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by Connor Gilbert

New Mexico XC Set for NCAA Mountain Regionals on Friday

New Mexico XC Set for NCAA Mountain Regionals on FridayNew Mexico XC Set for NCAA Mountain Regionals on Friday

New Mexico Cross Country heads to Salt Lake City for NCAA Mountain Regional Championships on Friday, with the No. 3 Lobo men and No. 8 women both on the hunt for automatic team qualifications to NCAA Cross Country Championships next week.

Although both teams are all but assured at-large bids to NCAA Nationals, they can guarantee their team qualification with a Top-Two finish in the team score in Salt Lake City. Last year, the men finished second in the team score and the women finished third, with the two teams going on to finish ninth and seventh in the nation, respectively. This season, both teams have been projected as automatic qualifiers the entire season – UNM men have been ranked No. 1 in the region and the women have been ranked No. 2 in every USTFCCCA regional ranking dating back to the first preseason poll.

The Lobos are coming off a clean sweep of team and individual titles in their last competition at Mountain West Championships – the first time they’ve swept all four titles in back-to-back years since 2014. Both teams have been ranked among the Top 10 in the nation for the entirety of the 2025 season and feature two of the best low sticks in the nation in Habtom Samuel and Pamela Kosgei, who are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation in FloTrack’s individual athlete rankings.

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, UNM has only sent both men’s and women’s squads to NCAA Championships in the same season seven times (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.

This year’s Regional meet is hosted by University of Utah at the Salt Lake City Regional Athletics Complex. Next season, New Mexico will host 2026 Mountain Regionals at the UNM North Golf Course – it will be the seventh time the Lobos have hosted the event since the regional format was adopted in 1997. The last time New Mexico hosted the regional was in 2022, when the Lobo women took the team title.

The women's 6K race will kick things off at 10:30 a.m. (MT) while the men’s 10K is scheduled to get underway at 11:30 a.m. Friday’s races will not be streamed, with live results available via GoLobos.com/XCResults. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on IG and X for raceday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.

2025 NCAA MOUNTAIN REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Friday, Nov. 14 | Salt Lake City, Utah | Salt Lake City Regional Athletics Complex
10:30 a.m. Women’s 6K / 11:30 a.m. Men’s 10K (All Times MT)

MOUNTAIN REGION RIVALS
This year’s Mountain Region field features five men’s teams and five women’s teams ranked among the Top 30 in the nation in the most recent USTFCCCA Coaches’ Poll. On the men’s side, three other Top-10 teams (No. 6 Colorado, No. 8 Northern Arizona, No. 10 BYU) will give the Lobos plenty of competition along with Mountain West rival Air Force (No. 28). No. 1 BYU leads the women’s field ahead of No. 17 Colorado, No. 21 Northern Arizona and No. 22 Utah.

In the USTFCCCA’s brand-new XCRI (Cross Country Rating Index) rankings, the UNM men are the top-rated team in the Mountain Region based on their projected scoring five, while the women rank third behind BYU and Northern Arizona. Habtom Samuel is the top-rated individual man in the field, with Pamela Kosgei second behind BYU freshman Jane Hedengren.

NATIONALLY-RANKED TEAMS AT NCAA MOUNTAIN REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Women’s Teams

Men’s Teams

No. 1 BYU
No. 8 New Mexico
No. 17 Colorado
No. 21 Northern Arizona
No. 22 Utah

No. 3 New Mexico
No. 6 Colorado
No. 8 Northern Arizona
No. 10 BYU
No. 28 Air Force

REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
The UNM men have won a Mountain Region Championship once – they did so in 2010, with a 45-point total that still stands as the lowest in a Regional race in program history. Their second-place finish with 61 points last year in Reno, Nevada – with Habtom Samuel, Vincent Chirchir and Evans Kiplagat finishing 2nd, 7th and 10th to lead the way – was the Lobo men’s best team finish and lowest team score since then.

Samuel became only the second man from New Mexico to win an Mountain Region individual title in 2023 when he paced the Lobos with a 28:57.6 finish – Matt Gonzales (2004) is the only other. Samuel was later named 2023 USTFCCCA Mountain Region Athlete of the Year for his efforts. Last season, Samuel had to recover from an early-race fall to finish second overall – he was still named 2024 Mountain Region Athlete of the Year again after finishing as national runner-up in Madison a week later. He’s gunning to become the first man from New Mexico to win two individual regional titles.

The Lobo women have won six Regional titles and finished in the Top Two 17 times, including a stretch of 12 consecutive top-two finishes and automatic team NCAA Championship bids from 2010-2022 – they most recently won in 2022, with their lowest point total (41) coming in 2018. They’ll be looking to get back into the Top Two after finishing seventh as a team in Gauson’s first year in 2023 and third last year.

Pamela Kosgei is the reigning women’s Mountain Region Champion and Athlete of the Year after a dominant 19:30.9 run in Reno last year – nearly 14 seconds faster than second-place finisher Juliet Cherubet of Texas Tech. A UNM women’s runner has won a Mountain Regional individual title eight times, with Alice Wright (2014, 2016) and Weini Kelati (2018, 2019) both winning twice each. Kosgei would join them and become only the second back-to-back regional champ in history should she prevail on Friday.

RANKINGS UPDATE
New Mexico Cross Country heads into its penultimate race of the year with both men’s and women’s teams ranked in the Top 10 for the sixth poll in a row, with the men ranked No. 3 and the women at No. 8 in the USTFCCCA Week 5 Coaches’ Poll released last Tuesday.

UNM MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY – WEEK 5 USTFCCCA RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 3
Mountain Region Rank: No. 1

UNM WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY – WEEK 5 USTFCCCA RANKINGS
National Rank: No. 8
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

#3

 

New Mexico (Women)

#4

#3

#5

#5

#9

#8

 


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. The Lobo men solidified their status as a potential threat for a national team title with a first-place team finish among a field of 17 nationally-ranked teams at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational in October and haven’t looked back since.

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.

Rising one spot from No. 9 in the most recent polls, the Lobo women finally raced at full strength for the first time this season at MW Championships. 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 their highest since the final poll of 2022, when they were ranked No. 2 in the nation. For the sixth 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.

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.

LAST TIME OUT (Mountain West Championships, Oct. 31)
New Mexico delivered on lofty expectations with a sweep of Mountain West team and individual titles Oct. 31 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.

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

Athlete Yr. / Exp. 6K XC PR
Pamela Kosgei So. / 1V 18:59.1
Judy Rono Fr. / HS 19:49.7
Jasmine Wood Sr. / 1V 19:56.1
Mercy Kirarei So. / 1V 19:57.7
Marion Jepngetich Fr. / HS 20:02.2
Alice Seguin Fr. / HS 20:23.8
Tilly Simpson Sr. / 1V 20:39.8

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

Athlete Yr. / Exp. 8K XC PR 10K XC PR
Habtom Samuel Jr. / 2V 22:32.0 28:38.9
Vincent Chirchir So. / 1V 22:56.2 29:29.0
Evans Kiplagat Jr. / 2V 22:58.7 29:03.9
Mathew Kosgei Fr. / HS 23:07.1 --
Collins Kiprotich So. / 1V 23:15.7 29:22.6
Joshua Abraham Fr. / HS 23:38.4 --
Jayden Hernandez So. / 1V 23:40.3 --

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 8            
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 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