Colorado Springs, Colo. – New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel and Colorado State’s Gabi Morris have been named the 2024 Mountain West Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Student-Athletes of the Year, as voted on by the league’s head coaches.
The honor is awarded to the best male and female student-athlete in the Conference following the conclusion of the outdoor season.
A native of Keren, Eritrea, Samuel earned first-team All-America honors in the 5,000-meter run and the 10,000-meter at the 2024 NCAA championship. With a time of 28:07.82, Samuel was crowned the 10k national champion, becoming the first Mountain West men’s national champion since UNM’s Josh Kerr won the 1,500-meter title in 2017. The freshman also placed sixth in the 5k with a time of 13:58.83.
At the 2024 MW championship, Samuel collected a pair of gold medals in the 5,000-meter race (13:51.65) and 1,500-meter race (3:44.04).
On the women’s side, Morris finished as the national runner-up in the shot put after registering a personal-best mark of 18.66 meters. The senior also placed in the top 20 in the discus with a throw of 54.56 meters. The Fort Collins, Colorado, native earned two All-America honors for her performances in the shot put and discus at the NCAA championship in Eugene, Oregon.
At the 2024 MW championship, Morris finished in the top 10 in three events, including a silver medal in the shot put with a mark of 17.52 meters.
