New Mexico Cross Country heads into its highest-profile regular season meet of the year with both men’s and women’s teams ranked in the Top 5 for the fourth poll in a row, with the men ranked No. 3 and the women at No. 5 in the USTFCCCA Week 3 Coaches’ Poll released on Tuesday.
UNM MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY – WEEK 3 USTFCCCA RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 3
Mountain Region Rank: No. 1
UNM WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY – WEEK 3 USTFCCCA RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 5
Mountain Region Rank: No. 2
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NATIONAL POLLS |
PRESEASON |
WEEK 1 |
WEEK 2 |
WEEK 3 |
WEEK 4 |
WEEK 5 |
WEEK 6 |
|
New Mexico (Men) |
#2 |
#2 |
#3 |
#3 |
|
|
|
|
New Mexico (Women) |
#4 |
#3 |
#5 |
#5 |
|
|
|
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 – Samuel will not compete at Stillwater, instead making his season debut at Wisconsin’s Nuttycombe Invitational in October.
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. 5 after finishing seventh in the nation at XC Nationals in 2024, the Lobo women stayed put in this week’s poll. 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. Kosgei – who returned from Tokyo last week after competing in the Steeplechase at 2025 World Athletics Championships – will not be competing in Stillwater. 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 also will run cross country for the first time.
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.
UP NEXT
The Lobos get their toughest regular-season competition yet when the Lobos descend upon Madison, Wisc. for the prestigious Nuttycombe Invitational Friday at Zimmer Championship Course on Oct. 17.
The action at Nuttycombe kicks off with the women’s collegiate 6K at 10:50 a.m. MT, with the men’s 8K race at 11:30 a.m. The event will be streamed via RunnerSpace+, with live results available via GoLobos.com/XCResults. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on IG and X for raceday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.