| Thursday, May 14 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time | Event | UNM Entries |
| 6:30 p.m. | Women’s 800m Prelim | Li-Mari Dekker Kylie Feeney Jasmine Wood |
| 6:50 p.m. | Men’s 800m Prelim | Rhys Crawford Matthew Endrody |
| 7:10 p.m. | Women’s 200m Prelim | Laylah Lawson Taniya Looney Eva Ngom Lou-Anne Pouzancre |
| 8:00 p.m. | Women’s 400m Hurdles Prelim | Hanna Kiess |
| 8:20 p.m. | Men’s 400m Hurdles Prelim | Levente Soos Semaj Thompson |
| 8:30 p.m. | Women’s 10,000m Final | Anya Belisle Isabelle Bloker Mercy Kirarei Tina Nisoli |
| 9:10 p.m. | Men’s 10,000m Final | Vincent Chirchir Lukas Ehrle Matthew Giardina Evans Kiplagat Dylan Maloney |
| Friday, May 15 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time | Event | UNM Entries |
| 6:30 p.m. | Women’s 100m Hurdles Prelim | Adryana Shelby |
| 6:35 p.m. | Women’s Pole Vault Final | Jacquelyn Gorman Sofia Kazanova Mackenzie Hurtubise |
| 7:10 p.m. | Women’s 1,500m Prelim | Natalie Bitetti Li-Mari Dekker Alice Seguin Tilly Simpson Jasmine Wood |
| 7:30 p.m. | Men’s 1,500m Prelim | Joshua Abraham Collins Kiprotich |
| 7:35 p.m. | Women’s Long Jump Final | Mikyla Harkley Ajia Hughes Hannah Vincent |
| 7:50 p.m. | Women’s 400m Prelim | Eva Ngom Sofia Pineda Lou-Anne Pouzancre |
| 8:15 p.m. | Men’s 400m Prelim | Kahari Wilbon Valin Wittenburg |
| 8:40 p.m. | Women’s 100m Prelim | Laylah Lawson Taniya Looney |
| 9:20 p.m. | Women’s 3,000m Steeplechase Final | Pamela Kosgei |
| 9:40 p.m. | Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase Final | Kipruto Koech |
NCAA QUALIFYING SNAPSHOT
With NCAA West Regionals in Fayetteville set for May 24-27, the Lobos total 35 marks across 17 events that sit within the Top 48 in the region. The Top 48 performances in the West Region -- after scratches -- will be accepted for NCAA West Regional Preliminaries, with the Top 12 finishers in their respective events in Fayetteville qualifying for NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. (June 10-13).
On the women’s side, the Lobos account for 20 qualifying positions across 11 events, led by a deep distance group and sprint presence. Pamela Kosgei (No. 2 – 5,000m; No. 2 – 10,000m) and Marion Jepngetich (No. 7 – 5,000m) lead a 5K group that also includes Tilly Simpson (No. 21 – 5,000m; No. 23 – 1,500m), Jasmine Wood (No. 44 – 5,000m; No. 34 – 1,500m) and Mercy Kirarei (No. 24 – 5,000m; No. 16 – 10,000m), with Christina Nisoli (No. 24 – 10,000m) adding depth in the 10K. In the sprints, Taniya Looney (No. 6 – 100m; No. 33 – 200m) leads the way alongside Eva Ngom (No. 13 – 400m) and Louanne Pouzancre (No. 39 – 400m), while Li-Mari Dekker (No. 40 – 1,500m) gives UNM a third qualifying mark in the women’s 1,500m. Elsewhere on the track, Hanna Kiess (No. 34 – 400H) holds a qualifying spot and the 4x400m relay (No. 13) remains well inside the cutoff. In the field, Ajia Hughes (No. 11 – HJ; No. 33 – TJ) is currently qualified in two events, with Mackenzie Hurtubise (No. 46 – PV) also inside the Top 48. Adryana Shelby (No. 50 – 100H) sits just outside the current cutoff.
On the men’s side, New Mexico has 15 qualifying marks across six events, led by its distance group. Habtom Samuel (No. 1 – 5,000m; No. 1 – 10,000m) anchors a loaded 5K group that includes Collins Kiprotich (No. 17 – 5,000m; No. 32 – 1,500m), Iker Sanchez Lopez (No. 24 – 5,000m), Vincent Chirchir (No. 27 – 5,000m; No. 11 – 10,000m) and Evans Kiplagat (No. 37 – 5,000m; No. 10 – 10,000m), with Thomas Termote (No. 13 – 10,000m) also in qualifying position. Matthew Endrody (No. 16 – 800m; No. 16 – 1,500m) leads the middle-distance group alongside Joshua Abraham (No. 34 – 1,500m). Elsewhere, Levente Soos (No. 30 – 400H) and Cameron Miller (No. 45 – TJ) are also currently inside the qualifying cutoff.
