UNM track: Ishmael Kipkurui bests Habtom Samuel by hundredth of a second in NCAA 10k prelim

All season long, New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel and Ishmael Kipkurui have been engaged in an intrasquad rivalry few programs ever see.

Wednesday might’ve provided the most compelling example yet.

Kipkurui won the NCAA men’s 10,000-meter semifinal on the opening day of the NCAA West First Round, finishing Wednesday’s race in 28 minutes and 9.32 seconds — just a hundredth of a second faster than Samuel’s second-place time of 28 minutes and 9.33 seconds in Bryan-College Station, Texas.

In doing so, Kipkurui — the 10k collegiate record holder — and Samuel — the reigning 10k national champion — qualified for the NCAA Championships (June 11-14) at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The latter will have a chance to defend his title, UNM’s first individual men’s title since 2017.

But if Wednesday’s race proved anything, it might just be that a fellow Lobo could provide his greatest competition.

After going out fast, Samuel led the first six laps before he was passed by Northern Arizona’s Drew Bosley. Samuel answered quickly, retaking the lead as Washington State’s Evans Kurui (the top seed in Wednesday’s race) started to creep his way towards the front.

Ten laps in, Samuel was passed by Kurui on a water break before the former retook the lead with 13 laps remaining. The two ran stride-for-stride and exchanged the lead repeatedly before Kurui — leaning into a gradually quicker pace — charged ahead.

And it looked as if he’d hold the lead down the stretch until Samuel kicked with less than 500 meters left — and Kipkurui right behind him. The two proceeded to break away from the pack with a dead sprint over the final lap, one Kipkurui emerged from with a win by the thinnest of margins and a bid to his first-ever NCAA Championships in hand.

UNM’s Vincent Chirchir (28:39.89), Rikus Van Nierkerk (28:59.55), Evans Kiplagat (29:17.77) and Thomas Termote (30:52.63) all ran in Wednesday’s 10k, but did not advance.

Other qualifiers

While Samuel and Kipkurui each locked up a spot in the NCAA Championships, the vast majority of remaining runners still have to advance beyond Friday’s quarterfinals to do so.

The three Lobos who moved on to the next round Wednesday:

• Cam Watts ran a 10.40 to finish second in his 100 heat and 18th overall, locking up a spot in Friday’s quarterfinals. The Mountain West champion and program record holder in the 100, he originally transferred to UNM last summer to play football; Watts switched to track full-time this spring after his waiver to play another season with the Lobos was denied.

• Brodie Young also finished 18th overall in the 400’s first round, winning his heat outright with a 46.19. The junior from Glasgow, Scotland is in contention for his first NCAA Championships appearance.

• Levente Soos advanced in the men’s 400 hurdles, running a 50.92 to finish in 17th place and advance to the next round

Outside of the 10k, two Lobos did not advance beyond Wednesday’s first round: Arian Milcija recorded a no-height in the pole vault and Matthew Endrödy (3:52.01) finished 27th overall in the 1,500, missing the cut by less than one second.

Friday’s events

Running Wednesday through Saturday, the NCAA West Prelims alternate men’s and women’s events on a day-to-day basis. The full list of Lobos competing during Thursday’s women’s first round:

• 1,500m: Judy Rono

• 400m: Rebecca Grieve, Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer

• 400m hurdles: Hannah Kiess

• 200m: Lou-Anna Pouzancre Hoyer

• 10k: Pamela Kosgei, Nicola Jansen, Jasmine Wood

ESPN+ will broadcast all races throughout the weekend.