Kingsway graduate Kylie Anicic ran a fast 5,000 Friday, and she did it the hardest way possible.
Anicic, a sophomore at Edinboro (Pa.) University, ran 16:47.87, which is 14th-fastest in all of NCAA Division 2 this year and strengthens her qualifying mark for NCAA Division 2 Nationals.
Anicic moved up to No. 3 all-time on the Edinboro performance list, just 3 ½ seconds shy of the school record of 16:44.22 set by Rachael Lanzel at the 2009 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships in Edinboro. Ida Narbuvoll ran 16:44.50 when she placed 9th at the NCAA Division 2 Championships in Pittsburg, Kans.
That 16:47.87 is a personal-best by more than half a minute. Anicic ran 17:42.62 outdoors last spring – competing unattached – and ran 17:19.46 in her only previous indoor 5,000, earlier this monthg in a meet at Allendale, Mich.
During her stint at Towson – from the 2019 indoor season through the 2020 indoor season – she never ran a track 5,000. Her best 3,000 time was a 10:18.72 in an indoor meet at Bucknell in December of 2019. She’s now running 5,000 meters at a faster pace [5:25 per mile] than she ran 3,000 meters at her previous school [5:32].
What made Anicic’s 5,000 PR so remarkable is that she solo’d the entire race.
According to the official results, there were only four starters and only two finishers, and the only other finisher ran about two minutes slower than she did.
Anicic ran 2:17.59, 5:07.11 and 11:09.09 at Kingsway. After a brief stint playing soccer at Temple, she began her college track career Towson before transferring to Edinboro last year. This is her first year of eligibility at the Northwestern Pennsylvania school.
Anicic ranks 27th in Division 2 at 3,000 meters with her school-record 9:43.39 from a meet earlier this month in Ashland, Ohio.
Edinboro competes at the PSAC Championships Sunday at the Fighting Scots’ own Mike S. Zafirovski Sports and Recreation Dome. NCAA Division 2 Nationals are March 11-12 at Pittsburg, Kans.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 