s 400m on Saturday with a 45.96 personal best — a time that stands as a Scottish indoor national record, ranks No. 2 among MW performers all-time and No. 13 on the British all-time list.The previous Scottish record of 45.98 — held by Olympian Brian Whittle — had stood for 37 years.
That time also ranks 30th among collegiate performances at the Albuquerque Convention Center all-time. Nine of those Top 30 performances were recorded this season.
Now in qualifying position for NCAA Indoor Championships (No. 13 in the nation), Young finished 5th overall behind four performances that currently rank in the Top 10 in the nation.
Young returned for the men’s 4x400m relay to close out the weekend, posting the fastest split of the day for UNM (45.37) to help them produce their fastest time of the season so far (3:11.29). With conversions, that time ranks No. 7 on the UNM indoor all-time list.

LOU-ANNE POUZANCRE HOYER | MW Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
In her 400m season debut, Pouzancre Hoyer put down the second-fastest time in program history – and fastest in the Mountain West — with a 52.80 (52.91@) personal best to finish 5th overall on Saturday behind four performances that currently rank in the Top 15 in the nation. Pouzancre Hoyer now ranks No. 22 in the nation in the 400m.
That converted time is 2.77 seconds faster than the next-best in the Mountain West and the raw time ranks No. 2 on the French U23 All-Time List, No. 5 among French women this year, No. 5 among U23 women in Europe this year and No. 16 on the French All-Time List.
The French national returned to run the final leg of a UNM women’s 4x400m that broke the program record (3:36.44 / 3:36.88@), closing with a 53.83 split as they finished seventh overall to score two more points.

LAST TIME OUT (UNM Collegiate Classic, 2/7-8)

• • UNM athletes broke two more program records on Saturday (M 400m, W 4x400m) to go with four additional All-Time Top 10 performances (M 60 H, W 400m, M 4×400).
  • In his season debut in the 400m against the best sprinting field in the nation this weekend, Brodie Young set a new Scottish indoor national record and broke Jarrin Solomon’s UNM indoor record that had stood since 2009 with a 45.96 raw time. That performance also ranks No. 13 on the British All-Time List, No. 30 among all-time collegiate performances at the ABQ Convention Center and No. 2 in Mountain West history.
  • The previous Scottish record of 45.98 — held by Olympian Brian Whittle — had stood for 37 years.
  • Young’s converted time of 46.07 currently ranks No. 13 in the nation, potentially moving him into individual qualifying position for NCAA Indoor Championships.
  • In their first 400m races of the season, Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer (52.80 raw time) and Rebecca Grieve (52.82) both posted new personal bests that moved them to No. 2 and No. 3 on the UNM all-time list and rank No. 22 and No. 24 on the NCAA D-I Indoor Qualifying List – they’re both now within a quarter-second of Tianna Holmes’ program record set in 2023. Pouzancre and Grieve now lead the Mountain West in the 400m with three weeks until MW Championships.
  • Pouzancre (53.83) and Grieve (52.44) returned two hours later to run the two fastest legs of UNM’s record-breaking 4x400m relay performance alongside Sofia Pineda (54.88) and Hanna Kiess (55.30). As a whole, they put down a 3:36.44 (3:36.88 converted) – 1.51 seconds faster than the previous UNM record set in 2023. With today’s results, all of the Top Six women’s 4x400m relay times in program history have been recorded in the last three seasons (2023-present).
  • Semaj Thompson moved up to No. 6 on the 60 hurdles list with a new personal best and the UNM men’s 4x400m relay ran the seventh-fastest time in program history to round out the Top 10 additions.
  • On Friday, Grieve posted her second 200m PR of the indoor season – this time a 23.72 (23.79 converted) that stands as a .23-second improvement and moves her into sole possession of the No. 3 spot on the UNM all-time list after matching McKenna Watson’s 23.95 (24.02@) personal best in her season debut at the MLK Invite on Jan. 24.

THE ROAD TO NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

• The top 16 qualifying individual men’s, individual women’s and combined events and top 12 relays (DMR and 4×4) at the conclusion of the indoor season — after scratches — will be selected to the 2025 DI indoor track and field championships, held March 14-15 in Virginia Beach, Va.
• Heading into this weekend, five Lobos sit in qualifying position across six events:
  • Brodie Young moved into qualifying position with his big 400m PR last weekend, slotting in at No. 13 in the nation (46.07).
  • Pamela Kosgei ranks No. 2 in the nation in the 3,000m (8:44.62), No. 4 in the nation in the 5,000m (15:00.36) and No. 11 in the Mile (4:30.68 @).
  • Collins Kiprotich (3:53.41 @) ranks No. 9 in the nation in the Mile thanks to his elevation-converted performance from the MLK Invite (Jan. 25) — in the 3,000m, Kiprotich’s PR in Boston (7:46.90) stands at No. 12 in the nation ahead of Lukas Kiprop (7:49.52, No. 16). Samuel’s 5,000m PR from Boston (13:04.92) is the fastest among current D-I athletes, with Ishmael Kipkurui’s 13:22.03 clocking ranks 15th.
• UNM athletes have produced 34 marks (14 for men, 20 for women) that rank among the Top 100 in the nation heading into this weekend across 11 events (M & W 200m, W 800m, M & W Mile, M & W 3,000m, M & W 5,000m, W Long Jump, W 4x400m).
• Last season, Evans Kiplagat (5,000m) and Habtom Samuel (3,000m / 5,000m) represented UNM at NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston, with Samuel earning two First Team All-American honors and Kiplagat finishing as a Second Team All-American.

