Lobos Picked to Repeat as MW Men's & Women's XC Champions

After opening up the season ranked among the Top Five teams in the nation in the USTFCCCA’s preseason lists, New Mexico Men’s and Women’s Cross Country have both been voted to repeat as Mountain West Champions in the 2025 Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the league announced on Wednesday.

In the women’s poll, the Lobos received 11 first-place votes for a total of 121 points, with Boise State (111 points) receiving the other first-place vote to rank second. The UNM men also received all but one first-place vote with nine in total, good for 81 points ahead of second-place Boise State (61 points). This year, the league expands to 12 women’s teams and 10 men’s teams with the addition of Grand Canyon for the 2025-26 academic year.

Lobos 𝑜𝓃 🔝

For a second straight year, the @UNMLoboXCTF men and women were tabbed #MWXC preseason favorites for 2025

MWN’s @KarliePDrew with the details ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/v0AoYkpHTc

— Mountain West (@MountainWest) August 27, 2025

It’s the first time the Lobos have swept the No. 1 spot in both the men’s and women’s polls in back-to-back years since 2015 — they were picked to win the men’s and women’s team titles last year and made good on the elevated expectations, sweeping both the individual and team titles at 2024 MW Championships in Colorado Springs. Both squads went on to crack the Top 10 in the nation at NCAA Championships, with the women finishing seventh and the men finishing ninth.

It’s the seventh time this 2011 that UNM has been picked to win both titles.

𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 once again 🏔️

After cracking the Top 5 in the nation in yesterday’s @USTFCCCA Preseason Polls, the Lobo men and women are picked to repeat as @MountainWest team champions!#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/y9xzETXZuC

— New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) August 27, 2025

The UNM women had their unprecedented streak of 14 consecutive Mountain West titles snapped with a fourth-place finish at conference championships in 2023 but have now won 15 of the last 16 conference titles after returning to their winning ways in 2024. The men are looking for their third-straight conference crown after winning the team title in each of Gauson’s first two years as head coach (2023-24) — prior to then, they hadn’t won the conference since 2014.

LOBO MEN OPEN AT NO. 2, WOMEN AT NO. 4 IN PRESEASON NATIONAL RANKINGS
New Mexico will open the 2025 cross country season with both men and women ranked in the Top Four in the nation for the first time in program history, with the men ranked No. 2 and the women at No. 4 in the USTFCCCA Preseason Coaches’ Poll released on Tuesday.

It’s the highest ranking in program history for the men and the highest for the women since the final poll of 2022, when they were ranked No. 2 in the nation. It’s the ninth time in program history that the UNM women are ranked among the Top 4 in the nation in the preseason poll. In Monday’s regional rankings, the two squads were both projected as automatic team qualifiers for NCAA Championships, with the men at No. 1 in the Mountain Region for the first time in program history and the women at No. 2.

The UNM men’s No. 2 ranking comes courtesy of a wealth of proven returners – the Lobos return 2023 and 2024 individual runner-up Habtom Samuel as well as fellow XC All-Americans Collins Kiprotich and Evans Kiplagat. One of the favorites to win an individual titles in 2025, Samuel hit another level on the track in the spring, lowering his PRs to 13:04.92 for 5k and 26:51.06 for 10K – UNM also touts five other returners that ran below 13:40 for 5K during the track season and brings in steeplechase All-American Mathew Kosgei for an even deeper squad than in 2024-25, when they finished ninth in the nation in 2024 at XC Championships and fifth in the team score at Outdoor Championships.

Opening the season at No. 4 after finishing seventh in the nation at XC Nationals, the Lobo women are led by Pamela Kosgei, who finished as national runner-up as a true freshman before winning both the outdoor 5,000m and 10,000m titles over an undefeated outdoor season. They also return 2024 All-American Mercy Kirarei (35th in the nation) and 2023 All-American Nicola Jansen after she redshirted cross country last year among four athletes from last year’s squad that competed at nationals. Outdoor 5,000m All-American Marion Jepngetich also will run cross country for the first time.

NEW MEXICO WOMEN’S ALL-TIME USTFCCCA RANKINGS

NEW MEXICO MEN’S ALL-TIME USTFCCCA RANKINGS

UP NEXT
Both squads will compete at the Lori Fitzgerald Open in Las Cruces on Saturday for their first rust-buster of the season, with live results available via GoLobos.com/XCResults. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on X and IG for live coverage, race content and more.