2021 NCAA Indoor Scratch Reactions

Scratches and declarations for the NCAA Indoor Championships have been released and my goodness is there a lot to talk about. Below, we highlighted some of the more interesting event decisions and opted to take a further look into why some athletes and their coaching staffs opted to go in a certain direction.

NOTE: Coaches will review these entries to validate or note any discrepancies. Having an "A" next to someone's name denotes that they will be considered for the national meet and essentially indicates that an athlete intends to run that event. Having an "S" next to someone's name means that the athlete is expected to be scratched out of that event. Athletes have until 3/7 to declare a medical scratch. Full details can be found on page 10 of this championship manual.

The Texas A&M freshman just made history by smashing the collegiate record in the 800 meters with a mind-boggling time of 1:58.40 at the SEC Indoor Championships. That was also a U20 World Record. However, the Aggie star has instead opted to focus on the 400 meters and the 4x400 meters for this year's NCAA Indoor Championships.

From a logistical standpoint, that decision makes sense. There's only 30 minutes of rest between the 400 meter prelims and the 800 meter prelims and only 20 minutes of rest between the 400 meter finals and the 800 meter finals.

With the 4x400 at the end of the national meet, it more sense for Mu to scratch out of the half-mile and to pursue the quarter-mile event. She would have more rest between the 400 and the 4x400 than she did if she tried the 800 and 4x400 double (we're also assuming that she's running this relay).

Still, it does feel a bit crazy that Mu scratched out of the 800 meters. She had so much success in just two 800 meter races this season and no one felt like a bigger guarantee to win NCAA gold than Mu did at that distance.

There's still a very good chance that Mu walks away with two gold medals later this month, but it is a bit hard to fathom her not choosing to run the half-mile after such a legendary performance.

There are so many thoughts racing through my brain here, but I don't think anyone suspected that Teare was going to scratch out of the mile. Running 3:50 in the mile and dominating his competition alongside Hocker all season long made it seem like the mile was his best race and that he would pursue the event at the indoor national meet.

But honestly, I think this was a great call.

Instead of racing the mile, it looks like Teare will pursue the 3000 meters and probably the DMR as well. This means that he'll only have one race under his legs from Friday and go into Saturday as someone who is probably the most dangerous threat to take home the NCAA title in the 3000 meters, especially with Mantz and Kiptoo scratching out of the event.

Teare scratching out of the mile will actually allow the Oregon men to maximize their point scoring opportunities in the mile. In theory, it will give Cole Hocker one less name to beat in that event.

Speaking of which, let's talk about the Oregon sophomore. Despite his youth, it looks like Hocker is going to be attempting the mile/3k double. With a mile prelim on Friday and then the mile finals and the 3k finals on Saturday, does this mean that Hocker won't be racing in the DMR?

That's my hunch as the DMR/Mile/3k triple for a sophomore, no matter how good he is, seems awfully aggressive. It can be done, but it's not easy.

Finally, let's chat about Charlie Hunter. He also scratched out of the mile despite owning a 3:53 mile PR from earlier this season. However, his NCAA-leading time of 1:45 for 800 meters made the most sense for him to pursue. He's one less guy who Hocker has to beat in the mile and it allows Oregon to maximize their points across a variety of events, even if Hunter doesn't win the 800 meters.

However, this does lead me to believe that Hunter will be part of the Ducks' DMR. In that situation, I would imagine that the Aussie ace will double back from the 800 meter prelims and attempt to run the 1200 meter leg of the distance medley relay which would likely be anchored by Teare.

Yes, Hocker could run on that DMR, but with Charlie Hunter and a fresh Cooper Teare on that re;ay, I imagine that Hocker's services won't be necessary.

My goodness is there a lot to talk about in this event. Six of the top-eight seeds in the women's mile all scratched out of the event. And truthfully, I'm a bit shocked.

BYU's Courtney Wayment was the top seed in the women's mile with her recent mark of 4:30, but I imagine that racing duties in the DMR likely incentivized her to opt for the 3000 meters. I personally think that her chances or winning the 3k national title or the mile national title were about the same, so I can understand this decision to scratch out of the mile.

Katie Izzo and Lauren Gregory both scratching from this event also makes sense as the 5k and 3k will be the focus for Izzo, while the 3k and probably the DMR will be the focus for Gregory (she surprisingly scratched out of the 5000 meters).

However, seeing Allie Schadler, Amaris Tyynismaa, Olivia Hoj and Maudie Skyring scratching out of the women's mile for the 3000 meters was a bit tough to process. I understand that the DMR is emphasized for a lot of these teams, but those four women (with the possible exception of Hoj) were probably better suited for the mile given their recent successes and rising momentum.

There were roughly five to six women who could have been in contention to win the mile national title. Now, by my count, there are two.

When you consider the scratches that we saw in both the 800 meters and the mile, I think Hurta ended up making the best decision of any distance runner.

Yes, Athing Mu did scratch out of the 800 meters and that effectively leave's the women's half-mile national title open for the taking. However, a handful of middle distance specialists have made tremendous improvements in that event over the last few weeks. The top-heaviness of that women's 800 field would have been difficult to navigate.

A similar argument could be made for the women's mile, although six of the top eight seeds in that event also decided to scratch in favor of other races. So, as a result, Hurta is now the national title favorite based on seed time.

The Colorado star will still need to battle the likes of Krissy Gear, but compared to facing Laurie Barton, Lindsey Butler, Gabrielle Wilkinson, Aaliyah Miller, Claire Seymour, Shafiqua Maloney and a few others, the mile seems like the best path to NCAA gold for Hurta.

