Men’s 5000m final – 2024 NCAA outdoor track and field championships

North Carolina’s Parker Wolfe won the NCAA 5000m title after a crazy finish with a time of 13:54.43. Watch the full race here.

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for the men’s 5000 the Collegiate record holder is ABD abdan n of Northern Arizona and a northern Arizona athlete in this race Cooper tier with the meat record and there is Nico young he is the man of the hour he’s got the Collegiate record in the 5,000 and the 10,000 M he opted to run here in the 5,000 Nico headlining a field of four athletes who have all won NCAA individual titles in the last calendar year he won those two titles indoors and the the 3,000 and the 5,000 he’s also first Collegian ever to break 13 minutes in the 5K did that early in the year indoors back in January and then we have Kai Robinson the defending champion at 5,000 he swept the 10,000 and 5,000 meter titles last year in Austin opting only to run the 5,000 in this championship and right next to him the man who won the 10K title just two nights ago hop him Samuel of New Mexico and here is a look at how this wild race unfolded very tactical early on and then they all got bunched up as this race was breaking open with just a few laps to go that is Patrick kiop of Arkansas who takes the worst of it ham SEL goes down but is able to bounce right back up put himself into the think of it look at the fight for hapum SEL to become the first freshman to win the men’s 10,000 meter title since a guy really popular around Oregon Edward chz King chz yeah everybody knows the king here in at Hayward Field 12 24 finalists in this 5,000 MERS we’ll show you the list of competitors it is still very warm here in Eugene as the sun goes down late out here up up around the 45th parallel you can still play a hole of golf right around 9:00 at this time of year up here 75° out there and no wind whatsoever and as you’re seeing the field set up there we mentioned that there were four individual champions in the last calendar year among them that’s Graham blanks who has the Big H of Harvard right there the Crimson top and black bottoms he was the cross country champion in 2023 missed the indoor season due to an injury so looking to fight his way back up to the front Nico young in this with a few of his Northern Arizona teammates as well getting a great look at the field now Brian mow of Oklahoma State among a few of the Cowboys who are in this we mentioned he actually has the fastest time Outdoors at 5,000 m this season Nico Young’s best coming from the indoor season and all these guys have been doing battle back into the cross country season as habtam Sanel moves to the front with a 645 first 400 or and Chandler Gibbons he’s back from the 10,000 as well he was among those who was able to avoid much of the traffic in the 10K to get himself right into the thick of it he took fifth for The Jayhawks in the 10,000 and what I like about this is htam sel took note of what happened in the 10,000 as did Chandler given they’re like we’re not going to get tied up into the traffic of this we’re going to push the pace just little bit and make sure we don’t risk the same consequence this time around and when ham Sanel went down he said he was so scared he was as he went down as he was falling he had in his mind thinking can I just close the gap they had two laps to go at that point and he was able to maintain composure fight his way right back into it what a way to win your first NCAA title and think about the awareness to have that as a freshman as well but he was right there he’s been in it all season long he was second to gram blanks at the cross country championships in the fall things have slowed in the last two laps they’ve now gone to 68 and then 685 for the two most recent 400 m laps they’re now on 1357 they were right about 1348 pace so far off that meat record Pace but Dwight part of the reason you’re seeing this play strategically is because a lot of these athletes are thinking of course more tactically and about position more so than pace and and then you also a lot of them maybe not doing the double in the 10,000 and the five kir Robinson among them because they have farther goals even beyond the NCAA season they’re going to race One race here at the NCAA championships because they’re also trying to qualify to represent their countries and buy and uh buy for bids to the Olympic Games in Paris and the danger of course when they Pace slows this much as you get a lot of bunching up athletes need to squeeze out into lane two and three in order to have room to run that’s what causes the crashes like we saw in the 10,000 MERS earlier lar when you talk about the pace slowing down you’ve got guys like Kai Robinson who has a personal best of 1306 does that actually make it to where more of the field has an opportunity to win this race instead of them just going out and running their own time you do you leave a lot of people in the field but this field is packed with guys who can close this is how it shook out last year Kai Robinson went won it in a phenomenal closing kick Nico young has a great closing kick also when you talk about really strong finishers keep in mind that you have unc’s Parker wolf in the mix as well he was the runner up indoors to Nico young in the 3,000 and the 5,000 he’s buried back there just a little bit but has that Tar Heel blue top on he’s currently has number 13 on his hip now through 2,000 M 549 1422 is your pace at this point and when you talk about you know whether or not you going to double or you know have multiple opportunities to race at this Championship I asked Stanford director of track and field JJ Clark If it took any convincing for Kai Robinson not to want to defend both titles and he said there was no debate at all he has given us everything he has the opportunity to defend the 5,000 and it is in his best interest for what he has planned to hopefully represent Australia and their team in Paris he’s already appeared in a world championship and is and also a world cross country championship for Australia and guys I know that his family back in Australia is watching because they were actually on the phone watching it when they were on a road trip across Australia last year watching him win both of