Mackay pulls away from Houlihan to win 5000m
Emily Mackay made her move early on Shelby Houlihan and never looked back, winning the women's 5000m in a season's-best time of 14:55.82 at the USATF Outdoor National Championships.
Video Transcript
Time for the prime time women's 5,000 meter national final.
Welcoming in Kara Goucher, set for this one.
We've got two 5,000s this afternoon, the women's and the men's, and here is Shelby Houlihan.
Well, Shelby Houlihan returned last year very strongly, taking a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships at the beginning of the year, winning the US Championships in the 5,000, and then going on to the World Championships and finishing fourth.
You know, we know her as a 1500 meter runner.
She still holds the American record, but she's moving up to the five.
And she'll run against Parker Valby, the 23-year-old from Florida.
Well, I have to say, I'm very excited to see Parker Valby back in action.
We saw her run in the Paris Olympics, and then she was dinged up for a couple of years.
She's changed her training.
She's training with Emma Coburn, the world champion in the steeplechase.
She's having a lot of fun again.
Remember, she came out of college making history, becoming the first NCAA athlete to ever win five national titles in one academic year.
A lot of hope for her.
Prime time women's 5,000 away.
Got a quick shot there just before the gun went off of Courtney Frerichs as well.
There were some late scratchings, unfortunately, from this race.
Katie, Camerena, Annika Rees, and, Ally Buchalski.
So we're three short on the original lineup, but that won't take away from a great fight towards the end.
We'll see who wins this national final.
I think we have a great race up here today.
We have the tale of two different athletes.
Shelby Houlihan is known as an incredible closer.
She can kick really, really well, while Parker Valby is really the type of athlete that likes to take a race and grind it out.
So I'm not surprised to see her go to the front and I, I suspect that she's really gonna try to keep this pace very hot and very honest, and try to drain the kick out of the women behind her.
Shelby is the defending champion.
See if she can do that, or what can Parker do?
Parker ran very well in, at the LA Grand Prix earlier this year.
Yeah, she's run two 5,000s this year.
The first one she had a little PR, the second one she had a giant PR, running 14:39, moving up on the all-time US list, and honestly, Lee, she did a lot of that by herself.
She was out, way out in front just chasing the pace light.
So she is back.
She's better than she's ever been, and it's exciting to see her go to the front here and sort of remind everyone, "Hey, remember me?
I'm a big deal".
Let's see what the youngster can do.
I think that she knew that this was a possibility, that she would lead most of the race and that Shelby Houlihan would still be there.
I have to say, it looks to me like Shelby Houlihan is holding back still at this point, and still waiting.
Last year at the National Championship, she went at 4K.
She's waiting a little bit longer this year, but it looks like she's just biding her time for the right time to go.
But keep your eye on Emily McKay in third there.
She has been just following and shadowing every move that Houlihan has made.
Here we go.
But also don't count out Parker Valby.
Yeah.
She's very, very fit, and she wants this.
Earlier this year, at 3,000 meters, Emily McKay won her first US title.
She just finished third yesterday in the 1500, in an epic finish with Addy Wiley and Nikki Hiltz.
Nikki, the champion, and Emily finished third.
Phenomenal effort to back up today and to be running at this pace as things start to kick up a little bit, because these three women know they're coming to the bell.
And this is the point of the race where Valby has to be really tough.
She's done the work.
She needs to respond to this move being made right now by Houlihan, and McKay, like I said, right on her, shadowing it perfectly.
She knew it was coming, and now I think it's gonna come down to a race between these two women.
Does Houlihan have enough to run away from Emily McKay, and does Emily McKay have something left, even after the rounds of the 1500, to come and win this now?
This is special from Emily McKay, especially the workload so far this weekend.
No surprise to see Shelby Houlihan, the defending champion, in this position.
But Emily's going with her.
You know, Emily McKay looks very good.
This is how she looked indoors when she outkicked Elle St. Pierre.
Shelby Houlihan looks good.
See how she's drifting to the middle of the lane, protecting that position?
I think she has another gear, but we see Emily McKay now moving to the outside a little bit, trying to decide when is she gonna try to strike?
Emily was part of that grandstand finish yesterday, and maybe she's gonna put one on herself here today in the 1500 and the 5,000.
And she nudges Shelby Houlihan to say, "Guess what?
I've still got plenty left" They come into the home stretch.
Emily McKay, she won a 3,000 indoor title this year, her first national title.
How about number two?
The new US 5,000 women's champ, Emily McKay.
What a finish.
Parker Valby was third.
61.9- Answering the question, did she have anything left in those legs after the 1500, an emphatic yes 61.9 last lap, Lee.
I'd say she had a lot left.
She has been training to be a strength-based 1500 meter runner, and it shows across all of her disciplines.
Honestly, I kept looking at Shelby Houlihan g- how good she looked, but Emily McKay just matched everything that she did, and it was almost like she was looking for permission to kick.
And here she is now with 200 to go.
She's looking over at someone here and she says, "Should I go?"
So I think that she really had so much left, and when she went, it was so dominant here.
We're used to Shelby Houlihan being able to match anyone's speed at the end, but here, once Emily McKay got wound up, she just starts to power away.
She's such a strong athlete, and she really got room to the arms there, and she's just able to take this.
And look at this, she had so much left.
It was like she was asking for permission to go.
Look how big and long her stride is right now.
She's using her arms all the way.
It's amazing what she just did, and to think that she did this after placing third in that 1500 meter yesterday.
Good for her.
What a race.
She's from New Paltz, New York.
She wins her first national outdoor title at 5,000 in the state of New York.
How about that, Lewis?
What a finish.
How about that?
We were just talking about that.
You were thinking about it, working on that final kick.
Tell me how you did that after running the 1500 yesterday, to come out and get this national championship.
Yeah, today was a little bit of a redemption tour after yesterday.
I'm super proud of how I raced yesterday, but it wasn't the outcome I wanted, so it definitely lit an even bigger fire under my butt, and I was so excited to come back today and have another shot at a US title.
It means so much to me, yeah.
And I've been working on my kick and it really paid off today.
It sure did, it showed.
Congratulations, Emily.
Thank you so much.
All right, Lee.
And she's hardly breathing
