In her debut at the distance, Parker Valby absolutely crushed the collegiate 10,000 meter record at the 2024 Bryan Clay Invitational. The Florida Gator standout finished the race in 30:50.43, which is 27 seconds faster than the previous record. In addition to the collegiate record, this places her #11 all-time for American women in the 10k.
Valby has been at the top of the collegiate ranks for the Gators since the fall. At the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November she dominated the field completing the 6k course in national record time (18:55.2). She followed that performance just weeks later by running an NCAA record time in the 5k at her indoor season opener. It does not look like she plans on taking her foot off the gas any time soon.
Parker has consistently noted that her training for numerous years did not include high mileage, but a cross training regimen to the tune of around 7.5 hours per week of non-running training. In addition to this latest national record time, her personal bests are 8:41.50 (3000m), 14:52.79 (5000m indoors), and 15:20.10 (5000m outdoors).
The previous 10k NCAA record of 31:18.07 was set by Lisa Kroll (Iowa State) in 2008.
