Habtom Samuel was named Mountain Region Men’s Track Athlete of the Year, Marion Jepngetich was named Mountain Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year and Darren Gauson was named Regional Women’s Coach of the Year as the USTFCCCA announced regional awards for the outdoor track season Thursday.
It’s the second year in a row taking home Outdoor Regional COTY honors for Gauson after the Lobos’ Head Coach earned both Men’s and Women’s honors at the conclusion of the 2025 outdoor season. The Lobos finished 12th in the women’s team score with 22 points and 14th in the men’s score with 20 – the second year in a row with both the men and women cracking the Top 15 in the nation outdoors.
In Tuesday’s final Program of the Year standings, the Lobos notched their highest combined finish between men and women in program history as both finished fourth in the nation. It’s the third year in a row with the men setting a new program-best finish and the highest finish for the women since 2019 when they placed second.
Habtom Samuel was named Regional AOTY for the second time outdoors and fifth time in his career across XC, indoor and outdoor after a historically dominant showing in Eugene – he became just the 15th man to complete the 5K/10K double in collegiate history, the first man to win both the 5,000 meter and 10,000 meter finals at the same outdoor championships since Ky Robinson in 2023, and only the sixth to do so in the 21st century.
It’s also the second year in a row with a Lobo being named Women’s Regional Track Athlete of the Year after Pamela Kosgei was Regional AOTY in 2025. Jepngetich won the first NCAA individual title of her career with a new personal best in the outdoor 5,000m final last week in Eugene (15:13.01).