* American Fork senior Daniel Simmons shattered the indoor national record at 5,000 meters on Saturday
Photo Credit: David Nguyen/MileSplit
BOSTON -- Who knows how long Daniel Simmons had been waiting for this.
There had been OK races, good races, even exceptional ones for the American Fork (UT) High School senior over the 2023 and 2024 seasons. But on Saturday? The Brigham Young University recruit went to Mars, eclipsing the high school national record at 5,000 meters by absolutely destroying the former mark at New Balance Nationals Indoor, clocking a winning time of 13:38.86 inside the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center.
"Dude, that was tough!" Simmons said. "That was really hard."
Just how good was that time?
Simmons shot past Tyrone Gorze's former national record 13:56.82, which was accomplished last year at the TRACK at New Balance, by nearly 18 seconds.
Eighteen seconds.
Need further proof?
The performance would have been good enough for 38th-best in the NCAA this year.
How about one more thought?
It was only a second off Connor Burn's outdoor national record of 13:37.30 from last year.
Yes, that record ...the one that erased Galen Rupp's old mark of 13:37.91 from 2004.
"I don't know," he said. "I felt this voice in my head believing in me and telling me I could keep going. I believed it. I was just pulling to the limit. Like, I didn't want to ever give up. Something let me do that. I don't know how else to describe it."
"After the first two laps, I was like, 'I can do this, the whole thing, I know it.' So I just did it. I just fell for it. I went for it. I was running on the inner-engine. There's that inner-racer telling that was just telling me everything to do."
Some backstory. Simmons had been the preemptive favorite to win Nike Cross Nationals in December. Despite that, the American Fork athlete struggled, finishing 13th.
Gatorade still gave Simmons, who had won all of his cross country races before nationals, the National Player of the Year honor. Did he earn it? Did he deserve it?
Both valid questions.
But over the indoor season, Simmons ran up to the recognition, clocking a U.S. No. 1 time of 8:48.08 for 3,200 meters at the Simplot Games on Feb. 15 at altitude. If nothing else, that race may have felt like he was racing to prove something.
On Saturday, he cast no doubt.
"I wanted to start the race in 33s and feel it out after the first two laps," Simmons said. "And then after the first two laps, I was like, 'I can do this, the whole thing, I know it.' So I just did it. I just fell for it. I went for it. I was running on the inner-engine. There's that inner-racer telling that was just telling me everything to do."
It was only last year that Edward Cheserek's former indoor 5K national record went down here in Boston, with Gorze clocking a new record of 13:56.82.
What was lost from that moment, however, was Simmons, who as a junior clocked the class record of 13:59.96.
A year later, on Saturday, he nabbed it for himself.
Photo Credit: David Nguyen/MileSplit