Samuel Becomes First Runner In Mountain West History To Win Three Individual XC Titles In A Row; Kosgei Repeats In Season Debut; Lobos Sweep Individual, Team Titles For First Time Since 2014

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Photos courtesy of Sarah Sandoval for New Mexico Athletics

Habtom Samuel and Pamela Kosgei delivered individual wins at the Mountain West Cross Country Championships, resulting in New Mexico sweeping both the men's and women's team titles on Friday at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Samuel won his third consecutive cross country conference title in 22 minutes, 32 seconds to break his own 8-kilometer meet record, becoming the first man or woman in Mountain West Conference history to win three individual cross country titles in a row.

Kosgei returned to racing for the first time since representing Kenya in the steeplechase at the World Athletics Outdoor Championships in Tokyo, winning her season debut in 19:20.8 on the 6k course.

Samuel was one of six New Mexico men to finish in the top 20, resulting in the No. 3 Lobos scoring 26 points. Vincent Chirchir finished second in 22:56.2, Evans Kiplagat finished fourth in 22:58.7 and Mathew Kosgei finished eighth in 23:07.1 to join Samuel in the top 10.

The No. 9 Lobo women were just a bit better than the men's performance, scoring 24 points for the team title with nine women finishing top 20 individually

Kosgei was one of four Lobos to finish in the top five, including Judy Rono (19:49.7, third), Jasmine Wood (19:56.1, fourth) and Marion Jepngetich (20:02, fifth).

New Mexico's sweep of the individual and team titles on both the men's and women's side is the first by the program since 2014.

Boise State and Air Force each finished second and third, respectively, in both of the team races.

For Boise State, Kaiya Robertson took second in 19:42.3 to lead the women's team with 41 points, and Meshack Kuyo finished third in 22:57.7 to the lead the men with 72 points.

For Air Force, India Jones (20:02.3, sixth) and Ella Johnson (20:03.7, seventh) led a 103-point outing in the women's race, and Jayden Nats finished 10th in 23:11.1 to spark a 72-point day for the men.