No. 1/6 Lobo XC Looks to Repeat at MW Championships Friday in Reno

New Mexico Cross Country enters postseason racing Friday when the Lobos -- ranked No. 1 in the nation for men and No. 6 for women -- head to Reno, Nev. to defend their team titles once again at Mountain West XC Championships on Friday.

The Lobos have won three men's titles in a row and 17 of the last 18 women's team titles -- UNM is projected as the heavy favorite to repeat again this year as the runaway first-place pick in both the preseason and pre-championship coaches' polls.

The women’s 6K is slated to start at 11:00 a.m. MT, with the men’s 8K immediately following at 11:45 a.m. Live results for Friday’s races will be available via GoLobos.com/XCResults and available to stream via paid subscription to MW+. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on IG and X for raceday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.

MOUNTAIN WEST DOMINANCE
New Mexico has claimed 26 Mountain West cross country team championships — 17 women’s and nine men’s — highlighted by the women’s run of 15 consecutive titles from 2008-22. The Lobo women have won 17 of the last 18 conference championships, reclaiming the crown in 2024 and repeating in 2025, while the men have captured three straight titles under head coach Darren Gauson (2023-25), adding to six consecutive championships from 2009-14.

UNM has swept the men’s and women’s team and individual titles in each of the last two seasons (2024-25). Habtom Samuel earned his third consecutive men’s individual crown in 2025, while Pamela Kosgei secured her second straight women’s title. The Lobos have won 19 MW individual championships overall — 11 women’s and eight men’s — claimed by eight women and six men.

A NEW NO. 1 / RANKINGS UPDATE

After a dominant season-opening performance in Stillwater that saw them topple top-ranked Oklahoma State, New Mexico Men’s Cross Country rose to No. 1 in the USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll for the first time in program history this season and has remained in the top spot since.

New Mexico joined a small group of just eight programs that have ascended to the apex of Division I cross country on both the men’s and women’s sides in the modern era (1995–present) -- Arkansas, BYU, Colorado, Iowa State, Northern Arizona, Oregon and Stanford are the only other programs to do so in the last three decades.

The Lobo women first reached No. 1 in the nation in the first regular-season poll of the 2015 season, going on to win national titles in 2015 and 2017 and finishing in the Top 10 in the nation in nine of the next 10 seasons. They have clocked in at No. 6 in the last two polls despite not racing at full strength yet this season.

The UNM men have now ranked among the Top 10 in the nation for 16 polls in a row dating back to the 2024 season – the women have been in the Top 10 for the last 17. Prior to 2024, the men had only ranked inside the Top 10 seven times in their history and never ranked higher than No. 5.

PASANJO KITONGA: NATIONAL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
After leading the New Mexico men to a win over top-ranked Oklahoma State with an individual title at the Cowboy Jamboree, New Mexico’s Pasanjo Kitonga was named the USTFCCCA Division I Men’s Cross Country National Athlete of the Week.

He becomes just the second man and sixth athlete overall to earn a National Athlete of the Week honor in cross country -- Habtom Samuel was named National Athlete of the Week twice in the last two seasons (Oct. 21, 2024; Oct. 20, 2025).

Kitonga covered the 8K course in 23:24.4 to lead four Lobos among the top six finishers in Stillwater, Oklahoma. His victory helped No. 2 New Mexico score 28 points and claim its first Cowboy Jamboree team title, finishing 16 points ahead of top-ranked and defending national champion Oklahoma State.

That 23:24.4 finish ranks 10th amongst Cowboy Jamboree performances all-time, tying with Nico Young’s finish in 2022.

MEN’S NATIONAL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK HONOREES FROM UNM
Athlete            Award date            
Habtom Samuel        Oct. 21, 2024; Oct. 20, 2025
Pasanjo Kitonga        Sept. 28, 2026

WOMEN’S NATIONAL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK HONOREES FROM UNM
Athlete            Award date            
Charlotte Arter        Oct. 6, 2014
Ednah Kurgat        Oct. 2 and Oct. 30, 2017
Weini Kelati        Oct. 15, 2018; Oct. 7 and Nov. 4, 2019
Pamela Kosgei        Oct. 21, 2024

2025 IN REVIEW / 2026 SEASON PREVIEW
New Mexico enters 2026 coming off one of the most successful seasons in program history, with both squads earning team trophies at the 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time. The Lobo men finished as national runners-up while the women placed fourth, making UNM the only program in the country to put both its men’s and women’s teams on the podium. Habtom Samuel capped the season by becoming the first man from New Mexico to win an individual NCAA cross country title.

