Brian Dengler
Jan 10, 20204 min
Let's be honest with each other. Things have been slow these past few weeks as athletes venture back from their winter breaks. It feels like we have found a way to preview the entirety of the indoor track season 76 different ways.
Luckily for us, track is back!
This weekend will be the first legitimate weekend of action throughout the country. While we likely won't see any big-name stars or national qualifying times, there will be plenty of performances to keep an eye on.
Penn State's Nittany Lion Challenge will be hosted in State College this weekend, and although this will likely turn into a Georgetown vs Penn State vs Army tri meet, there are still notable entries to keep an eye on (even with top names like Danae Rivers and Domenic Perretta not listed in the entries). Here is what you need to watch for...
One of the more underrated distance runners in the NCAA this year has to be Georgetown's Nicholas Wareham who owns PR's of 4:01 (mile) and 8:08 (3k). Those marks are plenty strong, but after splitting well under the four minute barrier on Georgetown's DMR at the Indoor National Championships last year, it's safe to say that his potential in 2020 is through the roof.
There's a good chance that Wareham - who is currently entered in the 800 meters and 3000 meters for this weekend - simply scratches out of one of these events, the most likely being the 800 meters. According to TFRRS, Wareham has never run an open 800 during his collegiate career.
Meanwhile, the field for the 3000 meters seems to be relatively respectable. We will see a few vital pieces of Georgetown's distance squad in this event, such as Jack Van Scoter, Spencer Brown, and Matthew Bouthillette. All three of those athletes have strong mile PR's under 4:10 (with Brown owning a PR of 3:59 for the mile). Each of them also have 3000 meter personal bests around the 8:10 to 8:16 range, so this may be territory for a new PR.
Former Georgetown alum Johnathan Green - who built his reputation with stellar cross country and long distance performances during his collegiate career - will also be competing under Saucony's banner. He will be racing in the mile earlier, so it will be interesting to see how he impacts the 3k. Will he just be there for pacing duties?
The fast section of the men's mile will feature seven athletes. It is unlikely that we will see a fast pace this early in the season, and this race will probably be treated more as a rust-buster.
Robby Creese leads the field as an unattached Penn State alum who hold a 3:57 mile PR. Jack Van Scoter will be fresh for this event and holds a 4:05 PR. Last year's men's mile was won in 4:07 with five athletes within two seconds of each other. Look for nothing faster than 4:05 as far as a winning time goes (the winner will likely finish around 4:09 to 4:10).
The 800 meters features three Georgetown, four Army, and four St. Joe's runners. It will be interesting to see how fast Wareham can run in an off event given that he is typically considered a miler who can step up in distance.
As mentioned earlier, Wareham hasn't run an official 800 meter race since high school, so the question lingers...what should we expect out of a 4:01 miler at half the distance? The rest of the field is crowded with 1:52 to 1:55 talent, so look for a winning time close to 1:52 or 1:53.
Last year's race was won in 1:51 by Robby Andrews, but we won't see that kind of firepower in this race. Expect it to be somewhat tactical.
Penn State's Billy McDevitt will go head-to-head with Army's Keagan Smith. Both men are respectable middle distance talents who have found a decent amount of success in the 800 and 1500 meters. With the exception of the 1500 meters (where Smith owns a PR of 3:45), McDevitt has the edge as far as resumes go with personal bests of 1:50 (800), 2:25 (1000), and 4:05 (mile). With these two on the line and Penn State alum Robby Creese also in the entries, this race could end up being very fast.
This field is composed of strong runners with Margie Cullen (9:30 PR), Anna Shields (9:39 PR), and Alie Fordyce (4:23, 1500 PR) all expected to toe the line. Shields won the event in 2019 with a time of 9:39, a mark that is currently her personal best.
On paper, Cullen is the favorite, but after running the mile earlier in the day, it wouldn't be shocking to see women who have fresher legs pull away. If Cullen was fully rested, this would be her race to lose, but a double should prove to be difficult.
Margie Cullen shows up as the odds-on favorite to win the mile. Boasting a PR of 4:46 in the full mile and 4:24 in the 1500 meters, Cullen should be able to win this race. The rest of the field is composed of athletes hovering in the low to high 4:50's.
Cullen's biggest competition comes from the Penn State duo of Julia Guerra and Natasha Fedkina who not only have home-track advantage, but also respectable personal bests to their name.
The women's 800 meters is composed of seven athletes with four of them representing Army West Point. Anna Tovkach leads the charge for the Knights with a PR of 2:09 which is the class of the field. Not far behind her are teammates Haley Watson and Hannah Deines who own personal bests of 2:11 and 2:12.
Expect a finishing time close 2:12 with the Army women dominating most of the race.
It looks like this meet will mainly be a rust-buster for most of the athletes competing. Don't expect a ton of fast times as there appears to be a good amount of doubling and racing in off events as far as the distance races go. It wouldn't be too shocking to see a fast time in the 3000 meters or 1000 meters, but other than that, expect earlier-season type times.