Chris Solinsky
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Chris Solinsky (born December 5, 1984) is a runner from Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He won eight State championships in high school and is currently an 11-time NCAA All-American at the University of Wisconsin.
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[edit] High School
Solinsky attended high school at Stevens Point Area Senior High (SPASH). In his high school career, he won 11 State medals, eight State titles, led the nation in time on six different occasions, and earned four 1st Team All-American awards.
[edit] Freshman Year
Solinsky placed 25th overall at the Wisconsin state cross country meet with a time of 16:40 on the 5000m course. He was beaten by one other freshman, Dustin Fier of Hudson. At the WIAA State Track & Field Championships he finished sixth in the 3200m with a time of 9:30.92. Fier placed 10th in 9:43.82.
[edit] Sophomore Year
At the 2000 WIAA State Cross Country Championships Solinsky was one of the favorites for the title. Early in the race, defending champion Matt Esche of Waukesha West held a big lead, but he could not maintain it. Solinsky caught him with a mile to go and went on to win in 15:32. Esche finished second in 15:39. At the Footlocker Midwest Regional Solinsky finished 11th to just miss qualifying for nationals.
At WIAA State Track & Field Championships, Solinsky and Esche dueled again in the 3200m. Solinsky came out on top with a personal best of 9:08.44 (Esche ran 9:12.17). The time ranked Solinsky as the 15th fastest high school 3200m runner in Wisconsin history. In the 1600m Solinsky was second (4:15.56 PR) to Ben Gregory, his future teammate at the University of Wisconsin.
[edit] Junior Year
At the State Cross Country Championships Solinsky broke the state meet record of 15:15, set by Tim Hacker of Menomonee Falls North in 1980. He ran a new state meet record of 15:07, winning by 32 seconds over Dustin Fier of Hudson. SPASH fell one point short of the team title in losing to Neenah 130-131.
Solinsky finished second among 332 runners from 13 states at the Footlocker Midwest Regional, qualifying for the national Finals. There, he placed third in 14:52, just two seconds behind winner Tim Moore (who had defeated him at the Regionals) and Bobby Lockhart (another future teammate at the University of Wisconsin). The third-place finish earned Solinsky 1st Team All-American honors.
On March 10, 2002, before SPASH's high school season had started, Solinsky competed at the Nike Indoor Championships in Landover, MD. He placed second to Lockhart in the 2 Mile Run with a time of 9:01.96, making Chris the fastest indoor 2-Miler in Wisconsin high school history. At the WTFA Indoor Championships, Solinsky won the 1600m Run by over 17 seconds in a personal best and meet record of 4:09.82 (a time that held up as the fastest high school indoor Mile time in the USA). The next week, on Saturday April 13, he traveled out to Arcadia, California to meet some of the best high school distance runners in the country at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational. Solinsky's time of 8:48.44 in the 3200m not only won the meet, but established him as the fastest Wisconsin prep in history and the 13th fastest prep in USA history.
At the 2002 WIAA State Track & Field Championships, Solinsky breezed to a 4:09.60 victory in the 1600m Run on Friday, then made a spirited attempt to break the 21-year old state meet record in the 3200m of 9:01.49 by Scott Jenkins of Kenosha Bradford. With the entire crowd standing and cheering the whole time, Chris opened up a huge lead and crossed the line in 8:58.39. Two weeks later, Solinsky finished the season with another competition on the national level at the Adidas Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where he finished second to Lockhart in the 2 Mile Run with a time of 8:59.92.
[edit] Senior Year
Solinsky won the 2002 WIAA State Cross Country Championships with a time of 14:54 (5K) at The Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, WI and went on to win the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships. His time of 14:41 gave him a 20-second winning margin, tied for the largest margin in history.
That spring, Solinsky set a Wisconsin indoor record of 4:07.60 in the 1600m at the Point Indoor Invitational on March 22. Then, at the Arcadia Invitational in California, he won the 3200m with a time of 8:43.24, breaking his own State record in the event. At the State championship, he won both the 3200m Run (9:04.37) and the 1600m (4:05.25 PR). He finished third in the 800m with a time of 1:55.38. Solinsky closed his season at the Adidas Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where he finished second in the Mile (4:05.30).
