Jane Hedengren wins the NCAA indoor 5000 m as a freshman; NAU takes its first DMR
BYU's Hedengren ran 15:00.12 in Fayetteville, Habtom Samuel took the men's 5000 m, and Northern Arizona won the distance medley on day one of NCAA Indoors.
Photograph: A distance race at the 2024 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, by Habst, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe NCAA Division I Indoor Championships opened on Friday at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the first distance title of the meet went to a freshman. Jane Hedengren of BYU won the women's 5000 m in 15:00.12, a facility record, from Alabama's Doris Lemngole and Oregon's Diana Cherotich, both 15:03.42, with New Mexico's Pamela Kosgei fourth in 15:07.76. Hedengren's own collegiate record, 14:44.79, was 15 seconds away, and it did not matter.
The men's 5000 m was closer. Habtom Samuel of New Mexico, the cross country champion in the autumn and the outdoor 10,000 m winner last year, pushed late and beat Villanova's Marco Langon by four tenths, 13:36.58 to 13:36.98. Ernest Cheruiyot of Arkansas was third in 13:37.52.
Northern Arizona won the men's distance medley relay in 9:19.95, the programme's first DMR title, from Arkansas, 9:21.42, and Virginia Tech, 9:21.69. Oregon took the women's DMR in 10:48.76, its first since 2019, with South Carolina and Iowa State inside 10:51.
The mile and 800 m heats set up Saturday. Gary Martin of Virginia was the fastest miler through in 3:55.13, and Tyrice Taylor of Arkansas led the 800 m in 1:46.16. Clemson's Gladys Chepngetich topped the women's 800 m heats in 2:01.56.
After one day Illinois led the women's team race with 30 points and the hosts led the men on 14. Hedengren was due back on Saturday for the 3000 m. Nobody in the building thought the 5000 m was her last word.