With two national meets nearly overlapping each other, it's no surprise that we're seeing a handful of elite distance runners opting out of the indoor national meet to focus on the NCAA XC Championships which is set to take place just a few days later.

The BYU trio of Conner Mantz, Casey Clinger and Brandon Garnica completely scratched out of the 5000 meters (Mantz also scratched out of the 3000 meters) to pursue their team goals in cross country. While that was likely a disappointing decision to make, Coach Ed Eyestone made the right call given the fact that the Cougars are trying to defend their cross country national title from 2019.

The Oklahoma State men appear to also be going all-in for cross country after they scratched Isai Rodriguez from the 5000 meters and freshman Ryan Schoppe from the 3000 meters.

However, what a lot of programs have opted to do is let their athlete(s) run in the 5000 meters on Friday and then scratch them from the 3000 meters if they were also qualified in that event.

That exact scenario can be applied to top-tier names such as Hannah Steelman (NC State), Adriaan Wildschutt (Florida State), Wesley Kiptoo (Iowa State), Grace Forbes (Rice) and Bethany Hasz (Minnesota).

Truthfully, I thought the closeness of the NCAA XC Championships would result in more scratches when it came to the 3000 meters and 5000 meters, but the impact hasn't been as widespread as we thought it potentially could have been.

NOTE: We previously mentioned that Yusuf Bizimana was going to be entered in the mile and 800 at the indoor national meet. However, due to a discrepancy, it turns out that the Texas freshman will only be running in the mile (not the 800). We have since removed our analysis regarding his declaration(s).

I'm going to quickly highlight a few entry decisions that we haven't already discussed and give my thoughts on whether I agree or disagree with the scratch (or the non-scratch in a few instances).

NOTE: A lot of this analysis also assumes that athletes who scratched from certain events will pursue the DMR. That, however, is only speculation.

Lauren Gregory was going to be a top seed in the mile, 3000 meters and 5000 meters, but scratched out of the mile and the 5k to put her individual focus on only the 3k. This also indicates that she will likely be running in the DMR.

As for Thomson, the middle distance specialist will be entered in both the mile and the 800 meters...and I'm not sure if I agree with that decision. Despite how highly I view her as a talent, I'm not convinced that Thomson is a favorite to be an All-American in either distance.

Her focusing on one race and then contributing to the DMR would have probably been ideal, but I'm not sure that's going to be a reality now that she'll have to race two prelims on Friday.

So does that mean that Gear will be doubling back in the mile and Maloney will be doubling back in the 800 meters to race in the DMR? Or will the Razorbacks enter other women like Gracie Hyde to fill in spots for this relay?

That latter suggestion would be a little surprising when you consider that Gregory appears to be sacrificing individual glory in the 5000 meters to potentially help out this relay (but that's only a hunch).

I don't love this idea. I know that North Carolina is ranked at NCAA #7 in the DMR, but there is still a realistic chance that the Tar Heels fall out of All-American contention even with Tubby on this relay.

The 3:57 miler from UNC doesn't have any other races to enter, so why not let him race the mile prelims and double in the DMR? North Carolina still has a capable runner in Thomas Ratcliffe who just ran 3:59 and there are a handful of accomplished milers on this roster who could at least hold their own (i.e. Allen Siegler or Conor Lundy).

*Smulders scratched out the 800 meters, but wouldn't have qualified even if he didn't scratch.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Smulders would have qualified for the mile had he not scratched, so it seems likely that he's going all-in for the DMR. The same could be said about teammate Mario Garcia Romo, but he has the 3000 meters the next day, so he's not giving up individual glory.

It's nice to have someone like Smulders totally fresh for this DMR, but Waleed Suliman is going to presumably be doubling back from the mile prelims to contribute to this relay. Of course, Suliman is a 3:55 miler who could be in contention for a top finish, so that makes sense.

Overall, I can't decide if I like this move or not. I don't think it dramatically changes either the men's race or the men's DMR, but it's not often that you see someone going all-in for a relay when they don't have open races to pursue the following day.

This was an easy decision. Even with the mile seeing a handful of scratches, the 5k/3k is the most realistic distance double to pull off at the national meet with the potential exception of the DMR/3k double.

Johnsen doesn't have one event that is dramatically better than the other and his 3:57 mile speed should give him an edge in the 5000 meters if that race turns out to be tactical.

The BYU runner isn't qualified in any other event, so it only makes sense that she scratched the women's 800 meters to go all-in for the DMR. And in my opinion, that was an excellent move.

The Cougars have a legitimate chance to win a national title in this relay. Wayment has just as good of a chance of winning the 3k national title as she did to win the mile national title, so it made the most sense for her to pursue the 3k and be fresh for the DMR.

While we could certainly argue about what Hoj could have / should have run, I think Ellsworth opting out of the 800 meters was the best choice. She was only barely going to qualify for the event and in a top-heavy field, I think her best chance of being an All-American (and maybe a national champion) was going to be on this relay.

The Texas Tech star had a lot on his plate at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships, winning the 1000 meter conference title and finishing 2nd to Bizimana in the mile. However, after that mile performance, I think his best best for national meet success was in the 800 meters.

If the Red Raiders wanted to have Hedeilli for the DMR, then he was going to have to scratch out of either the mile or the 800 meters. While it would have been easy to suggest that the mile, since that would give him more rest between events, I think Hedeilli could have a minor "off" day in the 800 meters and still finish somewhere along 5th or 6th in the finals.