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by Connor Gilbert

Lobo XC Set to Defend Conference Titles at MW Championships

Lobo XC Set to Defend Conference Titles at MW ChampionshipsLobo XC Set to Defend Conference Titles at MW Championships

Reigning conference champions and preseason favorites, New Mexico Men’s & Women’s Cross Country head to Fresno to defend their titles Friday at Mountain West Cross Country Championships – the first race of postseason competition for a pair of squads poised to make noise on the national level next month.

The Lobos were picked to win both the men's and women's team titles in the preseason and pre-championship polls, the latter of which released Wednesday afternoon. In the pre-championship poll, the Lobo men received nine first-place votes for a total of 81 points, with the women receiving 10 for a 120-point total.

The Men’s 8K Championship race is set for 10 a.m. MT on Friday, with the Women’s 6K following at 10:45. Friday’s competition will be free to stream via the MW Network with live results available at GoLobos.com/XCResults.

In their final regular-season racing of the year at the prestigious Nuttycombe Invitational, the UNM men reaffirmed their push for a national podium with the first men’s team title in program history, with Habtom Samuel winning with a new meet record to lead a 51-point team effort. The women finished ninth in a field of 19 ranked teams, holding their own against the nation’s best with a 16th-place finish from Marion Jepngetich leading the way. Samuel earned National Athlete of the Week honors from the USTFCCCA following his big season debut, with Jepngetich being named women’s MW Freshman of the Week.

Pamela Kosgei will also make her much-anticipated season debut on Friday – the sophomore is the reigning national champion in the outdoor 5,000m and 10,000m and is ranked No. 2 among the nation’s individual cross country athletes this season by FloTrack after finishing as national runner-up as a true freshman in 2024. Kosgei competed for the Kenyan senior national team in the 3,000m steeplechase at World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last month, delaying her first race until now.

Even with a women’s program that won two NCAA Championships and finished among the Top 10 in the nation 13 years in a row under former coach Joe Franklin, the Lobos have only sent both men’s and women’s squads to NCAA Championships in the same season seven times in their history (2009-2014, 2024). Last season was the first time both teams finished in the Top 10 in the team score at the same NCAA Championships in program history.

Currently ranked No. 1 for men in the region and No. 2 for women, both teams are projected to qualify for Nationals once more, with MW XC Championships as their final outing before they vie for automatic qualifying spots at NCAA Mountain Regionals in Salt Lake City on Nov. 14.

2025 MW CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oct. 31 | Fresno, Calif. | Woodward Park
10 a.m. Men’s 8K / 10:45 a.m. Women’s 6K (All Times MT)

Darren Gauson Media Availability (10/29)

RANKINGS UPDATE
New Mexico Cross Country heads into postseason racing with both men’s and women’s teams ranked in the Top 10 for the fifth poll in a row, with the men ranked No. 3 and the women at No. 9 in the USTFCCCA Week 4 Coaches’ Poll released last Tuesday.

UNM MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY – WEEK 4 USTFCCCA RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 3
Mountain Region Rank: No. 1

UNM WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY – WEEK 4 USTFCCCA RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 9
Mountain Region Rank: No. 2

NATIONAL POLLS

PRESEASON

WEEK 1

WEEK 2

WEEK 3

WEEK 4

WEEK 5

WEEK 6

New Mexico (Men)

#2

#2

#3

#3

 #3    

New Mexico (Women)

#4

#3

#5

#5

 #9    


The UNM men’s No. 3 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 while finishing as national runner-up in both at NCAA Outdoor Championships.

UNM also touts five other men’s 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.

Sitting at No. 9 after finishing ninth at Nuttycombe, the Lobo women dropped out of the Top 5 but have yet to race at full strength. Their ambitions of a return to the team podium rest largely on 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. UNM also returns 2024 All-American Mercy Kirarei (35th in the nation) and 2023 All-American Nicola Jansen among four athletes from last year’s squad that competed at nationals. Outdoor 5,000m All-American Marion Jepngetich is also running cross country for the first time, leading the Lobos with a third-place individual finish in her collegiate debut at Cowboy Jamboree and earning MW Freshman & Athlete of the Week honors.

Week 2’s No. 2 rank was the highest ranking in program history for the men – the women’s peak of No. 3 in Week 2 was the highest for the women since the final poll of 2022, when they were ranked No. 2 in the nation. For the third week in a row, 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.

LAST TIME AT MW CHAMPIONSHIPS

New Mexico Men’s and Women’s Cross Country completed its first sweep of the conference team and individual titles since 2012 at the 2024 Mountain West Championships hosted at Air Force, with Pamela Kosgei becoming the first freshman to win an individual championship and Habtom Samuel becoming the first man from New Mexico to win back-to-back individual titles since 2006.

