Marco Langon’s last stand: Can Langon upset Habtom Samuel in the 5000 and win NCAA title #1?

The final individual men’s track event of the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday is the men’s 5000 meters, and it’s going to be must-watch TV. (Admittedly, it’s happening right in the middle of the United States’ first game of the World Cup against Paraguay, so if you want to go split screen, that’s ok with us).

Most NCAA track & field fans know how badly Villanova senior Marco Langon, who three times has finished in the top 3 at NCAAs but never reached the top of the podium, wants to finish his NCAA career in style, with win #1. The 21-year-old Langon has another year of eligibility remaining on the track, but told LetsRun in May that he does not plan on using it: he is turning pro so he can start making money to support his family. So it’s now or never for him at NCAAs.Langon, who has made headlines for his close finishes and unfiltered post-race interviews, is not afraid to tell the world how badly he wants to win. On Monday, he texted me exactly what is at stake:

Wanting it is one thing. Winning it, against this stacked field, is another.

The good news for Langon is that he heads into NCAAs in the form of his life. This academic year, he’s run PBs in 1500 (3:32.79, #2 in NCAA history), 3000 (7:34.00, #3 in NCAA history), and 5000 (13:05.21, #4 in NCAA history).

The highlight of Langon’s season so far came at the Penn Relays — always a big one for Villanova runners. After getting outkicked by Simeon Birnbaum in the DMR, Langon turned the tables on the Oregon stud the next day and willed himself and Villanova to the 4 x mile title. Whether or not you believe he actually closed in sub-23 for his final 200 in the DMR in a losing effort, Langon has definitely shown he can close a 1600 in 50-point.

• Marco Langon Says He Ran 22.6 last 200 at Penn Relays – LetsRun.com
• Marco BODYBAGS Simon burnbomb (sic) . . sweet revenge in the City of Brotherly Love. Nova wins 4 x mile – LetsRun.com

However, Langon cannot be considered the favorite in the 5000 at NCAAs. No way. That label has to go to Habtom Samuel of New Mexico and Eritrea.

Coming into the year, Samuel was known as Mr. Runner-Up as he finished 2nd at NCAAs on four different occasions last year (though he did win the 10,000 title in 2024). This year, he has run three NCAA finals and crossed the finish line first in all three, winning cross country and then the 5000 indoors (he was ultimately DQ’d in the 3000).

Along the way, he’s run a 59:01 half marathon to win in Houston and recently became the first collegian to break 13:00 during the outdoor season, running 12:57.22. He’s the man to beat. 

But he’s not the defending champ, and he’s not the only sub-13 guy in the field. Last year’s winner was Oklahoma State’s Brian Musau of Kenya, who captured both the indoor and outdoor crowns in 2025 before running 12:59.82 in July.

Musau, however, has not been his normal self in 2026, so it would be a big surprise if he won on Friday. After finishing 4th at the 2025 NCAA Country Championships, Musau didn’t finish a race indoors (he dropped out of Big 12s) before running regional qualifiers in the 5000 (13:23.86) and 1500 (3:39.27) outdoors. But at Big 12s outdoors, he didn’t even score in the 10,000 (30:43.87).

A talent the size of Musau, who also wasn’t exactly tearing it up before winning outdoors last year (he only had one race last year outdoors before NCAAs), can never be discounted, but it’s hard to see him winning.

Samuel, in contrast, has been firing on all cylinders in 2026. Can he be beat? Of course. Championship 5000s often are won by 1500 studs — just ask Cole Hocker or Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Samuel’s 1500 pb is only 3:38.60. Langon has run 3:32.79. Edge, Langon.

But Samuel is an experienced racer. It’s hard to imagine he’d be foolish enough to jog around and turn the race into a 1500. Indoors, Samuel figured out a way to make it fast enough to finish ahead of Langon in both the 3000 and 5000. The 3000 was relatively honest (7:42 winning time), but the 5000 started very slow. After most of the field ran the 5th lap of the 3000 in over 38 seconds and the leaders hit 1k in 2:53.70, Samuel went to the lead and ratcheted down the pace to 34, 33, 32, 32. In the end, the winning time was 13:36.58. Langon, to his credit, stayed right in it until the very end, running 13:36.98 for 2nd.

Can anyone else win?

