Lobos Bring Down Two More Records in Seattle on Day One at Husky Classic
SEATTLE, Wash. – New Mexico track & field athletes brought down two more program records on Day One of the UW Husky Classic Friday at Dempsey Indoor, with the Lobos’ Women’s Distance Medley Relay running the fastest time in program history – and among the Top 50 collegiate performances all-time – before Habtom Samuel improved on his school record en route to an individual win in the 3,000m.
In UNM’s first DMR of the season, Judy Rono (1200), Lou-Anne Pouzancre Hoyer (400), Rebecca Grieve (800) and Pamela Kosgei (1600) combined for a 10:53.48 finish to finish sixth – a time that currently slots them in qualifying position for NCAA Indoor Championships but may need improving to ensure it holds through conference championships. Ahead of UNM, the top five finishing relays posted the five fastest times in collegiate history – the Lobos 10:53 mark is still 4.29 seconds better than the previous program best set in 2018 and ranks among 48th among all performances in collegiate history.
But Habtom Samuel stole the show with a splashy individual win over Olympian and 2024 NCAA Champion Nico Young in the 3,000m – the sophomore crossed in 7:39.39 to improve on his UNM record from his freshman season in Boston (7:40.63) and move into the national Top 10 in the event with a surefire qualifier. Behind Samuel and Young, Ishmael Kipkurui finished third in 7:40.06 – the new No. 2 time indoors in UNM history – to move into NCAA qualifying position.
Behind them, Lukas Kiprop (7:49.25) came just shy of a new personal best to finish 13th and Collins Kiprotich (7:49.59) weathered a fall and rallied to finish 15th.
In the fastest 5,000m section of the night, Evans Kiplagat put down an improved time for the second meet in a row with a 13:34.24 clocking to finish fourth overall – he opened with a 14:07 at the BU Opener in December before finishing in 13:37.40 in his return to Boston two weeks ago. Vincent Chirchir also notched a new indoor personal best (13:40.33) to finish sixth overall – that time also moved him to the No. 6 spot on the UNM indoor All-Time list.
In the women’s 5,000m, Tina Nisoli put down another impressive personal best with a 16:04.99 time, 8.49 seconds faster than her opener in December (16:13.48) and Rilyn Stevens finished in 16:28.69 in her first indoor 5K – they finished 10th and 21st overall, respectively.
UP NEXT
Day Two of competition at the Husky Classic in Seattle and the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque gets underway tomorrow, with Don Kirby streamed via FloTrack and Husky Classic available via RunnerSpace+. Head to GoLobos.com/FollowTrack for all of this weekend’s live results and streaming links all in one place and follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Instagram and X for live coverage, meet day content and more.