SOLINSKY WINS NCAA 5000 METERS
June 09, 2006 | Men's Track & Field
Chris Solinsky did outdoors what he's already done indoors ' win a national title. The junior from Stevens Point, Wis., claimed his first outdoor title, winning the 5000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif., on Friday in 14 minutes, 11.71 seconds.
'I'm thrilled I was finally able to do something outdoors, not just indoors,' said Solinsky in a post-event television interview. He is the two-time reigning NCAA indoor champion at 3000 meters. Solinsky becomes a three-time national champion, tying the UW men's track and field for the most individual titles.
A tightly packed group of 16 runners covered the first 3,000 meters of the race in a very slow 9:01.19. With four laps remaining, Solinsky broke to the front of the pack as only six other runners able to stay with him. He continued to lead and with only two laps left, only four runners were still with him.
Solinsky covered the last 400 meters of the race in an impressive 58 seconds, pulling away from Iona's Richard Kiplagat and Arkansas' Josphat Boit, the winner of Thursday's 10,000 meters. Kiplagat looked like he might overtake the Badger star with 110 meters remaining, but Solinsky hammered to the win by nearly 10 meters. Boit edged Kiplagat at the line for second place, crossing in 14:13.81 while the Iona runner finished in 14:13.84.
Solinsky's win allowed the Badgers to move into third in the team standings. Through 10 of 21 events, Arizona leads with 28 points while Tennessee is second with 26 points. Wisconsin totaled 24 points and Virginia Tech is fourth with 23 points.
'It's great to be in that league with three of the four days of competition done,' said UW coach Ed Nuttycombe. 'We only have eight (athletes) here but we're competing very well. Hopefully, Demi (Omole) can finish up well for us.'
Omole will compete in the finals of the 100 meters on Saturday at 2:42 p.m. He has the second-fastest qualifying time and the leading collegiate mark in the nation this season.
In the only other action for the Badgers, senior Alonzo Moore failed to qualify for Saturday's final in the triple jump. Moore, who suffered a leg injury at the NCAA regional two weeks ago, finished 24th at 49 feet, 7 ' inches.
'It's sad that he was injured and wasn't able to finish up his career on a good note,' said Nuttycombe of his triple jumper. 'Four of the top 10 jumpers are from the Big Ten and Alonzo has beaten all of them. It's too bad because the field is really wide open.'
CBS will air 2 ' hours of live competition from 2:30 ' 5 p.m. on Saturday.
For complete meet results, log on to www.hornetsports.com
