THE STAGE IS SET IN MADISON
In the early 2000’s with a significant donation from Badger alum Thomas Zimmer, the University of Wisconsin built a permanent standalone cross country course consisting of rolling hills and switchbacks – to help spectators enjoy the competition – paired with lush, green grass suitable for fast times. Over a decade later, the course has become known for the prestigious Nuttycombe Invitational in mid-October. With Wisconsin hosting NCAA Championships last season, Nuttycombe was moved to earlier in the season, but the majority of ranked teams competed in a Pre-Nationals meet that was Nuttycombe in all but name in mid-October -- when Samuel and Kosgei swept the individual titles to propel a fourth-place finish for the men and sixth-place for the women.
Annually, at least half of the USTFCCCA ranked teams attend Nuttycombe in mid-October – in large part, the meet has become almost necessary to secure NCAA at-large qualifying points. In each season that it was held, no less than 10 of the teams selected to the NCAA Championship competed at the Nuttycombe earlier in the year.
The UNM women have won Nuttycombe four times, first in 2015 and 2017 – years the Lobos went on to win an NCAA Championship – as well as 2021 and 2022, when they went on to finish third and second, respectively.
LOBO COMPETITORS
2024-25: YEAR IN REVIEW
In Gauson’s second year at the helm, the Lobos reached new heights on the national stage for both men and women. They won four Mountain West titles – including the first sweep of women’s cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field team titles in program history – and finished in the Top 10 nationally for men & women at both NCAA XC and Outdoor Track & Field Championships, with Ishmael Kipkurui (10,000m) and Pamela Kosgei (5,000m & 10,000m) winning individual national titles outdoors.
At NCAA Cross Country Championships, the Lobo women finished 7th and the men finished 9th, making UNM one of just three schools in the nation with both teams finishing in the Top 10 alongside NAU and BYU. Habtom Samuel repeated as national runner-up despite losing a shoe halfway through the race and Pamela Kosgei finished as national runner-up on the women’s side – both earned USTFCCCA Mountain Region Athlete of the Year honors following the conclusion of the season.
At the conclusion of the indoor season, UNM qualified five athletes for NCAA Indoor Championships – Brodie Young (400m), Collins Kiprotich (Mile), Ishmael Kipkurui (3,000m; 5,000m), Habtom Samuel (3,000m; 5,000m) and Pamela Kosgei (3,000m; 5,000m). Samuel (2nd, 5,000m) and Kosgei (3rd, 5,000m) both took home First Team All-America honors.
During the outdoor regular season, Ishmael Kipkurui broke the NCAA collegiate record in the 10,000m at Sound Running’s THE TEN (26:50.21), Habtom Samuel broke the collegiate 5,000m record (13:05.87) and Pamela Kosgei ran the second-fastest 5,000m (14:52.45) and 10,000m performances (31:02.73) in NCAA history.
At NCAA West Region Preliminaries, 11 Lobos qualified for NCAA Outdoor Championships – the second-most in program history and most since a 28-athlete showing in 2011.
In addition to national titles from Pamela Kosgei (5,000m,10,000m) and Ishmael Kipkurui (10,000m), Mathew Kosgei (6th, 3,000m Steeplechase), Habtom Samuel (2nd, 5,000m & 10,000m) and Marion Jepngetich (4th, 5,000m) all earned First Team All-America honors. With Kosgei and Kipkurui’s 10,000m victories, UNM became the first D-I institution to sweep both men’s and women’s 10K titles at the same NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The UNM men finished 5th in the team score – their highest finish ever – with the most points in program history (31 points). The women placed ninth with 25 points – their second-best finish in history. The two squads’ 56 points combined were the most in any single season at UNM, more than twice the previous highest combined of 22 points (2018).
After outdoor championships, Gauson was named USTFCCA Mountain Region Coach of the Year for both men and women, with Pamela Kosgei named Regional Athlete of the Year and becoming the first finalist for The Bowerman in program history.
TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN (WEST) ONCE AGAIN
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.
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.
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.
