lapping the field

College track star Nico Young just won 2 NCAA championships & set yet another record

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It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Nico Young!

The out college track star just wrapped up his biggest weekend to date, capturing two titles at the NCAA Division 1 National Championships in Boston. The wins assert Young’s place in the record books, and all but guarantee his spot at this year’s Summer Olympics.

His triumph started Friday, when the Northern Arizona University standout won the 5,000-meter. A grueling race, runners complete 12.5 laps before finishing.

Young ran his final quarter in an incredible 54.3 seconds. It was his first NCAA championship.

As an encore performance, Young dominated the 3,000-meter Saturday, winning the race in record time.

Overall, NAU finished fourth, with Young accounting for the majority of their points. He celebrated his milestones on Instagram. “INCREDIBLE weekend in Boston,” he wrote.

We would say so! His hashtag is appropriate.

#runningfastwhileimyoung.

It’s an already been an incredible year for Young, who’s a junior. Back in January, he set the NCAA record in the 5,000-meter with a time of 12:57.17. He’s the only college runner in history to break the 13-minute threshold.

“I knew I could break 13 on my best day, and it was a great day today,” he told FloTrack.

Related:

College track star Nico Young’s latest record puts the 2024 Olympics well within his sights

The Northern Arizona University runner continues to place himself in the NCAA record books.

Young’s been building towards NCAA gold for years, ever since he was a top track and field recruit out of high school. The California native earned a prestigious First-Team All-American spot last year, and finished second individually in the NCAA Cross Country Championships. In 2022, He led his team, the Lumberjacks, to their sixth national title in seven years.

Last fall, NAU finished second, behind Oklahoma State.

But even for a runner of Young’s caliber, all of those miles on the ground don’t come without a physical cost. He was battling knee pain in the lead-up to his record-setting performance in January.

While recovering, Young was forced to scale back his training in the weeks preceding the race. And his caution paid off.

When Young hit the track, he was pain free.

“I was able to show myself that it doesn’t really matter how much I run, I can still run fast, so I’m happy about that,” he said.

With multiple NCAA records and a likely spot on the U.S. Olympic team, Young is one of the most important out athletes today. He publicly came out as gay in August 2022.

More than anything, he’s proud to be visible.

“Anyone who tells you that being gay is a choice is wrong,” he wrote in his coming out post. “I am living proof that it is not a choice, it is something I have always known and been aware of, but have kept silent out of fear of rejection. I have struggled to accept myself, but I am becoming more proud and happy with who I am.”

The fact that Young has enjoyed so much success since coming out isn’t a coincidence. On the “Queer Athlete Podcast,” hosted by out former BYU athlete Emma Gee, he says coming out as gay boosted his athletic confidence.

“As the season went on, I would get on the starting line and feel so much more confident in myself,” he said. “I knew how much it took to come out. I was like, ‘Well, if I can do that, I can run this race.’”

A true modern college athlete, Young is taking full advantage of the NCAA’s new rules governing name, image and likeness. He models his young clothing line, Run Fast Apparel, along with his younger brothers, Leo and Lex.

Not be overshadowed, Leo and Lex are also track stars. They might be two of the best high school runners ever, with Lex owning the record for the 5k ever run by a high schooler.

Leo, meanwhile, owns one of the fastest high school boys 1,500-meter times.

Now at Stanford, Leo and Lex each have more than 50,000 Instagram followers. They also rep the Swiss sportswear company, On Running.

Unsurprisingly, the twins have already established themselves in the Cardinals’ record books. They have the school’s two fastest times for freshmen in the 3,000-meter.

In addition to their work with Nico on Run Fast Apparel, Leo and Lex produce their own YouTube channel, L&L. The page has nearly 48,000 subscribers.

In an interview with The Stanford Daily, Leo and Lex said they’re committed to promoting positivity in the track and field space.

Their commercial endeavors are one way to accomplish that.

“We’ve been good about using it as almost like an experiment. I think it’s just a way to spread all the positive bits of running culture that we love so much,” said Leo.

With Nico set to star in Paris, the Young family’s good times will only get better. We’re just glad to have a front row seat!

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