Dylan Jacobs. Image by UT Athletics |
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Tennessee graduate student Dylan Jacobs reigned victorious in the men's 5,000-meter final at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, crossing the finish line first with a facility record time of 13:37.59 Friday night at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
The Orland Park, Illinois, native ferociously kicked over the last 200 meters to secure the title, becoming Tennessee's first NCAA men's 5k champion in program history. His mark set a new all-time high-altitude collegiate best, lowering Edward Cheserek's previous standard of 13:46.67 by more than nine seconds.
Jacobs claimed Tennessee's 120th individual national championship in school history and 57th indoors. He became the first Vol to top the NCAA podium in a distance event since Olympian Jose Parrilla won the outdoor 800m title in 1994.
SEARING SPEED: Lady Vol senior Jacious Sears kicked off the indoor national meet with a bang, running an SEC record time of 7.04 in the 60-meter dash prelims to establish herself as the No. 2 performer in collegiate history. The mark lowered her own school record by .07 seconds and took down Aleia Hobbs' conference record of 7.07 that had stood since 2018.
Sears will run her first career NCAA final on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. ET in a highly anticipated matchup with the collegiate record holder, Julien Alfred of Texas.
RIZZY CAME TO PLAY: Competing in her first of three events this weekend, Lady Vol graduate student Charisma Taylor leaped a lifetime-best 6.64m (21-9.5) on her first attempt of the long jump to finish fifth overall. She improved her standing as the No. 3 performer in school history and logged UT's highest finish in the indoor women's long jump since Tianna Madison won the national title in 2005.
Taylor was also stellar in the 60-meter hurdles prelims, lowering her own school record to 7.91 seconds to place second in her heat and automatically advance to the final. The triple threat from Nassau, Bahamas, will contest the triple jump Saturday at 5:45 p.m. ET before lining up for the 60mH final at approximately 6:40 p.m.
E-MAN MOVING ON: Redshirt junior sprinter Emmanuel Bynum also booked his trip to Saturday's final with a school record in the men's 400-meter dash, fighting to a time of 45.52 for fifth place in prelims. The mark topped the previous all-time program standard of 45.56 set by Nathan Strother in 2018.
The Memphis native will compete for First Team All-America honors on Saturday at approximately 9:20 p.m. ET.
SECOND TEAM HONORS: The Big Orange had four athletes record ninth-place finishes on Friday to claim second team All-America honors.
Making her NCAA Championship debut, redshirt junior thrower Chandler Hayden had a sixth-round toss of 22.29m (73-1.75) in the weight throw for ninth place overall. She joined former Lady Vol Stamatia Scarvelis as the only Lady Vols in program history to garner All-America honors in the weight throw.
Sears collected her first career All-America certificate with another PR in the 200-meter dash, clocking in at 22.80 out of lane three to place ninth in the NCAA. The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, native moved to No. 2 on UT's all-time indoor list and tabbed the highest finish by a Lady Vol at the NCAA indoor meet since 2016, when Felicia Brown (1st) and Kali Davis-White (7th) each logged top-8 placements.
On the men's side, Jesse Henderson became Tennessee's first All-American in the men's 60-meter hurdles since Jangy Addy in 2008, clocking in with a time of 7.69 on Friday for ninth place overall. The redshirt junior from Benton, Mississippi, secured his third career All-America honor and first as a Vol.
Tennessee junior Javonte Harding rounded out Friday's All-America performances in the 200-meter dash, also placing ninth with his time of 20.52. The accolade marks his eighth career All-America certificate and first for the Big Orange since joining the program this past offseason.
UP NEXT: The national meet continues Saturday with Tennessee participating in six events. Taylor leads off with the women's triple jump at 5:45 p.m. ET, and the championships conclude with the men's 4x400-meter relay at 10:20 p.m.
