Above: DiCola Celebrating his Victory, Photo by Ryan Comstock
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PHILADELPHIA - Heading into this weekend's national championship meets, any discussion about the finest distance runners in Pennsylvania history certainly would have included Hatboro Horsham's Brian DiCola.
Recent performances that included one of the fastest 3,200-meter runs ever to win a PIAA title and a post-season 4:04 mile bolstered an already strong resume for the Penn State signee.
The future Nittany Lion added to his impressive running CV earlier tonight (Thursday), winning the championship 5,000 at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor with a dominant run.
DiCola took the lead and control of the race at historic Franklin Field in the second kilometer, crossing the line in a PA#3 AT 14:26.72. Only Noah Affolder (14:18.26 in 2017) and Robert DiDonato (14:25.40 in 2020) have run faster in state history in the track 5K as DiCola also moved to US#5 in 2023.
DiCola's lead ballooned to almost 10 seconds midway through the 12.5-lap race as the PA standout was at the back of the 15-runner field in the opening laps before moving earlier than his norm. It took him just two laps to climb to the top spot and lead all the way to the finish.
According to the MileSplit all-time rankings, DiCola also owns the PA No. 2 1,600 (4:02.54) and mile (4:04.14) performances behind record-breaker Gary Martin and the No. 3 3,200 clocking of 8:47.39 behind Martin and DiDonato.
DiCola is scheduled to be back at Franklin Field on Saturday evening, joining a host of talented PA runners in the Championship Boys Mile.
