Stanford Star Ky Robinson Registers Second-Fastest 3K In History At UW

It was the Ky Robinson show on Friday at the Dempsey in Seattle as the Stanford senior registered the second-fastest 3,000 meter performance in collegiate history, clocking a final time of 7:36.69. 

That downed Luke Houser’s facility record of 7:40.40 — which the UW athlete accomplished in January — by nearly four seconds

In the collegiate record books, only Drew Bosley has gone faster in 7:36.42 — though it also should be said that Robinson’s mark came an oversized 300 meter track at Washington, which means it won’t officially stay in the record books. 

A time is a time, though, and Robinson carried a historic race. 

Four runners went under 7:40 in total, including second-place Aaron Las Heras of NAU (7:37.26), third-place Matt Strangio of Portland (7:39.02) and fourth-place Theo Quax of NAU (7:39.85). 

Before 2022, only one collegiate athlete in history, Alistair Cragg, had dipped under that mark, and he held that spot for 18 years before Yared Nuguse produced a new NCAA record of 7:38.13 in 2022. 

Since then, six athletes have dipped under that threshold, with four more coming on Friday. A total of seven athletes went under 7:50 on Friday in Seattle, including the likes of Will Smith (Gonzaga), Evan Jenkins (UW), Colin Sahlman (NAU) and Brodey Hasty (NAU). 

Robinson has had a blitzing indoor season thus far, posting a PR of 13:06.42 for 5K, which is currently the third-best mark in the NCAA. 

Robinson finished third at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November.