Ana Tucker Takes 3rd in 5,000 Meters, Earns 11th All-America Honor in Hope finale

Senior Ana Tucker, pictured

Ana Tucker took the punny question in stride after running 15,000 meters over three days this week and earning two more All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Hope College's most decorated women's distance runner is eyeing some well-deserved rest.

"I'm pretty tuckered out," Tucker responded, laughing. "I'm looking forward to having a good long break before I start training again."

On Saturday, Tucker raced to the program's highest finish in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA outdoor championships hosted by St. John Fisher University (N.Y.).

The recent graduate from Midland, Michigan (H.H. Dow HS) clocked a third-place run of 16 minutes, 30.97 seconds to earn All-America honors for the second time in three days and for 11th time in her Flying Dutch running career.

Late Thursday night, Tucker took a program-best fourth place in the 10,000 meters at nationals.

"It means a lot to me, especially with this being my last race at Hope," Tucker said. "It was a really good way to finish by doing that double this week and doing well in both races."

Tucker earned all 11 of Hope's points that propelled the Flying Dutch into a tie for 18th place in the overall standings.

"It was fun to watch," head coach Kevin Cole said after the 5,000-meter race on a sunny afternoon. "She'll go down as one of the best distance runners in NCAA Division III history and one of our best, possibly, our best distance runners. She's had an amazing career and had a great race to cap it."

On Saturday, the exercise science major trailed in the 5,000 meters only national champion Carrie Parker of Loras College (Iowa) at 16:18.30 and national runner-up Fiona Smith of College of St. Benedict (Minnesota) at 16:33.32.

In a rematch of Thursday's 10,000-meter final, Parker, Smith and Tucker separated themselves after the first couple of laps. Each runner is ranked in Division III Top 10 for the 10,000 meters.

Parker and Smith, who went 1-2 in the 10,000 meters, then pulled away from Tucker.

Tucker gained a few seconds on the two midway through the race but did not challenge for the lead.

"She didn't go out as fast as the first two women. She let them go and kept working toward them," Cole said. "Finishing third is a great accomplishment."

The performance capped a senior season that featured five All-America performances from Tucker: two in outdoor track, two in indoor track as national runner-up in the 1-mile and a fourth-place finisher in the 3,000 meters, and one in cross country with a fourth-place finish.

In all, Tucker earned All-America track honors a team-record eight times over four seasons: five outdoor and three indoor. She medaled a personal-best three times in the outdoor 5,000 meters.

In cross country, Tucker also raced to All-America distinction three times, the most by a Flying Dutch runner.

Tucker covered a lot of ground — much more than she ever expected coming in as a freshman to Hope with her sister and teammate, Heleyna Tucker.

"I didn't expect to have that kind of progress within my four years," Ana Tucker said. "I'm really thankful to have amazing coaches and teammates supporting me. I feel I don't have that improvement each year without their amazing support."

Next fall, Tucker will attend physical therapy school at Grand Valley State University and use her fifth year of athletic eligibility to run for the NCAA Division II Lakers on scholarship.

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Players Mentioned

Ana Tucker: Senior

Heleyna Tucker: Senior

Players Mentioned

Ana Tucker
: Senior

Heleyna Tucker
: Senior