Habtom Samuel Named to The Bowerman Award Preseason Watch List

Habtom Samuel will open the 2025 track season on the prestigious Bowerman Award Watch List for the first time after finishing as a semifinalist for the award in 2024, the award association announced Thursday.

With the honor, Samuel becomes only the second man from New Mexico to make the Bowerman List twice in his collegiate career and the first to do so in his first two seasons of collegiate competition.

First awarded in 2009, The Bowerman is bestowed to collegiate track & field’s top male and female athlete for the year, regardless of discipline. The Bowerman Advisory Board, and ultimately, The Bowerman Voters, are instructed to consider performances inclusively from the collegiate indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons only.

Samuel became just the second man from New Mexico to be named as a semifinalist, joining two-time semifinalist Josh Kerr (2017, 2018). Samuel swept the indoor 3,000m and 5,000m Mountain West titles and finished as a First Team All-American in both events at Indoor Nationals before winning the 10,000m and finishing sixth in the 5,000m at Outdoor Nationals to conclude the season with four First Team All-American finishes on the oval in just his freshman year alone — five counting cross country.

In the time since, Samuel remained in the conversation among the nation’s elite distance athletes, finishing as Mountain West Champion & Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row while finishing as an NCAA XC Runner-Up yet again. Following the conclusion of the season, he was also named USTFCCCA Mountain Region Athlete of the Year along with UNM’s Pamela Kosgei on the women’s side.

Members of The Bowerman Advisory Board, who have produced watch lists throughout the season, devise these lists of semifinalists by providing a ranked-ordered list of 10 athletes who they believe had the most outstanding season. The list of semifinalists represents the group’s consensus.

The same Advisory Board will assemble to deliberate who will be named as finalists. Those selections will be made public on Monday, June 24 and Tuesday, June 25. Ultimately, the winners are chosen by The Bowerman Voters who consist of national and regional media personnel, track & field statisticians, NCAA collegiate administrators, past winners, and Presidents of affiliated organizations. Should he reach the final ballot in June, Samuel would be the first athlete from New Mexico to be named as a finalist for the award — Kerr and Courtney Frerichs are the only two Lobo honorees in the award’s history.

THE BOWERMAN 2025
Men’s Preseason Watch List — January 10

• Mykolas Alekna, California (Discus)
• Johnny Brackins, Jr., Southern California (Hurdles/Jumps)
• Chinecherem Nnamdi, Baylor (Javelin)
• Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan, Ole Miss (Throws)
• Tarsis Orogot, Alabama (Sprints)
• Habtom Samuel, New Mexico (Distance)
• Ethan Strand, North Carolina (Distance)
• Ja’Kobe Tharp, Auburn (Hurdles)
• Sam Whitmarsh, Texas A&M (Sprints/Mid-Distance)
• Parker Wolfe, North Carolina (Distance)

HABTOM’S ROLL CONTINUES
An NCAA Runner-Up as a true freshman in 2023 before winning his first NCAA title in at outdoor championships in the 10,000m in June, Habtom Samuel solidified his status as a frontrunner to win an individual NCAA title in November with a course-record showing on this year’s championship course, earning a new honor — USTFCCCA National Co-Athlete of the Week — as a result. Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Samuel has racked up accomplishments at a pace unseen by any true freshman in UNM history. In November, he added his second runner-up finish at NCAA Championships — and his seventh All-American trophy — to the list.

• 2023 & 2024 Mountain West Athlete of the Year (XC)
• NCAA Runner of the Week (2023 XC)
• 2023 & 2024 USTFCCCA Mountain Region Athlete of the Year (XC)
• Mountain West Champion (XC)
• 2023 NCAA Mountain Region Champion (XC)
• 2024 NCAA Mountain Region Runner-Up
• 2023 & 2024 NCAA Championship Runner-Up (XC)
• Mountain West Championship Record Holder (XC)
• UNM Program Record Holder – 5,000m, 3,000m, Mile (Indoor)
• Fastest collegiate mile ever ran at the Albuquerque Convention Center (3:59.12)
• 11th-Fastest 5,000m time in NCAA History (Indoor)
• Mountain West Championship Performer of the Meet (Indoor)
• Mountain West Championship Record Holder – 5,000m, 3,000m (Indoor)
• Mountain West Champion – 5,000m, 3,000m (Indoor)
• USTFCCCA First Team All-American – 5,000m, 3,000m (Indoor)
• No. 2 10,000m time in NCAA History (Outdoor)
• 2024 Mountain West Indoor Track Athlete of the Year
• Mountain West Champion – 1500m, 5,000m (Outdoor)
• 2024 NCAA Champion – 10,000m (Outdoor)
• USTFCCCA First Team All-American – 5,000m, 10,000m (Outdoor)