RANKINGS CHECK-IN
In the third USTFCCCA TFRI rankings of the indoor season released this week, the UNM men and women both ranked among the Top 25 for the second week in a row, with the men at No. 23 and the women at No. 25. They were ranked at No. 20 and No. 24 last week, respectively. The women moved up two spots to No. 4 in the Mountain Region and hold steady at No. 1 in the Mountain West Conference, with the men moving up to No. 3 while remaining at No. 3 in the conference, respectively.

In this week’s #EventSquad rankings, the Lobos cracked the Top 10 in the nation in five distance events — UNM ranks No. 3 in the nation in the men’s mile, No. 2 in the men’s 3,000m, No. 10 in the women’s mile,  No. 5 in the women’s 3,000m and No. 2 in the women’s 5,000m. UNM athletes have produced a total of nine times from five athletes that rank among the Top 25 in the nation currently in the Mile, 3,000m and 5,000m.

Top 10 in the nation in 5⃣ different distance events in this week’s @USTFCCCA #EventSquad Rankings! pic.twitter.com/UjD6hjpm7q

— New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) February 5, 2025

UNM MEN’S TRACK & FIELD – WEEK 3 USTFCCCA TFRI RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 23 (-3)
Mountain Region Rank: No. 3 (+3)
Mountain West Conference Rank: No. 3 (–)

UNM WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD – WEEK 3 USTFCCCA TFRI RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 25 (-1)
Mountain Region Rank: No. 3 (+3)
Mountain West Conference Rank: No. 1 (–)

UNM MEN’S TRACK & FIELD – WEEK 3 USTFCCCA #EVENTSQUAD RANKINGS (Top 100 only)
Men’s 200m – No. 74
Men’s 800m – No. 23
Men’s Mile – No. 3
Men’s 3,000m – No. 36
Men’s 5,000m – No. 2

UNM WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD – WEEK 3 USTFCCCA #EVENTSQUAD RANKINGS (Top 100)
Women’s 200m – No. 35
Women’s 400m – No. 7
Women’s 800m – No. 37
Women’s Mile – No. 10
Women’s 3,000m – No. 5
Women’s 5,000m – No. 2
Women’s Pole Vault – No. 33

SAMUEL NAMED TO THE BOWERMAN MID-INDOOR WATCH LIST; KOSGEI RECEIVING VOTES
Following a loud performance in Boston last weekend that saw him break his own 5,000m UNM and Mountain West record with a 13:04.92 clocking that moved him up to No. 4 on the NCAA All-Time list, New Mexico sophomore Habtom Samuel has been named to The Bowerman Mid-Indoor Watch List, the USTFCCCA announced on Wednesday.

After opening the year on The Bowerman Preseason Watch List, Samuel has competed in two indoor races — he put down a 3:54.37 converted mile time (No. 13 in NCAA D-I) in his season debut in Albuquerque at the Dr. MLK Jr. Invitational (Jan. 25) before running the fastest 5,000m race — indoor or outdoor — in UNM and Mountain West history last Saturday in Boston.

On the women’s Mid-Indoor list released Wednesday, Lobo freshman Pamela Kosgei received votes for the first time after breaking her third UNM indoor program record in as many races on Friday in Seattle. Kosgei is the first women’s distance runner to receive votes for the preseason watch list as a freshman — Stanford’s Grant Fisher (2016) and Oregon’s Edward Cheserek (2014) are the only male distance runners to have held the same distinction.

First awarded in 2009, The Bowerman is bestowed to collegiate track & field’s top male and female athlete for the year, regardless of discipline. The Bowerman Advisory Board, and ultimately, The Bowerman Voters, are instructed to consider performances inclusively from the collegiate indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons only.

In 2024, Samuel — then a true freshman — became just the second man from New Mexico to be named as a semifinalist, joining two-time semifinalist Josh Kerr (2017, 2018). Samuel swept the indoor 3,000m and 5,000m Mountain West titles and finished as a First Team All-American in both events at Indoor Nationals before winning the 10,000m and finishing sixth in the 5,000m at Outdoor Nationals to conclude the season with four First Team All-American finishes on the oval in just his freshman year alone — five counting cross country.

