Kingsway’s Kylie Anicic, a junior at Edinboro, completed her second consecutive conference quad win Sunday with victories in the mile and 3,000. She won the 5,000 and anchored the winning distance medley on Saturday.
Anicic has now won 12 PSAC titles since transferring from Towson, including 10 in individual events. She currently ranks 15th in NCAA Division 2 at 3,000 meters and 8th at 5,000 meters.
On Saturday, Anicic ran 17:34.83 to win a strategic 5,000 on Saturday at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships at Gerhard Fieldhouse at Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa. You can read about that race here: https://sjtrackblog.com/2023/02/25/kingsways-kylie-anicic-of-edinboro-wins-5000-her-8th-psac-title-with-two-more-races-sunday/
She also ran a 4:58.24 anchor as Edinboro won the DMR in 12:05.77, Edinburg’s fastest time this year.
On Saturday, Anicic ran 17:34.83 to win a strategic 5,000 on Saturday at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships at Gerhard Fieldhouse at Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa. You can read about that race here: https://sjtrackblog.com/2023/02/25/kingsways-kylie-anicic-of-edinboro-wins-5000-her-8th-psac-title-with-two-more-races-sunday/
She came back Sunday to win the mile in 5:02.72 and the 3,000 in 10:06.49 for 30 of Edinboro’s 94 ½ total points. She single-handedly outscored West Chester, Bloomsburg, Mansfield, Indiana (Pa.), Clarion and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
Anicic won the mile off a ridiculously slow pace, which suited her perfectly with the 3,000 – her third race of the weekend – coming up two hours later.
The pack was out in 2:42.22 for the half, and the entire field came through four laps within a second of one another. Considering that the slow heat was won in 5:18.78, it was only a matter of time before Anicic picked things up.
On the sixth lap, Anicic and teammate Kimberly Goerss finally broke away from the group, and Anicic used her lethal kick – which was completely intact off such a slow early pace – to put the race away over the final 600.
She closed in 32.53 for the last lap, 66.17 for the final quarter and 2:20.52 for the final half. That means she ran her second half mile 22 seconds faster than her first half mile (2:42.22 to 2:20.520, which is about as extreme as negative splits can get.
Goerrs finished second in both the mile and 5,000 in 5:06.89 and 17:47.36 and ran the 1,200 leg on the winning DMR.
Anicic won the 3,000 in similar fashion as the mile, closing quickly off a modest early pace. There was a pack of seven runners who all came through 2,000 meters between 6:55.48 and 6:56.77, but on the 11th lap Anicic opened up a nearly three-second gap on the field and she gradually widened it the rest of the way.
She closed in 37.34 for her final lap, 75.27 for her final quarter and 2:33.44 for the final half and won by 30 meters over Anna Igims of Slippery Rock, who took 2nd in 10:12.42.
Anicic won conference titles last indoor season in the mile, 3,000, 5,000 and distance medley, outdoors in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 and this past fall in cross country.
Anicic has PRs of 4:30.52 for 1,500 meters from an outdoor meet in Charlotte, N.C., last March, 4:54.93 for the mile from last month in Youngstown, 9:29.56 over 3,000 meters from State College last month, 16:26.23 from a meet in Allendale, Mich., in December and 34:37.31 from Bucknell last April.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 