UNM ATHLETICS
National champion: UNM's Habtom Samuel wins NCAA indoor 5K title
The junior is the first Lobo to win an indoor national championship since 2018
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Habtom Samuel’s triple crown is complete.
On Saturday, New Mexico’s star junior became the first Lobo to win national championships in cross country and both indoor and outdoor track and field, claiming the men’s 5,000-meter final at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Racing at Randal Tyson Track Center, Samuel finished in 13 minutes and 36.58 seconds to edge Villanova’s Marco Langon by 0.4 seconds. He is the first Lobo to win an indoor NCAA title since Josh Kerr did so in 2018, and just the 10th runner to achieve the feat in program history.
UNM’s Evans Kiplagat also finished 16th in the 5K, running a 14:06.33.
Samuel previously won the men’s outdoor 10K national championship as a freshman in 2024 before winning an individual cross country title last fall. Perhaps the most decorated runner in program history, the Keren, Eritrea native has not lost in any NCAA-sanctioned competition since last summer’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Samuel will race next in the men’s 3K final on Saturday at 5:25 p.m.
In the women’s 5K final, UNM sophomore Pamela Kosgei clocked in at 15:07.7 to finish third behind BYU’s Jane Hedengren (15:00.12) and Alabama’s Doris Lemngole (15:03.42). In doing so, the reigning NCAA outdoor 5K and 10K champion earned All-America honors for the sixth time in her collegiate career.
Kosgei will compete in the women’s 3K final Saturday at 5:10 p.m.
UNM’s Matthew Endrödy also advanced to Saturday’s men’s mile finals (3:20 p.m.) after finishing in 3:57.48 in his indoor championships debut.
All races can be streamed via ESPN+.
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at @lenaweereider.
