COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Boise State football player Ashton Jeanty and New Mexico distance runner Pamela Kosgei are the 2024-25 Mountain West Male and Female Athlete of the Year, respectively.

Established by the Mountain West Joint Council in May 2010, the MW Athlete of the Year Awards are bestowed annually to one male and one female student-athlete who has achieved athletic excellence during the past academic year. In addition to superior athletic achievement, MW Athlete of the Year Award criteria require that nominees be in good academic standing throughout their season of competition and demonstrate good character and conduct on and off the playing field.

Jeanty is the third Boise State athlete to earn MW Male Athlete of the Year honors and the first since football player Avery Williams in 2020-21. His selection marks the ninth time a Bronco, male or female, has won the award since its inception in 2009-10.

Selected sixth overall by the Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL Draft, Jeanty became the highest draft pick in Boise State history, the second-highest pick in MW history and the fifth top-10 pick in MW annals. The junior turned in one of the best seasons by a running back in FBS history, winning the Maxwell and Doak Walker awards and finishing second in the Heisman Trophy voting, becoming the second Heisman finalist in MW history. He was also a finalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and the AAU James E. Sullivan Award and won the Bobby Bowden Trophy and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award.

A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Jeanty was a unanimous All-American and the MW Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season after rushing for 2,601 yards, the second-most in a season in FBS history and just 27 yards shy of the record set by Barry Sanders in 1988. He led the nation this season in total rushing yards, rushing yards per game (185.8), all-purpose yards (2,750) and all-purpose yards per game (196.43) and was second in the FBS in rushing touchdowns (29), scoring (12.9), total points (180) and total touchdowns (30). He became the only player in FBS history to surpass 100 yards rushing 14 times in a season.

Jeanty helped the Broncos to their second straight MW title, this time with a 21-7 win over UNLV in the Old Trapper Mountain West Football Championship Game on The Blue at Albertsons Stadium. That helped earn Boise State the No. 3 seed in the expanded College Football Playoff, where the Broncos secured a first-round bye and met Penn State in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl in the quarterfinals. BSU finished the season ranked No. 8 by the Associated Press and No. 9 in the CFP and US LBM Coaches polls.

Kosgei is the fifth New Mexico woman to be named the MW Female Athlete of the Year and first since fellow runner Amelia Mazza-Downie in 2022-23. She is the seventh Lobo, male or female, to earn the award since its inception in 2009-10.

Kosgei turned in a season for the ages in 2024-25, winning national titles in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She also finished second at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall and third in the 5K at the 2025 NCAA indoor meet. She earned All-America honors in each of those events as well as the indoor 3,000-meter run, in which she finished 11th after a costly fall. Her runner-up finish at the cross country meet marked the only event she didn’t win in her debut fall season.

At the NCAA outdoor meet, the freshman from Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya, turned in just the fifth 5K/10K double in NCAA outdoor meet history to cap an undefeated collegiate outdoor season. Her 10K win was in a meet-record time of 31:17.82, the No. 3 collegiate performance all-time. Kosgei also has the No. 2 spot at 31:02.73, which she set at The Ten on March 29. Also this season, Kosgei posted the No. 2 5K collegiate time ever, clocking 14:52.45 to win the event at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 18. She also turned in the second-fastest collegiate time ever (9:15.93) in the steeplechase at the Stanford Invitational, which now ranks No. 3, and the No. 4 indoor 5K time (15:00.36) at the Boston University/Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, which now ranks No. 5.

For her incredible debut season, Kosgei was named one of three finalists for The Bowerman, which goes to the top male and female collegiate track & field athletes of the year. She was also one of four finalists for the Honda Award, which recognizes the top female athlete for the cross country season. Kosgei was also named the USTFCCCA Women’s Track National Scholar-Athlete of the Year in July. She was the MW Athlete of the Year and Freshman of the Year for cross country.

Kosgei helped the Lobo women to sweeps of the Mountain West cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field titles. She also paced UNM to a ninth-place finish at the NCAA outdoor meet, personally scoring a meet-best 20 of New Mexico’s 25 points, its second-most in program history.

MW MALE AND FEMALE ATHLETES OF THE YEAR ALL-TIME LIST OF HONOREES
2024-25
Ashton Jeanty, Football, Boise State
Pamela Kosgei, Women’s Track & Field, New Mexico

2023-24
Trey Taylor, Football, Air Force
Mya Lesnar, Women’s Track & Field, Colorado State

2022-23
Sam Gilman, Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country, Air Force
Amelia Mazza-Downie, Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country, New Mexico

2021-22
Trey McBride, Football, Colorado State
Kristie Schoffield, Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field, Boise State

2020-21
Avery Williams, Football, Boise State
Mahala Norris, Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field, Air Force

2019-20
Malachi Flynn, Men’s Basketball, San Diego State
Weini Kelati, Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field, New Mexico

2018-19
Ryan Jensen, Baseball, Fresno State
Allie Ostrander, Women’s Outdoor Track and Field, Boise State

2017-18
Rashaad Penny, Football, San Diego State
Allie Ostrander, Women’s Outdoor Track and Field, Boise State

2016-17
Josh Kerr, Men’s Track and Field, New Mexico
Allie Ostrander, Women’s Track and Field, Boise State

2015-16
Patrick Corona, Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field, Air Force
Courtney Frerichs, Women’s Cross Country/Track and Field, New Mexico

2014-15
Garrett Grayson, Football, Colorado State
Emma Bates, Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field, Boise State

2013-14
Derek Carr, Football, Fresno State
Emma Bates, Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field, Boise State

2012-13
DJ Peterson, Baseball, New Mexico
Shanieka Thomas, Women’s Track & Field, San Diego State

2011-12
Kurt Felix, Men’s Track & Field, Boise State
Whitney Gipson, Women’s Track & Field, TCU

2010-11
Jimmer Fredette, Men’s Basketball, BYU
Danielle Minch, Women’s Volleyball, Colorado State

2009-10
Jerry Hughes, Football, TCU
Jodi Ewart, Women’s Golf, New Mexico

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