EUGENE, Ore. -- Sean McGorty seemed to show that Edward Cheserek, the most dominant runner in collegiate history, may not be untouchable after all.
McGorty and Stanford teammate Grant Fisher placed second and sixth, respectively, in the men's 5,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday before 12,144 at Hayward Field.
McGorty, a sophomore in eligibility, ran 13:26.10 to finish within a half-second of Oregon's 15-time NCAA champion Cheserek in a much closer race than many anticipated. Fisher, a freshman, ran 13:30.13 and closed fast throughout the final laps.
Fisher became third- fastest American junior (19 and under) ever, passing the likes of Galen Rupp, Gerry Lindgren, and even McGorty on the all-time list. He trails only German Fernandez (13:25.46, 2009) and Chris Derrick, whose 13:29.98 from 2009 continues to be the Stanford freshman record -- barely.
"To have two All-Americas is awesome," McGorty said. "It says a lot about Coach Milt’s training and where our program’s going."
Combined with Harrison Williams' fifth-place finish in the decathlon Thursday, the Stanford men placed 13th with 15 points. The place was Stanford's highest since 2011 and the point total is the most since 2012.
Also, McGorty's finish was Stanford's highest in the 5,000 since Ryan Hall and Ian Dobson went 1-2 in 2005, and tied his personal best for an NCAA race, along with his NCAA Indoor 3,000 finish behind Cheserek. In that one, the race was not close. That wasn’t the case in this one.
Villanova’s Patrick Tiernan, McGorty and Cheserek pushed a fast pace that strung out the pack, and with 800 to go, Tiernan made a move, only for McGorty to counter with 600 to go and take the lead.
“The longer you wait, the easier it’s going to be for Ches,” said McGorty, explaining that Cheserek’s deadly kick can be neutralized to some degree by making him as uncomfortable as possible before he can unleash it. When Cheserek does make his move, the inevitable gap theoretically won’t be as wide and you still have a chance.
McGorty maintained his position until Cheserek kicked past with 100 left. But, McGorty’s plan worked well … Cheserek couldn’t shake him. McGorty fought hard to the finish, with Cheserek winning in 13:25.59, just 0.51 ahead.
“You can’t be intimidated by him,” McGorty said. “You have to run your own race. This time, he only pulled away in the last 100, and maybe that’s all he needed to do. But I’m trying to get closer and closer. Hopefully, at some point, I’ll be able to finish right next to him.”
Cheserek hadn’t been at his best this season, being hampered by injuries. Still, he earned the 5,000-10,000 double for the second consecutive year. Last year, he had an even closer 5,000 finish, edging teammate Eric Jenkins by 0.25 in a slower race.
Jenkins was a senior, but McGorty still has another year to face “King Ches.” The door seems to have opened a crack. While Cheserek may be faster next year, McGorty should be as well.
“The pressure is still on him to always win,” McGorty said. “It’s up to me to do what I can to disrupt that. Next year, he’ll be healthier, but I’ll continue to get better under Coach Milt’s training.”
McGorty has something in common with Chris Derrick, perhaps Stanford’s greatest ever distance runner, who happened to come along at the same time as another talented Kenyan, University of Arizona’s Lawi Lalang, and was unable to win an NCAA title.
McGorty has brushed up against the same wall. However, McGorty is not unhappy about his situation.
“Ches is someone you have to continually try to train to beat,” McGorty said. “I enjoy having that. It brings out my best.”
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Fisher ‘surprised’ at 5,000 success
Grant Fisher came to Stanford as one of a handful of sub-4 milers in high school history. Yet his freshman journey -- including his failure to reach the 1,500 final at the Pac-12 Championships -- led him to the NCAA podium in the 5,000.
“I’m a little surprised I’m doing the 5K’s," Fisher said. "I didn’t think I would enjoy them or be good at them. That’s a big surprise. I think my strength’s in the 1,500.”
However, at Pac-12’s, Fisher found trouble in a congested field and got stuck behind traffic and failed to advance. Oregon star Blake Haney also failed to advance out of the same heat.
“I was pretty upset about the 15 at Pac-12s,” Fisher said. “ I thought I executed pretty poorly.
“That lit a fire under me. I realized you’ve got to be assertive in these races. It’s no more high school, you can make a mistake and come back … it’s, you’ve got to execute and you’ve got to be assertive.
“Today, being assertive up front wasn’t going to be the move, so I tried to be assertive in my own way of just picking guys off when I could.”
Fisher was about 14th during the early part of the race, but moved up continually. He closed with a 4:12.30 final 1,600.
“I’m more of a versatile 1,500 runner than I expected,” Fisher said. “I really didn’t think I would run a 5K on the track my freshman year – I was hoping I wouldn’t. I’m just getting so much stronger and so much more fit. Now, I’m not dreading the 5 anymore. I’m just finding my spot, finding my range. We’re not trying to lock into one distance yet.”
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A double in McGorty’s future?
Sean McGorty still considers himself a miler, and he definitely intends on running more of them next year. This year, the 5,000 was always the focus going into an Olympic Trials year, and that’s the distance he trained for.
But what about next year? Could this be his final NCAA 5,000?
“There’s always that rare double of the 15 and 5,” McGorty said. “Sometimes, I toy with possibly doing that. But you need to be very strong, because coming back in the 5K after two 15’s would be brutal, and you’d have to do it at regionals and at nationals.”
An intriguing possibility to say the least.
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NCAA Championships
At Hayward Field, Eugene
Men
Final team scores -- 1, Florida 62; 2, Arkansas 56; Texas A&M 50; 4, Oregon 48; 5, LSU 41; 6, Tennessee 30; 7, Virginia 20; 8, Virginia Tech 19; 9, Mississippi State 18; 10 (tie), Nebraska, Houston, 17; 12, USC 16; 13 (tie), Stanford, Michigan, 15.
5,000 -- 1, Edward Cheserek (Oregon) 13:25.59; 2, Sean McGorty (Stanford) 13:26.10; 3, Patrick Tiernan (Villanova) 13:27.07; 4, Thomas Curtin (Virginia Tech) 13:27.64; 5, Morgan McDonald (Wisconsin) 13:29.79; 6, Grant Fisher (Stanford) 13:30.13.
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Stanford's Remaining Schedule:
Saturday
3:05 p.m.: Women’s discus final -- Valarie Allman.
3:40 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 final – Elise Cranny.
4:47 p.m.: Women’s 800 final – Olivia Baker, Claudia Saunders.
5:25 p.m.: Women’s 5,000 final -- Aisling Cuffe, Vanessa Fraser.
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Broadcast Schedule:
Saturday
3:30-6 p.m.: ESPN
11:30 a.m.-6 p.m., ESPN3