More than 20 runners dropped out of the 5,000 meters before the gun at the Pac-12 championships, including 17-time NCAA champion Edward Cheserek.
Without Cheserek, confidence was gained by some runners, including Zach Perrin of Colorado, the eventual winner.
“Obviously when a guy like that’s not in it, you start to be a little more hopeful and think you can win it.” Perrin said. “My goal was to place as high as I could and then with two to three laps to go, I was like, ‘Holy smokes. I’m feeling pretty good; I think I might be able to do it today.’”
Colorado filled the podium for the men’s 5,000 meters race. Perrin won the title with a time of 13:58.48, beating his teammates Joe Klecker and John Dressel. After the team win, Colorado earned 24 points to their total score.
The run was not all Black and Gold as UCLA’s Daniel De La Torre took command of the beginning of the race. He held the lead until lap four, when he was overtaken by Cal’s Garrett Corcoran, the Colorado trio and the lone Oregon runner, Tanner Anderson.
Perrin used his kick in the final three laps to break away from his herd of fellow Buffalo, with Perrin finishing the race celebrating with 80 meters to go.
“I looked back at the Jumbotron in the last 100 meters and saw those guys behind me, and we were gonna go one, two and three,” Perrin said. “I just couldn’t believe it. I was so excited. I couldn’t help it. I just started celebrating. I was so pumped up.”
Perrin wasn’t the only runner who fed off his teammates’ performance to strengthen his own, as Klecker willed his way to a second-place finish in 14:01.17, passing Dressel (14:01.69) and Anderson (14:02.60) in the process.
“I think I was in fourth and I just thought I wanted to be on the podium,” Klecker said. “I saw Zach and John up there. So yeah, definitely seeing them really pulled me through. I don’t think I would have been on the podium had they not been up there as well.”
Although Perrin won, he was happier he won with his teammates. “Today was my day, and I felt really good and I was able to move faster than those other guys,” Perrin said. “I was just super grateful and super happy to be a part of that colorado trifecta.”
The three runners now look to NCAA West Regionals, Saturday, May 27, as they look to build off each other toward a bigger title.