The Lobos were equally dominant throughout the postseason, sweeping both the men’s and women’s team titles at the Mountain West and NCAA Mountain Region Championships. UNM has now won three consecutive MW men’s championships and 17 of the last 18 women’s titles, extending its streak of winning at least one conference team championship to 18 straight seasons.

Although Samuel turned professional during the offseason, New Mexico returns the bulk of its production from last year’s podium teams and enters 2026 as the Mountain West favorite on both sides. The Lobo men received seven of eight first-place votes in the league’s preseason coaches’ poll, while the women earned nine of 10 first-place votes.

On the women’s side, the Lobos return two national champions in Pamela Kosgei (2025 Outdoor 5K and 10K) and Marion Jepngetich (2026 Outdoor 5K) -- the men get back three 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).

UNM will look to qualify both teams for NCAA Championships for the third consecutive season. The Lobos will return home to host the NCAA Mountain Region Championships Nov. 13 at the UNM North Course -- a race in which they can secure automatic bids with a top-two team finish -- before NCAA Championships Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. 

COACH GAUSON’S LENGTHY RESUME
• 9 Mountain West Coach of the Year awards
Men’s XC (2023, 2024, 2025); women’s XC (2024, 2025); women’s indoor and outdoor track & field (2025, 2026).
• 9 Mountain West team titles
Men’s XC (2023, 2024, 2025); women’s XC (2024, 2025); women’s indoor and outdoor track & field (2025, 2026).
• 4 USTFCCCA Mountain Region Coach of the Year awards
Men’s XC (2025); men’s outdoor (2025); women’s outdoor (2025, 2026).
• 9 NCAA individual championships
Habtom Samuel — 2024 outdoor 10,000m; 2025 XC; 2026 indoor 5,000m and outdoor 5,000m/10,000m.
Pamela Kosgei — 2025 outdoor 5,000m/10,000m.
Ishmael Kipkurui — 2025 outdoor 10,000m.
Marion Jepngetich — 2026 outdoor 5,000m.
• 2 Bowerman finalists
Pamela Kosgei (2025) and Habtom Samuel (2026).
• Consecutive women’s Mountain West triple crowns
XC, indoor and outdoor championships in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
• Historic national team success
Both teams reached the 2025 NCAA XC podium — men second, women fourth — and finished fourth in the 2025-26 USTFCCCA Program of the Year standings.

LAST TIME AT MW CHAMPIONSHIPS
New Mexico Men’s and Women’s Cross Country delivered on lofty expectations with a sweep of Mountain West team and individual titles Friday morning at Woodward Park – the Lobos’ first time winning both titles in back-to-back years since 2014.

Habtom Samuel became the first Mountain West athlete – man or woman – to win three Mountain West individual titles in a row as he ran away with the men’s 8K race, crossing 24.2 seconds ahead of the next-fastest finisher as he led a 26-point effort from the Lobo men.

In her season debut, Pamela Kosgei repeated as individual champion on the women’s side, finishing in 19:20.8. She became the first Lobo to win back-to-back individual MW titles since Amelia Mazza-Downie (2021-22) and the first ever to do so in her first two seasons of collegiate competition.

Samuel and Kosgei earned MW Athlete of the Year honors, while Marion Jepngetich was named MW Women’s Freshman of the Year and Mathew Kosgei was named Men’s Freshman of the Year to make it three years in a row with a man from UNM earning the honor. Darren Gauson was named both Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year — his fourth and fifth MW Cross Country COTY honors after earning both awards after the Lobos’ sweep in 2024.

A total of 12 Lobos -- six men and six women -- earned All-MW honors by finishing among the Top 14 individuals. Habtom Samuel (1st), Vincent Chirchir (2nd), Evans Kiplagat (4th), Pamela Kosgei (1st), Judy Rono (3rd), Jasmine Wood (4th) and Marion Jepngetich (5th) all finished on the All-MW First Team, while Mathew Kosgei (8th), Iker Sanchez (11th), Collins Kiprotich (12th), Nicola Jansen (11th) and Alice Seguin (14th) all earned All-MW Second Team nods.

It was only the eighth time in program history that UNM had won both the men’s and women’s conference championships in the same year — it was only the fourth time they’d done so with Lobos winning both individual titles (2011, 2012, 2024). The Lobos had won either a Mountain West women’s and/or men’s title in cross country in 18 consecutive seasons, with 26 team championships in that span in total.