VERONA, Wisc. – When Habtom Samuel keeps both his shoes on, he produces great results.

 

Nearly a year since his shoe debacle at the NCAA Division Cross Country Championships in Wisconsin last fall, the New Mexico junior returned to the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course Friday afternoon in record-fashion.

 

Samuel opened his 2025 campaign running 22 minutes, 58 seconds to win the men’s 8-kilometer championship race at Nuttycombe, breaking the meet record of 23:04 set by Parker Wolfe last year. Samuel was 25 seconds shy of his own course record he ran last fall at the Pre-Nationals meet, clocking 22:33.8.

 

Samuel stayed patient until under 2k to go before putting a surge on Washington State’s Solomon Kipchoge and Tulane’s Benard Cheruiyot. It wasn’t until the final uphill climb where Samuel created separation to complete his win.

 

On top of winning the individual title, Samuel guided No. 3 New Mexico to an impressive 51-point outing for the program’s first Nuttycombe title.

 

“I was excited…It was kind of unexpected, but that’s really good,” Samuel said. “Our goal was to win as a team and show who we are to know where we are at.”

 

New Mexico’s depth proved to be too much for the rest of the field to handle, putting all five of their scorers in the top 25, including three in the top 10.

 

“They ran really well,” New Mexico head coach Darren Gausman said. “Team victory was our goal, so really happy for the men…Our main goal was to pack it up as much as we could. I think at 4k we had six guys right there. That was a key thing for us, it’s all about the team.”

 

Collins Kiprotich finished sixth in 23:27 and Kiplagat finished ninth in 23:32.6, joining Samuel in the top 10. Vincent Chirchir finished 13th in 23:35.4 and Mathew Kosgei finished 22nd in 23:39.7 to cap the Lobos’ score.

 

New Mexico never lost sight of first in the team race from the gun, leading through all the kilometer checkpoints. At 6k, the Lobos’ score was as low as 34 points, hanging onto a 104-point advantage.

 

No. 5 Colorado was the only team to hang around New Mexico, and even that was a massive margin at the end. The Buffaloes finished nearly 100 points behind New Mexico in second with 150 points. Dominic Serem finished fourth for Colorado in 23:20.2.

 

No. 11 Syracuse, 152 points, finished two points behind Colorado, led by Sam Lawler in 12th in 23:34.5 and Assaf Harari in 17th in 23:37.5.

 

No. 13 Northern Arizona, winners of a record six Nuttycombe Invitational titles, finished fourth with 203 points. Colin Sahlman made his season debut in 23:37.5.

 

No. 6 BYU, the defending NCAA champions, finished with 218 points for fifth. Davin Thompson finished 10th in 23:33.6. Tayvon Kitchen finished 21st in 23:39.7 as the field’s top freshman.

 

Kipchoge finished second to Samuel in 23:05.6. His Washington State teammate, Evans Kurui, finished fifth in 23:26.5. Cheruiyot took third in 23:10 for Tulane.

 

Valentin Soca of Cal Baptist, a World Championships finalist in the men’s 5,000, took seventh in his season opener in 23:30.1.

 

Michigan State’s Riley Hough snagged another eighth-place finish in 23:32.1 two weeks after finishing eighth at the Gans Creek Classic.