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by Connor Gilbert

Lobos Sweep Men's & Women's XC Titles at MW Championships

Lobos Sweep Men's & Women's XC Titles at MW ChampionshipsLobos Sweep Men's & Women's XC Titles at MW Championships

FRESNO, Calif. – New Mexico Men’s and Women’s Cross Country delivered on lofty expectations with a sweep of Mountain West team and individual titles Friday morning at Woodward Park – the Lobos’ first time winning both titles in back-to-back years since 2014.

Habtom Samuel became the first Mountain West athlete – man or woman – to win three Mountain West individual titles in a row as he ran away with the men’s 8K race, crossing 24.2 seconds ahead of the next-fastest finisher as he led a 26-point effort from the Lobo men.

In her season debut, Pamela Kosgei repeated as individual champion on the women’s side, finishing in 19:20.8. She’s now the first Lobo to win back-to-back individual MW titles since Amelia Mazza-Downie (2021-22) and the first ever to do so in her first two seasons of collegiate competition.

Samuel and Kosgei earned MW Athlete of the Year honors, while Marion Jepngetich was named MW Women’s Freshman of the Year and Mathew Kosgei was named Men's Freshman of the Year to make it three years in a row with a man from UNM earning the honor. Darren Gauson was named both Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year — his fourth and fifth MW Cross Country COTY honors after earning both awards after the Lobos’ sweep in 2024.

A total of 12 Lobos -- six men and six women -- earned All-MW honors by finishing among the Top 14 individuals. Habtom Samuel (1st), Vincent Chirchir (2nd), Evans Kiplagat (4th), Pamela Kosgei (1st), Judy Rono (3rd), Jasmine Wood (4th) and Marion Jepngetich (5th) all finished on the All-MW First Team, while Mathew Kosgei (8th), Iker Sanchez (11th), Collins Kiprotich (12th), Nicola Jansen (11th) and Alice Seguin (14th) all earned All-MW Second Team nods.

It’s only the eighth 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 fourth time they’ve done so with Lobos winning both individual titles (2011, 2012, 2024). The Lobos have now won either a Mountain West women’s and/or men’s title in cross country in 18 consecutive seasons, with 26 team championships in that span in total.

MEN’S 8K RECAP
8 minutes into the race, Samuel pulled away from the front pack and didn’t look back the rest of the way – the Eritrean junior broke his own meet record with a 22:32.0 finish, 24.2 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Vincent Chirchir (22:56.2). Behind them, Evans Kiplagat (4th, 22:58.7), Mathew Kosgei (8th, 23:07.1) and Iker Sanchez (11th, 23:13.2) wrapped up a 26-point team score that put the Lobos well ahead of 72-point totals from Boise State and Air Force.

Collins Kiprotich (12th, 23:19.9) finished just outside of UNM’s Top 5 to earn All-MW honors, with Joshua Abraham (22nd, 23:38.4), Jayden Hernandez (24th, 23:40.3), Matthew Giardina (37th, 24:07.8) and Dylan Maloney (47th, 24:29.4) all finishing among the Top 50 individuals to round out UNM’s 10-man contingent.

WOMEN’S 6K RECAP
In similar fashion to Samuel, Kosgei put some distance between herself and the rest of the field just after the 2.75-mile marker and controlled the race all the way to a blistering 19:20.8 finish for her second MW cross country title. Judy Rono (3rd, 19:49.7) and Jasmine Wood (4th,     19:56.1) both moved up over the final stretch – with Wood moving up five spots in that span – as Marion Jepngetich (5th, 20:02.0) made it four Lobos in the individual Top Five. Nicola Jansen earned the second All-MW XC honors of her career with an 11th-place finish (20:15.3) to round out the Lobo Women’s 24-point score.

Alice Seguin (14th, 20:23.8), Mercy Kirarei (15th, 20:25.5), Millie McClelland-Brooks (18th, 20:36.6), Li-Mari Dekker (19th, 20:38.0) and Tilly Simpson (22nd, 20:44.5) all joined them in the Top 25 behind them.