Habtom Samuel Named MW Freshman & Athlete of the Week

After running the third-fastest 10,000m race in the nation and best in the conference 0n Friday, Habtom Samuel has been named the Mountain West Track Athlete / Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this track season.

Samuel secured his NCAA Prelim Qualifying mark in the 10,000m to open up the Don Kirby Tailwind Open in Albuquerque last Friday, netting himself a 28:03.30 conversion that stands as the third-fastest in the nation and second in the west. Even though his conversion is well shy of his sea-level personal best set in March (26:53.49) that ranks as the second-fastest all-time in NCAA history, it’s still the second-fastest 10K time produced by a UNM men’s runner.

Samuel has now ran a time that ranks among the top three in the nation in different events in back-to-back weeks after running a 13:13.34 5,000m (No. 2 in NCAA) last weekend at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

This is the sixth time the true freshman by way of Keren, Eritrea has picked up a weekly honor from the conference — he was named MW Athlete / Freshman of the Week twice during the 2023 cross country season before winning the conference championship as an individual and being named MW Athlete of the Year for both Cross Country and Indoor Track & Field.

UP NEXT
New Mexico Track & Field returns to Boston this weekend to compete at the Terrier DMR Challenge on Feb. 16 — the Lobos’ final regular-season indoor competition before Mountain West Championships are held at the ABQ Convention Center from Feb. 22-24. This weekend’s events – as well as all of UNM’s collegiate home meets this season – will be exclusively live streamed via FloTrack, with live results available via the schedule tab at GoLobos.com. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on IG and X for meet day updates, behind-the-scenes content and more.