Indoors, Langon was the only guy within 0.94 of Samuel in the 5000. So I don’t think anyone else from the NCAA indoor final can win this one.

Arkansas’ Ernest Cheruiyot of Kenya, the SEC 10,000 champion, was third indoors and has a 5000 pb of 13:15.30. But he’s never broken 4:00 in the mile. How in the world is he going to outkick Samuel or Langon or break them from the front? The SEC 5000 champ was Cheruiyot’s teammate Ben Shearer. If the Texas native Shearer wins it as a senior, it would be quite the story as the 13:21.99 man has never even competed at NCAA individually before.

The second-fastest guy in the NCAA outdoors this year is Oklahoma State’s Denis Kipngetich (13:13.43/Kenya), but he didn’t even win Big 12s in the 10,000. The fourth-fastest guy in the NCAA, Robin Kwemoi Bera (13:15.61) of Iowa State/Kenya failed to win Big 12s in the 5000, as did the fifth fastest guy in the NCAA, true freshman Tayvon Kitchen of BYU (13:16.27).

(In case you are wondering who won Big 12s in the 5000, that would be Oklahoma State senior Will Muirhead, who ran the 10,000 at regionals but didn’t make NCAAs).

The American Kitchen has had a phenomenal freshman campaign. BYU is a historic distance program, and he’s already got the school record in the 5000 at age 19. He’s also fearless; he wasn’t afraid to lead the NCAA cross country championships in the fall or challenge Langon at BU indoors.

But true freshmen don’t win the NCAA 5000 title in men’s track and field. I’m only aware of one 5000 freshman champion outdoors, UTEP’s Suleiman Nyambui of Tanzania in 1979 — but Nyambui was 26 years old at the time. A guy by the name of Steve Prefontaine did win the 3-mile title as a freshman back in 1970. And Washington State’s Gerry Lindgren also won the NCAA 3-mile title in 1966 in his first year of collegiate competition, but he graduated high school in 1964.

If anyone besides Samuel or Langon wins, I think it will be junior Rocky Hansen of Wake Forest. Hansen is following the route that Musau took last year, coming into NCAAs having barely raced during outdoor track. Hansen was phenomenal in cross country, finishing as the runner-up in Missouri. Then he made Team USA for Worlds but controversially pulled out due to injury without giving enough notice to be replaced. While recovering from injury, he didn’t race at all indoors and only a handful of times outdoors. He ran 13:29.53 in a 5000 (second place behind Langon) in early April, then 3:35.75 for 1500 two weeks later. At ACCs, he was 4th in the 1500 and didn’t qualify for the 800 final. He’s a humongous talent and presumably on the upswing in terms of fitness.

But it’s a stretch to pick him for the upset over Langon or Samuel.

Rojo Prediction: I’m higher on Langon than most. He WANTS this title so bad. And Samuel is doubling back from the 10,000. If Samuel wins that, will he still be willing to fight to death for it in the 5,000? 

If the winning time is over 13:40, I’m picking Langon. If it’s under 13:40, I’ll pick Samuel. In case you are wondering, here are the winning times at NCAAs over the last 10 NCAAs.

Winning Times at NCAAs for The Last 10 NCAA Finals
2015 Edward Cheserek Oregon 13:48.67
2016 Edward Cheserek Oregon 13:25.59
2017 Grant Fisher Stanford 14:35.60
2018 Sean McGorty Stanford 13:54.81
2019 Morgan McDonald Wisconsin 14:06.01
2021 Cooper Teare Oregon 13:12.27
2022 Olin Hacker Wisconsin 13:27.73
2023 Ky Robinson Stanford 14:04.77
2024 Parker Wolfe North Carolina 13:54.43
2025 Brian Musau Oklahoma St. 13:20.59

Talk about Langon’s chances on our messageboard: April, May, Marco? Will Marco Langon pull of the upset and end his NCAA career with a win in the men’s 5000?

P.S. Oregon sensation Simeon Birnbaum is also in this one, but I don’t think he’s got a chance to win the 5000 less than two hours after running the 1500. I explain why here: Can Simeon Birnbaum break the NCAA 1500/mile “curse” and arrive as Oregon’s next great US distance star? 
*MB: Will Simeon Birnbaum break the 1500/mile record-holder “curse” and win in Eugene?