Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Mar 4, 20232 min
Updated: Mar 7, 2023
Earlier today, New Mexico announced that they have signed Eritrean distance running standout, Habtom Samuel Keleta. It is unclear when exactly Kelati is expected to join the program, although The Stride Report anticipates that it will be in the fall of 2023.
According to World Athletics, he is just 19 years of age.
Keleta will enter the NCAA with some of the fastest marks of any collegiate in the nation. He holds personal bests of 13:13 for 5000 meters and 27:28 for 10,00 meters. This winter, only four men have run faster over the 5k distance than Keleta. And last spring, that number was only two. For the 10k distance, no collegiate came within 18 seconds of this international ace during the 2022 outdoor track season.
On championship stages, we saw Keleta place 17th over 10,000 meters at the World Outdoor Championships last summer. Earlier this year, he finished 17th once more at the World XC Championships.
New Mexico is largely known for their cross country dominance and unreal distance depth on the women's side. However, the Lobos have boasted a small handful of upper-tier distance talents on the men's side over the last few years. Runners such as Josh Kerr and Abdirizak Ibrahim (to name a few) often emerged as nationally competitive names for numerous seasons.
However, no New Mexico recruit has ever had the potential to make the immediate impact that Keleta could/will have. It is very possible that, at a bare minimum, we are looking at the next Mountain West cross country title favorite as well as an upper-half All-American as soon as this fall.
And more realistically, a legitimate contender for multiple national titles across all seasons over the next three to four years.