Samuel, Kipkurui, Kosgei Finish Second Team All-America on Day 2 at NCAA Indoors
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Habtom Samuel, Pamela Kosgei and Ishmael Kipkurui all concluded the 2025 indoor season as Second Team All-Americans in the 3,000m on the final day of competition at NCAA Indoor Championships Saturday at the Virginia Beach Sports Center, with Samuel and Kipkurui placing 9th and 14th in the men’s final and Kosgei placing 12th on the women’s side.
With the eighth All-American honor of his career, Samuel has matched Alice Wright for the most All-American honors by any UNM athlete across cross country, indoor and outdoor track. Through eight NCAA Championship races across cross country, indoor and outdoor, Samuel has finished among the Top 10 in the nation in each of them.
Leading the pack for the majority of the race, Samuel dropped nearly all the way to the back to save his energy for a final kick that saw him move from 15th to ninth over the final 600 meters, narrowly missing out on First Team All-America status by 17 hundredths of a second with a 7:54.42 clocking. Behind him, freshman Ishmael Kipkurui (7:58.43) finished 14th to collect his second All-American honors of the weekend as well.
| HABTOM SAMUEL IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP RACES | |
| 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships (10K) | 2nd, 28:40.7 – NCAA Runner-Up |
| 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships (5,000m) | 4th, 13:30.07 – First Team All-American |
| 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships (3,000m) | 7th, 7:46.86 – First Team All-American |
| 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships (10,000m) | 1st, 28:07.82 – NCAA Champion |
| 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships (5,000m) | 6th, 13:58.83 – First Team All-American |
| 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships (10K) | 2nd, 28:38.9 – NCAA Runner-Up |
| 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships (5,000m) | 2nd, 13:11.78 – NCAA Runner-Up |
| 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships (3,000m) | 9th, 7:54.42 – Second Team All-American |
After succumbing to a late push to finish third in Friday’s 5,000m Final, Kosgei looked to be in a much better position to challenge the top two down the stretch in the women’s 3,000m final, right on the tail of West Virginia’s Ceili McCabe (9:01.18) and Alabama’s Doris Lemngole (9:01.64) as they turned the corner on the final lap. But a costly fall with less than 50 meters to go knocked her off the podium, moving her from third to 12th when the dust settled.
Kosgei picked herself up off the track and finished in 9:04.42 – still the fourth-fastest NCAA Indoor Championships race ever run by a woman from New Mexico and fastest since Weini Kelati in 2019 – to secure her second All-America honors of the weekend and the third of her career.
With all 34 men’s and women’s events scored and complete, the Lobo men finished tied for 26th with 10 points in the team score, with Kosgei’s six total points good for 32nd in the women’s score.
| WOMEN’S 3,000M FINAL | |
| 12. Pamela Kosgei | 9:04.42 |
| MEN’S 3,000M FINAL | |
| 9. Habtom Samuel | 7:54.42 |
| 14. Ishmael Kipkurui | 7:58.43 |
UP NEXT
With indoor season now complete, the Lobos turn their attention outdoors – they’ll get a week off next week before splitting up across four meets to open up the season at home (UNM Spring Invite; March 29), in Texas (Texas Relays, Bobcat Invitational; March 26-29) and in California (Sound Running’s THE TEN; March 29).