NAU’s Nico Young Wins NCAA Title #1 with Dominant 5000 Performance at 2024 Indoor Track and Field Championships

The NCAA 5000 record-holder ran his final 1600 in 3:59 to get a dominant victory over Parker Wolfe

By Weldon Johnson

March 8, 2024

2024 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships

BOSTON — Nico Young is an NCAA champion!

The Northern Arizona senior, who on nine previous occasions had finished in the top eight at NCAAs, including five top-four showings, got the monkey off his back with a maestro performance. Young dominated North Carolina’s Parker Wolfe over the final 200m to win his first NCAA title by taking the 5000m crown at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in 13:25.29. Wolfe was nearly two seconds back in 13:27.37, as outdoor champ Ky Robinson of Stanford was third in 13:27.79, Habtom Samuel of New Mexico 4th in 13:30.51, with Arkansas’newcomer Peter Maru rounding out the top five in 13:30.51.

Nico Young smiles after crossing line to win the NCAA 5000m title (Kevin Morris photo)

Maru, the new NCAA star from Uganda, had been keeping the race honest since 3200m, running 30 and 31 point 200s, before Wolfe kicked off the real racing with three laps to go as he seized the lead and made a bid for home.

A bold 28.71 lap by Wolfe opened up a slight gap on Maru, Young, and Robinson with 400m to go, as the top 4 were clear of everyone else. But Young closed the gap on the penultimate lap. Around the turn with 300 to go, he and Wolfe were clear of everyone else.

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Young was not content to wait for the bell, as he moved into the outside of lane 2 coming off the turn, and passed Wolfe with about 250 meters to go. It was no contest over the final lap as Young powered away to the dominant win, picking up 10 key points for the Lumberjacks in the team title race.

Full Race (Set to start with 800 to go)

Results, analysis, post-race interviews and recaps of the other mid-d and distance events appear below.

NCAA 2024 Indoor Men’s 5000m Results

*Men 5000 M (Final)*
Pl	Athlete	Time
1	Nico YOUNG Northern Arizona [JR]	13:25.29	FR
2	Parker WOLFE North Carolina [JR]	13:27.37
3	Ky ROBINSON Stanford [JR]	13:27.79
4	Habtom SAMUEL New Mexico [FR]	13:30.07
5	Peter MARU Arkansas [FR]	13:30.51
6	Alex MAIER Oklahoma State [SR]	13:31.17
7	Aaron LAS HERAS Northern Arizona [SR]	13:31.55
8	Jackson SHARP Wisconsin [SR]	13:31.63
9	Kirami YEGO Arkansas [SR]	13:36.32
10	Said MECHAAL Iowa State [JR]	13:36.99
11	Patrick KIPROP Arkansas [JR]	13:39.18
12	Alex PHILLIP North Carolina [SR]	13:43.00
13	Denis KIPNGETICH Oklahoma State [FR]	13:43.26
14	Theo QUAX Northern Arizona [SR]	13:45.34
15	Evans KIPLAGAT New Mexico [FR]	13:46.41
16	Tom BRADY Michigan [SR]	13:48.32

Quick Take: That was a maestro run by Young.

There was a reason why at the end of this race that Parker Wolfe was the only one close to Young. Young ran his last 2000 in 5:02, his last 1600 in 3:59, his last 800 in 1:54.42, and last 400 in 54.39 (27.10, 27.29). Until recently, many college running fans often wondered, Will Nico Young ever win an NCAA title? After watching him run tonight, they were likely wondering, How in the world does this guy ever get beat at NCAAs?

The shoe companies had better start checking their account balances as Nico is about to get paid.

Nico Young 5:02 Last 2,000m and a 3:59 last mile!!!!

Nico Young after NCAA Title #1

Parker Wolfe 2nd Place

Peter Maru said he hurt is hamstring in kick

Men’s DMR: Oklahoma State repeats

Oklahoma State repeated as NCAA DMR champion thanks to a wire-to-wire leading anchor leg by Ryan Schoppe, who was challenged by Georgetown’s Camden Gilmore on the final lap but prevailed down the homestretch.

Some anchor legs actually prefer being the chaser rather than the leader, but not Schoppe.

He ran like someone who likes to be in the lead as when he got the lead Virginia Tech, Georgetown, and Virginia were all within a second of the lead, but Schoppe kept the lead by keeping the pace honest. With 800 to go he upped the ante, and soon it was a three-team race between OSU, Georgetown, and Virginia. With 400 to go, Schoppe started to open a gap on UVA’s anchor Yasin Sado and at that point Gilmore passed Schoppe for second.

On the final lap it was a two-man battle between Schoppe and Gilmore. Gilmore of Georgetown smelled blood on the backstretch and moved wide hoping to get the lead before the turn. He didn’t get there and stayed on the outside around the bend, but Schoppe held him off around the turn and then had something in reserve for the final stretch to get the win.

NAU, who is in contention for the team title, got second to last in the DMR and picked up no points. Drew Bosley, the NCAA record holder at 3000m who didn’t make the meet individually, handed off in last on the first leg, and NAU was never a factor, despite running Colin Sahlman on the anchor.

