Habtom Samuel
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Harvard senior Graham Blanks successfully defended his NCAA Division I cross country championship on Saturday, winning the 10,000-meter race in 28:37.2, narrowly edging New Mexico's Habtom Samuel.
BYU became the first school since 2002 to win both men's and women's team titles at the same championship.
Men's Championship
Blanks' Victory: Blanks is the 13th runner in history to defend his title, cementing his legacy on the Thomas Zimmer course.
BYU's Team Triumph: The Cougars scored 124 points for their second men's title, led by Casey Clinger's 6th-place finish and Creed Thompson's 12th. All BYU scorers placed in the top 50.
Team Standings: Iowa State (137 points) finished second, followed by Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Northern Arizona. Defending champion Oklahoma State placed eighth.
Women's Championship
Doris Lemngole: The Alabama runner won the 6,000-meter race in 19:21, improving on her runner-up finish from last year. Pamela Kosgei of New Mexico was second in 19:27.8.
BYU Women Dominate: The Cougars scored 147 points to win their sixth title, with Lexy Halladay-Lowry finishing as the top scorer in 14th place overall.
Team Standings: BYU edged out West Virginia, with Providence, Northern Arizona, and Oregon rounding out the top five. Defending champion NC State finished eighth.
Historical Context
BYU’s sweep marks the first dual-team victory since Colorado’s achievement in 2002, highlighting their depth and dominance.
Blanks joins an elite group of repeat champions in the 86-year history of the NCAA men's cross country race.
The Big Picture
BYU's historic team wins and standout performances from Blanks and Lemngole underscore the competitiveness and unpredictability of collegiate cross country’s biggest stage.
Chris Chavez and Isaac Wood are back for another NCAA cross country recap episode. As championship season approaches, we recap the last few regular season meets: Pre-Nationals, Dellinger Invite, Princeton Classic, and Arturo Barrios. We break down the top teams and individual performances over the past few weeks and share our predictions for who to watch for as the NCAA Championship gets closer.
Time Stamps:
Women | Recap + Predictions
1:58 - What to make of the newest rankings.
4:48 - BYU’s rise to the top.
7:42 - Washington is making a jump to podium ranking.
9:30 - West Virginia’s breakout performance.
11:42 - Thoughts on NAU + NC State.
13:37 - Florida State’s underrated performance.
16:22 - Could the Utah women be a podium-contending team?
20:09 - Princeton Classic recap.
22:03 - Individuals to watch: Pamela Kosgei and Doris Lemnogole.
Men | Recap + Predictions
26:42 - OSU’s dominance.
28:52 - Arkansas’ standout performance at Pre-Nats.
30:39 - Dellinger recap + BYU closing the gap on OSU.
36:05 - Texas tech + Solomon Kipchoge.
37:26 - Pre-Nats recap: Habtom Samuel vs. Graham Blanks.
39:45 - Big 12 Preview.
40:54 - Princeton Classic recap.
42:45 - NAU falling in the rankings.
Podium predictions:
45:55 - Women’s teams + individual.
46:39 - Men’s teams + individual.
LISTEN: 2024 NCAA Cross Country Season Preview
Host: Chris Chavez | @chris_j_chavez on Instagram
Host: Isaac Wood | @isaacew on Instagram
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MEN’S INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION | GRAHAM BLANKS
– Harvard’s Graham Blanks made history as the first-ever man from the Ivy League to win the men’s cross country individual title. He raced patiently before starting to make his move with a kilometer remaining in the race and was able to pull away from New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel (a 17th place finisher at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships). Blanks covered the 10K course in 28:37.7 to win by three seconds.
– Blanks completed a perfect 5–0 season that included wins at the Battle in Beantown, Nuttycombe Invitational, Ivy League Championships and the NCAA Division I Northeast Region Cross Country Championships before Saturday’s victory.
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A Wide Open Race At The Top
"Nico Young feels due for an individual title on the grass. From his fourth place finish as a freshman, to falling just short over the final stretch last year, Young has never had a bad performance at NCAAs – his lowest career finish is 11th. A breakthrough in his senior year would be reminiscent of Adam Goucher’s legendary 1998 win, some great company for Young to join.
Young’s only two losses this season have come to arguably his biggest rivals heading into this weekend. Just last week he was edged by New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel at the Mountain Regional. Samuel is a newcomer to the NCAA scene this fall but is a two-time World U20 Medalist, placed 17th at the 2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championships – the senior race! – for his native Eritrea, and boasts a 27:20.08 10,000m PB. He’s also won three of the four races he has run this season as a Lobo.
At the biggest regular-season meet of the year, the Nuttycombe Invitational, they finished in the two spots behind Harvard’s Graham Blanks. While Blanks (6th at NCAAs in 2022) was considered a surprise champ on the day, winning is all he has done this year. Blanks has started four races this season and crossed the finish first in each and every time. The big caveat to Blanks’s win at Wisco was that it came in incredibly muddy and rainy conditions that will look nothing like the weather in Charlottesville on Saturday. It is worth wondering if the fair weather in the forecast favors one of the contenders with quicker track PBs more.
Another big regular-season winner was Nico Young’s teammate Drew Bosley, who started the year strong with wins at NAU’s home opener and the Virginia Invitational, but didn’t run the Lumberjack’s conference meet and was the third finisher on his own team in their regional race. There is certainly concern there but Bosley should not be counted out as you only have to look to a year ago where he stayed with Young until the closing stages of the race.
Lastly, it would be impossible to move on without mentioning last year’s 5000m/10,000m champion on the track, Stanford’s Ky Robinson. Although Robinson (10th last year at NCAAs) doesn’t have a signature win over a national field on the grass this year, the 2022 Nuttycombe champion has put together a solid campaign. The Cardinal crew hasn’t made much noise in the team conversation this year, but they’ll be looking to cap the season with back-to-back individual champions.
Read our full preview here: https://citiusmag.com/articles/2023-ncaa-cross-country-championships-preview
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🍊 OLIPOP is a prebiotic soda with only 2-5g of sugar that is actually good for your gut health. – and it's delicious. Use code CITIUS25 for 25% off non-subscription orders. Learn more at https://DrinkOlipop.com (click the link or use our promotional code for the discount)
📊 VDOT is offering 20% off their coaching subscription using the code citiusmag. Download V.O2 in the app stores or visit vdoto2.com to start your 30-day free trial. Athletes without a coach can use the same code and try out their fully automated VDOT Adaptive Trainer and sync to an Apple Watch, COROS or Garmin. Leverage the world-famous VDOT formulas and take your running to the next level with V.O2
HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST
🎙️ Subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG or Hit us on Venmo @CITIUSMAG