Graham Blanks Makes History, Wins Second Consecutive NCAA Title

For the second consecutive year, Harvard’s Graham Blanks is a national champion. With a course-record finish on Saturday, Blanks defended his title in the 10,000 meter race at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, becoming just the 13th runner in NCAA history to win consecutive titles.

Running at the Zimmer Championship Course in Verona, Wis., the senior entered as the defending champion after he became the first Ivy League athlete to win the 10,000 meters at the 2023 NCAA Championships. In that race, Blanks rode a late surge to a three-second margin over New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel, finishing with a time of 28:37.7.

Samuel, who won the 10,000m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June, was hot on Blank’s tail this year as well. Blanks made his signature late move with about 1500m left in the race, overtaking Samuel and Furman University’s Dylan Schubert and ultimately edging Samuel by 1.7 seconds. After looking back to make sure Samuel and Schubert couldn’t catch him, Blanks clutched the Harvard logo on his shirt as he crossed the finish line.

His final time of 28:37.2 broke the previous course record of 29:08.0. The 10,000m is Blank’s most decorated race at the NCAA level, but the distance runner was also an Olympian earlier this year competing in the 5,000m, the distance at which he set an NCAA record last December (before the record was topped by Northern Arizona’s Nico Young in January).

The Athens, Ga. native, who spoke openly after last year’s NCAA win about his doubts during the recruitment process that he could win a national title at Harvard, has now added two trophies to the Crimson’s mantle, with this year’s win representing the 23rd national title in program history.

Blanks’ performance headlined a solid all-around performance from the Crimson, with a 27th-place finish on the men’s side and a 28th-place performance from the women. With top-five finishes from both squads at the NCAA Northeast Regionals and the Ivy League Heptagonals earlier in the month, the Crimson has continued its dominance of recent years.

The schedule will now flip over to the indoor track and field slate, which kicks off on Dec. 7 with the HBCU and Ivy Challenge in Cambridge. That meet is where Blanks broke the NCAA 5,000m last year, a sign that the two-time national champion is a runner to watch anytime he hits the track.

—Staff writer Jack Silvers can be reached at jack.silvers@thecrimson.com.