UNM runners make Mountain West history with top athlete honors

The Mountain West named University of New Mexico distance runners Habtom Samuel and Pamela Kosgei its 2025-26 male and female athletes of the year, giving the Lobos a first in league history and a rare double for Albuquerque’s flagship university. The conference said it was the first time one school had produced both winners in the same year.

Samuel’s honor landed the same day he became a finalist for track and field’s Bowerman Award, the top individual prize in collegiate track. KRQE reported that Samuel was a five-time national champion and went undefeated against collegiate competition during the year, giving UNM a runner whose résumé now stretches from conference dominance to the national conversation. For a program that has long built its identity around distance running, that kind of profile matters far beyond one awards release.

Kosgei’s selection was just as telling. The Mountain West named her female athlete of the year for a second straight season, and KRQE reported that she finished the year as a five-time All-American. The conference had already recognized her and Samuel on March 26, 2026, when it named them its indoor track and field student-athletes of the year, showing that the sweep was built on months of success rather than a single breakthrough race.

The Lobos’ latest honors also fit a larger pattern under coach Darren Gauson. Earlier KRQE coverage said UNM swept Mountain West cross-country titles for a second consecutive year, with Gauson named both men’s and women’s coach of the year. The women’s title was the program’s 16th in 17 years, a span that helps explain why the Mountain West’s top-athlete sweep feels less like a surprise than the latest proof of a pipeline that keeps producing. In a city where football and basketball usually dominate the conversation, UNM’s distance runners are carrying a different kind of pride for Bernalillo County, one rooted in consistency, national relevance and a program that has turned Albuquerque into a destination for elite running talent.

For the university, the timing is useful. The awards strengthen UNM’s recruiting pitch, reinforce its national profile and give the school a success story it can use with donors, fans and prospective athletes. For Albuquerque, the sweep adds a hometown headline that reflects well beyond campus and underscores how much of the city’s sports identity still runs through the University of New Mexico.