BIG-TIME SEMESTER ADDITIONS
The Lobos got even deeper on the distance side over the semester break with the addition of three U20 Kenyan distance stars with international competition experience in Marion Jepngetich, Ishmael Kipkurui and Matthew Kosgei for the indoor season. Kipkurui — a U20 World Cross Country Champion in 2023 and fourth-place finisher in the 5,000m at U20 Worlds last year — opened up his collegiate career with a 3:58.16 mile conversion on Saturday that moved him to No. 8 on the UNM all-time list. Marion Jepngetich and Matthew Kosgei — both U20 World silver medalists last year in the 3,000m and Steeplechase, respectively — also joined the Lobos at the semester, with Jepngetich making her collegiate debut in Seattle last weekend (4:46.23 Mile; 9:36.41 3,000m) and Kosgei opening with a 4:07.09 (4:07.01 converted) mile as an unattached runner at the UNM Team Open.

Other notable additions include French middle distance standouts Joshua Abraham (4:01.40 converted mile on 1/25, No. 75 in NCAA D-I) and Alice Seguin as well as Brazilian hurdler Pietra Campbell Simões, who put down the seventh-fastest 60 hurdles time in program history (8.69/8.71@) in her event debut.

2025 INDOOR SCHEDULE
The Lobos have nine regular-season meets on the docket for the upcoming indoor season, with all four home meets in Albuquerque set to be exclusively live streamed via FloTrack. UNM will also host 2025 Mountain West Indoor Championships in Albuquerque — the 10th season in a row in which MW Championships are hosted at the Albuquerque Convention Center and the 15th time overall.

Albuquerque has become known for hosting elite indoor track competition on its world-class surface at the Convention Center — at the conclusion of last season, 23 times or marks that ranked among the Top 10 in the nation their respective events on the NCAA D-I Indoor Qualifying List were produced in Albuquerque.

All home meet information, including schedules, live results and entries can be found at GoLobos.com/HomeTrack when they are available — follow @UNMLoboXCTF on IG, X and Facebook for meet updates, live coverage, behind-the-scenes content and more.

KOSGEI NAMED HONDA SPORT AWARD FINALIST
New Mexico’s freshman distance superstar Pamela Kosgei has been named as one of four finalists for the Class of 2025 Honda Sport Award for Cross Country, recognizing the top female athlete in the sport for this season.

Alongside Kosgei, Amy Bunnage from Stanford University, Doris Lemngole from the University of Alabama and Hilda Olemomoi from the University of Florida have been announced as the four finalists for the Class of 2025 Honda Sport Award for Cross Country, as revealed today by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).

Kosgei concluded the season as national runner-up at NCAA Championships — the only race which she did not win as an individual in her collegiate debut season. She won all four of her first six collegiate 6K races by an average of 26.95 seconds, winning Mountain West Conference and Mountain Region Individual titles as the top performer for a Lobo Women’s XC squad that finished 7th in the nation when all was said and done In addition to finishing as an All-American, Kosgei earned Mountain West Athlete & Freshman of the Year honors and USTFCCCA Mountain Region Athlete of the Year honors.

The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 49 years, recognizing the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and symbolizing “the best of the best in collegiate athletics.” The recipient of the sport award will become a finalist for the prestigious Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the 2025 Honda Cup, which will be presented during the live broadcast of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Presented by Honda on CBS Sports Network in June.

The finalists were selected based on their standout performances at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championship. The Honda Sport Award for Cross Country winner will be announced early next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.

Kosgei is the fourth Lobo women’s runner to be named as a finalist for the award along with Courtney Frerichs (2015), Ednah Kurgat (2017) and Weini Kelati (2018, 2019). Kurgat was voted as the overall winner in 2017, with Kelati winning the award in 2019 after finishing second in voting in 2018.

The indoor track at the Albuquerque Convention Center has emerged as one of the preeminent indoor track & field facilities in the nation over the last decade. In concert with the Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Albuquerque Convention Center, New Mexico has capitalized on its unique venue and prime training location with the indoor track at the ACC. The facility has hosted 14 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships, nine USATF Indoor National Championships, and five NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships — the first in NCAA history hosted at altitude. The ABCC has also hosted the NJCAA Indoor National Championships (2015) and NCAA Division II Championships (2012).

The most recent surface at the ABCC was unveiled in March 2021 and cost $3 million in total, with renovations that helped solidify the city’s ability to attract and keep hosting national meets that bring the best competition to Albuquerque. Since 2005, 102 indoor track meets have been hosted at the ABCC — 16 being national championship events at either the collegiate or national level — and indoor track has generated over $30 million in revenue for the city of Albuquerque in that span.

The track — a state-of-the-art WSTY Mondo, the same surface used at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo — is a 200-meter, 60-degree banked track with 60-meter straightaways running the entire length of the facility. It also includes men’s and women’s jumping runways and pits, as well as areas for shot put, pole vault and high jump events. The surface of the track is striped with cherry red and turquoise to reflect UNM’s colors and the state color of New Mexico.

In 2024, the ABQ Convention Center saw seven new professional facility records, with two new world records in the men’s and women’s 60 meter hurdles among them. In total, four indoor world records have been recorded at the ABQ Convention Center.

1⃣1⃣ Facility Records and 2⃣ World Records set at the ABQ Convention Center in 2024.

Here’s to even more in ’25! pic.twitter.com/V6BvnqulxD

— New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) January 15, 2025