Colorado senior Pierce Murphy opened up his final indoor season with the second fastest NCAA 5,000-meter run time of the season, turning in a performance of 13:40.12 on the first day of the Husky Classic on Friday night at the University of Washington.
Murphy, who hasn't raced since his third-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in late November, placed second to Oregon's Edward Cheserek (13:35.86) in the top section of the elite field. Murphy came withing a second of his personal record (13:39.29), which he ran a year ago.
Seniors Morgan Pearson and Ammar Moussa made their season debuts.