Equaling the feat that his former Lumberjack teammate Abdi Nur achieved two years ago, NAU’s Nico Young completed his double, winning the 3,000 meters on Saturday at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the same dominant manner he won the 5,000 the day before.
Just as he did Friday in Boston, Young showed his maturation as a racer – and his new-found kick – to hang with the pack through the midway point before exerting his dominance in the final three laps to leave no question.
This is a new, vastly improved Niko Young, though he was among the nation’s best before this. He’s done a lot of work developing his kick and improving his mechanics – and it showed this weekend. When he made a move, it was decisive.
His victories came against some top flight runners, too, such as Stanford’s Ky Robinson and North Carolina’s Parker Wolfe, the latter of whom finished second in both races. Saturday, Wolfe was almost a second and half behind Young, whose time of 7:41.01 easily broke the NCAA Indoor meet record held by Arizona Lawi Lalang in 2013.
Afterward, in an interview with ESPN-Plus, Young credited his developed tactical acumen in the past year. The hardest part on Saturday in the 3,000, he said, was knowing exactly when to make the move.
“The first 10 laps, I debating whether or not go,” Young told ESPN. “I didn’t know when to go, but it just started naturally to happen with 600 (meters) to go. Probably approaching that was the hardest part
“I think I’m just at a point where my fitness is lining up well with my ability to access it, mechanically. It’s just another progression along the way after having a rough year last year.”
At times, early in the race, Young looked like a thoroughbred racehorse being held back by the reins. Eventually, you knew he’d unleash himself.
Young patiently sat on Oklahoma State’s Ryan Schoppe’s right shoulder, Schoppe pumping his arms hard, Young cruising. After a 61.4 next-to-last 400, Young took the lead, this time over Oklahoma State’s Brian Masua.
With two laps to go, Young opened a big gap and was well ahead heading into the bell lap at 7:13. Wolfe and Oklahoma State’s Alex Maier, who wound up third, had no chance. This time, Young took the time right before crossing to grab his singlet and celebrate for NAU.
Clearly, Young was the catalyst for the Lumberjacks, who faltered elsewhere Saturday. In the end, NAU finished in fourth place – tying the school record for highest place finish set last year.
To ascend to third, NAU needed higher placing from Aaron las Heras and Theo Quax in the 3,000. Las Heras placed ninth, Quax 13th. NAU did get points in the Mile from sophomore Colin Sahlman, who finished sixth. Mitchell Effing did not place in the triple jump.
In the mile, Sahlman mixed it up with the veterans, such as Washington’s Luke Hauser, who won for the second straight year. Sahlman held back early, made his first move at 600 meters, going into lane three to catch up to the leaders, Hauser and Wisconsin’s Adam Spencer. Spencer welcomed Sahlman to the mix by elbowing Sahlman, who was briefly knocked off stride but seemed unfazed.
At the bell, Sahlman was in fourth and held on. It looked as if he would finish fifth, but Georgetown’s Abel Teffra outleaned him. There was a protest that momentarily moved Sahlman back up to fifth, but BYU’s Lucas Bons was reinstated, so Sahlman placed sixth.
In the women’s events, NAU’s Maggi Congdon had the difficult task of running a highly-competitive mile final, then turning around and running the 800 meter final a half an hour later. Congdon, a senior, finished ninth in the mile and eighth in the 800.
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