ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Cross Country will open the 2026 season with both its men’s and women’s teams ranked No. 2 in the nation in the USTFCCCA Preseason Coaches’ Poll, giving the Lobos a pair of Top-Two teams to begin a season for the first time in program history.
The reigning Mountain Region champions for both men and women also clocked in at No. 1 in Monday's regional rankings.
Both squads enter the fall coming off historic finishes at the 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championships -- where the UNM men finished as national runners-up and the women placed fourth -- and standout distance performances at NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. New Mexico was the only program in the nation to put both its men’s and women’s teams on the NCAA podium, going on to finish among the Top 20 teams in the nation for men and women at both track championships with a total of five individual national titles and 15 First Team All-America nods across the 2025-26 academic year.
The No. 2 preseason ranking matches the highest in program history for the Lobo men, who also opened the 2025 season in the same spot before going on to produce their best NCAA team finish in program history. Prior to last season, the UNM men had never been ranked higher than No. 5 at any point in the USTFCCCA national poll.
For the women, the No. 2 ranking is their highest since finishing the 2022 season ranked second nationally and their highest preseason position since also opening that season at No. 2. It marks the 10th time in program history that the Lobo women have opened a season ranked among the nation’s Top Four and the fifth time they have started at No. 2 or better.
The Lobos’ two podium finishes last November capped one of the most successful cross country seasons in program history. On the men’s side, Habtom Samuel became the first UNM man to win an individual NCAA cross country championship while leading the Lobos to their runner-up team finish. The women followed with a fourth-place finish to secure their first NCAA team trophy since 2022.
On the women's side, the Lobos return two former national champions in Pamela Kosgei (2025 Outdoor 5K and 10K) and Marion Jepngetich (2026 Outdoor 5K) -- the men get back four of their five point-scorers from last season's runner-up team, including First Team All-Americans Collins Kiprotich (8th at NCAA's in 2025), Evans Kiplagat (13th) and Vincent Chirchir (20th).
New Mexico now enters 2026 looking to send both teams to the NCAA Championships for a third consecutive season. The Lobos open the campaign at home with the UNM Lobo Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 5 at UNM North Golf Course, which will also serve as the site of the NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Nov. 13.
NEW MEXICO WOMEN’S ALL-TIME USTFCCCA RANKINGS & NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FINISHES
| Season | Preseason | Week #1 | Week #2 | Week #3 | Week #4 | Week #5 | Week #6 | Week #7 | Week #8 | Week #9 | Week #10 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2025 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 4 | ||||
| 2024 | 20 | 21 | 17 | 17 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 7 | ||||
| 2023 | 21 | 19 | 23 | 26 | RV | |||||||
| 2022 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||
| 2021 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |||
| 2020 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||||
| 2019 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 4 | |||
| 2018 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 2017 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||
| 2016 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | |||
| 2015 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 2014 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 3 | |||
| 2013 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 10 | |||
| 2012 | RV | 24 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 10 | |||
| 2011 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 11 | 9 |
| 2010 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| 2009 | 22 | 25 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 25 | 13 | |||
| 2008 | RV | 18 | 27 | 27 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 21 | 18 | |||
| 1985 | 14 | |||||||||||
| 1981 | 11 |
NEW MEXICO MEN’S ALL-TIME USTFCCCA RANKINGS & NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FINISHES
| Season | Preseason | Week #1 | Week #2 | Week #3 | Week #4 | Week #5 | Week #6 | Week #7 | Week #8 | Week #9 | Week #10 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2025 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| 2024 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 9 | ||||
| 2023 | RV | RV | 18 | 19 | 13 | 18 | ||||||
| 2015 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 17 | RV | RV | ||||||
| 2014 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 13 | 26 | 14 | |||
| 2013 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 11 | |||
| 2012 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 21 | 28 | 12 | 16 | 21 | 21 | |||
| 2011 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 25 | 25 | RV | RV | 28 | 31 | ||
| 2010 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 16 |
| 2009 | 26 | 24 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 19 | 12 | 12 | 8 | |||
| 2008 | 15 | 29 | RV | RV | RV | |||||||
| 2007 | RV | |||||||||||
| 2005 | RV | |||||||||||
| 2004 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 20 | 19 | 9 | ||||
| 2003 | RV | |||||||||||
| 2002 | RV | 29 | 30 | 27 | 28 | |||||||
| 1988 | 20 | |||||||||||
| 1975 | 14 | |||||||||||
| 1966 | 11 |