Colorado University Athletics
Murphy, Pearson Earn First Team All-American Honors
March 12, 2016 | Track and Field
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — University of Colorado seniors Pierce Murphy and Morgan Pearson earned a pair of All-American honors in the 5,000-meter run on Friday night to lead the Buffs on the first day of the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Murphy, a two-time All-American in the event, led the way with a third place finish in 13:52.22, just edging Northern Arizona's Futsum Zienasellassie (13:52.26) at the finish line.
Pearson earned his third straight All-American honor in the event, placing sixth in 13:53.22, exactly one second behind Murphy. He held off two other runners at the finish, Mississippi's Ryan Walling (13:53.52) and Syracuse's Colin Bennie (13:53.64) who were less than half a second behind Pearson.
Both Murphy and Pearson ran very smart races to stay in the top eight and score points for the team score. Three runners, Thomas Curtain (Virginia Tech), Edward Cheserek (Oregon) and Edwin Kibichiy (Louisville) took off at the start and before long, they had 50 meters between them and the rest of the field. The chase pack, where Murphy and Pearson were, was running in a very tight group but wasn't in a rush to catch up with those three.
As the race went on, the chase pack was able to start reeling in the trio and eventually overtook Kibichiy as he would finish 15th overall (14:24.42). Midway in the race, Murphy had moved up to sixth, while Pearson was at 15th, but they were only separated by a second.
Both continued to run very controlled races with Pearson working his way up in the pack, and with four laps remaining, Murphy and Pearson were sixth and seventh, respectively. Cheserek won in 13:47.89 and Curtain took second (13:50.70), just a couple seconds in front of Murphy.
As a team, the Buffs are currently seventh with nine points.
Murphy will be back on the track on Saturday night, racing the 3,000 at 5:10 p.m. MT with teammate Connor Winter. Sophomores Erin Clark and Kaitlyn Benner will also run in the women's 3k at 5:25 p.m. ESPN3 is doing a live stream of the meet.
Another Buff, sophomore Ana Holland, was competing at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Portland, Ore. She placed sixth in the third heat of the prelims, finishing in 7.56 which was 18th overall.
2016 NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Birmingham CrossPlex (Birmingham, Ala.)
Men's 5,000-Meter Run: (1. Edward Cheserek, Oregon, 13:47.89) 3. Pierce Murphy, 13:52.22; 6. Morgan Pearson, 13:53.22
2016 USATF INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oregon Convention Center (Portland, Ore.)
Women's 60-Meter Dash: (1. Barbara Pierre, Nike, 7.13) 18. Ana Holland, 7.56
