CHARLOTTE, N.C.- Queens distance runner Michael Crouch (Yucca Valley, Calif., Yucca Valley ) doesn’t think the 5,000-meter run at the NCAA Division II Championships will be decided early.
“It will be a tactical, kicking race to the end,” said Crouch, a junior from Yucca Valley, Calif. “I’m keeping an open mind to anything happening. There are good competitors there. It’s an in-the-moment race, but I think it will be more tactical. That’s what my training is geared toward.”
The preliminary will be Friday night, followed by the final Saturday night, at the Irwin Belk Track Complex at nearby Johnson C. Smith University.
Crouch is the second seed among 16 competitors in the 5,000, based on his season-best time of 13 minutes, 53.37 seconds. It came in the Stanford Invitational on May 1, and was a key step in Crouch’s return from a sports hernia injury last fall.
“At Stanford, I didn’t care about winning or what anyone else was doing,” Crouch said. “I wanted to find the race within myself, and make my time goal, which I did.”
Crouch’s seeding time is a little more than three seconds behind top seed Amos Sang (Abilene Christian), who is at 13:50.77.
Crouch worked his way back from being injured during the cross country season last October. He ran only a mile per day in mid-December, and gradually increased to about six miles daily by the end of January.
Minimal workouts began in February, he said.
Crouch won the 5K championships at the Indoor National Championships, and was third in the NCAA Division II cross-country championship last year.
“I’m close to being as fit as last year at this time,” Crouch said. “I think the pressure is off this time. Last year, I was really fit and still questioning if I could win this race.”
Crouch was named the region male athlete of the year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for the second straight time on Monday.
Crouch won his second consecutive title in the 10,000-meter race at the Conference Carolinas meet, along with the championship at 1,500 meters.
Queens’ Head Coach Scott Simmons said Crouch’s experience will help.
“Michael won two national titles in his first year at Queens, so he’s got the experience in big races,” Simmons said. “His fitness is moving toward where it needs to be.”