Joe Klecker pulled away from Woody Kincaid with 400m to go.
“He has a shot at the American record!” screamed the announcer as Klecker rounded the backstretch who had more than 10 meters on Kincaid with seconds left in the 5000m.
But it was Kincaid who stole the glory, closing in a blazing 26.27 200m to overtake Klecker in the final lap, even widening his lead by about 20 meters. Kincaid crossed the tape in 12:51, smashing his now-former teammate Grant Fisher’s American indoor 5000m record by two seconds at Boston University’s Terrier Classic on Friday night.
Klecker hung on for 12:54, good for the third-fastest U.S. time ever before collapsing on the track.
“As long as I can still see daylight, I’m gonna try,” Kincaid said of his comeback.
Kincaid ran in an unaffiliated Nike uniform, saying after the race that he’s “not really interested in going back to Bowerman” after a month-long hiatus from the team that’s seen him training with NAU coach Mike Smith in Flagstaff.
“It’s vindicating in some ways, like alright guys, I can do this on my own,” he said.
The 5000m was just one of several records that fell on a magical night on the Boston track.
Yared Nuguse, Klecker’s teammate, obliterated the men’s 3000m field and Galen Rupp’s American record in the process, running 7:28.
It was the fastest 3000m in American history, indoors or outdoors.
“I didn’t really come in thinking ‘I’m gonna get that record,’ it just kind of happened,” Nuguse said nonchalantly. His time was good for ninth on the all-time world list, just four seconds back from Daniel Komen’s elusive 7:24 world record.
And NAU’s Drew Bosley broke a 44-year-old NCAA 3000m record in the same race, placing fifth in 7:36. Bosley has trained with Kincaid for the past month, and the Olympian said seeing Bosley break the NCAA record motivated him to run fast.
“It’s literally a testament to what [Mike Smith] has been preaching,” Bosley said.
Luis Grijalva, who’s also been training with Kincaid and Bosley, paced Bosley through the 3k record before breaking the Guatemalan mile record in 3:53.
Across the country in Seattle, the men of Washington put on arguably the most spectacular and satisfying performance of the night, with EIGHT runners going sub-4 in the mile. NCAA 1500m champion Joe Waskom led the way in 3:51 and smashed Yomif Kejelcha’s facility record at the Huskies’ indoor track in the process.
Without even checking the books, it’s safe to say that Washington now holds the record for the most sub-4 runners in a single race in NCAA history.
Northeast of Seattle in Spokane, the Union Athletics Club welcomed in some wins at the Lilac Grand Prix, which they hosted. USA champion Sinclaire Johnson won the 1500m by four seconds in 4:08, Amos Bartelsmeyer ran 3:39 to win the men’s 1500m in his Union Athletics Club debut and Ella Donaghu won the 3000m in 9:11. Kenyan Noah Kibet won the Lilac 800 in 1:46 after moving to the US to train with Union just a month ago.
All in a day’s work in a stunning night across the country that sent one message to the running world: track is back. If we’re seeing times this fast on athlete’s season openers, expect a lot more jaw-dropping performances throughout the next few months.
