When UC San Diego redshirt junior Sylvana Northrop broke the 5,000-meter school record on April 4 at the Triton Invitational — her second time taking it down this season — she was “pissed.”
Northrop led the race from gun to tape, gapping the rest of the field by more than 30 seconds. When you’re as fast as she is, long-distance running isn’t as competitive as shorter events until the postseason. So she was racing herself, competing against her own personal best. To lessen the mental load of racing 12.5 laps alone, Northrop’s coach had gotten her a pacer.
“I had never really run with a pacer before, so I was feeling a little bit uneasy, like I didn’t really know how to run with her,” Northrop said. “She gave me a split that I felt was slow. So I kind of just took it out and ignored her, which was my bad.”
By most metrics, Northrop had emerged victorious, breaking her 5,000 record from four weeks ago by 10 seconds. By her own standards, however, she wasn’t satisfied.
“I was pissed because I missed [the Triton Track and Field Stadium stadium record] by 0.2 seconds,” Northrop said. “So that was what I was going for in the race. While it looked like an impressive race, I was super disappointed that I missed it barely. I’m really good at the beginning of the race, and I’m really good at the end of the race, and the middle is definitely my weak point. When I start, I’m full of adrenaline, and then as soon as the pain starts to set in, I start thinking about how much I have to go, which is the downfall.“
The 5,000 is the quintessential distance event — the 10,000-meter is too unpopular to have a Big West qualifying standard, and the 3,000-meter steeplechase is not as competitive.
Northrop broke the 5,000 school record for the first time last year as a redshirt athlete, putting up a time of 16:48.38 in her last meet of the 2024 track season. On April 4, the day of the Triton Invitational, she crossed the finish line in 16:24.5.
“I got a lot in my head when I hit slow laps, [and] I felt like I was giving up on my goal of stadium record,” Northrop said. “I feel like I lost a lot of time in the middle of that race. The 5K is the event that I have the most potential in. But sometimes it feels like there’s a lot of pressure on it. It’s my favorite event because I feel like — 10K aside — it’s the hardest event because it is so long. I have the potential to be so fast in it, [but] it’s very intimidating to me.”
From the outside, nobody can tell. On April 17, Northrop dropped 22 seconds from her 5,000 record to win her heat at the Bryan Clay Invitational with a blistering time of 16:02.47.
“At this point, when I PR, it’s a school record,” Northrop said, laughing.
In some ways, Northrop was destined to be a long-distance runner. Her parents both ran cross country and track for Tufts University. Northrop’s career began at a middle school in New Hampshire after she didn’t make the soccer team. Cross country was a no-cut sport, so she followed in her father’s footsteps.
“It was the same middle school that my dad started running cross country at,” Northrop said. “I was like, ‘Okay, I have to do it.’ I had always felt like I was good at running. That confirmed it, and I started competing. Then, I was like, ‘Of course, I’m going to do it in college, because I can.’”
A collegiate career at UCSD is proof of how far she’s come from a middle school team on the East Coast. One of the rare long-distance athletes who has not suffered a serious injury, Northrop has posted steadily faster times throughout her past four years as a Triton.
This year, though, her career has taken off — Northrop opened her track season with three consecutive school records in three different events. First came the 3,000 steeplechase in her season opener on Feb. 28, the 2025 Riverside City College Invitational. Her time of 9:24.62 took a full minute off of the UCSD record from 2019.
The mark would astound anyone else, but Northrop was unfazed. For her, the real source of pride is the overtake.
“I did expect to break it, but that was probably my best race ever,” Northrop said. “That one was really, really super fun to execute. I had taken the race out, and then [another athlete] passed me. I do really well when I’m being chased. I did well fending her off when she passed me. I was still focused on the win, even though I was behind her.”
She outkicked her opponent by five seconds to take the win. It was the first record to fall in what would prove to be an extraordinary season for Northrop.
At the Aztec Invitational, hosted by San Diego State University on March 21, Northrop broke the 1,500-meter record. In hindsight, it was the only one that truly surprised her.
