Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Mar 13, 202114 min
The first day of distance action at the NCAA Indoor Championships is now complete and there is a TON to talk about. Let's break it all down in order of the national meet schedule...
Wow. Just wow.
Coming into this meet, most people considered Cole Hocker and Sam Tanner to be the two men in contention to win the men's mile national title. They had run incredibly fast all season long and were simply dominant against the very best competition.
After the first mile heat, we had no reason to doubt Cole Hocker. Despite only being a sophomore, he beautifully navigated that first prelim, establishing the pace early-on, getting himself out of traffic and cruising through the line, making a 3:56 mile effort look easy.
With all eight men in that first prelim heat running 3:58 or faster, it was unlikely that the second heat was going to produce any finals qualifiers based on time. Naturally, the second heat was incredibly tactical, with the first half of the race coming through in a pedestrian 2:11.
Throughout that second prelim, Sam Tanner, Eliud Kipsang, Adam Fogg, Yusuf Bizimana and (in the latter stages) Lucas Bons jostled for position. Random surges were thrown in and an early kick began from roughly 400 meters out. Tanner continued to put himself in too many positions that weren't conducive to a fast finish.
On the final lap, that group of five began to pull away, but Tanner couldn't find an opening. Meanwhile, Lucas Bons, the BYU runner who Tanner beat just a few weeks ago, swung around the final curve and had just enough momentum to take down the New Zealand star by 0.01 seconds.
Lucas Bons finished 4th. Sam Tanner finished 5th.
The Washington runner failed to make the finals.
This is now a huge development for Cole Hocker. The Huskies' superstar seemed like the lone true threat to Hocker given what he accomplished earlier this season. Now, the 3:50 Oregon miler seems like the overwhelming favorite to take home NCAA gold tomorrow in the mile finals.
I'm going to pat myself on the back a little bit. In our Group Chat preview, I had mentioned how Villanova's Sean Dolan was a key sleeper pick to make it out of the prelims. I explained how guys in his heat like Brown and Suliman didn't have a great history of success at the national meet while other guys like Kusche and Dodd had recently struggled at the BIG 10 Indoor Championships.
Now, funny enough, all of those men actually made it to the finals. However, most of their prelim efforts weren't exactly encouraging, with the exception of Dodd who beautifully timed his move off the final curve and swung himself into an automatic qualifying spot (as well as a new personal best).
And the other name who made a similar move? Sean Dolan.
Throughout that first prelim, the redshirt freshman from Villanova patiently waited in the back of the pack. As moves were made, he responded appropriately, but didn't spend all of his energy on a singular move. He steadily made his way up the pack and ran like a true veteran, ending up with a new personal best of 3:57.
It's a somewhat similar story for Aussie standout Adam Fogg. The Drake miler looked like one of the few men who actually knew how to handle a very tactical (and very odd) mile prelim in heat two. He made a convincing move to stay with the top pack, but seemingly understood that his prelim was going to result in a fast finish, so he hung outside and put himself in a position for an automatic qualifying spot.
Despite not having much collegiate and/or national meet experience, these three men ran beautifully, almost like they had been at the National Championships before.
The first heat of the men's 800 meters held very few surprises. Gomez, Voelz and Hedeilli put themselves at the front of the race and for the most part, they weren't really challenged.
Ackeen Colley put himself in contention in the final 100 meters and was later caught by Bashir Mosavel-Lo, but both of those men ended up qualifying for the finals based on time. Keep an eye on these two as they have been peaking perfectly in the postseason and that was evident in the prelims.
However, Juan Diego Castro, a top seed and potential All-American pick for a few of our writers, didn't get a great start and spent too much energy in the first portion of the race to put himself near the lead group (which ultimately wasn't a great position once he got there). He was quickly swallowed up by the chase pack and ended up not qualifying for the final.
The second heat was a bit more tactical. There were plenty of moves being made, specifically by Finley McLear who fought for positioning throughout the entire race. We've seen excessive moves being made by a few top names in these prelims and that decision has ultimately backfired for a couple of those men. However, McLear handled the tactics, as well as the constant repositioning, fairly well and was able to make it to the 800 meter finals.
Charlie Hunter was the class of the field and he showed that throughout his prelim race. He didn't spend excessive energy trying to get a good start and instead let the race unfold in front of him before making one convincing surge to the front which comfortably gave him a spot to the finals.
As for Cooper Williams, he just never got into the right spot. He tried to make his move in the latter-half of the race, but couldn't properly swing to the outside, nor could he tuck into the rail and follow the leader. With a trio of men already ahead of him, the Indiana veteran was unable to properly make a surge and ended up finishing 4th. With that second heat being more tactical (and therefore slower), the Hoosier star was left out of the finals.
As for Peralta...well, he just didn't look great. He started his race in the second-half of the field and never looked comfortable. He tried to make one move and follow Cooper Williams, but he just wasn't able to build any momentum.
I'd like to give you a 5k recap and talk about some of the positioning and the key moves that we saw in this race...but I can't. That's because Wesley Kiptoo was so far ahead of the field that we couldn't actually see how the rest of the race played out.
