Habtom Samuel Breaks Own Program Record, Wins Men's 3,000m in Boston
Habtom Samuel beat his own program record by nearly five seconds en route to an event win in the most competitive 3,000m field in the country to highlight the second day of split-squad competition for New Mexico Track & Field at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston and the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque on Saturday, with the Lobos picking up four new PR’s and three new record book updates between the two meets.
Samuel outkicked the pros to cross the finish line in 7:40.63 and emerge victorious from a loaded men’s 3K field at sea level in Boston – a time that would rank No. 7 in the nation on the most recent NCAA D-I Indoor Qualifying List. Samuel had already broken the UNM school record in the event with a 7:45.61 finish at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 13.
𝐇𝐀𝐁𝐓𝐎𝐌 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐓! Habtom Samuel is the fastest finisher in the men’s 3,000m in Boston, beating his previous school record by nearly five seconds in the process!#GoLobos pic.twitter.com/FGdFPdNnET
— New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) February 11, 2024
THE ACTION FROM ALBUQUERQUE
UNM’s first competitor of the day at the Albuquerque Convention Center, Malia Dumlao placed 13th in her section of the women’s 60m hurdles with a 9.97 modified time that was .11 seconds faster than her previous PR last weekend at the UNM Collegiate Classic.
Jose Cornejo won his heat and placed second overall in the men’s 60m dash with a 6.93 converted time that came just 3 hundredths of a second short of his personal best. Behind him, Elijah Jefferson finished 13th (7.04) and Jonah Vaquera finished 34th (7.32).
On the women’s side, Ophelia Pulley (50th) was UNM’s fastest woman in the 60m dash with an 8.02 converted time, ahead of Nia Mamuya (61st, 8.27), Alexandra Adams (62nd, 8.33) and Carlotta Duenninger (63rd, 8.57).
Julia Kellner’s PR in the triple jump (12.53, 41′ 1½”) moved her from the No. 8 spot on the UNM all-time list to No. 7 – she finished 11th overall, with Mikyla Harkley (12.38m, 40′ 7½”) in 13th, Lilee Kaasch (11.63m, 38′ 2″) in 35th and Zennia Gonzalez (11.49m, 37′ 8½”) 41st.
Brodie Young and Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer ran their second 400m races of the weekend while representing UNM in Saturday’s invitational section, with Young finishing in 47.25 (converted) for ninth place overall and Pouzancre-Hoyer putting down a 54.45 time for a 13th-place finish after running sub-54 for the first time in her career last night.
Dylan Burrows finished as the top collegian in the men’s 800m with a 1:48.62 converted time, with Matthew Larkin (1:51.61) finishing sixth and Osaze Williams-Demund (1:52.36) in eighth to close out the night in Albuquerque.
THE ACTION FROM BOSTON
Samuel Field started things off at sea level with a bang, breaking the four-minute barrier with a 3:59.99 finish that stands as his second mile PR of the season. Field moves into the No. 9 spot on the UNM all-time indoor mile list as only the ninth Lobo to run sub-four minutes indoors.
Fellow Aussie Luke Cunningham ran a PR of his own in the next heat, crossing the finish line in 4:02.67 for his first lifetime PR in a UNM uniform.
Up next in the men’s 3,000m, Habtom Samuel improved on his UNM program record with a dominant race against what will likely be his competition at NCAA Indoor Championships, running his fastest split of the race over the final 200 meters (27.97 seconds) to outkick a heat that included five professionals. That final split was the fastest 200 meter lap ran by any runner in Saturday’s 3,000m competition.
@UNMLoboXCTF standout Habtom Samuel wins it all in the men’s 3000m at the Boston U. running 7:40.63 !!! The collegian out-kicked the pros to a new school record for the Lobos 🔥 pic.twitter.com/F3LuqQMuFD
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) February 11, 2024
Samuel’s time was 4.97 seconds faster than his record-setting performance in Seattle in January and 8.08 seconds faster than the previous program record set by Abdirizak Ibrahim in 2022. Behind him, Jonathan Carmin put down a 8:26.76 time, good for 70th overall.
Well past 10 p.m. on the East Coast, Evans Kiplagat and Thomas Termote closed out UNM’s day of competition in the men’s 5,000m, with Kiplagat shaving four seconds off his previous best set at the same Boston U track in December for a 13:26.56 time that would rank 13th on the current NCAA D-I Indoor Qualifying list and Termote following with yet another new PR (14:06.88) while finishing 87th.