NU's Jenkins Finishes 10th In 5,000 Meters
EUGENE, Ore. – Northeastern junior Eric Jenkins
, running in the final of the 5000-meter run, finished 10th overall at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday before a crowd of 11,482 at Historic Hayward Field. Jenkins clocked in with a time of 14:00.80 to collect Second Team All-American status.
"Today just wasn't my day," said Jenkins. "I'm really disappointed, but I still have time. The game plan was to be there with 400-meters to go and if I felt good, go by (Lawi Lalang) in the last 200-meters, but I wasn't feeling that at all."
Arizona's Lalang controlled the race from the start, defeating the field by more than five seconds at 13:35.19. Lalang, who won the 10000-meter run earlier in the week, became the first student-athlete to win both events since 2009. UNC-Greenboro's Paul Chelimo (13:40.41), Northern Arizona's Diego Estrada (13:42.27), Wisconsin's Maverick Darling (13:44.56) and Arkansas' Kemoy Campbell (13:47.70) rounded out the top five.
"Lawi is unbelievable," Jenkins said. "The guys at NCAAs are incredible, so when you race well against these guys you definitely get a good amount of confidence.
"I was hoping to make the top two," Jenkins said. "Indoors was a lot easier because I was relaxed the entire race, but today was a lot harder."
Jenkins capped off one of the best seasons in the history of Northeastern track & field on Saturday. The Portsmouth, N.H. native, who was named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Men's Northeast Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year on Monday, broke three school records during the 2012-13 campaign, including the outdoor 5000-meter run. Jenkins' time of 13:18.57 at the Payton Jordan Invitational is the seventh fastest mark all-time, and shattered the previous Husky record of 13:56.80, set by John Flora in 1976.
"I managed to stay healthy, and workouts have been going well," Jenkins said. "I usually race pretty hard, but today just wasn't my day."