Lobos Host NCAA Mountain Regional XC Championships Friday at the North Course

New Mexico Cross Country continues postseason racing at home Friday as the Lobos — ranked No. 1 nationally for men and No. 7 for women — host NCAA Mountain Regional Championships at the UNM North Golf Course for the first time since 2022. Both squads enter as defending regional champions, looking to repeat last season’s sweep and secure automatic bids to NCAA Championships with top-two team finishes.

The women’s 6K is slated to start at 11 a.m. MT, with the men’s 10K following at noon. Admission is free. Friday’s races will not be streamed, with live results available via GoLobos.com/XCResults. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on IG and X for raceday updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.

QUICK RUNDOWN
• New Mexico enters the NCAA Mountain Regional ranked No. 1 nationally on the men’s side and No. 7 on the women’s side -- the two teams are No. 1 and No. 3 in the region, respectively.

• The Lobo men earned their first No. 1 national ranking in program history this fall. UNM is one of just eight programs to reach No. 1 in both men’s and women’s cross country since 1995.

• UNM’s women are two-time NCAA champions, winning national titles in 2015 and 2017.

• New Mexico was the only program to place both teams on the NCAA podium in 2025, with the men finishing a program-best second and the women fourth.

• Both squads enter as defending Mountain Region champions after UNM swept the regional team titles in 2025 for the first time since 2010.

• The Lobos own seven women’s regional titles and two men’s regional titles. The men are seeking consecutive regional championships for the first time.

• UNM’s men won last year’s regional with a program-record-low 37 points. The women have won three of the last five regional championships.

• New Mexico swept the Mountain West men’s and women’s team and individual titles for the third consecutive season in 2026 in their most recent race this season.

• The Lobos have won at least one MW team championship in 19 consecutive seasons, totaling 28 conference cross country titles — 18 women’s and 10 men’s.

• UNM’s men swept the first seven places at the MW Championships for a perfect 15-point score, led by first-time individual champion Evans Kiplagat. Pamela Kosgei became the first woman to win three MW individual cross country titles, leading a 1-2-3 Lobo finish and a 19-point team victory.

• The men won their second consecutive Nuttycombe Invitational title with 59 points, defeating 20 nationally ranked opponents. Pasanjo Kitonga led UNM with a runner-up finish. Mercy Kirarei placed third at Nuttycombe to lead the women to fourth in the team standings, ahead of 13 nationally ranked opponents.

 

MOUNTAIN REGION HISTORY
New Mexico enters Friday as the defending Mountain Region champion on both sides after sweeping the men’s and women’s team titles in 2025 for the first time since 2010. The Lobos have won two men’s regional championships (2010, 2025) and seven women’s regional championships (1981, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2025), including six women’s titles since the current regional format began in 1997.

The Lobo men have improved their regional finish in each of Darren Gauson’s first three seasons, climbing from third in 2023 to second in 2024 before winning last year with a program-record-low 37 points. UNM’s previous best was its 45-point championship performance in 2010. The men will look to win consecutive regional titles for the first time in program history.

The women have won three of the last five Mountain Region championships, reclaiming the title in 2025 with 45 points — their second-lowest regional score behind a 41-point championship effort in 2018. UNM finished first or second at every regional meet contested from 2010 through 2022, including back-to-back titles in 2010-11 and 2021-22.

Last season in Salt Lake City, all five scorers for both squads earned All-Region honors. Habtom Samuel won the men’s individual title in 29:45.3, with Evans Kiplagat second, Vincent Chirchir fourth and Collins Kiprotich seventh. Pamela Kosgei finished as women’s runner-up in 19:48.7 as the Lobos placed all five scorers among the Top 15 to edge BYU, 45-47.

Samuel’s victory was his second regional crown after winning in 2023, making him the first Lobo man to win multiple regional individual titles. Matt Gonzales, who won in 2004, is the only other man from UNM to claim the individual championship.

NCAA REGIONALS RETURNING TO ALBUQUERQUE
This will be the seventh time NCAA Mountain Regional Championships are hosted in Albuquerque and first since 2022. 

• 2002: Matt Gonzales earned All-Region honors and an individual NCAA Championships berth with his eighth-place finish. The men finished just six points behind sixth-place Colorado State but missed an at-large selection. Sarah Gonzales led the women in 74th. 

• 2006: Timmie Murphy’s fifth-place finish secured her first NCAA Championships appearance, while Leslie Luna finished 18th to join her on the All-Region team. Juan Ortega earned the men’s lone All-Region honor in 20th; Jeremy Johnson followed in 33rd despite battling the flu. 

