Stanford Duo The First Teammates To Go 1-2 In The Men’s 10,000 Since Another Cardinal Pair Did It In 2000
By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor
AUSTIN — In the hours before their race, Stanford’s Charles Hicks gazed out his hotel room window toward the glowing lights of Mike A. Myers Stadium and then turned to his teammate, Ky Robinson.
“Ky, one of us has to win this,” Hicks told Robinson. “We both knew we were capable of it.”
Hicks, the NCAA cross country champion, tends to have a bit better stamina. But when it comes to a kick, between the two of them, advantage Robinson.
“Thankfully I had those wheels on the last lap to make it happen,” said Robinson, who finished second in the 2022 indoor 5,000 meters and then fourth in the outdoor championships.
In warm, humid conditions, Robinson of Brisbane, Australia and Hicks, who grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., were not out of their element.
Robinson’s winning time was 28 minutes, 10.96 seconds and he closed in 54.19 seconds. Hicks was a couple strides back in 28:12.20 and completed the final lap in 55.12 seconds.
Hicks and Robinson were not yet born the last time an NCAA 10,000 final saw teammates place first ad second. But Stanford went 1-2-3 in both 1998 and 1999 and 1-2 in 2000 (Brad Hauser and Jason Balkman).
Only Stanford and UTEP (1981 and 1982) have gone 1-2 in the race.
With two laps remaining out of 25, Gonzaga’s James Mwaura pushed slightly to the lead and tried to make a push, but the pack stayed with him.
Robinson went by with 450 to go and Hicks went with him. With 200 to go, it was becoming crystal clear how it would end up.
“Those guys have done really great work all year long,” Stanford distance coach Ricardo Santos said. “I know indoors didn’t quite go as well as we wanted it to, but always our focus was to be ready for this weekend, and they did that.”
BYU’s Casey Clinger placed third in 28:13.63 and Mwaura (28:14.64) and Oklahoma State’s Isai Rodriguez, who led 13 of the laps, was fifth in 28:15.48.
Dylan Jacobs of Tennessee, the defending champion, finished 14th.
Elsewhere on the track the fields were pared down to create Friday’s start list for the finals.
And there was a wide assortment of surprises.
Sam Ellis, the second-place finisher in the first of three semifinal races. Long Beach didn’t have an athlete in that race, but the coach protested anyway and claimed that Ellis had cut off another runner. That forced the meet officials to examine the race for…
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