The 2023 These Are the Celebrities Running Boston This Year featured thrilling races on Saturday morning. The conditions for the meet—held at Panorama Farms just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia—were near ideal, with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60s.
Here are the highlights from the men’s and women’s NCAA Division I Cross-Country Championships.
Only 17 Runners Have Completed This Brutal Race
Parker Valby runs away from field; NC State women edge NAU for team win
Parker Valby of Florida took the lead early in the women’s race—and never gave it up. The junior, who was second last year, navigated the rolling hills of Panorama Farms masterfully and crossed the finish line of the 6K race in 18:55.2. It’s Valby’s second national title of her career (she won the outdoor 5,000 meters in June) and it caps off an undefeated season.
Doris Lemngole, a freshman from Alabama, was second in 19:05.7, while Olivia Markezich of Notre Dame rounded out the podium in 19:10.0.
Before the race, much of the attention in the individual race was on Valby and the defending champion, Katelyn Tuohy of North Carolina State. Tuohy got the best of Valby at last year’s championships, despite Valby leading much of the race, and the Wolfpack junior entered the race as a multi-time NCAA relate holder on the track. Ultimately, Tuohy would place fifth. After the race her coach, Laurie Henes, mentioned that she was dealing with an illness.
Despite the result, NC State eked by the pre-race favorites, Northern Arizona University (NAU), in a thrilling team race, 123 to 124. The victory is the Wolfpack’s third title in a row and is especially impressive considering the team’s usual number-two runner, Kelsey Chmiel, had to pull out of the meet earlier in the week with a lower leg injury. Oklahoma State would finish as the third team, with 156 points.
Henes said after the race that Chmiel’s injury was weighing on their minds, but she was proud of how the team fought hard to secure the victory. “We’ve had a lot of adversity in the last couple of weeks, and today as well,” Henes said. “Every one of them dug as deep as they could.”
Oklahoma State ends NAU’s streak; Graham Blanks kicks to the win
While the NC State women added to their winning streak, the Northern Arizona men had theirs snapped. Going into the race, the Lumberjacks had won six of the last seven titles, including the last three. But Oklahoma State put three runners in the top 10, to win definitively with a jaw-dropping score of 49 points. NAU held on for second place, with 71 points, while BYU was third, considerably back with 193 points. Oklahoma State’s 49 points are the fewest at the NCAA meet since Wisconsin won in 2003 with 37.
The men’s individual race came down to the wire. Habtom Samuel of New Mexico and Graham Blanks of Harvard were neck-and-neck on the last loop of the course, but Blanks made a hard move with 1,000 meters to go and was able to hold off Samuel by three seconds, winning in 28:37.7.
“That was the hardest race of my life,” Blanks said. “Just having to muster up that courage to take it from 1K out, that’s what I’m most proud of today.”
For much of the race, a large pack solidified at the front, until a group of nine began to separate themselves between 6K and 7K. With 2,000 meters left, it was down to Samuel, Blanks, and two-time NCAA track champion Ky Robinson. Blanks knew he planned on making a hard surge around 9,000 meters and that’s exactly what he did, covering the last kilometer in 2:42. Samuel would cross the line in 28:40.7, while Robinson took third in 28:55.7.
Running These Are the Celebrities Running Boston This Year Runner’s World. He is a former all-conference collegiate runner who’s based in Easton, PA. Previously, he worked as the newsletters editor at Runner's World, Bicycling, and Popular Mechanics.
