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Villanova's Reid earns NCAA title in 5,000 meters

Sheila Reid had lost a last-lap sprint to Oregon's Jordan Hasay at the indoor NCAA championship meet in March and was not going to let that happen outdoors.

"I stayed really calm and relaxed and was picking off runners," Villanova's Sheila Reid said. (Michael Thomas/AP file photo)
"I stayed really calm and relaxed and was picking off runners," Villanova's Sheila Reid said. (Michael Thomas/AP file photo)Read more

Sheila Reid had lost a last-lap sprint to Oregon's Jordan Hasay at the indoor NCAA championship meet in March and was not going to let that happen outdoors.

The Villanova senior waited until the final 200 meters to take the lead and then ran home to an NCAA championship in the 5,000 meters last night at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Des Moines, Iowa.

Her winning time of 15:37.57 was 37 seconds better than her previous best for the event.

"I stayed really calm and relaxed and was picking off runners," Reid said. "When the Oregon runner [Hasay] moved with two laps to go I stayed on her shoulder. I believed that I had the best kick."

She did last night. Georgetown's Emily Infield was second and Hasay finished fourth.

Villanova's Bogdana Mimic earned second-team All-American honors with an 11th-place finish (15:55.09) while, Penn's Leslie Kovach was 18th (16:16.10).

Other local athletes did not fare so well, but still earned All-America laurels.

Penn freshman Maalik Reynolds cleared 7-1 1/2 in the high jump to finish in a tie for seventh place. That height was below the 7-3 1/4 Reynolds had cleared in winning the event at the Penn Relays in April, a height that would have earned him third place last night. The winner was Kansas State sophomore Erik Kynard, at 7-6.

Temple junior Travis Mahoney faded to an 11th-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. His time of 8:52.54 was 16 seconds below the time he had run to earn the second seed going in to the meet. The winner was top-seeded Mark Hughes, of Louisville, in 8:24.87.

Ryann Krais, now a junior at Kansas State and a graduate of Methacton High in Montgomery County, won the heptathlon with 5,961 points. She clinched her victory with a blazing final-event 800-meter time of 2:12.63. Krais also finished third in her specialty, the 400-meter hurdles, with a time of 55.89 seconds.

Reid and Matthew Gibney will be back on the Drake Stadium track this afternoon for the 1,500 finals.

"I'll be running on tired legs," Reid said. "I'll see what I'm made of."