2023 Regional Scratch Reactions

The NCAA just released their declared entries (and their declared scratches) for the upcoming Division One East & West Regional Championships. And while there were a good number of entries that were largely unsurprising, there were also a handful of fascinating event decisions.

Let's take a look at some of the more surprising accepted entries / scratches that we just saw come across our computer and phone screens on Wednesday night...

We always knew that this was a possibility. Following a post-race interview from the Sound Running Track Fest, where Katelyn Tuohy noted that she may contest the 1500 meters on the regional and national stages, a new burning question arose among our TSR writing group.

"Could Katelyn Tuohy actually attempt the 1500/5k double at the outdoor national meet?"

Well, sure enough, Tuohy has decided to do just that.

Instead of focusing on just the 5000 meters, the NC State superstar will drop down in distance to the metric mile. She will contest both the 1500 meter prelims and the 1500 meter finals on the regional and the national stages before toeing the line for the 5000 meters.

On paper, Tuohy is undoubtedly the national title favorite in both events...but will she still be favored for NCAA gold over 5000 meters if she's not fresh? It depends on who you ask, but it also depends on how the 5k race at the NCAA Outdoor Championships plays out.

Assuming Tuohy completes the 1500 meter prelims and the finals on the national stage without an issue, her competition may opt to make the 5000 meter final fairly quick early-on. An early and aggressive pace would typically be no issue for someone of Tuohy's caliber, but with a likely-quick 1500 meter race under her legs, the NC State phenom would face a major challenge if someone like Parker Valby or Everlyn Kemboi were to push from the front.

But if Tuohy does win double gold in these events come mid-June, then her ongoing campaign to eventually win The Bowerman Award will grow even stronger -- and maybe insurmountable.

Earlier this season, Northern Arizona freshman Colin Sahlman posted on Instagram, via his photography account, a series of pictures. In those pictures, teammate Drew Bosley was visibly seen on crutches and not participating in any workouts.

That development would largely explain why Bosley hasn't raced since the Stanford Invite in late March when he ran 28:18 for 10,000 meters in what appeared to be an intentionally conservative effort.

The Stride Report reached out for comment regarding Bosley's perceived injury, the magnitude and his recovery timeline, but received no word back.

The NAU superstar, who broke the NCAA record over 3000 meters this past winter in a time of 7:36 and earned a silver medal and a bronze medal at the indoor national meet, was favored to be in the national title conversation yet again come mid-June.

But after seeing the Lumberjack ace in crutches, it was unclear if Bosley would even be toeing the line again for the rest of the season.

Luckily, the recent event declarations show that Bosley has only been scratched from the 5000 meters. He is still expected to contest the 10k at the West Regional Championships next weekend.

Knowing that Bosley will at least be able to toe the line for the regional rounds is encouraging. However, we also don't know what the official status of his health is or what his training has been like. His fitness, as far as we know, is a major unknown.

I'll be honest, I thought there was an error in the initial entry declarations when I first saw this. In my mind, there was no way on planet Earth that Utah Valley star, Everlyn Kemboi, was going to run the 1500 meters, the 5000 meters and the 10,000 meters in a single weekend.

In fact, I thought, "Well, once the coaches reviews are done, we'll see Kemboi drop one of those events, likely the 1500 meters." But nope! I was wrong. Now that the declarations are official, this Wolverine star is actually going to try and race in all three of these events! Or at the very least, that's what it looks like.

And I'll be honest, I'm confused by this decision.

If Kemboi and her coaching staff think that she can actually qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in all three events, then saying that I "disagree" would be an understatement. Truthfully, even if she does qualify for the national meet in all three of those races, then I still don't see how she would benefit from this workload on the national stage.

And who knows, maybe I'm wrong!

In fact, I hope that I am!

But Kemboi, depending on who you ask, may have an outside shot at winning the 10k national title this spring. So why would she jeopardize a spot to the outdoor national meet in that event by running in a 1500 meter prelim less than three hours before then?

And even if things do go well in the 10k, the 5000 meters is clearly (at least in my mind), Kemboi's next-best event. So why would she have three total races, tallying a total of 13,000 meters (assuming she makes the 1500 meter finals), under her legs before racing the 5k?

I feel like I'm missing something.

There's probably some explanation that I'm simply not aware of.

Regardless, none of this to dismiss Kemboi's talent -- she has been having an unbelievable season on the outdoor oval. I'm just not sure if the introduction of the 1500 meters makes a ton of sense given the regional meet schedule and her skillset.

This was another fantastic decision. I love this call from Brian Fay and Coach Andy Powell. This was clearly an entry that was well-thought through.

Given how Fay has run so far this spring, he seems like someone who could realistically contend for a national title in the 10k and/or the 5k. He may not be the first one people choose to win either of those races, but he's at least in the conversation.

The main title contenders in those events this spring are Dylan Jacobs, Charles Hicks, Casey Clinger, Ky Robinson, Victor Kiprop and maybe a few others. But here's the catch: None of those guys will be fresh for the men's 5000 meters.

Kiprop, in fact, scratched out of the 5k entirely.

Sure, Fay may still not be picked by some people to win the 5k national title despite those guys doubling back from the 10k. However, his chances to win NCAA gold have absolutely improved when you know that he'll be the only top contender with fresh legs.

