VERONA, WISCONSIN, October 19 — It’s an old saw that “records are made to be broken.”
But sometimes they’re not just broken, but shattered. And by a lot.
New Mexico frosh Pamela Kosgei did a number on Parker Valby’s year-old course record in winning the Pre-Nationals title, clocking 18:59.1, some 18 seconds better than NCAA champion Valby’s stellar effort at the rain-drenched 2023 Nuttycombe race.
But despite her strong kick on the 200m upgrade into the finish, Kosgei needed every one of those precious seconds to ensure moving past and then holding off Florida junior Hilda Olemomoi, who ran 19:02.9. Also under the old record were Tulane’s Caroline Jeptanui (3rd, 19:05.4), West Virginia’s Ceili McCabe (4th, 19:10.8), UConn’s Chloe Thomas (5th, 19:11.8) and North Carolina State’s Grace Hartman (6th, 19:15.7).
Kosgei and the experienced Olemomoi — the NCAA outdoor track runner-up at 5K and 10K while competing for Alabama — shared the lead the entire race but neither broke away from the 10-runner lead pack until Kosgei went for it. Until then, she was content to lay in the weeds, biding her time before moving aggressively in the final 2K — much as her New Mexico male compatriot Habtom Samuel would do an hour later — to cement the win and put herself in the mix for the national title. Her final 2K in 6:10 was the fastest such split of the day.
“The race was good. The course was hard,” said Kenyan frosh Kosgei, who was 3rd at last year’s World U20 Championships. “I said, ‘Let me push it, maybe I’ll win — because I say may the best win. I wasn’t sure if I was going to win today, but I’m glad I did. I just pushed my legs.”
Second-rated BYU, showed its chops as a strong NCAA threat with a steady, methodical dismantling of a host of other ranked squads as it stealthily moved up in the team race. Fourth at 2K with 143 points, and then 35 behind top-ranked Northern Arizona, Coach Diljeet Taylor’s women were 15 points better in 2nd at 4K and had their 5 in the top 35. They held relatively steady over the last 2K with the top 4 moving up from 3 to 9 spots for a 9-14-20-27-35 finish led by Lexy Halladay-Lowry at 19:33.4.
It made for a nifty 32-second spread for BYU’s top five and was good for 105 points, a healthy 52-point margin over No. 3…
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