COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Mountain West cross country runners are set to compete in NCAA Regional Championships on Friday, Nov. 15. The MW will be represented by six programs at the NCAA Mountain Regional and four programs at the NCAA West Regional.
Air Force, Colorado State, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah State and Wyoming are headed to the NCAA Mountain Regional, while Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and UNLV will compete at the NCAA West Regional.
The Mountain Regional is hosted by Nevada at the Washoe Golf Course in Reno, Nevada, while the West Regional is hosted by Washington State at the Colfax Golf Club in Colfax, Washington.
The top two teams from each of the regional championship sites, as well as the top four individuals not on an advancing team, will receive an automatic berth to the national meet. The remainder of the teams and individuals are chosen on an at-large basis. The NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships will take place on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Verona, Wisconsin.
New Mexico freshman Pamela Kosgei clocked the second-fastest 6k time in Mountain West women’s championship history, crossing the finish line in a time 19:48.5 to lead the Lobo women to the MW team title. New Mexico captured its 16th title in program history after placing four runners in the top 10 and recording 32 points.
Heading into the NCAA Regionals, the New Mexico women are nationally ranked with the Lobos sitting at No. 10 in the country. Boise State, the second-place finisher at the MW Championship, is also receiving votes in the poll.
On the men’s side, New Mexico became the first team in Mountain West men’s championship history to sweep the top five places en route to the program’s second straight and eighth overall title. UNM sophomore Habtom Samuel repeated as the MW Individual winner, clocking a time of 23:20.7 to finish 20 seconds faster than the runner-up. The Lobo men are the first Mountain West team and Samuel is the first individual to win back-to-back titles since 2005 and 2006, when BYU and the Cougars’ Josh Rohatinsky won two consecutive.
Three Mountain West men’s teams are nationally ranked ahead of regionals with New Mexico leading the way in the top 10 at No. 6. Colorado State, who finished third at the Mountain West Championship is No. 23, while conference runner-up Wyoming is at No. 26. Additionally, Utah State is receiving votes in the national poll heading into the postseason.
For live results of the Mountain Regional click here and for the West Regional can be found here.
