How sweep it is: UNM's Pamela Kosgei wins NCAA 5k final, pulls off distance double

On Thursday, Pamela Kosgei broke away from the pack with eight laps remaining. Saturday, she only managed to do with barely 100 meters left.

But if the results are the same, does it really make a difference?

New Mexico’s Kosgei gritted her way to a win in the women’s 5,000-meter final Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, finishing in 15 minutes and 33.96 seconds at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

In doing so, the freshman from Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya pulled off the rare distance double, sweeping the 5k and 10k titles in the same championship meet. Kosgei soared ahead of the pack with eight laps remaining to win Thursday’s 10k final, claiming her first national title in the process.

Now with two under her belt, one of the most impressive freshman seasons in recent memory can be examined: Kosgei won all but one of her outdoor 5k races (a prelim at the NCAA West First Round in which she finished second), went undefeated in the 10k and claimed five Mountain West titles across the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Kosgei’s double (20 points) and Marion Jepngetich’s fourth place 5k finish in 15:35.14 (5 points) also propelled the Lobos to a ninth place finish with 25 total points. UNM had not finished in the women’s top 10 since 2019.

Friday, UNM’s men’s team finished top five for the first time since 1967 with 31 points. Both the Lobos’ men’s and women’s programs had not finished top 10 in the same NCAA Championships prior to this year; besides UNM, only Southern Cal, Texas A&M and Arkansas notched men’s and women’s top 10 team finishes this year.

Kosgei, of course, helped ensure that could happen for the Lobos. In a race where the pace lagged until the very end, her and Jepngetich led the 5k early before the former fell off the front for a stretch.

Kosgei ended up drifting towards the back before returning up to a heavily congested front, rejoining Jepngetich five minutes in. But even as the pace increased, the field only bunched in more and with three laps to go, Kosgei and Jepngetich barely led a tightly packed front.

That held until the final lap, when Kosgei took matters into her own hands and moved up to the lead. Boston University’s Vera Sjoberg (15:34.77) made a late run over the final 250 meters but Kosgei quieted any threat quickly, unleashing one brief, final kick to surge down the stretch and close off a brilliant freshman season with the double.