New Mexico Track & Field is set to compete on the sport’s biggest stage when five Lobos head to Fayetteville, Ark. for 2026 NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend, March 13-14.

Of the Lobos’ five NCAA competitors, three are making their return to indoor national championships – Habtom Samuel has qualified in the 3K and 5K for the third year in a row, while Pamela Kosgei (3K/5K) and Evans Kiplagat (5K) are making the second appearance of their careers. In order to qualify, they had to record times that ranked among the Top 16 in the nation in their respective events — after scratches — at the conclusion of the indoor season.

Matthew Endrödy is the only Lobo that will need to race multiple times to reach the final, with the Men’s Mile Semifinals on Friday and the Finals on Saturday if he advances.

With five qualifiers last season – four men and one woman – the Lobos finished 26th in the men’s team score with 10 points and 32nd on the women’s side with six. UNM finished tied for fifth in the men’s team score in the third NCAA Indoor National Championships in 1967, with their 8th-place finish in 2010 being the best of the modern era.

The most points the Lobos have ever scored at NCAA Indoor Championships in total across men and women is 27 in 2018, when the women finished tied for 10th with 17 points and the men tied for 21st with 10. UNM has only scored points at NCAA Indoors on both the men’s and women’s sides five times previously (2010, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2025).

All of this weekend’s action in Arkansas will be available on television via ESPNU and stream via ESPN+, with live results available via GoLobos.com/TrackResults.

NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
March 13-14 | Fayetteville, Ark. | Randal Tyson Track Center

NEW MEXICO COMPETITOR SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES MT)
Friday, March 13
4:20 pm - Men’s Mile Semifinal
Matthew Endrödy

6:05 - Women’s 5,000m Final
Pamela Kosgei

6:25 Men’s 5,000m Final
Habtom Samuel
Evans Kiplagat

Saturday, March 13
3:20 pm - Men’s Mile Final (IF ADVANCED)
Matthew Endrödy

5:10 pm - Women’s 3,000m Final
Pamela Kosgei
Marion Jepngetich

5:25 pm - Men’s 3,000m Final
Habtom Samuel

NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS NOTES
Habtom Samuel will contest the 3K/5K double for the third year in a row after finishing second in the 5K at last season’s indoor championships in Virginia Beach, Va. He held the fastest 5,000m performance in the NCAA this season from start to finish with his 13:05.21 mark from the BU Opener in December and ranks No. 6 in the nation in the 3,000m with his 7:37.44 personal best three weeks ago in Seattle.

Samuel is the most decorated XC/TF Lobo athlete in program history, with two NCAA titles (2024 Outdoor 10K, 2025 XC) and a total of 14 First Team All-American trophies. Since finishing second in the outdoor 5,000m in Eugene last spring, he hasn’t lost a collegiate cross country or indoor race – his only “loss” was at the Millrose Games Two-Mile race against professionals and Olympians in which he set a new collegiate record in that distance.

He’ll be joined in the 5K final by Evans Kiplagat, who is making his return to NCAA Indoor Championships after finishing 15th in the 5K in 2024 but failed to advance to NCAA Championships in 2025.

Pamela Kosgei is also a double qualifier for the second year in a row, ranking No. 6 in the nation in the 5,000m (15:05.41) and No. 10 in the 3,000m (8:44.91), just ahead of teammate Marion Jepngetich (8:45.20) sitting at No. 11. Last season at NCAA Indoors, Kosgei finished third in the 5,000m and looked poised to make a move for the podium in the 3,000m but ultimately finished 11th after a costly late fall. She rebounded with a sweep of the outdoor 5K and 10K at NCAA Outdoor titles in June and is coming off a pair of high-altitude collegiate records in the 3K (8:58.58) and 5K (15:32.15) last weekend at MW Indoor Championships in Reno.

Matthew Endrödy has enjoyed a breakout sophomore year indoors, opening with a stunning 13.1-second improvement in the mile for a 3:53.65 elevation-converted performance that ranks No. 14 in NCAA D1 – not even multi-time NCAA champion and two-time Olympian Josh Kerr broke the four-minute barrier in Albuquerque during his time as a Lobo.
He’s coming off double gold at Mountain West Championships, taking home individual titles in both the 800m and the Mile.

USTFCCCA RANKINGS UPDATE
In this week’s USTFCCCA Track & Field Rating Index (TFRI), the Lobo men moved up two spots to No. 20, with the women moving up one to No. 32.

National TFRI Rankings - Checkpoint #7
Men: No. 20 (+2)
Women: No. 32 (+1) 

Mountain Region TFRI Rankings - Checkpoint #7
Men: No. 5 (--)
Women: No. 3 (--)

In the national #EventSquad rankings, the Lobos ranked among the Top 25 in the nation in eightr events. UNM men still lead the nation in the 5,000m with the women at No. 3, with both the men and women ranking No. 3 in the 3K. Both UNM men and women remain ranked among the Top 30 in the nation in the 400m and the mile as well.

USTFCCCA #EVENTSQUAD RANKINGS - Checkpoint #7
Women’s 60m - No. 77
Women’s 200m - No. 23
Women’s 400m - No. 9
Women’s 800m - No. 43
Women’s Mile - No. 22
Women’s 3,000m - No. 3
Women’s 5,000m - No. 3
Women’s Long Jump - No. 69
Men’s 400m - No. 34
Men’s Mile - No. 21
Men’s 3,000m - No. 3
Men’s 5,000m - No. 1

SAMUEL, KOSGEI MAKE YET ANOTHER BOWERMAN WATCH LIST
Both Habtom Samuel and Pamela Kosgei were named to the most recent watch list update for The Bowerman on March 5, making it three times in a row with both making the cut since the initial preseason Watch List on Jan. 8. That initial preseason list was the first time both a man and woman from New Mexico made the cut at the same time in program history.

The Bowerman is bestowed to collegiate track & field's top male and female athlete for the year. The Bowerman Advisory Board, and ultimately, The Bowerman Voters, are instructed to consider performances inclusively from the collegiate indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons only. Cross country results are not within this consideration. The current collective track & field season began on November 28, 2025 and will end on June 13, 2026.

LAST YEAR AT NCAA INDOORS
At the 2025 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Virginia Beach, the Lobos produced multiple podium performances and five All-America honors in total.

New Mexico opened the meet with a strong showing in the 5,000 meters, earning three First Team All-American finishes across men and women. Habtom Samuel led the way with a national runner-up finish in 13:11.78 — the fastest time ever run by a Lobo at NCAA Indoor Championships — while freshman Ishmael Kipkurui placed seventh to join him on the podium. On the women’s side, Pamela Kosgei finished third in 15:07.57, the fastest NCAA Indoor Championship performance by a UNM woman in program history.

Samuel, Kipkurui and Kosgei all returned for the 3,000m final on the meet’s final day, where each secured additional All-America honors. Samuel placed ninth (7:54.42), narrowly missing another First Team finish, while Kipkurui took 14th (7:58.43). Kosgei led the women’s race late before falling in the final stretch and finishing 12th in 9:04.42.

Collins Kiprotich (mile) and Brodie Young (400m) also represented the Lobos in preliminary races, each earning Second Team All-America honors.

The Lobo men finished tied for 26th in the team standings with 10 points, while Kosgei’s six points placed the women tied for 32nd. Samuel’s runner-up performance also brought his career All-America total to eight, tying the program record held by former NCAA champion Alice Wright.