With 32 points in total in the team score, the UNM women returned to the top of the podium after a 15-year streak of conference titles was snapped last season. The UNM men finished 1-5 as individuals — the first time in conference championship history a men’s team has done so — for a perfect 15-point team score to win back-to-back conference titles for the first time since 2014.

It was the first time since 2014 and seventh time in program history that UNM has won both the men’s and women’s conference championships in the same year — it’s only the third time they’ve done so with Lobos winning both individual titles (2011, 2012). The Lobos have now won either a Mountain West women’s and/or men’s title in cross country in 17 consecutive seasons, with 24 team championships in that span in total.

Following the completion of both races, Kosgei was named MW Athlete & Freshman of the Year, with Samuel earning his second cross country MW Athlete of the Year honors in as many tries and Vincent Chirchir named Men’s Freshman of the Year for his runner-up finish. Darren Gauson was named both Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year — his second and third conference COTY honors after being named Men’s Coach of the Year in 2023 and the first time a Mountain West coach has won both awards since former UNM Head Coach Joe Franklin did so in 2014.

WOMEN’S 6K CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
Kosgei took the lead a kilometer into the race and never looked back, outrunning the rest of the field by 47.8 seconds with a 19:36.2 time that anchored a 32-point outing for the Lobo women to finish ahead of Mercy Kirarei (4th, 20.27), Christina Nisoli (6th, 20:43.4 ), Natalie Bitetti (10th, 21:00.1)  and Sophia McDonnell (11th, 21:00.4) and secure the Lobos’ 16th MW women’s cross country championship. The Lobos finished 22 points ahead of second-place Boise State (54 points) –holding the top position in the team score from start to finish — with Colorado State (79 points), Air Force (84 points) and Wyoming (103 points) rounding out the top five in the team score.

Even at above 7,000 feet in elevation at the Eisenhower Golf Course, Kosgei’s time was the second-fastest in Mountain West Championship history behind former Lobo NCAA Champion and 2024 Olympian Weini Kelati’s 19:11.2 finish in 2019. Kirarei never fell out of the top four as she became the second Lobo to cross the finish line for the first time this season, adding First Team All-MW honors to her MW Indoor 3,000m and 5,000m titles from last semester.

A 42nd-place finisher at the 2023 MW Championship with a time of 21:36.9, Nisoli showed up in a big way with a new personal best (20:43.4) and the first All-MW First Team honors of her career. After finishing fourth overall in the Women’s Open race at Pre-Nats on Oct. 19 as part of the Lobos’ “B” Team with a 20:43.8 finish, she shaved 0.4 off that time even with an increase of 7,258 feet in elevation from Madison as the Lobos’ third overall finisher.

MEN’S 8K CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
Up next in the men’s 8K, Samuel finished in 23:20 – the fourth-fastest time in MW Championship history behind his conference record of 22:57.7 in 2023 – and was followed by four Lobos in succession to seal a team title immediately. Vincent Chirchir (23:41.5) finished as runner-up in his first cross country conference championship race to secure Freshman of the Year honors, with fellow freshman Collins Kiprotich (23:52.6) just behind. The trio took the 1-3 spots early at the 1.1-kilometer mark and held them through the duration of the race. Behind them, 2023 Freshman of the Year Evans Kiplagat crossed in 24:09.9 and Lukas Kiprop (24:16.6) moved from seventh to fifth over the final kilometer to complete UNM’s perfect 15-point outing.

The previous season, Samuel, Kiplagat and Kiprop finished 1-2-3 to lead the Lobos to their first conference title since 2014 after the Lobos were picked to finish sixth in the preseason polls — but they needed a strong showing from their fourth and fifth scorers to close the gap late and narrowly beat out second-place Air Force by two points. This time around as preseason favorites to repeat, UNM went 1-2-3-4-5 and left nothing to chance, beating second-place Colorado State (70 points) by 55 points. Behind the Rams, Wyoming (80 points) finished third, Boise State (85 points) finished fourth and Air Force (127 points) finished fifth.

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MOUNTAIN WEST DOMINANCE
The Lobos have now won either a Mountain West women’s and/or men’s title in cross country in 17 consecutive seasons, with 24 team championships in that span in total.At last year’s MW Championships hosted at Air Force, both UNM men and women swept the men’s and women’s team for the first time since 2014 and seventh time in program history, also winning both individual titles for only the third time (2011, 2012). 

The Lobo women have won all but one of the last 17 Mountain West team titles in cross country since 2008 – their lone blemish in that span is a fourth-place team finish in Gauson’s first year as head coach in 2023. Under Joe Franklin, UNM’s 15-year conference title streak on the women’s side was one of the longest of any program in NCAA D-I history – their perfect 15-point team score in 2021 stands as the lowest in conference history.

On the women’s side, UNM athletes have won 10 conference individual titles, with Pamela Kosgei looking to become the third Lobo – and first since Amelia Mazza-Downie in 2022 – to win individual gold in back-to-back years.

