Sarah Carter leads Rams to first individual and team sweep for program since 2007, halting longest women’s conference championship run in NCAA Division 1; Habtom Samuel leads New Mexico men’s sweep of top three spots to help Lobos capture first title since 2014 and seventh overall 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

New Mexico won a title Friday at the Mountain West Conference Cross Country Championships, just not the crown the Lobos have been synonymous with wearing for the past 15 seasons.

Colorado State, the last women’s team to capture a conference championship before New Mexico’s record-breaking run, bookended one of the most impressive streaks in NCAA history with a memorable effort of its own in the 6-kilometer competition at Eagle Island State Park in Boise, Idaho.

RESULTS

Sarah Carter became Colorado State’s first women’s individual champion since April Thomas in 2007, also the last year the Rams captured a team title, and was one of five scorers in the top 15 to secure a 39-65 victory against host Boise State.

Air Force took third with 87 points and New Mexico, which boasted the longest women’s championship streak of any Division 1 conference in the country by winning the past 15 Mountain West titles, finished fourth at 111 points.

New Mexico did prevail in the men’s 8-kilometer race on the strength of Habtom Samuel, Evans Kiplagat and Lukas Kiprop sweeping the top three spots to capture its first team title since winning six in a row from 2009-14 by edging three-time defending champion Air Force by a 34-36 margin.

The Lobos are second all-time in the conference with seven men’s team championships, trailing only Brigham Young’s nine from 1999-2008.

Samuel, representing Eritrea, triumphed in 22:57.7 to become the first men’s winner for the Lobos since Luke Caldwell in 2012, with Kenyan competitors Kiplagat (23:15.7) and Kiprop (23:23.3) placing second and third for New Mexico, which had Jonathan Carmin earn eighth in 23:42.1.

Although Air Force had five scorers in the top 10, Samuel Field finishing 20th in 24:07.7 was enough for the Lobos to emerge victorious.

Max Sannes finished fourth in 23:27.3, Sean Maison secured sixth in 23:35.2, Jason Renze captured seventh in 23:41.2, Eli Bennett took ninth in 23:43.0 and Luke Combs placed 10th in 23:43.5 for the Falcons, who were attempting to join BYU and New Mexico among the men’s programs in conference history to win at least four in a row.

Joe Hudson finished fifth in 23:31.1 and Tom Graham-Marr achieved 11th in 23:44.6 for host Boise State, which placed third with 75 points. Wyoming was fourth at 96 points and Utah State placed fifth with 130 points.

Carter took control in the second mile and maintained the advantage the rest of the way to prevail in 19:48.5, with South African athlete and Bradley transfer Nicola Jansen placing second in 19:54.1 for New Mexico.

Carter was supported by Quinn McConnell finishing fifth in 20:26.1, Yasmin Austridge securing seventh in 20:30.8, Kensey May taking 11th in 20:38.1 and Emily Chaston placing 15th in 20:40.4 for the Rams.

Halle Hamilton took third in 20:19.8 and Ally Peterson achieved ninth in 20:32.6 for Air Force, with Emma Thornley finishing fourth in 20:23.3 for fifth-place Utah State, which had 130 points.

Wyoming’s Abigail Whitman secured sixth in 20:27.6, with runner-up Boise State led by Autumn Ost earning eighth in 20:31.1 and Kaiya Robertson capturing 10th in 20:36.4.