Notre Dame's Dylan Jacobs, after falling to track, scores upset in NCAA 10,000 meters
You don’t have to be a football player at Notre Dame to heed what Vince Lombardi once said:
It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up.
Dylan Jacobs got up and got after it.
The Notre Dame runner, who fell near the 3,000-meter mark, collected himself and collected a national title in the 10,000 meters. In the only running final of Day 1, he finished in 28 minutes, 12.32 seconds Wednesday night in the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Eugene, Ore.
Jacobs ran the closing 400 in 55.45, overtaking favorite Abdihamid Nur of Northern Arizona. Alex Maier of Oklahoma State was second in 28:12.68 and Nur third in 28:14.51.
In a May 6 race in California, Nur broke a 44-year-old collegiate record in the 5,000 meters. His time of 13:06.32 bettered the time by Washington State’s Henry Rono, whose 13:08.4 was a world record in 1978. Nur also won the 3,000 and 5,000 at indoor NCAAs.
More: Years ago, Purdue's Jaden Ivey told Notre Dame's Blake Wesley he'd be one-and-done
But Jacobs was better on this night.
Just before his fall, he said coach Sean Carlson was assuring him he was in good position, in a pack behind leader Athanas Kioko of Campbell.
“And I stepped on the rail and went down. I was like, ‘Well, better get up and finish now,’" Jacobs said in an ESPN interview.
He was one of four Fighting Irish out of 24. They all qualified out of the East Regional at Bloomington, Ind. Matthew Carmody finished 16th, Joshua Methner 21st and Andrew Alexander 24th.
Jacobs said he and his teammates spoke to each other throughout the race.
"I mean, I’ve dreamed about this," he said. "I’ve trained with I think the best team in the country, the best guys. We have four of them out there, and we’ve prepared every day to come out to nationals and to perform. And fortunately, it worked out today where I was able to take it home."
He ran the final 800 meters in 1:57.63.
If any Notre Dame runner was going to be a champion, seemingly it would have been Yared Nuguse, the 2019 NCAA winner and a 2021 Olympian in the 1,500. However, a hamstring injury sidelined Nuguse, who is still aiming at the USA Championships later this month, also at Eugene.
Jacobs, who turns 22 in a week, is a former Foot Locker national cross-country champion from Orland Park, Ill. He has run a 3:57.67 indoor mile and has bests of 13:14.04 (indoors) for 5,000 and 28:01.94 for 10,000. He was 10th in November’s NCAA cross-country meet and won last month’s 5,000 at the Atlantic Coast Conference meet in 13:23.45.
He became the first Notre Dame runner to win the men's NCAA 10,000 since Ryan Shay in 2001. Molly Seidel, the 2021 Olympic marathon bronze medalist, won the women’s 10,000 in 2015.
Kioko, once ahead by as much as 100 meters, didn’t relinquish the lead until the 19th of 25 laps. He held on for fifth in 28:17.17. Butler’s Barry Keane was ninth in 28:19.94.
Jacobs also qualified for Friday’s 5,000.
Elsewhere, Notre Dame’s Samuel Voelz was seventh in his semifinal of the 800 meters, and 18th overall, in 1:48.47. So he was eliminated. Voelz, of New Palestine, was sixth at last year’s U.S. Olympic Trials.
Ohio State sophomore Hayden Tobias, a Big Ten runner-up from Fishers, was seventh in the shot put at 65 feet, 2 inches. Jalil Brewer, a Ben Davis graduate who transferred from Purdue to Texas, was 12th at 63-5.
In the 1,600 relay, an Iowa team that included Carmel's Spencer Gudgel clocked 3:01.79 and was one of eight to qualify for the final.
Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Notre Dame's Dylan Jacobs falls then scores upset in NCAA 10,000 meters
