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by Connor Gilbert

Lobos Lead Team Standings Through Day One at MW Indoor Championships

Lobos Lead Team Standings Through Day One at MW Indoor ChampionshipsLobos Lead Team Standings Through Day One at MW Indoor Championships
Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos

RENO, Nev. – Habtom Samuel and Pamela Kosgei swept the Men’s and Women’s 5,000m titles with new meet records and the Lobos won a pair of gritty Distance Medley Relays on Day One of Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships Thursday at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, with New Mexico sitting atop both team scores heading into Friday’s Day Two.

Tomorrow’s competition for UNM begins with Ajia Hughes in the Women’s High Jump Final at 2:15 p.m. MT. This weekend's action in Reno will be available to stream via the MW Network, with live results available via GoLobos.com/FollowTrack. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Instagram and X for live coverage, meet day content and more.

Team Scores – Men (2 of 17 Events Scored)

Place Team Points
1 New Mexico 29
2 Air Force 13
T-3 Utah State 12
T-3 Wyoming 12
5 Colorado State 6
6 Boise State 3
7 San Jose State 2
8 Grand Canyon 1

Team Scores – Women (4 of 17 Events Scored)

Place Team Points
1 New Mexico 41
2 Fresno State 18
3 Grand Canyon 17
4 Nevada 16
5 Air Force 14
5 Boise State 14
7 Utah State 13.50
8 San Diego State 11.50
9 Wyoming 7
10 Colorado State 4

THURSDAY'S PERFORMANCES

WOMEN’S 200M PRELIMS
2. Taniya Looney - 23.43 (Q)*
5. Rebecca Grieve - 23.68 (Q)
17. Rasha Badrani - 24.40
23. Laylah Lawson - 24.77
(Q) - Qualified for Saturday’s 200m Final
* UNM Indoor School Record

Finishing 1-2 in Heat 10, Taniya Looney (23.43) and Rebecca Grieve (23.68) both ran well below the 24-second mark to finish with the second- and fifth-fastest times of prelims, qualifying for Saturday’s Final on time. Looney’s converted time of 23.50 is a new UNM Indoor program record, moving her up to No. 1 from No. 5 on the UNM indoor list – Grieve’s raw time was a new indoor best and just two hundredths of a second shy of her outdoor best.

MEN’S 200M PRELIMS
8. Brodie Young - 21.22 (Q)

UNM’s lone men’s 200m competitor and a third-place finisher at 2025 MW Indoor Championships, Brodie Young made the cut for Saturday’s Final with the eight-fastest time of prelims, crossing in 21.22 for his fastest 200m of the season.

WOMEN’S 5,000M
1. Pamela Kosgei - 15:32.15*
2. Mercy Kirarei - 16:14.24
3. Christina Nisoli - 16:16.03
4. Nicola Jansen - 16:20.81
* Reno-Sparks Convention Center Facility Record / MW Indoor Championship Meet Record

All four Lobos in Thursday’s 5,000m race finished in order for a total of 29 points, with Pamela Kosgei running a new MW Indoor Championship record of 15:32.15 as she blew away the field. Kosgei finished 42.09 seconds ahead of her town teammate and second-place finisher Mercy Kirarei (16:14.24) as she made it back-to-back conference indoor 5K titles – she remains undefeated in conference finals, indoors or outdoors.

Behind Kosgei and Kirarei, Christina Nisoli crossed in 16:16.03 to get on the Mountain West podium for the first time in her career and Nicola Jansen scored five more points with a fourth-place 16:20.81 clocking.

MEN’S 5,000M
1. Habtom Samuel - 13:30.40*
3. Evans Kiplagat - 13:46.93
6. Collins Kiprotich - 13:59.27
11. Vincent Chirchir - 14:15.41
13. Thomas Termote - 14:25.96
18. Jayden Hernandez - 14:51.99
* Reno-Sparks Convention Center Facility Record / MW Indoor Championship Meet Record

Habtom Samuel completed the three-peat of MW Indoor 5K titles with a new facility record to lead a 19-point outing for the Lobo men – Evans Kiplagat also got on the podium with a third-place finish in 13:46.93, with Collins Kiprotich finishing sixth to score three more points.

WOMEN’S DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY
1. Tilly Simpson, Hanna Kiess, Li-Mari Dekker, Marion Jepngetich - 11:02.09

Simpson provided a big lead with a 3:23.01 1,200m in the opening leg and the Lobos didn’t look back as they combined for an 11:02.09 time – 22.23 seconds ahead of the next fastest squad – to yield 10 more points in the women’s team score. In their second DMR of the season, the Lobo women ran 4.54 seconds faster than their 11:06.63 raw time the weekend prior at the CU Last Chance meet – Thursday’s time converts to a 10:53.08, putting the women just inside the national Top 20 on the NCAA Indoor Qualifying List.

MEN’S DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY
1. Iker Sanchez, Valin Wittenberg, Rhys Crawford, Joshua Abraham - 9:39.63

After an early lead dissolved on the third leg and Joshua Abraham got the baton with the Lobos in fourth heading into the final eight laps, Abraham willed UNM to victory and a crucial 10 points with a 3:58.13 final 1,600 meters, holding off Utah State and Colorado State as both finished within two seconds behind. The Lobos posted a massive improvement over their 10:08.85 time from last weekend in Boulder despite Abraham being the only constant between the two relays – that mark converts to a 9:31.75 at elevation, just outside the Top 25 in the nation.