UNM track: Four storylines to follow at the NCAA Championships

Around this time last year, Darren Gauson’s schedule was simple: only Habtom Samuel was competing for New Mexico at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, so UNM’s head track and field coach had plenty of time to kill between races.

“We were just going for lunches and coffees,” he said last week, “just waiting for him to compete.”

That’s not quite the case this year.

Eleven Lobos will compete across eight events at the NCAA Championships, running Wednesday through Saturday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Led by second-year head coach Gauson, this year’s group of qualifiers is the second-largest in program history; UNM’s all-time best was 28 in 2011. Four storylines to follow around the program this week:

Samuel or Kipkurui?

If he was UNM’s only competitor last year, Habtom Samuel more than made his mark. The Keren, Eritrea native recovered from a late fall to win the men’s 10,000-meter final in 28 minutes and 7.82 seconds. Samuel may be considered the frontrunner in Wednesday’s 10K final, but this year, he’ll have some stiff competition courtesy of a teammate.

UNM’s Ishmael Kipkurui beat him by a hundredth of a second in the 10K semifinals at the NCAA West First Round on May 28, the latest chapter in a back-and-forth rivalry that’s pushed both to new heights.

While both are qualified in the 5K and 10K, the question remains: will Samuel go back-to-back in Wednesday’s 10K final? Or will Kipkurui play spoiler and come up with his own individual title?

“(It’s) probably 50/50 between him and Ishmael, to be totally honest,” Gauson said.

Freshman phenom

Similar to Samuel last season, Pamela Kosgei made waves in her first year with the program. Now qualified for the women’s 5k and 10k, the freshman from Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya is a frontrunner in both races and could claim UNM’s first women’s individual title since 2019.

“She’ll be really, really hard to beat … I would think she’s the favorite. She’s got all the tools, the speed, the endurance to win the title Thursday (in the 10k),” Gauson said. “And if she wins that, then it’s kind of low pressure going into the 5k finals (on Saturday) — she’ll have a really good chance to win both.”

UNM’s Marion Jepnetich — also a freshman — is also qualified to run in the 5k final.

Years in the making

After four years at Bradley — Gauson’s old school — Sophia McDonnell transferred to UNM ahead of last season, reuniting with her old coach. Now in her sixth year, she’s qualified for her first NCAA Championships and will run in the 3,000 steeplechase semifinals Thursday.

“That one really is a special one for me,” Gauson said. “We spent four years at Bradley together and now two here. Really couldn’t be happier to see Soph make it to nationals.”

Record breakers

A few Lobos who broke program records this season will get another shot to lower those times this weekend:

• Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer, Rebecca Grieve, Hanna Kiess and Sofia Pineda represent UNM’s first ever 4x400 entry in the outdoor championships after the group set a new program record at the NCAA West First Round, running a 3:31.72. The previous program record was 3:38.85.

The 4x400 semifinals are scheduled for Thursday.

• Judy Rono also set a new 1,500 program record at the NCAA West First Round, running a 4:09.72 to better the previous Lobo best of 4:10.32. She will race in the 1,500 semifinals Thursday.

• Matthew Kosgei’s season-best 8:22.13 in the 3,000 steeplechase broke a 48-year-old record (8:33.34). He will have a chance to better that time during Wednesday’s semifinals.