Nico threw it away

Why didn't Nico just put down a 3:57 for the final four?

He went way too late, should have taken off with 3 to go

Agreed. I also don’t understand why the NAU guys didn’t work together to control the race. They had the numbers advantage. Why not use it? Extremely disappointing.

He will one day join grant “doesn’t know when to go” fisher and yared “doesn’t care if he wins or loses” nuguse to continue the pattern of the only 1500+ americans with the strength to medal having zero tactics

I'm more dumbfounded by Graham Blanks stupidity. You go to Harvard: why would you think it's a good idea to drop into a dead sprint with 800 to go.

Why the sub 13 guys didn't just duke this out on fresh legs is beyond me. Good for Wolfe. Obviously Nico has the trials, but Blanks is destined to become, quite literally, the fastest loser in all of NCAA history at 5000m

Also noteworthy: Nico didn’t just lose this race: he lost his chance to win the Bowerman. He could have clinched the Bowerman had he won tonight. Instead it will probably go to Leo Neugebauer.

💯% agree with the nicknames you posted, you leave it slow enough and it TRULY CAN BECOME ANYONE'S RACE TO WIN.. But for now we gonna leave 2024 Nico "had a mental lapse" Young one championship mistake alone.

Dumb MFer lost the race because he didn’t make it a 13:10 when he is about the only guy in the field capable of doing that and instead let in be a race in the 13:50s that closed in 1:52 when he has a terrible kick. Guy just chokes in championship races and will never win squat.

Maybe it just wasn't his night.

disagree. it didn't work out but totally respect Graham for throwing caution to the wind and going for it with 800 to go. if he could have held it for another 200 or so it might have worked. at least he lost on his own terms.

Nico, on the other hand, was waaaaay too conservative, let others dictate the pace and started his kick way too late. he's the best 5K runner in the country, he shouldn't be dictated to, he should control the pace. he should've repeated what he did at indoor and gone for it with 1000 left and dared Parker, Graham, and Ky to catch him. Instead he waited until around 400 to go and Parker who had been drafting off him the entire race still had energy.

I still have a hunch Graham going into a sprint when he did messed up Nico's timing.

Maybe he didn't taper for this, maybe him and his 'dumb mfer' coach thought it would be a good idea to run a tactical race and prepare for the Olympic trials 10,000m might be like. Maybe his kick suits him better in that race than it does in an NCAA 5000m finals vs some fast 1500m runners... Maybe Mike Smith and Nico Young aren't so dumb?

Why did the 5000 turn into a jog fest? Because every college coach ever tells their athletes to NEVER lead in a championship race. The pack could be running 90 second laps and all the coaches would yell "Let someone else lead!"

Sad.

Because he's overhyped.

I definitely don’t think Blanks is a sub-13 guy right now, having missed time with a serious injury. Actually I think he made a somewhat ballsy decision to do what he had to do to give himself any chance of making the podium in his current fitness/sharpness (though ultimately, he had no chance to beat any of the top 3 yesterday). Everyone was saying he went too early, but he would probably have been worse off letting it come down to a 400m sprint which would have opened up the possibility for his finishing further back, behind guys he had the strength to beat.

In three weeks you guys will be posting "Grant threw it away" when Cooper Teare or Abdi Nur or Woody Kincaid wins the Olympic Trials 5000 in 13:30. The Trials ain't Monaco; there's no rabbit, wave lights, no Ethiopians to set the pace. PRs mean nothing in a slow race. It's all about who has the best kick.

To be honest I respect Nico Young in the NCAA 5000m, maybe his MAIN PRIORITY is to make the USA 10000m team..not another NCAA title. NAU wasn't in the team title hunt and rather he got 8 or 10 points wouldn't helped or hurt NAU.

He obviously wanted to go slow as possible and maybe over hyped his closing speed BUT he didn't blast a needless NCAA 5000m sub 13:10 in warm weather with the10000m trials right around the corner.👍

All this, "he is training thru this" or he shouldn't have waited so late..or, he is past his peak, or, he is peaking at Trials and this was a throw away? People rarely is ever trivialize and NCAA title shot.

It's all bull sh-t. And the "should have made it a 13:10 race? On his own? No one is solo'ing a 13:10 in 81-82 degree temps, especially when they should not have had to. It was a tactical race, which I surely expected, it was he Wolfe and Robinson with 250 left, also not rocket science, and this time Wolfe got him, nothing more or less. No one(college runner) is carving out a 13:10 in that race on their own at 80 plus degrees in a Championship setting If there is any flaw here, maybe he should have stretched Wolfe one more lap longer? I am not even sure that gets it done last night . In any other era, Parker Wolfe would be one of the most well rounded runners we have see in a while..XC(9th), Mile , 3K, 5K. He is very very good.

Best NCAA athlete of all time. LMFAO.

Everyone thinks they're a kicker, until they slow it down so much a sprinter wins.