CONFERENCE INDIVIDUAL LEADERS BREAKDOWN
18 Lobos enter this weekend in podium position – ranking among the Top Three in the conference outdoor performance list – across 16 men’s and women’s events.
Taniya Looney owns the Mountain West’s top marks in both the women’s 100m (11.05) and 200m (23.16), while Eva Ngom leads the women’s 400m (51.83). Lou-Anne Pouzancre also ranks third in the 200m (23.37), giving UNM two of the league’s top three in the event.
Pamela Kosgei leads the Mountain West in both the women’s 5,000m (15:03.09) and 10,000m (30:49.99), while Habtom Samuel also tops the men’s 5,000m (13:03.47) and 10,000m (27:30.51) – he will only compete in the 5,000m this weekend, with his season best from Bryan Clay standing as the collegiate record in that event. UNM also holds the top three spots in the women’s 10,000m with Kosgei, Mercy Kirarei (32:34.65) and Tina Nisoli (33:07.15), while Evans Kiplagat ranks third in the men’s 10,000m (27:59.71).
Behind Kosgei, Marion Jepngetich (15:19.93) and Tilly Simpson (15:34.23) rank second and third on the women’s side. For the men, Collins Kiprotich (13:25.37) sits at No. 2 behind Samuel with Iker Sanchez Lopez (13:29.11) at No. 3.
In the middle distances, Matthew Endrody leads the Mountain West in the men’s 1,500m (3:37.66) and ranks second in the men’s 800m (1:46.21), although he will not contest the 800m this weekend despite winning gold in the indoor 800m in Reno. Kiprotich ranks third in the men’s 1,500m (3:39.53), while Kylie Feeney sits third in the women’s 800m (2:06.15) and Simpson ranks second in the women’s 1,500m (4:12.32).
In other events, Levente Soos leads the Mountain West in the men’s 400m hurdles (50.98), while Hanna Kiess ranks second in the women’s 400m hurdles (58.17) – both are in position to qualify for NCAA West Regionals for the second year in a row. UNM’s women’s 4x400m relay owns the conference’s top mark (3:31.87), and in the field events, Ajia Hughes ranks second in the women’s high jump (1.83m / 6’ 0”) and third in the women’s triple jump (12.78m / 41’ 11.25”), while Cameron Miller ranks third in the men’s triple jump (15.34m / 50’ 4”).
HABTOM SAMUEL: CO-NATIONAL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
After breaking his own collegiate outdoor 5,000m record in dominant fashion at the Bryan Clay Invitational, New Mexico's Habtom Samuel has been named USTFCCCA Co-National Men's Athlete of the Week once again.
Samuel shares the honor with Oregon's Simeon Birnbaum, who broke the outdoor 1,500m record at the Oregon Team Invitational in Eugene. It's the fifth National Athlete of the Week award in his career and his fourth this academic year alone -- he was named XC Athlete of the Week in October after winning the Nuttycombe Invitational title, Indoor Track Athlete of the Week in December after his season-opening 5K win in Boston and Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week on April 6.
Samuel threw down a devastating kick with a 1:58 clocking over the last two laps as he blew away the fastest field of the night in Azusa, finishing in 13:03.47 to beat his own NCAA Outdoor 5K record and reassert his status as the favorite to win both the 5K and 10K at NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.
COLLEGIATE RECORD DOWN🔥
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) April 18, 2026
Habtom Samuel (@UNMLoboXCTF) runs 13:03.47 in the men’s 5000m invite to set a new outdoor collegiate record 🥹#CollegeTF and #BryanClay coverage presented by @SauconyRacing pic.twitter.com/gpXF47jEsf
The next two fastest finishers, Oklahoma State’s Denis Kipngetich (13:13.43) and BYU’s Tayvon Kitchen (13:16.27) were well out of sight when Samuel crossed the finish line. The fastest 5K in the nation heading into this weekend’s competition was 13:19.73 from Oregon’s Simeon Birnbaum.
HABTOM AND PAMELA BOTH MAKE THE CUT FOR BOWERMAN WATCHLIST
For the first time this outdoor season, Lobos are represented on both the men's and women's watch lists for The Bowerman, given annually to the top athlete in collegiate track & field at the conclusion of the year.