those titles so they are dialed into this one as well as he has secured himself right into the thick of it currently sitting in about fifth position all 24 athletes are about in a 15 m space that shows you how slow the pace has gone out it will certainly Quicken as we’re just about halfway through all right back to the 5,000 m David Malarkey of Florida state has been leading for the last few laps he also has Jackson sharp of Wisconsin the six time Big 10 Champion currently in second position five laps less than five laps remaining at this point and Jack we talk about guys who have been in contention a number of times Jackson sharp who you’re seeing right there white singlet with the Bold Wisconsin across the front he was third in this event last year behind Kai Robinson and Ram blank so a very familiar field that you have here again almost the entire field encompassed within 15 M 24 athletes and look at that you have all the northern Arizona that Trio right there is all into the middle of the pack lot of athletes running extra distance to stay out of [Applause] trouble lar you talked about some of these guys you know picking between where they’re going to run the 10,000 or the 5,000 do you have any insight on what Nico young might actually run at the Olympic trials I don’t know if they want to get that out there yet I don’t know I mean I think he’s going to get I’ll say he’s going to give himself options right he’s going to give himself options yeah they have quickened things now 72 now to 68 and 68 uh my gut instinct Robert I I don’t know I would like I’d like to see him in the 5,000 is what I’ll say like that’s that’s what that’s what I would buy for and it looks like the pace is actually picked up a little bit David from Florida State said cut the Malarkey we got to get this bad boy rolling indeed he did he’s been up there doing lead duties for quite a while to this point Jackson sharp looking really strong like the way that he has stayed out of trouble Kai Robinson knows this position all so well and Nico young is a bit in the catb bird seat at this point since setting that Collegiate record in the 10,000 to open the outdoor season he’s been doing a ton of speed work dropped down in distance he’s done some 800s and some 1500s you see Nico young there with that kind of ombre NAU Jersey fighting his way just behind Kai Robinson three laps remaining and in talking with Coach Mike Smith he said his kick is on another level right now 66 second last 400 tour you can see things are starting to speed up but they’re still Athletes Way out in the outside of lane two nibbling into Lane three on the turn extra distance being run in order to try and avoid a catastrophe like we had in the 10,000 M it’s certainly not assured that we’re going to be able to do that the na you guys are now making a move remember they’re in Flagstaff Arizona they come down here to Eugene they are drowning in oxygen think about all the cross country success that they have enjoyed at Northern Arizona translating over to the outdoor track season they like to run in a pack they gain a lot of confidence by being UPF front together Parker wolf from North Carolina always going to put himself in the thick of it and America’s brightest orange that’s Brian massow there on the shoulder of htam Sanel Here Comes gr blanks two laps remaining and it’s just now getting interesting blanks into into the lead this is awfully early to be starting the kick 63 seconds on that last 400 m Nico young now got himself into second position Kai Robinson is also there Parker wolf and massau of Oklahoma State come on after missing the indoor season due to injury we really don’t know where gr blanks is right now his coach Alex Gibby says this is really going to be trial by fire we have not been battle tested yet we are continuing though to sharpen up how sharp is Gran BL how sharp is Nico young how sharp is Kai Robinson Harvard has never won this event there a pack of five now as they’re coming to the Bell blanks wolf young Robinson massau 57 last 400 they’re getting serious now and here Nico young just about to change gears there he goes wolf is trying to cover the move and Robinson also zero hesitation from Parker wolfes zero hesitation from Kai Robinson a throw down in the final 200 M Nico young is in full Sprint Parker wolf is right there he has not dropped him or the defending Champion Kai Robinson Wolf coming up on nio Young’s shoulder as they come off the final turn down the straightway it’s Parker wolf K Robinson trying to cover the move Nico young doesn’t seem to have a response it’s Parker wolf of North Carolina the junior is going to win the five over Nico Young and the defending Champion Kai Robinson 54 548 for the last 400 the last half mile must have been around 152 286 for the final 200 that is amazing after 4500 plus l a 4 500 plus me he had the immediate response on the backstretch to go and attach himself get carried through and kicks in digging fighting all the way to the finish one glance over the shoulder in celebration a chip on his shoulder coming into the outdoor season after two runnerup finishes indoors Parker wolf a first time NCAA champion first time a North Carolina athlete has run this event at the NCAA championships the time of course is inconsequential as they went out so slowly and didn’t really get things going about a th meters to go wolf wins it over Nico young the Collegiate record holder and Kai Robinson the defending Champion well we just saw Parker wolf win the 5,000 m and he’s downstairs with John Anderson gra enough to stick around for a little bit after his effort in the 5K Parker wolf um we’ve seen you high finish cross country we’ve seen you second indoor at three and five what was the difference in this group of very familiar Runners that allowed you to be first in a national champ I mean we’ve been working on all year just practicing that last 400 and you know I think indoors we didn’t we weren’t as sharp as we are now and we just cumulated all that work over the fall and the and the spring and it just came to fruition on the right day so what’s it like when you finally cross that line you go everybody else behind me it’s awesome I I haven’t haven’t gotten this feeling yet and it’s it’s pretty amazing can’t complain congratulations Dwight