UNM TRACK & FIELD
New Mexico's Marion Jepngetich wins NCAA 5k title
UNM's men's and women's teams finish in 14th and 17th place, respectively, at outdoor championships
Published
Modified
At least on the track, Marion Jepngetich didn鈥檛 win Saturday鈥檚 women鈥檚 5,000-meter final.
She鈥檚 a national champion anyway.
Jepngetich, a sophomore at New Mexico, finished second to Alabama鈥檚 Doris Lemngole in Saturday鈥檚 5K final, but was awarded the title after Lemngole鈥檚 disqualification at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Racing at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, the Uasin Gishu County, Kenya native finished in 15 minutes and 13.01 seconds, a new personal best, trailing Lemngole鈥檚 once-winning time of 15 minutes and 11.71 seconds. But Lemngole was penalized under infraction 15.5-3g (鈥渢wo steps on or over curb鈥�) and disqualified 30 minutes after the race鈥檚 finish, leading to Jepngetich鈥檚 first national championship.
Jepngetich placed fourth in last year鈥檚 5K final, clocking in at 15:35.14. Pamela Kosgei 鈥� her teammate and the winner of last year鈥檚 NCAA outdoor 5K championship 鈥� finished fifth in Saturday鈥檚 race after running a 15:15.88.
Jepngetich is the second Lobo on the women鈥檚 side to earn a top-two finish in a national final at this year鈥檚 outdoor championships. Iowa State鈥檚 Mercyline Kirwa kicked past Kosgei on the final lap of Thursday鈥檚 10K final, sending the sophomore from Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya to a runner-up finish.
Kosgei has now earned All-American honors eight times in her two years with the Lobos.
Jepngetich鈥檚 finish caps a hugely successful week for UNM鈥檚 track program: Behind Habtom Samuel鈥檚 distance double, the Lobos鈥� men鈥檚 team finished the outdoor championships with 20 points in the team standings 鈥� good for 14th place 鈥� while the women鈥檚 team鈥檚 scored 20 to place 12th.
Samuel won the men鈥檚 10K title Wednesday before issuing a devastating kick on the final lap of the 5K final to complete a historic double. The junior from Keren, Eritrea won four national championships across cross country and track and field this year, one of the most remarkable seasons for any runner in program history.
After Friday鈥檚 5K final, Samuel announced his plan to return to UNM for his senior year.
鈥淒efinitely,鈥� he said in a postrace interview. 鈥淚 will come back next year.鈥�
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at .
