UNM TRACK & FIELD
New Mexico's Pamela Kosgei wins Mountain West title in 3,000-meter steeplechase
Star sophomore's run is fourth-fastest NCAA Division I time this season
UNM鈥檚 Pamela Kosgei crosses the finish line to win the women鈥檚 5,000-meter race at the Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 17 in Clovis, Calif.
Published
Pamela Kosgei hadn鈥檛 run the 3,000-meter steeplechase all year.
That didn鈥檛 stop her from throwing down one of the fastest times of the season.
UNM鈥檚 star sophomore finished the 3,000 steeplechase in 9 minutes and 44.25 seconds Friday at the Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships, winning her second straight league title in the event after not running in it once this season.
Racing at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, Calif., Kosgei鈥檚 next closest competitor, Boise State鈥檚 Emily Jobe, finished the final in 10:09.63.
The Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya native previously set the meet record (9:31.96) in the event last season.
Kosgei鈥檚 9:44.25 is also the fourth-fastest 3,000 steeplechase time run among NCAA Division I racers this season. Her lifetime personal best in the event 鈥� a blistering 9:15.93 鈥� would be the fastest time this season by nine seconds.
Kosgei will compete for another title in the women鈥檚 5K final Saturday.
Around the track
From winning league titles to advancing to Saturday鈥檚 finals, here are some additional highlights from UNM鈥檚 second day at its conference meet:
-Ajia Hughes won a conference title in the women鈥檚 long jump, notching a field-best jump of 6.19 meters. Set to compete in the high jump and triple jump finals Saturday, the Cloudcroft native admitted her win Friday was a bit of a surprise.
鈥淭his wasn鈥檛 the event I thought I was gonna win, I鈥檓 not gonna lie,鈥� she said in a post-event interview with the Mountain West鈥檚 Karlie Drew. 鈥淏ut I鈥檒l take it 鈥� This isn鈥檛 my main (event).鈥�
-Taniya Looney won the women鈥檚 100 prelims outright, running a 11.08 to set a new program record. The Pittsburg State transfer will race in Saturday鈥檚 100 and 200 finals.
-Eva Ngom led the way for UNM in the women鈥檚 400 prelims, finishing in 53.07 to record the fastest time of the round. Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer (53.86) also advanced to Saturday鈥檚 final.
In the men鈥檚 400 prelims, Kahari Wilbson advanced to Saturday鈥檚 final after recording a 47.03.
-Joshua Abraham won the men鈥檚 1,500 prelims outright, finishing in 3:36.37 to beat his teammate Collins Kiprotich (3:39.13) by just under three seconds; both will race in Saturday鈥檚 final.
-Mackenzie Hurtubise (4.23 meters) finished second overall in the women鈥檚 pole vault while Sofia Kazanova (4.03) placed fifth.
-Adryana Shelby (13.19) placed third overall in the women鈥檚 100 hurdles prelims, advancing to Saturday鈥檚 final.
-Four Lobos 鈥� Li-Mari Dekker, Tilly Simpson, Natalie Bitetti and Jasmine Wood 鈥� advanced out of the women鈥檚 1,500 prelims to Saturday鈥檚 final. Dekker finished in 4:23.77 to clock the fastest time of the bunch behind only Boise State鈥檚 Kaiya Robertson (4:23.20).
-Kipruto Koech (9:02.51) finished eighth in the men鈥檚 3,000 steeplechase final.
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at .