And given the sit-and-kick nature that we've seen in these championship 5k races, the guy with the best finishing speed in this field (Fay) will also have the freshest legs of anyone else.

That, ladies and gentlemen, could alter your predictions for mid-June.

Love it.

I absolutely love this decision.

This was probably the best event entry decision(s) that anyone has made for this year's regional meets. Simone Plourde, in our eyes, is viewed as a legitimate top contender in both the women's 1500 meters and the 5000 meters. In a world without Katelyn Tuohy, we believe that she would have a realistic shot at NCAA gold.

It would have been very easy to make this decision harder than it needed to be, mainly because a lot of focus and thought power was likely on whatever Katelyn Tuohy decides to contest in the postseason.

But for Plourde, this double makes the most sense.

In our eyes, the 1500 meters is the best event for this Utah star. She ran 4:09 for 1500 meters last weekend en route to a PAC-12 title over a loaded field. And with the 1500 meter prelims and finals both coming before the 5000 meters at both the regional and national meets, there was no reason not to do this double.

As long as Plourde got to contest the metric mile with fresh legs, this was a great call.

Sure, she'll have to race a 5k at the West Regional Championships while coming off of the double, but having that extra race in her legs probably won't hurt her too much for the outdoor national meet two weeks later.

This isn't necessarily a stunning or surprising headline, but it does feel like it deserves some attention, especially given the high-profile nature of Colin Sahlman.

This Northern Arizona rookie has been outstanding this spring, throwing down nationally competitive times of 1:46.99 (800), 3:38 (1500) and 13:42 (5k). However, in the end, Sahlman opted to go for the metric mile, the somewhat predictable move.

There could certainly have been arguments for Sahlman to run the 800 meters (the depth in the West region for that event falls off after certain names) or the 5000 meters (he would have had a decent shot of qualify for the national meet if the regional race was tactical).

But the 1500 meters is clearly Sahlman's best event. He likely won't have to bank on these next few races unfolding in a certain way in order for him to have success. The metric mile is also the perfect event when you blend the best aspects of his middle distance speed and long distance endurance.

Well this was quite the surprise, huh?

Stanford's rookie middle distance star, Juliette Whittaker, was phenomenal during the indoor track season. While she did find significant success in the mile, it was her 800 meter prowess, ultimately running 2:00 for that distance en route to a silver medal on the national stage, that caught our attention.

And after running 2:01 to win the 800 meter title at the PAC-12 Championships just this past weekend, it seemed like Whittaker was primed to run that event on the regional and national stages. She was, after all, viewed as a legitimate national title contender/favorite.

But this true freshman, who ran 1:59 for 800 meters while at the prep level, is instead opting to race in the 1500 meters instead of the half-mile.

That, from my perspective, is a stunning decision.

I feel confident that Whittaker can be an All-American in the metric mile come mid-June. Despite her youth, she is still one of the better women in the NCAA over that distance. However, I think it's fair to say that Whittaker likely had a stronger chance of winning the national title over 800 meters this spring than the 1500 meters.

And sure, you could suggest that the Stanford coaching staff may want to more evenly distribute their team points between the two events rather than be consolidated to one event. But even if that was the case, then I would still think that Whittaker has a better chance of ranking in the top-half of the All-American spots over 800 meters than she does over 1500 meters.

Again, I don't think Whittaker is going to run poorly in this event, I just see far more positives and upside associated with the half-mile and than I do in the race that is almost twice as long.

Buckle up, this one's a doozy.

Portland State's Jordan MacIntosh had proven to be one of the top steeplechasers in the West region this spring. He ran 8:39 in the event to finish runner-up at the Stanford Invite and later ran 8:41 over the barriers and water pits at the Payton Jordan Invite.

However, MacIntosh wasn't noted as a scratch nor an accepted entrant in the men's steeplechase during the initial release of the regional declarations. But then, upon the release of the final entries, he was not listed at all.

And just as we were about to publish this article, MacIntosh posted the following on his Instagram page...

In the caption of his post, MacIntosh states, "Due to my school, Portland State, not having fulfilled an NCAA requirement of racing 14 men at 8 track meets during the school year, I have been deemed by the NCAA to be ineligible for the post-season."

So despite being ranked at NCAA #16 in the men's steeplechase this year, and being in the conversation to qualify for the outdoor national meet, MacIntosh will not be racing at all next weekend.

At first glance, this may seem like a surprise.

Both Mercy Chelangat and Hilda Olemomoi are two of the best long distance runners that the NCAA has to offer. To not see them in the 5000 meters, an event that they both earned All-American honors in this past winter, was probably not something that you predicted.

But Alabama has done something similar with some of their top men in the past. Choosing either the 10k or the 5k, instead of doing both races at the regional meet and then the national meet, isn't unusual for the Crimson Tide.

And truthfully, the women's 5k is stacked this year. No major names other than Chelangat and Olemomoi scratched out of this event. Women such as Tuohy, Valby, Kemboi, Venters and Plourde will still toe the line for that race.

The women's 10k, however, is far more wide-open. And if one less 5k race at the East Regional Championships can improve Alabama's chances of having an individual national title winner (again) at this distance, then I don't have too many issues with it.