UAA's Notz slows down to run fast, and he's an All-American again

Though the notion was counterintuitive, it dawned on Dominik Notz during the men's 5,000 meters Thursday at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, where he found himself marooned in no-man's land, that he needed to slow down in order to run his fastest.

That mid-race shift in tactics — hey, Notz is a chemistry major, so he is accustomed to calculations — and a blistering kick sparked the UAA senior from Germany to a fifth-place finish and All-America honors in Birmingham, Alabama.

Notz was the only Seawolf to bag an All-America honor, his third in the last two indoor seasons, on the opening day of the three-day national meet. He clocked 14 minutes, 12.99 seconds.

Notz hustled along in fifth place as he covered the opening 2,000 meters in 5:37. But he found himself running alone. The guy in fourth was eight seconds ahead of him of him and the guy in sixth, leading a bunched pack of 10 runners, was six seconds behind him.

That placed Notz in the proverbial no-man's land — and that's usually a wasteland. Racing alone is difficult physically because there is no one to share the work, no one to help generate a metronomic rhythm, no one to draft off. It is also demanding psychologically — the loneliness, and not the good kind, of the long-distance runner.

"I realized, 'I'm killing myself,' and I decided I needed to slow down to let those other guys catch me," Notz said by cellphone. "It was actually pretty rough. Last year, I was fourth and I kind of had the goal of being as good or better.

"(But) it definitely felt like the correct decision."

The alternative, Notz reasoned, was to continue running alone, risk expending too much energy, being swept past by a group of runners who preyed on a moment of weakness, and failing to earn the All-America honors that go to the top eight finishers.

Notz had covered the first 1,000 meters (1 kilometer) in 2:45.05 and the second kilometer in 2:52.90. He covered that purposely slower third kilometer in 3:03.20, by far his slowest kilometer.

But Notz's slow-down tactic — he was 13th in the 16-runner field at 3,000 meters — allowed him to preserve energy that he harvested in the late stages of the race. Notz moved up to sixth place through 4,000 meters.

"I definitely did recover," he said. "I wasn't completely tired going into the last (kilometer)."

The clock proved as much. Notz, who was seeded sixth, out-kicked a runner for fifth place on the last lap. His closing 400 meters (60.51 seconds), as well as his final 200 (29.34), were both the fastest in the field by nearly one full second.

"He ran an amazingly smart, then tough race," said UAA coach Michael Friess.

Notz is also entered in Saturday's 3,000, where he last year finished fourth, as he also did in the 5,000 last year. He'll likely be a bit tired for the 3,000, but he figures so will everyone else from having run either the 5,000, the mile or the distance medley relay.

"No one's going to be fresh," Notz said. "So it's all about drinking water, getting the legs up and getting a nice (easy run) in (Friday)."

UAA senior Travis Turner on Thursday delivered personal-best performances in the high jump (6 feet, 2.75 inches) and shot put (37-9.25) and sits tied for 12th among 14 athletes in the men's heptathlon, which concludes Friday.

Four other Seawolves failed to advance out of their preliminary competitions, though none were seeded high enough to be certain of getting to the finals in their event.

Senior Jamie Ashcroft clocked 7.64 seconds in the 60 meters. She's also got the 200 meters and the 4×400-meter relay left.

Sophomore Danielle McCormick finished 14th in the 800 (2:13.04); junior Tamara Perez was 18th in the mile (5:07.70); and senior Tevin Gladden was 14th in the long jump (23-0).