Habtom Samuel Named MW Freshman / Athlete of the Week

Following his third consecutive indoor meet with a program record, New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel has been named the Mountain West Freshman & Athlete of the Week for the second week in a row.

The honor is the second indoor track weekly award of this season for Samuel and the fourth he’s earned this year – he was named Freshman & Athlete of the Week twice during cross country season before earning MW Athlete of the Year honors at conference championships.

The Eritrean-born freshman put down the second-fastest mile time in the nation – a 3:59.12 that converts to a 3:53.91 with elevation calculations – while finishing as the fastest collegian at the Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center. He finished second only to professional runner Amon Kemboi, who finished .92 seconds ahead of him.

Through three meets, Samuel now holds three indoor records – with all three times ranking among the Top 10 in the nation on the NCAA D-I Indoor Qualifying list. In Monday’s initial USTFCCCA TFRI team rankings, the UNM men clocked in at No. 12 in the nation, with seven distance times (Mile, 3,000m, 5,000m) from UNM men’s runners ranking among the Top 25 in the nation in their respective events.

UP NEXT
New Mexico hosts its second home meet of the indoor season at the Albuquerque Convention Center this weekend as part of the UNM Team Open (Jan. 26-27). All heat sheets, entry lists, live results links and schedules will be posted under the Home Meets tab on the Track & Field page on GoLobos.com. Live results will be available via GoLobos.com, with streaming available via FloTrack – follow @UNMLoboTFXC on Instagram and @UNMLoboXCTF on X for live coverage, meet day content and more.