During the final strides of Saturday’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships 5,000-meter final, Abbey D’Agostino ’14 wore a determined stare. She was in third place by the last lap, behind Marielle Hall of the University of Texas and Aisling Cuffe of Stanford University.
D’Agostino did not advance further, finishing in 15:43.54, about eight seconds behind Hall’s 15:35.11 time. With a time of 16:47.81, Dana Giordano ’16 came in 22nd of the 23 women to finish the race.
The pack remained tight two minutes into the race. D’Agostino — in bright pink sneakers — held fourth, slipping to sixth about two minutes later. But when the group split 10 minutes into the race, D’Agostino had moved firmly into the front cluster behind Hall and Cuffe.
The most decorated student-athlete in Ivy League history, D’Agostino closed her collegiate career today with seven national titles, 16 Ivy League titles and 12 All American designations.
D’Agostino became the first woman to capture Ivy League Championship victories in the 3,000-meter, 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter events, a feat she accomplished in one weekend.
If she won today’s race, she would have been the third woman to win this event in three consecutive years. In 2013, D’Agostino won the event in Eugene, Oregon. Her time of 15:43.68 was nearly seven seconds faster than the second-place runner.
