Track and field: Stanford's McGorty makes valiant push at NCAAs

Published By Vytas Mazeika, Daily News Staff Writer on June 15th

Done with warm-ups prior to the men's 5,000 meters at last week's NCAA championships, Sean McGorty walked out to the track at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

"You just come out from being in the dark and it's just all lit up and all the stands are just packed," McGorty said.

The redshirt sophomore at Stanford was clearly an underdog, considering that Oregon junior Edward Cheserek was seeking to tie an NCAA record of 15 national titles for a cross country and track and field athlete.

In front of 12,144 fans, McGorty certainly made things exciting with a runner-up finish in 13:26.10, which was barely half a second shy of Cheserek's winning time of 13:25.59.

"It was just such an incredible atmosphere to be a part of, especially those last couple of laps," McGorty said. "I just really remember hearing the crowd a lot, especially with 300 to go when Cheserek pulled up next to me and we started the kick. And then the crowd really started to roar."

This wasn't the first time, or the last, that McGorty plans to give Cheserek a run for his money.

"I've been around and heard his name since high school," said McGorty, who also finished as the runner-up to Cheserek at the 2012 Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals in San Diego as a high school senior. "So, obviously, when you've been around someone for a while, you don't necessarily go in as intimidated. But I also think there is never really any pressure on me to win. Going into those races, he's always going to be the favorite right now, so it really just lets me go out there and focus on what my coach and I think that I need to do to execute for my race."