Last season, Northrop and two teammates had set their sights on breaking the 1,500 record of 4:29.67. Northrop’s season best was a little more than three seconds off, good for No. 7 on UCSD’s all-time list. Her teammates ran times within the same second of each other to come in at No. 5 and No. 8.
“Last year, that was untouchable for all three of us, and it just seemed unfathomable that we could get 4:29,” Northrop said. “And then, I got 4:22.”
Her personal record of 4:22.52 bested her previous time by 10 seconds.
“That was probably my biggest jump,” she remembered. “That happened solely because I was in a super fast heat, and I just hung onto ponytails. They went out crazy. I followed, and then I got outkicked at the end. I was zapped. I was absolutely dragged for that race, and I loved it.”
Two weeks later, she competed at home for the only time this season at the Triton Invitational on April 4. Her 5,000 race was the stadium record near-miss and her third time breaking the school record in her favorite event. Along with the accolades, Northrop has remained motivated by support from her teammates, family, and friends.
“What I do it for is really making people around me proud,” Northrop said. “That’s the main thing that has helped me be so competitive.”
Now, Northrop’s focusing on next month’s Big West track and field championships, where she will race in the 1,500 and the 5,000. Northrop currently sits at second in the Big West for the 5,000, her favorite event, and fourth in the 1,500. As a Big West podium contender, she’s looking to qualify for the NCAA West Regionals meet.
“I have super big goals this season,” Northrop said. “I want to win conference, and I want to make it to regionals. So everything that I have been doing has been to get myself fast enough to do those two things. Each race is an opportunity for me to boost my confidence enough to race faster next time.”
She faces a daunting challenge: doubling at her first conference championship and qualifying for regionals. The top 48 athletes in each event will go on to compete at the Division-I NCAA West Regionals first round, held in Texas from May 28 to May 31.
When she set the 1,500 record on March 21, her personal best of 4:22.52 was the sixth fastest time in the NCAA West Region. As the season has progressed, the competition has gotten faster. Northrop currently sits at 113th in the West Region for the 1,500 and 58th in the 5,000. The field is so tight that an improvement of just one second would increase her rank by nine spots in the 1,500; a 2.5-second improvement would put her in the top 48 for the 5,000.
“[Last season], we weren’t in conference, so there wasn’t really a big day at the end of the tunnel to focus on,” Northrop said. “But for me, every race is equally important. I’m equally stressed whether it’s a time trial or a championship. So last track season was a lot of what I’ve always been doing, which is just chasing faster times.”
There’s no trace of apprehension on her face. Northrop approaches the challenge cheerfully, with the same steady commitment and competitiveness that has brought her a trio of records in a single season. The 2025 Big West track and field championship seems like just another race. Just one more opportunity to break her personal — and school — records.
“Running with people who are faster than me is 100% the best way to run a fast time,” she said. “Obviously, I want to win every race I ever run, but to have people right there with me is the best way to run fast.”
Her casual confidence and ambition are the hallmarks of a distance runner who knows her ability. Four years and a handful of records into an outstanding collegiate career, her love for the sport hasn’t diminished.
“I have always found such amazing people on the team to connect with, and it’s been really fun sharing the experience with all of them,” Northrop said. “I have high hopes for those women. I have high goals that I have set for them in my brain, and we’re all going to step up to the plate. It’s going to be so fun.”
She’s not done yet — with one year of eligibility at UCSD remaining, Northrop will have another chance to compete in the postseason. After that, her future opens up to her.
“I might stay longer in school because I deferred grad school for this year. So, that’s an option. I could go to work. I could go to the Olympics, if I’m good enough,” she joked. “Who knows?”
Her next meet is the Big West Championship in Long Beach, where she will compete in the track events on May 16 and 17. It will be her last chance to run a qualifying time in the hopes of extending her season to the NCAA West Regionals. Regardless of what the postseason brings, Northrop has already left an impressive legacy with the UCSD distance program.
“I love being able to make people on the team proud and make my family and my friends proud, so it’s been really fun to have that opportunity,” she said. “I just feel super lucky that this is my life right now.”