[edit] College
[edit] Freshman Year
In the fall of 2003, Chris Solinsky joined one of the best recruiting classes in the history of the University of Wisconsin. Solinsky earned the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year award after placing third overall at the Big Ten Championships. He finished 15th overall (top freshman) at the NCAA Championships to earn All-American honors and help the Badgers to a second place finish.
During the track and field season, Solinsky ran the 1200m leg of Wisconsin's eighth place Distance Medley Relay team at the 2004 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. He came back the next day to place sixth in the 3000m Run. At the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Solinsky qualified in the 5000m Run, but did not finish the race after collapsing due to the humidity. He ended the season with new personal bests of 3:42.13 in the 1500m, 4:01.44 in the Mile, 7:57.58 in the 3000m and 13:42.44 in the 5000m.
[edit] Sophomore Year
At the Big Ten Championships, Solinsky placed second behind junior Simon Bairu (who won for the second year in a row), helping the Badgers earn the team title. At the NCAA championships, Bairu went on to win the national title, while Solinsky placed 16th overall, and the Badgers finished 2nd.
At the indoor Big Ten Championships, Solinsky placed in the top three in both the 5000m and 3000m events. At the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Solinsky and teammate Matt Tegenkamp placed third and fifth, respectively, in the 5000m race. The next day, the teammates competed for the lead in the 3000m run with only laps to go. Tegenkamp eventually fell back and finished third, but Solinsky crossed the finish line in the lead to win his first NCAA title. The Badgers placed third overall as a team. At the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Solinsky placed eighth in the 5000m run to earn his seventh NCAA All-American plaque. Later in the summer, he set a personal best in the 5000m by running a 13:37.55 at the USATF Outdoor Championships.
[edit] Junior Year
Wisconsin took home eight of the top nine spots in the Big Ten Conference Cross Country Championships, with Simon Bairu winning the individual title for the third year in a row and Solinsky finishing second for the second year in a row. The Badgers set Big Ten records for lowest total score and largest margin of victory.
At the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Simon Bairu won his second straight individual title by fighting off Richard Kiplagat of Iona College up the final hill. Chris Solinsky finished right behind in third place after passing Josh McDougal of Liberty University up that same hill. The final team score was just 37 points, an incredible 68 points ahead of runner-up University of Arkansas.
During the track season, Solinsky won his first Big Ten title by capturing the indoor 5000m crown, then made it a double by winning the 3000m title the next day. He continued to compete well at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, where he placed third in the 5000m and successfully defended his 3000m title. At the Badger Twilight on May 6 (52 years to the day after Roger Bannister broke the barrier for the first time), Solinsky and four other athletes ran a 1-mile race in front of a raucous crowd at the Dan McClimon track, with former Badger Matt Tegenkamp finishing first in 3:56.58 and Solinsky taking second in 3:57.80, both becoming the first to dip under 4 minutes on Wisconsin soil. Solinsky's championship season started at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, where he won the 1500m title in 3:43.78. At the NCAA outdoor meet, after a slow start, Solinsky took the lead with just over four laps to go. He completed those last four laps in 4:01 to win the race in a time of 14:11.71.
[edit] Senior Year
At the Big Ten Championships, Wisconsin won the team title handily, but Solinsky fell during the race and staggered to a seventh place finish. It was said afterwards that he was suffering from the flu. At the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Solinsky was one of the favorites for the individual title. However, after running in the top 10 for the first 8k of the race, Solinsky faded badly and ended up placing 73rd. Wisconsin finished 2nd for the 4th time in five years. Indoor he recorded a 5k time of 13:30 at an indoor meet at the University of Washington. He also ran a 3k indoor time of 7:52. At the NCAA Indoor Championships he won the 5k with a time of 13:38 to win his 4th NCAA individual crown.
[edit] Other
6'1", 170lbs.
