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UNM men's, women's cross country sweep NCAA Mountain Regional titles
New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel crosses the finish line at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships men’s 10,000-meter race Friday at Valley Regional Park in Salt Lake City. Samuel is the first Lobo to win multiple regional titles in men’s program history.
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For the second time this postseason, the Lobos pulled out the brooms.
New Mexico men’s and women’s cross country swept both team titles Friday at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships in Salt Lake City, securing automatic berths to the NCAA Div. I Cross Country Championships, Nov. 22 in Colombia, Missouri.
UNM men’s (37 points) and women’s (47 points) both beat out BYU, the reigning NCAA team champions. The Lobos and Cougars represent the two programs to advance to the NCAA Championships out of the Mountain Regional.
UNM has not claimed men’s and women’s team titles in the same regional since 2010. Both teams previously swept the Mountain West Championships in October.
Racing at Valley Regional Park, UNM’s Habtom Samuel finished the men’s 10,000-meter race in 29 minutes and 45.3 seconds to claim back-to-back regional titles. He is the first runner from the Lobos’ men’s program to win multiple regional titles. The UNM men’s team has not won a regional since 2010, with Friday representing only the second in program history.
Two other Lobos placed in the men’s top five: Evans Kiplagat (30:05.4) and Vincent Chirchir (30:08.9) finishing second and fourth, respectively. Collins Kiprotich (30:12.4) also landed in the top 10, finishing in seventh place.
Matthew Kosgei (23rd, 30:46.1), Joshua Abraham (43rd, 31:26.8) and Jayden Hernandez (52nd, 31:48.3) rounded out the rest of the Lobos’ men’s finishers.
Finishing in 19:48.7, UNM’s Pamela Kosgei finished runner-up in the women’s 6k to BYU’s Jane Hedengren (19:06.6). Judy Rono (20:11.1) and Marion Jepngetich (20:37) placed fifth and 10th, respectively, to place three Lobos in the women’s top 10.
Jasmine Wood (13th, 20:43.5) and Alice Seguin (15th, 20:45.8) added a pair of top 15 finishes while Tilly Simpson (34th, 21:28.2) and Mercy Kirarei (38th, 21:40.7) placed in the top 40.
NMSU: New Mexico State’s men’s and women’s cross country each finished in 16th place and did not advance to the NCAA Championships. Andrew Gibby (82nd, 33:13.6) and Valeria Macias Casas (68th, 22:22.3) represented the best finishes for both squads.
