Yaseen Abdalla breaks pair of UA records in 3,000m & 5,000m

BOSTON – Razorback senior Yaseen Abdalla broke a 20-year-old Arkansas school record in the 3,000m and a 5,000m UA record that lasted less than 15 minutes while starting the indoor season at Boston University’s Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Saturday.

Abdalla produced the third fastest time in collegiate history with a third-place performance of 7:34.17 as the top four finishers in the seeded 3,000m race bettered the collegiate record of 7:36.42 set by Northern Arizona’s Drew Bosley in January of 2023.

Patrick Kiprop, another Arkansas senior, improved his UA school record in the 5,000m with a time of 13:23.56 while placing 13th in the top seeded race. Kiprop’s previous record in the event was 13:24.32 from 2023.

Abdalla then won the second heat of the 5,000m and sliced a second-plus off Kiprop’s effort to produce another Razorback school record with a 13:22.29 performance. Abdalla also improved his Sudan national record from a 13:46.39 set in 2024.

In the historic 3,000m race, North Carolina’s duo of Ethan Strand and Parker Wolfe finished 1-2 in the race, posting times of 7:30.15 and 7:30.23. Abdalla’s 7:34.17 also bettered the Sudan national record of 7:42.23 he set in Boston during the 2023 season. Virginia’s Gary Martin eclipsed the previous collegiate record in fourth place with a 7:36.09.

Alistair Cragg set the collegiate and Arkansas record of 7:38.59 in 2004. It served as the collegiate record from 2004 to 2022. After today, Cragg now has the No. 11 performance on the all-time collegiate list.

In addition to producing the top four performances on the collegiate all-time list, Strand ranks No. 2 on the U.S. all-time indoor list with Wolfe No. 4. Abdalla, who went to high school in the U.S., would rank as the No. 8 performer among Americans with the No. 9 performance.

Leading the field at 2,000m, Abdalla’s split of 5:03.95 ranks second fastest on the all-time collegiate list behind the 5:03.74 set by Bosley in his collegiate record 3,000m race. Abdalla split 5:09.22 during his 3,000m PR race in 2023, which previously ranked No. 7 on the collegiate all-time list.

Harvard’s Graham Blanks won the seeded 5,000m race in a time of 12:59.89, just missing the collegiate record of 12:57.14 set in 2024 by Nico Young of Northern Arizona. Villanova’s Liam Murphy finished second in 13:10.42 with Oklahoma State’s Brian Musau third in 13:11.29.

Finishing behind Abdalla in the second heat of the 5,000m were BYU’s Joey Nokes (13:29.61), Ireland’s Abdel Laadjel (13:29.79), and Alabama’s Victor Kiprop (13:29.90).

In the 5,000m additional Arkansas distance runners included Reuben Reina (13:41.76), Timothy Chesondin (13:53.63 indoor debut), Brian Masai (13:55.77), and Tommy Romanow (14:17.44 indoor debut).

Reina moved to No. 12 on the Arkansas all-time list with his career best performance as he improved by nearly 16 seconds from a 13:57.61 in this meet a year ago.

Other Razorbacks competing in the 3,000m included Elias Schreml (7:59.06) and Ben Shearer (8:12.48).