2023 DI NCAA Outdoor Championships

Well-Timed Kick Sends Stanford's Ky Robinson To NCAA 5000m/10,000m Double

Well-Timed Kick Sends Stanford's Ky Robinson To NCAA 5000m/10,000m Double

Ky Robinson of Stanford timed up his kick right and pulled away late to win the men's 5000m title to go with his 10,000m crown at the NCAA Championships.

Jun 10, 2023 by Joe Battaglia
Well-Timed Kick Sends Stanford's Ky Robinson To NCAA 5000m/10,000m Double

AUSTIN --Ky Robinson of Stanford timed up his kick just right and pulled away late to win the men's 5000m title and complete the 5K/10K double at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

"I mean, I feel like I'm about to wake up from a dream," Robinson said. "This is something that I wanted to do in my four or however many years that I'm here at Stanford. You know, third year, third time here. I have no words."

Robinson, who won the 10,000m title on Wednesday night, bided his time among the leaders before applying pressure with a 61.55 split on the fourth-to-last lap. He followed with laps of 63.94 and 63.97 before taking off at the bell. His 55. 54 last lap -- the fastest of the field -- gave him a comfortable victory in 14:04.77.

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"I think over this past week, yes. I mean, I've obviously had some great performances in the past, but I'm putting it all together right now," Robinson said. "Indoor obviously didn't go my way in the least. So being able to come back, heal, you know, prove myself that I can do it, it was something I'll remember forever."

One of the reason's Robinson said things have played to his advantage this meet has been his acclimation to the summer temperatures here.

"I feel like the heat played a little bit of a factor," he said. "You know, I came from a hot climate. So, I was able to adapt to these conditions pretty well. And I mean, I just had to put faith in my training and my coach, he's gotten me this far. And now it's just my turn to do what I can do, do the best I can do, and thankfully I came out here did that."

Graham Blanks of Harvard finished second in 14:06.53, and Jackson Sharp of Wisconsin took third in 14:06.77. Luke Tewalt of Wake Forest was fourth in 14:07.18, and Parker Wolfe of North Carolina was fifth in 14:07.50.

Charles Hicks of Stanford, who finished second to Robinson in the 10,000m, was sixth in 14:09.03, Carter Solomon of Notre Dame was seventh in 14:09.57, and Nico Young of Northern Arizona was eighth in 14:10.17. Brian Fay of Washington was ninth in 14:11.13, James Mwaura of Gonzaga was 10th in 14:11.82, and Casey Clinger of BYU was 11th in 14:12.54.

Yaseen Abdalla of Tennessee was 12th in 14:14.16, Toby Gillen of Saint Louis was 13th in 14:14.36, Simon Bedard of Butler was 14th in 14:19.10, and Sam Gilman of Air Force was 15th in 14:19.91. Nicholas Bentdsen of Princeton was 16th in 14:22.79, Chandler Gibbens of Kansas was 17th in 14:24.71, Antonio Lopez Segura of Virginia Tech was 18th in 14:27.70, David Mulrooney of Florida State was 19th in 14:28.89, and Eli Bennett of Air Force was 20th in 14:30.36.

Zach Faccioni of Wake Forest was 21st in 14:37.57, Matt Strangio of Portland was 22nd in 14:45.44, Brian Masai of Akron was 23rd in 14:49.31, and Dylan Jacobs of Tennessee did not finish.