UNC’s Parker Wolfe capped off an outstanding junior season by winning the men’s 5,000-meter national title at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Oregon on Friday night. Wolfe crossed the finish line with a time of 13:54.43, just beating Northern Arizona’s Nico Young to claim the title.

Wolfe had finished in second place behind Young in the 5,000-meter and 3,000-meter runs at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this year.

Wolfe concludes his season with two ACC team championships, four new school records, four first-team All-America honors (giving him eight for his career) and a national title. He’s the first Tar Heel ever to win the 5000-meter run at the outdoor championships, the first Tar Heel to win an event at the championships since 2007 and the first Tar Heel to win a solo men’s track event at the championships since 1950 (a UNC team won the 4×100-meter relay at the 1996 championships). It’s the third individual national title won by a Tar Heel this academic year, after Aranza Vazquez Montaño took home two at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

Overall, five Tar Heel competitors won first- or second-team All-America honors at the championships: Wolfe, Ethan Strand (1,500 meters), Craig Saddler (400-meter hurdles), Alex Phillip (10,000 meters) and Makayla Paige (800 meters).

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/David Hicks

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