Doyle’s personal-best 15:27.42 effort in 5,000 at Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener has established her as a strong All-America contender for NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships in March at The TRACK at New Balance

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

Photos courtesy of Alison Wade/Fast Women and Leslie Poitras

Kenzie Doyle is nervous.

It is Dec. 2 at the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, and the 5-foot-3 Doyle is overwhelmed with an emotion she doesn’t normally feel at the start of a competition.

“I race very confidently most of the time, and this was the first race where I didn't feel as confident as I usually do,” she recalled.

It is also Doyle’s first race in nearly six months after redshirting the fall cross country season.

The University of Massachusetts Lowell graduate student-athlete is in the middle of a loaded 5,000-meter section.

Parker Valby, the reigning NCAA Division 1 cross country and 5,000-meter champion from Florida, is just steps away. Alabama’s Hilda Olemomoi, an All-American in cross country and track, is also in the field. Ella Donaghu of Nike’s Union Athletics Club is also competing, among a handful of professionals.

“I’ve never gone up against such a crazy field before, and this particular heat felt way more intense,” Doyle said.

Not 100 percent sure of what to expect, Doyle raced conservatively the first half of the 25 laps.

During the race she distinctly remembers hearing her coach, Gary Gardner, yelling, “stay relaxed” and to “trust in her fitness.”

Her inner voice was saying continue to trust the process. Clicking off 36- and 37-second laps on the 200-meter banked track, Doyle got faster and faster, crossing the finish line in 15 minutes, 27.42 seconds, a nearly 33-second personal best.

Finishing 10th overall, she set a program record and her time, currently the fourth-fastest mark in the NCAA this season, ranks as a top 30 performance in NCAA indoor history, and top 20 all-time for an American collegiate performer.

“She was super patient, and her last mile was her fastest mile; everything that she did was excellent, mentally staying in there and picking people off, person by person after 3K, and moving up the field,” Gardner said. “This is a whole new level that obviously we knew she was capable of.”

To get to that performance at Boston University, it’s been a process, which is a word Doyle has come to embrace throughout her life.

Doyle was born into a running family. Her father Bobby Doyle started the running legacy as he competed in college at the University of Texas at El Paso where he was part of the 1969 NCAA Division 1 cross country championship team. He raced in the Boston Marathon numerous times, including a fifth-place finish in 1985.

“I was exposed to running and all of that when I was little,” Doyle said. “Around 6 years old, (my dad) passed, so all of my siblings and I wanted to carry on his legacy and kind of feel connected to him in a way through the sport.”

Doyle, one of seven siblings, was a gymnast for 10 years until she reached middle school and focused on running. She competed for the famed New England powerhouse La Salle Academy in Rhode Island.

Self-described as an “OK runner” in high school, she wanted to continue to run at the next level, finding a home at UMass Lowell, the same school her older brother Connor competed at.

“When I came to UMass Lowell I was definitely expecting to make a jump right away and I didn’t see that jump freshman year,” Doyle said. “I was frustrated.”

Through some self-reflection and conversations with Gardner following her first year, Doyle said she started to focus more on the little things, including living the right lifestyle, prioritizing sleep, recovery, and gradually adding more mileage to her workouts as her body’s been able to handle.

Gardner mentioned the guidance of former UMass Lowell All-American distance runners Kaley Richards and Izzy Giesing as providing leadership and a path to what was possible and achievable.

Doyle said with the transparency of Strava and social media, having the ability to see what other individuals are running and doing for workouts, also provided motivation for her knowing that more is possible and achievable.

“I saw it as a big challenge rather than something that was intimidating,” Doyle said of the desire to be better. “I just wanted to take that challenge on.”

By her junior year, things started to take off. With a solid base under her, Doyle won the America East Conference indoor 3,000 and 5,000 titles, and then in the spring, clocked a PR of 33.25.72 in the 10,000 at the Raleigh Relays.

Doyle ended the outdoor season finishing 17th in the 10,000 at the NCAA Division 1 Championships in Austin, Texas. 

“This has been a long haul to get to the point of the volume she can handle now,” Gardner said. “As a freshman, she was probably at 40 (miles a week). Not a lot of athletes can handle the kind of mileage she’s doing now, and handle it well. It really was an experiment of testing things along the way, and it really led us to this last block where we saw a huge progression last year.”

Gardner said Doyle came out of the spring outdoor schedule with full confidence and a plan to redshirt the fall cross country season, dedicating time to solely training.

The block from June to November was not only an improvement physically but mentally for Doyle, and allowed her to really fall in love with the process.

“I was able to train really hard with almost zero interruptions,” she said. “Cross country is my favorite, and I’ve never missed a cross country season before, so training was definitely something I had to find a way to stay motivated. I think a big part of that was knowing and thinking every single run of the BU Season Opener as my end goal, and how I want to do well there. And also, to make nationals and represent my team. My teammates were a big motivator.”

Doyle, who ended mid-November with her last 90-mile week, said one workout from the fall that stuck out was an intense grass field loop that consisted of one mile, 2x800, 4x400 and a mile to finish.

“I remember I closed my last mile in sub-five minutes, and it was my first time ever doing that,” Doyle said. “And it was a hefty workout, so I was really happy with that.”

Gardner, who describes Doyle as someone who is always going to tell you what she thinks, knew from her workouts she was ready for Boston University and to race in the fastest heat. He predicted Doyle would run 15:26.

“I was one second off,” Gardner said.

Doyle’s time sets her up for qualifying among the top 16 competitors in the 5,000 at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships, which will be held March 8-9 at The TRACK at New Balance in Boston. Along with Boston University, UMass Lowell is one of the co-hosts of the meet, presenting a special opportunity for Doyle in her final indoor season.

“That was one of the things we talked about is us hosting the NCAA Championships and her being able to race at home was something we couldn’t pass up,” Gardner said. “Not many people get that opportunity. Having family close by, she’ll definitely have the loudest and most numerous cheering section there and that makes it really cool for her. And it’s great for the program.”

While her dad won’t be in the stands, Doyle knows he’s cheering her on.

“I do wonder sometimes what he would say about my races, what he would think,” she said. “I know that he’s super proud, but most of all I know he’s not as much proud that I’m racing well, but more so proud that I’m trying my hardest at something I love. I think that is something that is definitely a key factor that helped me switch from viewing running as a hobby to a passion.”

Gardner said it’s been fun to watch Doyle’s progress throughout the years and how she’s learned to find her own voice in the sport and make a name for herself.

If her fellow collegiate competitors didn’t recognize Doyle’s capabilities before the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, they certainly understand her potential this year, especially considering that the three collegiate athletes who finished ahead of her in the elite section at Boston University – the NCAA 5,000 record holder Valby (14:56.11), Olemomoi (15:17.44) and Georgetown’s Chloe Scrimgeour (15:24.36) – all placed in the top eight Nov. 18 at the Division 1 cross country final in Virginia. 

“I think she’s become comfortable with herself over the last two or three years as she’s matured,” Gardner said. “And (she) enjoys the process of training. A lot of kids enjoy racing and winning, but fewer of them enjoy the process, and she really embraced the process of it.”