Florida Gators superstar Parker Valby broke yet another NCAA track record on Friday night. It was her own record to break and she admitted after the race that it was just another day at the office. Casual.
Valby is a three-time NCAA champion. It would probably be more like four or five if injuries were not something that plagued her throughout her career.
She is now considered one of the most dominant long-distance runners of all-time and carries with her one of the biggest personalities in track & field!
Valby won the Cross Country Championship back in November with a record time for the course. She won her second-straight 5000m title at the Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday after winning the event at the Outdoor Championships last year.
In doing so, the redshirt junior smashed her own record by nearly four seconds!
Valby ran a 14:56.11 while competing in the indoor 5000m back in December. The previous mark was set in 2015 at 15:12.22. It wasn’t even close.
Her new record stood for just three months. Valby went out and ran a 14:52.79 for her first Indoor title.
The run was so dominant that she lapped multiple All-Americans, ran the final mile in 4:37 and defeated Oklahoma State’s Taylor Roe by almost 17 seconds. Nobody could keep up with her blistering pace.
And if that wasn’t dominant enough, Valby said that she wasn’t even running that hard. Seriously!
Shortly after jumping out to a 50-meter lead over the second-place finisher, Valby noticed that her Florida teammate took the lead in the women’s long jump event. She flashed her two thumbs up and a big smile without even breaking stride.
In the middle of the women’s 5000m final, @GatorsTF’s @ClaireBryant01 jumped into the lead of the women’s long jump. NCAA record holder @parker_valby noticed and gave her teammate a thumbs up.
— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) March 9, 2024
Find yourself a supportive teammate like that. 👏 #NCAAIndoors | 🎥 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/IRCaW7meL8
When asked about the moment after the Race, Valby said she’s like a ping pong ball.
My brain is like, here, there and everywhere at the same time. I’m running the race, but I’m watching my teammates do well at the same time.
— Parker Valby
That is yet another testament to her dominance. Parker Valby was casually watching Claire Bryant on the long jump while breaking her own NCAA record by almost four seconds!