The Iowa State superstar made a massive statement on Friday, literally leading the mens' 5k from start to finish. He came through the first mile in 4:06 and by the halfway point, it was almost comical how far ahead of the rest of the field he was.
His final time of 13:23 was a meet record, breaking Lawi Lalang's record of 13:25. Truthfully, I'd like to act surprised and talk about how crazy of a mark that is, but if anyone was going to run faster than Lalang, it was going to be Kiptoo. He is at another level right now and our confidence for him to win the NCAA XC Championships on Monday has only risen.
As for the rest of the field, most of the endurance-heavy distance veterans thrived in this race. Despite Kiptoo putting a massive gap on the field for most of the race, guys like Eric Hamer (2nd) and Morgan Beadlescomb (3rd) actually kept that gap to only a few seconds as both men ran 13:29.
Beadlescomb was peaking at the perfect time of the season (based on his narrow 2nd place finish at the BIG 10 Championships). Meanwhile, Hamer has truly established himself as one of the best overall distance runners in the NCAA with this performance. His consistency in the 5000 meters this season should not be overlooked.
As for everyone else in this field, Widlschutt (4th) tried to stay (somewhat) close to Kiptoo and although he faltered, we still have to give him credit for hanging tough and running 13:30. The FSU standout could've hung back with the chase pack, but he was ok with the aggressive pace and for that, I commend him.
However, Amon Kemboi also tried to go with Kiptoo and that decision ended up hurting him in the long run (no pun intended). He fell off the pace HARD, dropping back 13th place overall with a time of 13:50. That's jut the risk that you assume when you take a chance like that.
Also, how crazy is it that Andrew Jordan (9th) finished his race with a time of 13:33 and didn't even get on the podium? That's absolutely absurd.
This race was filled with plenty of exciting moments, but deep down, I think everyone knew that the Oregon men were going to win this race...and that was exactly what happened.
The 1200 leg was a great race. North Carolina's Thomas Ratcliffe looks like he has returned to top form and ran a very gutsy opening leg, leading Everett Smulders (Ole Miss) and Reed Brown (Oregon) for a good portion of the opening distance until the final two or three laps. However, even when Ratcliffe was passed, he still ran hard and kept the Tar Heels in contention.
However, the battle between Smulders and Brown was what really impressed me.
Tactically speaking, these two ran about as good of an opening leg as anyone can. Smulders looked incredibly smooth throughout his race and his move around Ratcliffe was convincing. However, Brown was the guy doubling back from a 3:58 mile in the prelims less than two hours beforehand. The Oregon Duck eventually put himself in the lead, arguably making him the distance MVP of Friday's national meet (with the possible exception of Kiptoo).
Fast forward to the 800 meter leg and it was UNC leading the way with Allen Siegler. However, by the time the final lap came around, the more experienced middle distance talents like Oregon's Charlie Hunter and Ole Miss' John Rivera took over with relative ease and put their teams in a position to win.
Oregon's Cooper Teare and Ole Miss' Mario Garcia Romo got the batons and were eventually flanked by Texas' Crayton Carrozza and UNC's Brandon Tubby. On paper, that is a lethal group of milers who all have some underrated speed or underrated stamina.
However, slowly but surely, Teare ramped up the pace and only Garcia Romo was able to go with him in the final stages of the anchor leg. Still, no one was beating the Oregon superstar and it was the Ducks getting the win in a near record time of 9:19...without Cole Hocker. Ole Miss finished runner-up in a time of 9:20, running the third-fastest time in collegiate history (which sits behind the two Oregon efforts that we saw this season).
Funny enough, the Rebels ran that fast without their best miler, Waleed Suliman.
As for Texas (3rd) and North Carolina (4th), you've got to give them some props. They were solid through each and every leg while their anchors ended up splitting 3:55. This was a big statement for the Tar Heels who are now in the second year of the Miltenberg era.
As for the Longhorns, they continue to show off super impressive middle distance speed and depth. They ran 9:23 without Yusuf Bizimana, a 3:57 miler who also ran in the prelims. Coach Pete Watson continues to produce underrated results in Austin, Texas.
The first heat of the women's mile prelims was...well, it was pretty unexciting.
Krissy Gear led the race from wire to wire while Katie Rainsberger stayed on her right shoulder. There were a few changes in the pack right behind those two, but the BYU duo of Kate Hunter and Heather Hanson stuck around in 3rd and 4th place for most of the race and were able to hold off their competitors in a tight final finish.
Florida's Imogen Barrett was a name who I was keeping an eye on during this first heat. She tried to make a handful of moves throughout the race, but got a bit unlucky. In certain instances, Lotte Black held her off from swinging outside and moving up. In other instances, the pack began to surge right when Barrett was trying to make a move of her own.
Speaking of Lotte Black, she also didn't have her best race. She is a highly experienced veteran who earned All-American honors in a loaded 1500 meter field during the 2019 Outdoor National Championships. Seeing her not get out of the prelims is fairly surprising as the Rhode Island standout just didn't have enough momentum to close with the rest of the field.