COACH GAUSON’S LENGTHY RESUME
Heading into his third year at the helm in Albuquerque, Head Coach Darren Gauson has accumulated quite a resume:
- 2025 USTFCCCA MEN’S & WOMEN’S MOUNTAIN REGION COACH OF THE YEAR
- 5-TIME MOUNTAIN WEST COACH OF THE YEAR
- 5 MOUNTAIN WEST TEAM TITLES (2023 MXC, 2024 MXC, 2024 WXC, 2025 WITF, 2025 WOTF)
- 25 PROGRAM RECORDS
- 29 ALL-AMERICAN TROPHIES (1st or 2nd Team)
- 4 MOUNTAIN REGION ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
- 4 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
- ONLY PROGRAM IN NCAA D-1 TO FINISH IN THE TOP 10 FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN AT XC + NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 2024-25
- Women – 7th XC, 9th Outdoors
- Men – 9th XC, 5th Outdoors
NEW MEXICO WOMEN’S ALL-TIME USTFCCCA RANKINGS & NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FINISHES
| Season |
Preseason |
Week #1 |
Week #2 |
Week #3 |
Week #4 |
Week #5 |
Week #6 |
Week #7 |
Week #8 |
Week #9 |
Week #10 |
FINAL |
| 2025 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2024 |
20 |
21 |
17 |
17 |
8 |
10 |
10 |
|
|
|
|
7 |
| 2023 |
21 |
19 |
23 |
26 |
|
|
RV |
|
|
|
|
|
| 2022 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
|
2 |
| 2021 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
|
3 |
| 2020 |
|
2 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
|
6 |
| 2019 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
11 |
10 |
7 |
|
|
|
4 |
| 2018 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
2 |
| 2017 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
|
1 |
| 2016 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
7 |
6 |
6 |
|
|
|
7 |
| 2015 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
1 |
| 2014 |
11 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
11 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
|
|
|
3 |
| 2013 |
15 |
16 |
16 |
15 |
7 |
9 |
8 |
11 |
|
|
|
10 |
| 2012 |
RV |
24 |
20 |
19 |
19 |
17 |
17 |
17 |
|
|
|
10 |
| 2011 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
7 |
20 |
20 |
19 |
19 |
11 |
9 |
| 2010 |
18 |
18 |
18 |
12 |
8 |
8 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
5 |
5 |
| 2009 |
22 |
25 |
21 |
21 |
20 |
20 |
20 |
25 |
|
|
|
13 |
| 2008 |
RV |
18 |
27 |
27 |
23 |
23 |
21 |
21 |
|
|
|
18 |
| 1985 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14 |
| 1981 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
NEW MEXICO MEN’S ALL-TIME USTFCCCA RANKINGS & NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FINISHES
| Season |
Preseason |
Week #1 |
Week #2 |
Week #3 |
Week #4 |
Week #5 |
Week #6 |
Week #7 |
Week #8 |
Week #9 |
Week #10 |
FINAL |
| 2025 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2024 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
9 |
| 2023 |
|
|
RV |
RV |
18 |
19 |
13 |
|
|
|
|
18 |
| 2015 |
21 |
20 |
19 |
17 |
RV |
RV |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2014 |
17 |
17 |
17 |
15 |
16 |
18 |
13 |
26 |
|
|
|
14 |
| 2013 |
19 |
17 |
17 |
21 |
25 |
9 |
11 |
6 |
|
|
|
11 |
| 2012 |
24 |
24 |
24 |
21 |
28 |
12 |
16 |
21 |
|
|
|
21 |
| 2011 |
21 |
21 |
20 |
21 |
25 |
25 |
|
|
RV |
RV |
28 |
31 |
| 2010 |
14 |
14 |
11 |
16 |
10 |
10 |
12 |
12 |
10 |
10 |
5 |
16 |
| 2009 |
26 |
24 |
21 |
21 |
19 |
19 |
12 |
12 |
|
|
|
8 |
| 2008 |
15 |
29 |
RV |
RV |
|
|
|
RV |
|
|
|
|
| 2007 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RV |
|
|
|
| 2005 |
RV |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2004 |
RV |
RV |
RV |
RV |
23 |
20 |
19 |
|
|
|
|
9 |
| 2003 |
RV |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2002 |
RV |
29 |
30 |
27 |
28 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1988 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
20 |
| 1975 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14 |
| 1966 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
