By Linden Moore
Dani Jones had never run the 5,000 meters on the track. But the sophomore from Colorado entered Sunday’s 5,000 at the Pac-12 championships after she received encouragement from her coaches coming off her 4 minutes, 22.09 seconds in her 1,500-meter title earlier in the day.
“The coaches said, ‘We’re going to try it and just do the best you can,’” Jones said.
Jones rose to the occasion, as she powered to the finish in 16:12.76, beating Washington’s Amy-Eloise Neale by 0.02 to claim her second conference title of the day.
“I’ve never run a (5000) in general so I was nervous about it, especially after the (1500), but it was taking one race at a time,” Jones said. “Just four points was my goal.”
Jones would have received four points for fifth place, which she surpassed by a lot.
Prior to the championship weekend, she knew much of her team was going to enter a race like this. While she wasn’t 100 percent sure if she was going to participate, she trained as if she was going to compete.
“I told myself I was going to run no matter what so it wouldn’t be such a shock,” Jones said.
Jones’ training came in the form of cross country and track workouts with Colorado’s cross country team. “I trained with some of the best cross country runners in the country, so that’s comforting in a way,” she said. “It’s fun to be out there with them.”
Jones entered the outdoor season as an indoor NCAA champion in the 3,000 meters at 9:09.20. Her team landed a seventh-place overall finish at indoor NCAAs with 21 points.
“It was a breakthrough for me and for our team too,” Jones said. “Being able to share it with other people is so much fun.”
Jones is open to running more 5Ks in a Colorado uniform. While she needs to keep training, she feels confident that she will join the lineup again.
“I’m a little behind aerobically to be ready for a true five,” Jones said. “I’m not against it. It’s something I definitely want to do.”
