With the dust settled after a historic day for Lobo Cross Country at the 2025 NCAA Championships, New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel has been named USTFCCCA Mountain Region Men’s Athlete of the Year and Darren Gauson has been named Regional Coach of the Year, the association announced Tuesday.
Samuel – who finally broke through to win his first NCAA XC title after runner-up finishes in his first two seasons of collegiate competition – is now a three-time Mountain Region Athlete of the Year.
On Saturday, Samuel became the first man from New Mexico and the second Mountain West men’s runner to take home the national crown, joining BYU’s Josh Rohatinsky (30:44:90) who won in 2006. His 10K time of 28:33.9 at the national meet is also the best in conference history, surpassing his marks of 28:40.7 in 2023 and 28:38.9 in 2024.
HABTOM SAMUEL‼️
— New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) November 22, 2025
HE'S. THAT. GUY‼️ pic.twitter.com/MwaB14ahnk
He's also the third Lobo -- man or woman -- to win an individual cross country title after Ednah Kurgat (2015) and Weini Kelati (2017).
A week prior, Samuel won the Mountain Regional championship in similarly dominant fashion, putting down a 29:45.3 time as the only man in the field to finish the race below 30 minutes.
Gauson earns his first Cross Country Regional COTY award after leading the Lobo men to their lowest point score (82) and highest team placing (2nd) in program history with three All-American finishers – the UNM men won their first Regional title since 2010 the week prior. Following the conclusion of the 2025 outdoor season, Gauson was named Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Regional Coach of the Year – the third-year coach also was named Mountain West Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the second year in a row following the Lobos’ conference title sweep.