Virginia's Shane Cohen Blows By Everyone To Win 800 Meters; Georgetown's Parker Stokes Kicks To Steeplechase Win

By Lori Shontz for DyeStat

Logan Hannigan-Downs photos

EUGENE, Ore. - When the first move happened, North Carolina junior Parker Wolfe had one thought: “OW.”

He’d been battling a side stitch through most of the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and the pack had been bunched up for most of the race. “It’s not my favorite type of racing to just be pinballing around,” Wolfe said.

Then, Graham Blanks of Harvard, the 2023 NCAA Division 1 cross country champion, took off hard with 800 to go. Wolfe’s goal entering the race had been to “follow the main players,” so he knew he had to cover. And he did, although he said, “That move hurt.”

The next move, with about 600 to go, belonged to Northern Arizona’s Nico Young, who had outkicked Wolfe to win the 3,000 and the 5,000 at NCAA indoors. Wolfe went with that one, too.

And then Wolfe made a move of his own, kicking hard around the final turn and winning his first NCAA title in 13:54.43, turning the tables on Young, who finished second in 13:54.65 and Stanford’s Ky Robinson, who was third in 13:55.00 after sweeping both the 5,000 and 10,000 championships last year in Austin, Texas.

“It was really just kind of like an instinct moment – just kind of, ‘I’m going to go now and give it a go,’” Wolfe said.

It was exactly the kind of moment Wolfe had been training for since the two second-place finishes at indoors, which said had has boosted his confidence.

 “It gave me a lot of confidence that I could hang,” he said. “I can hang up to that last lap.”

Plus, he said, his coaches consider indoor season as a preparation for outdoor. With that confidence and that framing, Wolfe continued to work on building strength and did what he called “little sharpening workouts” as well. “It’s to know I really do have that top-end speed,” he said. “It’s about knowing I have it and being able to push through it.”

And that’s just what he used Friday night.

The race featured four NCAA champions – Blanks, Young, Robinson, and Habtom Samuel of New Mexico, who had won the 10,000 on Wednesday. Wolfe came in with a strategy: stick with the main players, and be ready to go in the last 150 meters.

The first few laps were quick, and then the pack slowed. Everyone was in it, and Wolfe found himself boxed in more than he likes. Plus, he was battling a side stitch. “My mind was kind of like, ‘This hurts a lot,’” he said.

But when the moves came, Wolfe was ready. He ran the final 800 meters in 1:52.10, his final 400 in 54.86.

Young closed in 55.18; Robinson in 55.35. “I’m proud of what I did,” Young said. “Didn’t yield a win, but I couldn’t have done anything more, so I’m proud of it.”

The 800 meters had an equally exciting finish with senior Shane Cohen of Virginia moving from last place to first place in the final half lap to win in a personal-best 1:44.97.

“In my head, that’s how I thought it was going to go,” Cohen said.

It was actually a little more dramatic in real life. Cohen had figured on being in the middle of the pack with 200 to go, and he was actually the caboose.

He did begin moving up when he’d planned to, though, and then blasted around the final turn, running wide, practically in lane three, to beat Sam Whitmarsh of Texas A&M, who finished second in 1:45.10, and Finley McLear of Iowa State, third in a personal-best 1:45.66.

“It was hold on as long as I can,” he said. “That was the main thing going on my end. I felt a little lactic going into the last 15-20 meters.”

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Parker Stokes won Georgetown’s first NCAA title in the event since 1972, posting a season’s best time of 8:24.58.

Virginia’s Nathan Mountain had the lead going over the final water jump, but stumbled over the barrier and lost momentum. Stokes, who had pulled up alongside Mountain on the final lap but had dropped back a bit on the water jump, had the stronger kick.

“It’s probably the most satisfying thing I’ve ever felt in my entire life,” Stokes said. “It was five years in the making, and to be able to finally do something this historic, I’m just so incredibly satisfied. That’s all I can say.”