Race video set to start with 800 to go

DMR Results

Pl	Team	Time
1	OKLAHOMA STATE Oklahoma State	9:25.24	FR
2	GEORGETOWN Georgetown	9:25.77
3	VIRGINIA Virginia	9:27.18
4	NORTH CAROLINA North Carolina	9:27.96
5	ARKANSAS Arkansas	9:28.88
6	INDIANA Indiana	9:29.37
7	IOWA STATE Iowa State	9:30.07
8	WISCONSIN Wisconsin	9:30.16
9	WASHINGTON Washington	9:30.40
10	VIRGINIA TECH Virginia Tech	9:32.20
11	NORTHERN ARIZONA Northern Arizona	9:38.25
12	MICHIGAN Michigan	9:38.40

OSU Repeats

Georgetown Guys Ran with a Little Chip on Their Shoulders and Nearly Got Win

Men’s Mile Heats

In the men’s mile heats, South Carolina’s Anass Essayi’s unfortunate NCAA performances continued as for the second NCAAs in recent years he just stepped off the track mid-race — this time with a lap to go. The #2 seed Essayi wasn’t the only casualty in the top 8 as Drake’s Isaac Basten, who was the runner-up last year and seeded #5 this year, fell and didn’t make the final nor did #8 seed Aidan Troutner of BYU.

At USAs for some reason a fall means you’re in the final, but at NCAAs it usually doesn’t unless you were fouled.

Pl	Athlete	Time		Heat (pl)
1	Adam SPENCER Wisconsin [JR]	3:57.08	Q	1 (1)
2	Joe WASKOM Washington [JR]	3:57.13 (3:57.124)	Q	1 (2)
3	Parvej KHAN Florida [FR]	3:57.13 (3:57.126)	Q	1 (3)
4	Gary MARTIN Virginia [SO]	3:57.29	Q	1 (4)
5	Ethan STRAND North Carolina [JR]	3:57.73	q	1 (5)
6	Nick FOSTER Michigan [SR]	3:57.85	q	1 (6)
7	Lucas BONS BYU [JR]	3:58.60	Q	2 (1)
8	Luke HOUSER Washington [SR]	3:58.62	Q	2 (2)
9	Colin SAHLMAN Northern Arizona [SO]	3:58.73	Q	2 (3)
10	Abel TEFFRA Georgetown [JR]	3:58.77	Q	2 (4)
11	Aidan TROUTNER BYU [JR]	3:59.07		2 (5)	PB
12	Isaiah LABRA Southern Utah [SO]	4:00.67		2 (6)
13	Isaac BASTEN Drake [SR]	4:10.87		2 (7)
14	Steven JACKSON Boston College [JR]	4:10.97		1 (7)
15	Carson WILLIAMS Furman [JR]	4:20.88		2 (8)
	Anass ESSAYI South Carolina [JR]	DNF		1

Men’s 800 Heats: NCAA champs go home

In the men’s 800 heats, three of the five fastest entrants didn’t move on to the final including defending champ and #1 seed Yusuf Bizimana of Texas (1:45.88 sb). Also not making it were #2 seed Nathan Green of Washington (1:46.61 sb), who won the 1500 outdoors last year, as well as Florida’s Sam Austin (1:46.80 sb).

Heat 1 800 Results

Pl	Pos	Athlete	Time	200m	400m	600m	800m
1	7	Rivaldo MARSHALL Iowa [JR]	1:47.21 Q	25.32 [25.32]	52.14 [26.82]	1:19.38 [27.24]	1:47.21 [27.84]
2	8	Nicholas PLANT Virginia Tech [SO]	1:47.26 Q PB	25.50 [25.50]	52.19 [26.70]	1:19.31 [27.13]	1:47.26 [27.95]
3	3	Finley MCLEAR Iowa State [SR]	1:47.49 Q	26.01 [26.01]	52.52 [26.51]	1:19.94 [27.43]	1:47.49 [27.56]
4	4	Handal ROBAN Penn State [SO]	1:47.55	25.84 [25.84]	52.64 [26.80]	1:19.60 [26.97]	1:47.55 [27.96]
5	1	Abdullahi HASSAN Wisconsin [JR]	1:47.70	25.66 [25.66]	52.40 [26.75]	1:19.99 [27.59]	1:47.70 [27.71]
6	5	Nathan GREEN Washington [SO]	1:48.38	26.37 [26.37]	53.23 [26.87]	1:20.12 [26.90]	1:48.38 [28.27]
7	6	Carter FITZGERALD Penn State [SO]	1:49.99	25.15 [25.15]	51.88 [26.73]	1:19.56 [27.68]	1:49.99 [30.43]
DNF	2	Conor MURPHY Virginia [JR]	–	26.20 [26.20]

Heat 2 800 Results

Pl	Pos	Athlete	Time	200m	400m	600m	800m
1	7	Sean DOLAN Villanova [SR]	1:47.57 Q	25.59 [25.59]	52.83 [27.25]	1:19.82 [27.00]	1:47.57 [27.75]
2	8	Tarees RHODEN Clemson [SR]	1:47.66 Q	25.55 [25.55]	52.66 [27.12]	1:19.93 [27.28]	1:47.66 [27.73]
3	3	Darius KIPYEGO Iowa State [JR]	1:47.67 Q	25.69 [25.69]	53.19 [27.50]	1:20.44 [27.25]	1:47.67 [27.24]
4	6	Tinoda MATSATSA Georgetown [FR]	1:47.81	25.60 [25.60]	53.04 [27.45]	1:20.11 [27.07]	1:47.81 [27.70]
5	5	Yusuf BIZIMANA Texas [SR]	1:47.87	25.76 [25.76]	53.01 [27.25]	1:20.31 [27.30]	1:47.87 [27.57]
6	4	Sam AUSTIN Florida [JR]	1:49.08	25.85 [25.85]	53.26 [27.41]	1:20.96 [27.71]	1:49.08 [28.13]
7	2	Cole LINDHORST Texas [JR]	1:52.07	25.90 [25.90]	53.42 [27.52]	1:21.37 [27.96]	1:52.07 [30.70]
8	1	Leo DAVIS Hampton [FR]	1:52.98	26.04 [26.04]	53.61 [27.57]	1:21.92 [28.32]	1:52.98 [31.06]