COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Mountain West cross country runners head to NCAA Regional Championships on Friday, Nov. 10. 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 Texas Tech at the Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course in Lubbock, Texas, while the West Regional is hosted by Sacramento State at the Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, California.
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. 18, at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Virginia.
Colorado State senior Sarah Carter clocked a 6k time of 19:48.5 to lead the CSU women to the MW team title. Carter’s time is the seventh fastest in meet history. The Rams ended New Mexico’s streak of 15-straight championship wins after placing three runners in the top 10 and recording 39 points.
Heading into the NCAA Regionals, Colorado State is nationally ranked with the Rams sitting at No. 27 in the country.
On the men’s side, New Mexico claimed the program’s seventh team title with 34 points. UNM freshman Habtom Samuel, the 2023 MW Individual winner, led the Lobos to their first team championship crown since 2014 after crossing the finish line in a meet-record time of 22:57.7, becoming the first MW men’s runner to break 23 minutes at the Conference championship.
New Mexico and Air Force enter regionals nationally ranked after coming in at No. 19 and No. 24 in the latest poll, respectively. Additionally, Boise 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.
