An entire country separates these two athletes, but this feud is at its peak, and it all comes down to Friday night.

Simeon Birnbaum and Marco Langon are two of the best distance athletes in the NCAA. Not just in their era, but in collegiate history. Separated by almost 3,000 miles, they share a sponsor, they share a dream for a National Title, and they share a fire to do what it takes to make that happen.

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After a fiery season of going back and forth, it all comes down to 5,000 meters on Friday at 9:55 pm ET, for one last shot at National glory. 

History Breakdown

Oregon's Simeon Birnbaum and Villanova's Marco Langon race the 5K at the championship, but the record books show them to be the fastest collegiate 1500m runners. Birnbaum holds the record in 3:31.69, and Langon holds the No. 2 spot in 3:32.79.

Birnbaum set his record first, a month into the season. Later in the season, Langon headed across the country to run a fast 1500m. Whether he was gunning for the record specifically or just to run a fast time, he came close to Birnbaum's record, but evidently fell just short. 

Langon's record-breaking attempt came after a heated weekend at Penn Relays, where the two faced each other twice in historic battles.

They first raced the DMR, where Birnbaum barely edged out a dive from Langon to win the title. The following day, they faced off again, in basically a flat-out mile. This time, Villanova and Langon kicked to their own title. 

Coincidentally, the two teams repeated the exact outcome of the 2015 Penn Relays, with Oregon taking the DMR win, with Nova in second, and Nova taking the 4xmile win, with Oregon in second.

After Villanova's win, Birnbaum posted, "See ya in my house in June." And, here we are. It's Simeon's turf. It's June. Let's see who takes the final cake.

NCAA Men's 5,000m Analysis

With both athletes being 1-2 all-time in the 1500m, it was a surprise that Langon opted to just run the 5K. Birnbaum is entered in both the 1500m and the 5000m.

Birnbaum enters the race with a better overall personal best, but only by a couple of seconds. The real test comes down to the way they race and their racing strategy.

Championship races do not care about PR's or all-time lists. They care about winners and losers. And neither athlete has ever won on the National stage.

They both share similarly strong kicks, but Langon comes from a stronger distance background, while Birnbaum has more speed. Langon has consistently fallen short in championship races, but has seen growth this outdoor season in his racing strategy. If he runs a smart race, a win is possible, but for a Langon win, it cannot be left up to a kick. The Langon kick is strong, but the other 23 guys have the same strong kick. Guys like Birnbaum might be tired from other races and will use the sit-and-kick strategy to their advantage, and at that point, it is anyone's game.

24 Person Race

The story is Langon and Birnbaum.  But there are 23 men in his Championship final. One of them is the NCAA record holder, Habtom Samuel. 

Twice, Samuel has broken his own NCAA record in the 5k, which now sits at 12:57.22. Making him the only person in collegiate history to ever go under 13 minutes in the event. But again, this race is not about NCAA records. However, Habtom knows how to race Championship races. Up until this year, he had not known a championship title,  but has seen two this year - one in cross country, and one in indoor. He would have received two titles indoors if not for a disqualification in the 3K, after a move was deemed dirty.

Which leads to the next point. Distance running is a physical sport, and each athlete in this event has proven that they are not afraid to throw elbows. Will this race result in another disqualification, or will everyone play fair and have a clean race?

Nine out of the 23 competitors will be racing in another race before the 5k on Friday evening. Seven of those will be in the 10K, and two in the 1500m. The majority of those names are the biggest competitors in the 5k. With Langon heading in on fresh legs, and his competitors on heavy ones, it could give him the leverage he needs to secure the final missing piece to his arsenal. 

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