Florida Cross-Country Star Parker Valby Breaks NCAA 5,000m Record

Before Saturday, no woman had ever ran sub-15 minutes in the 5,000m race during collegiate competition. That was until Florida’s Parker Valby came along.

PARKER VALBY 🙌

a NEW collegiate record with a 14:56.11 in the 5000M pic.twitter.com/vAHsDOMQxz

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) December 2, 2023

In her first ever indoor 5,000m race, Valby broke the collegiate record for the event, finishing in a time of 14:56.11. This time breaks the previous record of 15:12.22 set by Emily Sisson in 2015. It also breaks the outdoor record for the event, a 15:03.12 ran by Katelyn Tuohy earlier this year.

Although she beat both marks by over seven seconds, Valby did not expect to be in contention for the record. She spoke to CITIUS MAG about it after the race.

https://twitter.com/CitiusMag/status/1731085992327590116

Valby is no stranger to success. The redshirt junior from Tampa is coming off a dominating 2023 cross-country season. She went undefeated during the regular season and capped the year off by winning the NCAA championship in November. That championship was preceded by yet another, as she captured the title in the outdoor 5,000m event in June.

Valby is also a three-time cross-country All-American and was named the 2023 USTFCCCA Lance Harter Women’s National Athlete of the Year. With a full trophy case and a new record, Valby wraps up her 2023 season full of smiles, and figures to have another record-setting year in 2024.

https://twitter.com/GatorsTF/status/1731091159550763266