Allie Buchalski \u201918 didn’t mince words when asked about the final run of her remarkable Furman athletic career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is going to be the hardest race I\u2019ve ever been in,\u201d she said. \u201cJust to do what I did last year, I\u2019ll have to PR (personal record) by a good bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
What the John\u2019s Creek, Georgia, native did last year was finish sixth in the 5,000-meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships to become Furman\u2019s first first-team All-American in women\u2019s outdoor track, a year after she finished 14th<\/sup>in the event to become Furman\u2019s first second-team All-American. Throw in first-team All-America honors in cross-country and two more in indoor track, and Buchalski is without question the greatest runner in school history and a certain future member of the Furman Athletic Hall of Fame<\/a>.<\/p>\n Saturday night at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, however, Buchalski will line up against the strongest field she\u2019s ever faced. Nine of her competitors have clocked lower marks this season than Buchalski\u2019s career best time of 15:35.33, which she recorded in 2017, and she knows it will take the best performance of her life to stay in the hunt.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the fastest it\u2019s (been) run in a really long time,\u201d Buchalski said. \u201cThere\u2019s usually one or two girls who can run that, and now there\u2019s a whole squad of people.\u201d<\/p>\n Buchalski\u00a0<\/a>heads the largest group of Furman athletes to ever participate in the NCAA outdoor championships, which run June 6-9. Joining her across the country in Paladin purple will be Savannah Carnahan<\/a>\u201920, also in the 5000, and Gabrielle Jennings<\/a>\u201920 and Kristlin Gear<\/a>\u201921 as the first Furman representatives ever in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.<\/p>\n On the men\u2019s side, Frank Lara<\/a>\u201918 will go for the win in the 10,000-meter run for the second straight year after finishing 19th\u00a0<\/sup>in 2017. The five emerged from a group of 11 Furman runners, also the most ever, who took part in the East Preliminary meet May 24-26 in Tampa, Florida.<\/p>\n As daunting as Buchalski\u2019s task may seem, there\u2019s reason to believe she is capable of challenging for the national championship. Buchalski ran only three 5000s all spring, focusing instead on the 1,500-meter run to work on what Furman coach Robert Gary thinks is her biggest weakness in the 5000 \u2013 closing speed.<\/p>\n