2025 Mountain West Cross Country Athletes of the Week

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Boise State’s Kaiya Robertson has been named the Mountain West Women’s Cross Country Athlete for the second time in the last three weeks, while fellow Bronco Ezra Teeples earned MW Men’s Freshman of the Week honors. New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel was selected as the MW Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week and Lobo freshman Marion Jepngetich picked up MW Women’s Freshman of the Week honors for a second time this season.

WOMEN’S ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
KAIYA ROBERTSON, BOISE STATE
Senior, Portland, Oregon/Franklin HS

  • Finished third overall in the 6k at the Princeton Fall Classic.
  • Clocked a time of 19:56.2 for a second straight top-10 finish.

WOMEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
MARION JEPNGETICH, NEW MEXICO
Uasin Gishu County, Kenya/Kimwogo Mixed Day Secondary School

  • Ran a collegiate-best time of 20:10.6 in the 6k to finish 16th overall at the Nuttycombe Invitational.
  • Top Lobo finisher, helping the New Mexico women finish ninth among 30 of the nation’s best teams, which included three top-15 squads in No. 6 Northern Arizona, No. 10 Colorado and No. 14 Utah.

MEN’S ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
HABTOM SAMUEL, NEW MEXICO
Junior, Keren, Eritrea/Al Selef Al Salih

  • Finished first in the 8k at the prestigious Nuttycombe Invitational in his season debut, setting a new meet record with a time of 22:58.0.
  • Won the race by 7.6 seconds, helping the No. 3 Lobos to a team title at the event that featured 17 teams ranked in the top 30 of the most recent UTSFCCCA polls.
  • Recorded the first sub-23 minute 8k mark in the history of the event, which is annually the top regular-season race in the country.

MEN’S FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
EZRA TEEPLES, BOISE STATE
Kennewick, Washington/Kamiakin HS

  • Finished 10th in the 8k at the George Oja Invitational.
  • Top freshman finisher for the Broncos with a time of 24:11.20.