As Missouri\u2019s Karissa Schweizer crossed the finish line Saturday night in the NCAA Women\u2019s Outdoor Track & Field Championships to win her second straight national title in the 5,000-meter run, ESPN commentator Dwight Stones suddenly became aware of the streak of purple that had been gobbling up other runners and closing fast on Schweizer down the homestretch.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Allie Buchalksi of Furman?\u201d he said. \u201cIs that who that is in second place? My goodness!\u201d<\/p>\n
That marked the first and only time Buchalski\u2019s name was said during the live broadcast of the second-to-last event of the meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, but her remarkable performance against the deepest and most talented field she had ever faced will live forever as one of the greatest accomplishments achieved by any Furman athlete.<\/p>\n
Buchalski finished sixth last year in the 5000 to become the first female first-team All-American in outdoor track in school history, but nine of her competitors Saturday had run significantly faster than her career best. In what\u00a0she predicted\u00a0<\/a>would be \u201cthe hardest race I\u2019ve ever been in,\u201d however, Buchalski stayed near the leaders throughout the first 11 laps of the 12.5-lap race.<\/p>\n After briefly falling about 20 meters behind with 200 meters to go the John\u2019s Creek, Georgia, native found another gear and surged past four runners on her way to the highest finish at a national championship of any Paladin ever.<\/p>\n \u201cIt actually kind of surprised me how much ground I was covering in the last 150 (meters) or so, but that\u2019s something I\u2019ve been practicing and to be able to put it together at a championship \u2013 it\u2019s nice to see all the pieces fall into place,\u201d Buchalski told FloTrack<\/a>.<\/p>\n Buchalski\u2019s performance capped a banner week for Furman track and field<\/a>, which sent a record five athletes to college track\u2019s biggest stage and brought home two second-team All-America honors in Savannah Carnahan \u201920 in the 5000 and Frank Lara \u201918 in the men\u2019s 10,000-meter run as well as honorable mention All-America accolades for Gabrielle Jennings \u201920 and Kristlin Gear \u201921 in the women\u2019s 3,000-meter steeplechase.<\/p>\n