• 2009: UNM produced its best men’s team result at a home regional, placing third with 77 points behind All-Region performances from Jacob Kirwa (third), Rory Fraser (seventh) and Chris Barnicle (13th). Ruth Senior (11th) and Nicky Archer (20th) earned All-Region honors for the fifth-place women. Both squads subsequently received NCAA berths, marking the first time UNM sent its men’s and women’s teams to nationals in the same season. 

• 2014: Alice Wright won the individual championship, with Charlotte Arter third and Calli Thackery 10th. Anna Burton (18th) and Nicola Hood (24th) completed a scoring five composed entirely of All-Region finishers, helping UNM finish second with 56 points behind Colorado’s 43. Ross Matheson led the seventh-place men in 24th, earning All-Region recognition. 

• 2015: The women finished just one point behind Colorado, 49–50, while resting Alice Wright and other regular contributors. UNM’s five scorers finished consecutively: Calli Thackery ninth, Courtney Frerichs 10th, Molly Renfer 11th, Rhona Auckland 12th and Whitney Thornburg 13th. All five earned All-Region honors and finished within 4.35 seconds of one another. Elmar Engholm paced the ninth-place men with an All-Region finish in 24th, followed by Dan Milechman in 30th. 

• 2022: The women captured UNM’s first regional team title on its home course, scoring 56 points to finish 47 ahead of both Utah and Northern Arizona. Gracelyn Larkin (fifth), Amelia Mazza-Downie (eighth), Emma Heckel (ninth), Ali Upshaw (13th) and Abbe Goldstein (21st) all earned All-Region honors. Abdirizak Ibrahim led the ninth-place men in 18th and qualified individually for the NCAA Championships.

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. 7 in the most recent poll and have remained Top-10 in the nation 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

2026 SEASON IN REVIEW / NCAA PREVIEW
New Mexico enters the NCAA postseason with another Mountain West championship sweep and an unbeaten men’s team through three scored meets. The Lobos swept the conference’s team and individual titles for the third consecutive season Oct. 30 in Reno, extending their streak of winning at least one MW team championship to 19 consecutive seasons. The men captured their fourth straight conference crown, while the women secured their third consecutive title and 18th in the last 19 seasons.

The Lobo men opened their team campaign with a 28-point victory at the Cowboy Jamboree, defeating defending national champion Oklahoma State behind an individual win from Pasanjo Kitonga in his collegiate cross country debut. That performance propelled UNM to its first No. 1 national ranking in program history. New Mexico followed with its second consecutive Nuttycombe Invitational title, placing all five scorers among the top 22 for 59 points to defeat 20 nationally ranked opponents. Kitonga finished second, followed by returning All-Americans Evans Kiplagat in seventh and Collins Kiprotich in eighth.

The women placed third at the Cowboy Jamboree and fourth at Nuttycombe, with Mercy Kirarei leading the Lobos at both meets. Kirarei finished fourth in Stillwater and third in Madison, where UNM defeated 13 ranked teams despite racing without NCAA outdoor 5,000m champion Marion Jepngetich. Pamela Kosgei, the 2025 NCAA outdoor 5,000m and 10,000m champion, then led the Lobos’ conference championship effort.

At the MW Championships, Kiplagat earned his first individual conference cross country title as the men swept the first seven places for a perfect 15-point score. Kosgei became the first woman in conference history to win three individual cross country titles, leading Kirarei and Christina Nisoli in a 1-2-3 finish as UNM scored 19 points. Fifteen Lobos earned All-MW honors, and Darren Gauson swept the men’s and women’s Coach of the Year awards for the third consecutive season.

The Lobos are building on a historic 2025 season in which the men finished as NCAA runners-up and the women placed fourth, making UNM the only program to put both teams on the national podium. With three returning men’s All-Americans in Kiprotich, Kiplagat and Vincent Chirchir complementing Kitonga’s emergence, New Mexico will look to qualify both squads for NCAA Championships for the third consecutive season.

UNM hosts the NCAA Mountain Region Championships Nov. 13 at the UNM North Course, seeking to defend both regional team titles and secure automatic NCAA bids with top-two finishes. The men move up to the 10K distance for NCAA postseason competition, while the women continue racing 6K. NCAA Championships follow Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind.

COACH GAUSON’S LENGTHY RESUME
• 11 Mountain West Coach of the Year awards
Men’s XC (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026); women’s XC (2024, 2025, 2026); women’s indoor and outdoor track & field (2025, 2026).

• 11 Mountain West team titles
Men’s XC (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026); women’s XC (2024, 2025, 2026); 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).

• Three consecutive Mountain West XC team title sweeps
UNM won both the men’s and women’s championships in 2024, 2025 and 2026, with the men claiming four straight titles under Gauson.

• 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.