In the fourth update to the Watch List released this year, Pamela Kosgei returned to the list after dropping off following the third update. She was UNM's first finalist for The Bowerman in 2025 after sweeping the 5,000m and 10,000m titles at 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Samuel has been named to every watch list for the award so far this year dating back to the preseason, going on to win an XC national title and following up with his first indoor championships in the 5,000m. He has yet to lose a race to collegiate competition this academic year since finishing as runner-up in the 5,000m at NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2025.
LAST TIME AT MW OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
New Mexico Track & Field completed a sweep of 2024-25 Mountain West Women’s Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Championships with their first outdoor MW team conference title in program history in 2025, scoring 153 team points in total.
The Lobo men came just shy of an outdoor title of their own after scoring 30 points in the 5,000m and holding off Colorado State in the 4x400m final, finishing second in the team score with 171.50 points – the highest-scoring team outing at conference championships since 2011 (177).
The women put some distance between themselves and the second-place Rams in the final two events of the night, scoring 30 points in the women’s 5,000m final before the Lobos won the Women’s 4x400m Relay by nearly two seconds (3:35.54) to tack on 10 more in the final event of the night.
Darren Gauson was named MW Women’s Coach of the Year for the third time this season after leading the Lobos to their first-ever outdoor title, with Mathew Kosgei earning MW Men’s Track Performer of the Meet honors after shattering the steeplechase meet record with a 8:25.56 finish yesterday and contributing five more points on Saturday night with a fourth-place finish in the men’s 5,000 final (13:39.35). Along with teammates Ishmael Kipkurui (1st, 13:26.84), Habtom Samuel (2nd, 13:30.49), Collins Kiprotich (5th, 13:40.93) and Vincent Chirchir (7th, 13:32.09), Kosgei was one of five Lobo men to finish under the previous 5,000m meet record of 13:46.67 set in 2021.
UNM’s women’s championship is the first Mountain West Conference outdoor women’s track and field title for New Mexico in the 25-year history of the league – the Lobos accomplished the championship with a powerful distance force, with 80 points coming from the 800m, 1500m, Steeplechase, 5,000m and 10,000m. The 5000 meters was the biggest point producer, as the Lobos got 30 points from just that event alone thanks to six Lobos that finished in the Top 8 – Pamela Kosgei (1st, 15:50.96), Marion Jepngetich (2nd, 15:53.29), Judy Rono (4th, 16:11.64), Nicola Jansen (5th, 16:16.59), Alice Seguin (7th, 16:19.77), Sophia McDonnell (8th, 16:23.16). Each of those runners also scored points in another event – Kosgei also won the steeplechase, Jepngetich finished second in the 1,500m, McDonnell finished third in the steeplechase, Jansen finished sixth in the 10,000m, Rono won the 800m and Seguin finished third in the 1,500m.
In total, UNM took home Mountain West gold in four events (10,000m, 5,000m, Steeplechase, 4×400 meter Relay) – of the 28 Lobo athletes who competed in the championship 20 were able to score for the team. The Lobos scored in 13 of the 21 events despite only producing 16 points in field events, with 12 points in the pole vault and two each from Zennia Gonzalez (Long Jump) and Mikyla Harkley (Triple Jump).
Pamela Kosgei remains undefeated in Mountain West title races, with individual wins in XC (2024), the indoor 3,000m and 5,000m (2025) and the steeplechase and 5,000m this weekend.
On the men’s side, UNM’s 171 points was the third-most in program history since joining the MWC, behind 185 points in 2014 and 177 points in 2011. The Lobos scored 159 of their 171 points on the track, only getting 12 points in two field events while scoring 90 points in the 800m, 1,500m, Steeplechase, 5,000m and 10,000m. Seven event titles led the way for the Lobos (100, 400 Hurdles, 1500, Steeplechase, 5000, 10,000, 4×400 meter Relay). Of the 26 men who traveled to the championship 20 were able to score for the team.
Habtom Samuel’s streak of eight consecutive wins in Mountain West Championship races across XC, Indoor and Outdoor was snapped as he finished second to teammate Collins Kiprotich in the 1,500m and to another teammate and fellow Bowerman Award Watchlist selection Ishmael Kipkurui in the 5,000m — he’ll compete in the 5,000m again along with his specialty distance the 10,000m in two weeks at NCAA West Region Preliminaries in College Station, Texas.