Darren Gauson, head coach of the University of New Mexico (UNM) cross country and track & field teams, discussed the team's performance in a post-meet ESPN TEAM Talk podcast following the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He highlighted top-ten finishes and multiple individual titles achieved by the Lobos.
"It was a great weekend for the Lobos," said Gauson, head coach of cross country and track & field. "We wanted a little bit more but happy proud of Men's Team Performance."
During his appearance on ESPN Albuquerque’s TEAM Talk interview, Gauson reflected on what he described as a historic NCAA Outdoor Championship weekend. He said it was "an awesome weekend" and noted that both teams delivered strong national finishes. The men's team placed 5th overall, led by a 1-2 finish in the 10,000 meters from Ishmael Kipkurui and Haptham Samuel. Meanwhile, the women's team secured 9th place, with freshman Pamela Kosgei sweeping the 5K and 10K events. According to Gauson, Kosgei was "the only athlete to win two national championships this past weekend." He also mentioned that they were "the only non-P4 in the top 25 on the men’s side," expressing confidence in future prospects with "an amazing recruiting class coming in" and his new contract extension keeping him at UNM through 2030.
According to Golobos, freshman Pamela Kosgei made history by winning both the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She scored 20 points individually, marking her as the highest-scoring female athlete at the meet. Her dominant win in the 10K came by an estimated 100 meters, followed by a clinical victory in the 5K. Kosgei's performance helped propel the Lobo women to a ninth-place national finish, their best showing in recent years.
On June 4, 2025, UNM announced a new five-year contract extension for Coach Darren Gauson, extending his tenure through the 2029–30 academic year. Athletic Director Fernando Lovo praised Gauson for "building a championship culture" and achieving unprecedented dual-team success at the national level. In the 2024–25 season, Gauson's teams secured four Mountain West Conference titles—three on the women’s side (cross country, indoor, and outdoor) and one on the men’s side. This marked a first in school history for Lobo women sweeping all three conference championships within one academic year. Gauson was named Mountain West Coach of the Year for both men’s and women’s programs.
Gauson was appointed head coach of UNM's track & field and cross country programs in June 2023 after a successful period at Bradley University where he guided them to ten Missouri Valley Conference titles and coached multiple All-Americans.
Editor's note: This article includes excerpts from ESPN Radio 101.7 TEAM talk with Joe O’Neill, Adam Diehl, and Andres Chavez. To listen to the full podcast, please visit https://www.1017theteam.com/
