EUGENE, Ore. – Stanford sophomore Grant Fisher used a big kick to win the men's 5,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday night at Hayward Field.
Fisher closed with a 55.76 final lap to pass Justyn Knight of Syracuse down the homestretch, while holding off a charge from Jack Bruce of Arkansas. Fisher completed the tactical race in 14:35.60, giving the Stanford men their first NCAA men's outdoor title since 2012. Fisher is the first American underclassman in 28 years to win the men's 5,000 title, since Marc Davis of Arizona in 1989, and the first American to win since Oregon's Galen Rupp in 2009.
"It feels awesome and surreal right now," Fisher said. "Ask me in a day, maybe in a week, but it feels pretty nice right now though. It's been a really fun season."
Fisher said he expected the race would be slow, but "not as slow as it turned out to be. But it's championship racing. Everyone wants to be tactical and kick at the end and conserve energy. That what it was, and it was physical in there. I've had a lot of physical races this season, so there wasn't anything I was unprepared for. I was confident going in."
Fisher put himself in perfect position throughout the race. During the slow early laps, Fisher stayed on the inside in the middle of the pack, running the shortest distance. With just under four laps to go, Knight pushed the pace and took the lead. Fisher, who was sixth a few moments earlier, moved onto Knight's right shoulder and held his position.
"In my mind, I was in control the whole time," Fisher said. "It probably didn't look that way. It wasn't my best tactical race overall. I kind of got into some spots I didn't like and probably wasted a bit of energy in some spots. There are definitely things I can work on, but with a lap to go I felt like I was in a good spot."
At the gun, a handful of runners were within striking distance, but Fisher moved into the lead on the backstretch, only for Knight to quickly pull up alongside and beat him to the turn and inside position.
But as they came off the turn, Fisher, who has exploded on the final lap in just about every race this season, swung wide. Fisher had to split between Knight and Bruce, who was coming on fast on the outside. Fisher passed Knight with 80 meters left, with Bruce in tow. But Fisher extended his lead to the finish, winning by 0.38 seconds over Bruce.
"My race plan was pretty loose," Fisher said. "I wanted to trust myself and be where I wanted to be with a lap to go. Once I was there, I wasn't married to a 250-out move, so when things didn't go exactly perfect, I didn't need a miraculous plan. I just trusted myself, and that's what I like to do."
Fisher completed an undefeated season, winning three 5,000's and two 1,500's, including the Pac-12 title.
The victory was the first for Stanford in NCAA competition since the men won the distance medley relay at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships. Stanford's most recent NCAA outdoor championship was in 2013 by Kori Carter in the women's 400 hurdles. The most recent men's outdoor title was by Amaechi Morton in the 400 hurdles in 2012.
Stanford has had strong success in the 5,000. This is the fourth Stanford title in this event, all since 2000. The previous Cardinal winners were Brad Hauser in 2000, Jonathon Riley in 2001, and Ryan Hall in 2005. This is the first NCAA distance champion for Chris Miltenberg, Stanford's Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field.
"I've been getting a little bit stronger," said Fisher, who was sixth as a freshman last year. "I trust Coach Milt with everything I do, and he trusts me to do what I do."
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Stanford's Remaining Schedule
Saturday (ESPN/WatchESPN)
3:41 p.m.: Women's 1,500 final (Christina Aragon, Rebecca Mehra).
4:44 p.m.: Women's 800 final (Olivia Baker).
5:25 p.m.: Women's 5,000 final (Fiona O'Keeffe).