UNM men's, women's cross country to 'empty tank' at NCAA Cross Country Championships

As far as team meetings go, Darren Gauson admitted it was kind of strange.

Two years ago, UNM men’s and women’s cross country teams had to go all-out to qualify for the NCAA championships. But as Gauson addressed his team before last week’s NCAA Mountain Regional, he wasn’t quite sure the heavily-favored Lobos had to go to those lengths again.

“You’re like, ‘hey, let’s make sure we qualify,” UNM’s third-year cross country and track field coach remembered Tuesday, “but don’t go too hard.”

Saturday will be a different story.

“We got to just completely empty the tank — (go) to the reserve if we can,” Gauson chuckled.

Led by Habtom Samuel and Pamela Kosgei, UNM men’s and women’s cross country is set to compete for a national title sweep in the NCAA Division I Championships on Saturday at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri.

Ranked fourth in the country, the Lobo women are vying for their first national team title since 2017; UNM previously claimed a national championship in 2015. The Lobo men (ranked third) have never won a national title, notching a program-best finish of eighth place in 2009.

After sweeping Mountain West and NCAA regional team titles over the last month, Gauson said UNM is healthy and already recovered after “controlled” performances from both teams in Salt Lake City.

The focus now? Keep things boring.

“All season we’ve been trying to get into (a mindset of) boring is good ... (like getting) in a routine of eating the same thing,” he added. “I’m not a big Olive Garden fan, but they’ve been getting it before every single race. So they’ll just keep doing that.”

And few runners could stand to keep things on schedule more than Samuel in the men’s 8,000-meter race. After notching back-to-back runner-up finishes his first two years with the Lobos, the junior from Keren, Eritrea, has not lost a race this season and is largely considered the odds-on favorite to win UNM’s first men’s individual cross country title in program history.

Samuel’s stiffest competition is expected to come from Oklahoma State’s Brian Musau and Denis Kipngetich, Washington State’s Solomon Kipchoge and Wake Forest’s Rocky Hansen.

“He’s in a great spot, looks really calm, looks really relaxed. I think it just comes down to little things — just keeping him out of trouble. Let’s keep (him) on (his) feet, keep two shoes on (his) feet,” Gauson joked, referencing Samuel losing a shoe during last year’s national championship race.

Kosgei is also expected to be in the mix for a national title in the women’s 6K after finishing second to Alabama’s Doris Lemngole last year. In addition to the reigning national champion, the sophomore from Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya will also face strong competition from North Carolina State’s Grace Hartman and Angelina Napoleon and BYU’s Jane Hedengren.

“(Samuel and Kosgei) are national level personalities and they’re going to give you national level performances,” Gauson added.