New Mexico's Kosgei And Samuel Take Second At The 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships

2024 NCAA Championship Results

VERONA, Wisc. – Four Mountain West teams competed at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 23, with the women’s 6k and men’s 10k taking place at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course just outside of Madison, Wisconsin.

For the first time in school history, both New Mexico programs finished in the top 10, with the Lobo women taking seventh and the men finishing in ninth as a team. The women have now finished in the top 10 nationally in each of their last 13 NCAA Championship appearances, while this marks the men’s highest since finishing tied for eighth in 2009 and is just their third top-10 finish all-time.

The Utah State and Wyoming men also competed in the team competition, with the Aggies taking 22^nd and the Cowboys placing 29^th.

New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei capped an outstanding freshman campaign taking second overall at the national race with a time of 19:27.8. She is the Lobos’ highest finisher since Weini Kelati won the individual NCAA title in 2019. She concluded her first collegiate campaign winning every race she competed in before the runner-up finish in Wisconsin.

For a second consecutive year, New Mexico sophomore Habtom Samuel was the national runner-up on the men’s side, crossing the finish line with a time of 28:39.9, just over a second behind Harvard’s Graham Banks. Even more impressive, Samuel managed the second-place finish after losing his left shoe halfway through the course on a cold Midwest morning. He is the first Lobo men’s runner in program history to take second in consecutive seasons.

On the women’s side, Kosgei was one of four Lobos to finish in the top 100 with Mercy Kirarei in 35^th (20:01.3), Klara Dess in 74^th (20:25.5) and Natalie Bitetti in 91^st (20:29.3). Rounding it out for New Mexico was Tilly Simpson (118^th – 20:39.8), Christina Nisoli (132^nd – 20:44.0) and Sophia McDonnell (184 – 21:04.1).

Boise State’s Kaiya Robertson and Colorado State’s Anna Petr ran as individuals, with Robertson coming in at 53^rd (20:14.8) and Petr finishing in 155^th (20:50.5).

For the men, three Lobos joined Samuel in the top 100 – Collins Kiprotich (35^th – 29:22.6), Evans Kiplagat (40^th – 29:25.0) and Rikus Van Niekerk (98^th – 29:54.5). Vincent Chirchir (148^th – 30:13.5), Lukas Kiprop (191^st – 30:41.8) and Corne De Fouw (324^th – 31:25.4) were the final New Mexico finishers.

Boise State’s Joe Hudson was the 101^st finisher (29:56.3), while Colorado State’s Lars Mitchel took 189^th (30:40.0).