The UNM men have won back-to-back MW titles under Gauson for the first time since they won six in a row from 2009-2014. In 2024, the Lobos’ top five finishers went 1-5 to secure the first perfect 15-point score in conference history. The Lobo men have taken home seven individual conference titles since joining the league, with Habtom Samuel being the only man to win the individual race twice.

2025 PRESEASON POLLS
After opening up the season ranked among the Top Five teams in the nation in the USTFCCCA’s preseason lists, both men and women were both voted to repeat as Mountain West Champions in the 2025 Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

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 since 2011 that UNM has been picked to win both titles.

PAMELA’S LONG-AWAITED DEBUT
Friday will be the first race of the season for UNM’s top woman Pamela Kosgei – in her freshman season alone, Kosgei racked up two national titles, five All-American trophies and six Mountain West individual titles across cross country, indoor and outdoor track. She went on to be named Mountain West Female Athlete of the Year for all sports after a historic sweep of the 5,000m and 10,000m titles at NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene.


HABTOM SAMUEL NAMED NATIONAL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
After his loud season debut – and team title – at Nuttycombe, Habtom Samuel earned the second USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week honors of his collegiate career the following Monday. The last time he was named National Athlete of the Week was exactly a year prior, when he won Wisconsin Pre-Nationals on the same course to lead a fourth-place finish for the Lobo men.

LOBO COMPETITORS

All UNM Women's Competitors (Sorted by 6K PR)

Athlete Yr. / Exp. 6K XC PR
Pamela Kosgei So. / 1V 18:59.1
Nicola Jansen Sr. / 1V 19:25.1
Mercy Kirarei So. / 1V 19:57.7
Marion Jepngetich Fr. / HS 20:10.6
Judy Rono Fr. / HS 20:30.9
Tilly Simpson Sr. / 1V 20:39.8
Jasmine Wood Sr. / 1V 20:41.7
Alice Seguin Fr. / HS 20:59.7
Li-Mari Dekker Fr. / HS 21:19.5
M. McClelland-Brooks Fr. / HS 21:31.7

Projected Top 5 (Based on 6K PR)

Rank Athlete Yr. / Exp. 6K XC PR
1 Pamela Kosgei So. / 1V 18:59.1
2 Nicola Jansen Sr. / 1V 19:25.1
3 Mercy Kirarei So. / 1V 19:57.7
4 Marion Jepngetich Fr. / HS 20:10.6
5 Judy Rono Fr. / HS 20:30.9

Projected Top 7 (Based on 6K PR)

Rank Athlete Yr. / Exp. 6K XC PR
1 Pamela Kosgei So. / 1V 18:59.1
2 Nicola Jansen Sr. / 1V 19:25.1
3 Mercy Kirarei So. / 1V 19:57.7
4 Marion Jepngetich Fr. / HS 20:10.6
5 Judy Rono Fr. / HS 20:30.9
6 Tilly Simpson Sr. / 1V 20:39.8
7 Jasmine Wood Sr. / 1V 20:41.7

All UNM Men's Competitors (Sorted by 8K PR)

Athlete Yr. / Exp. 8K XC PR
Habtom Samuel Jr. / 2V 22:33.8
Vincent Chirchir So. / 1V 23:06.5
Collins Kiprotich So. / 1V 23:15.7
Evans Kiplagat Jr. / 2V 23:15.7
Lukas Kiprop Jr. / 2V 23:23.3
Mathew Kosgei Fr. / HS 23:39.7
Iker Sanchez So. / 1V 23:59.8
Joshua Abraham Fr. / HS 24:26.3
Jayden Hernandez So. / 1V 24:32.2
Dylan Maloney Fr. / HS 24:39.9
Matthew Giardina Fr. / HS 25:19.7

Projected Top 5 (Based on 8K PR)

Rank Athlete Yr. / Exp. 8K XC PR
1 Habtom Samuel Jr. / 2V 22:33.8
2 Vincent Chirchir So. / 1V 23:06.5
3 Collins Kiprotich So. / 1V 23:15.7
4 Evans Kiplagat Jr. / 2V 23:15.7
5 Lukas Kiprop Jr. / 2V 23:23.3

Projected Top 7 (Based on 8K PR)

Rank Athlete Yr. / Exp. 8K XC PR
1 Habtom Samuel Jr. / 2V 22:33.8
2 Vincent Chirchir So. / 1V 23:06.5
3 Collins Kiprotich So. / 1V 23:15.7
4 Evans Kiplagat Jr. / 2V 23:15.7
5 Lukas Kiprop Jr. / 2V 23:23.3
6 Mathew Kosgei Fr. / HS 23:39.7
7 Iker Sanchez So. / 1V 23:59.8

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.

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 9              
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 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