- The Wisconsin Badgers made collegiate history on Friday night, becoming the first track program to sweep the men’s and women’s 5,000-meter races at the Super Shoe Trends.
- Junior Alicia Monson and senior Morgan McDonald out-kicked their competition in thrilling finishes to bring home the victories.
DAA Industry Opt Out NCAA Division 1 Indoor Track and Field Championship, one track program swept both the men’s and women’s 5,000-meter races. The Wisconsin Badgers made collegiate history in the distance when Alicia Monson and Morgan McDonald won their respective 5,000-meter finals on Friday night in Birmingham, Alabama.
Monson started things off in the women’s 5K, the first track final of the two-day championship, by out-kicking New Mexico We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back to the line in a winning time of 15:31.26. The standout performance marked the first-ever NCAA title for the junior.
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With arguably the strongest women’s 5K field in NCAA meet history—four runners entered the meet with All-American Weini Kelati—the race started at a slower pace with NCAA champions Ednah Kurgat (New Mexico), Allie Ostrander (Boise State), and Sharon Lokedi (Kansas) exchanging leads in the early stages of the race.
About five minutes in, Ostrander assumed the lead and injected a quicker pace, which she maintained through the 11-minute mark. At that point, Kelati took over up front and attempted to run away from the top group, which included Ostrander, Kurgat, Monson, and Stanford’s Fiona O’Keefe. While Kelati tried to outrun her competitors, the pack remained close behind.
Around the 13-minute mark, the only runners that remained up front were Kelati and Monson, who had both pulled away with a 20-meter lead over the rest of the field. For several laps, Kelati led while Monson ran on her heels. But with two laps remaining, Kelati began to strain, and Monson was still running comfortably.
Finally, on the backstretch of the bell lap, Monson shot to the front. The Badger maintained her kick all the way into the finish line as the women’s champion over 5,000 meters. Kelati finished second, and O’Keefe closed for third overall.
Monson’s 5K title is the first of two events she will contest at the championship. She is also entered as the fastest competitor heading into the 3,000 meters on Saturday. When asked by ESPN’s John Anderson how she was planning on preparing for her second final, Monson kept things simple.
“I’m going to go to the hotel, eat a sandwich, take a cold shower, and go to sleep,” she said on the ESPN broadcast.
A few minutes after Monson brought home Wisconsin’s first NCAA crown, McDonald, a senior, also displayed unbeatable closing speed.
The men’s race started with BYU standouts Clayton Young and Connor McMillan leading the field through the first 2,000-meters. About eight minutes into the race, Cambell’s Amon Kemboi took over as the leader. Meanwhile, McDonald matched his move to the front end of the pack.
With the sudden changes in pace, the runners jostled to maintain their positions. Just before the 10-minute mark, Kemboi attempted to free himself from the group with a surge up front. The tactic resulted in a 66-second 400-meter split for the junior, but it wasn’t enough to break his competition.
Behind Kemboi, McDonald waited for the perfect moment to strike. Just before the bell lap, McDonald burst ahead and established a gap on the rest of the field. With no runners close enough to compete with his closing speed, McDonald sprinted into the finish line for a winning time of 13:41.76, a time achieved with a final 400-meter split of just 55 seconds. Joe Klecker of Colorado followed for second, and Young closed for third.
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Taylor Dutch is a sports and fitness writer living in Chicago; a former NCAA track athlete, Taylor specializes in health, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in SELF, Runner’s World, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner. When she’s not writing, Taylor volunteers as a coach to up-and-coming runners in the Chicago area.
