Pamela & Matthew Kosgei Sweep MW Weekly Track Awards

After putting down the fastest men’s and women’s steeplechase performances in the world this year – and the No. 16 and No. 2 marks in collegiate history, respectively – New Mexico’s Matthew Kosgei and Pamela Kosgei have both been named Mountain West OTF Freshmen & Athletes of the Week, with Kosgei also being named USTFCCCA National Co-Athlete of the Week for the second time in her career.

It’s the fourth MW weekly track award for Pamela Kosgei this year – and sixth including the cross country season – and the first of Matthew Kosgei’s career.

Entering this week, the Lobos have three different athletes with world-leading marks in three events – Pamela and Matthew Kosgei lead the world in women’s and men’s steeplechase, with Ishmael Kipkurui’s 26:50.21 NCAA-record performance two weeks ago at Sound Running’s THE TEN leading the world in the men’s 10,000m.

Pamela Kosgei ran the second-fastest 3,000m steeplechase in NCAA history — and the fastest in the world currently — to win the event at the Stanford Invitational on Friday. Crossing in 9:15.93, Kosgei broke Courtney Frerichs’ program record from 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships (9:24.41) that was an NCAA record at time of competition.

In his first collegiate steeplechase race, Matthew Kosgei put the nation on notice with a 8:22.13 finish and overall win – a time that’s not only the fastest in the world and the NCAA heading into this week, but also shattered a UNM program record that had stood since 1977 and ranks No. 16 amongst NCAA performances all-time.

UP NEXT
New Mexico’s sprints and jumps contingent heads to El Paso, Texas for the UTEP Sun City Classic on April 11. Head to GoLobos.com/TrackResults for live results.