I'd like to say that this was a tactical race, but it's not like there were a ton of moves or even a ton of changes despite the somewhat slower pace (Gear won her heat in 4:40). The second heat, however, was a bit more unique and it certainly had a lot more tactics despite the overall field running faster.
The Arkansas trio of Kennedy Thomson, Gracie Hyde and Isabel Van Camp took over the pacing duties in the first half of the race along with Colorado's Sage Hurta. Truthfully, it looked like the Razorbacks were trying to dictate the pace and control the field from the front. With three women in an eight-person field, that didn't feel like a terrible decision.
However, with 400 meters to go, Hurta broke the race wide open and Oregon's Aneta Konieczek went with her. This left the Arkansas women in a sudden scramble to make up ground while other women like Kaley Richards and Allie Guagenti were smart about conserving their energy until the final moments of the race.
In the end, Hurta, Richards, Konieczek and Guagenti advanced to the finals as automatic qualifiers. However, since their prelim was fast enough, the Arkansas duo of Kennedy Thomson and Gracie Hyde were able to earn at-large qualifying bids and will be advancing to the finals.
Generally speaking, neither race held a ton of surprises. With the exception of Lotte Black and maybe Imogen Barrett, both of these prelims went largely as we expected.
That said, I was super impressed by Kaley Richards. She has shown sign of peaking over the last month of competition, has been in the mix with top names coming into this race (i.e. Lotte Black) and just displayed excellent championship tactics despite never being on the national stage before.
If something crazy happens where Hurta and Gear don't win the national title, then Richards could be the one who pulls off the wild upset.
The first heat of the 800 meters was an exciting one. Miami's Kayla Johnson took the early lead, but the pack quickly came back to her by the second lap as Lindsey Butler helped bridge the gap between Johnson and the rest of the field.
With a handful of women in the mix, it was all about positioning in the final moments of the race. Florida's Gabrielle Wilkinson was comfortably ahead of the rest of the field while Butler, Aaliyah Miller and Sarah Hendrick all crossed the line with just 0.08 seconds separating them. Luckily for Hendrick, her time ended up being fast enough to advance her to the finals despite the second heat showing faster overall times at the top of their field.
The second heat was somewhat straightforward. Clemson's Andrea Foster led the way initially, but around halfway through the race, she was quickly overtaken by teammate Laurie Barton as well as BYU's recent breakout star Claire Seymour.
That group was chased by Arkansas' Shafiqua Maloney and Villanova's McKenna Keegan who rapidly strung out the rest of the field in what felt like just a few brief moments. The increased tempo by Barton and Seymour led to this heat being noticeably faster than the first prelim, at least for the top names.
In the end, Seymour and Barton earned automatic qualifying spot to the finals while Maloney barely edged Keegan in the final moments of the race. That, however, wouldn't matter much as Keegan would ultimately qualify on time.
I can't help but be impressed by Seymour. Her recent 2:02 breakout performance from a weeks back came out of nowhere and I truthfully wasn't sure how she was going to handle an elite field which required a heavy uses of tactics. However, the BYU runner responded well to the moves made by the leaders and comfortably put herself in a position to advance to the finals.
Also, don't sleep on Keegan. The Villanova veteran is highly experienced and has been putting together some of her best performances over the past few weeks. She essentially just guaranteed herself an All-American honor by qualifying for the finals.
Were there any surprise absences from the women's 800 meter finals? On paper, not really. Andrea Foster was probably viewed by many as a potential contender to make it into the finals, but for the most part, the best overall seeds will be fighting for All-American spots on Saturday.
Welp...that was interesting.
Don't let the 15:48.98 winning time fool you, that women's 5000 meters was beyond tactical. Auburn's Joyce Kimeli led the way early-on, but the pace was far from fast. In fact, there were even certain points in the first half of the race where it looked like Kimeli was imploring Grace Forbes to take the lead, moving out to lane two on a few occasions.
Eventually, Forbes took the bait, but only for a little while until Kemeli was eventually forced back to the front. Then, a few laps later, Arkansas' Katie Izzo took over the lead, seemingly increasing the pace in an effort to make things honest. That, however, lasted for only a short while as Izzo appeared to suddenly (and purposely) hold back. She was then was swallowed back into the chase pack in what appeared to be an intentional move.
At this point, the main pack of contenders featured about 10 women and no one really wanted to take the lead. So, just like the first half of the race, Kimeli went back to the front. Although there were plenty of changes and moves behind her, the Auburn ace was able to put herself in a position where her finishing speed was enough to fend off a hard-charging Elly Henes and a late-surging Bethany Hasz in the final moments.
And Katie Izzo? Well, her decision to fall back into the pack ended up being a head scratching tactic. Instead of being in a better position to win the national title, she instead fell back to 9th place overall, finishing outside of the podium.
Of course, it's hard to fault Izzo for trying a different approach. She did, after all, do all of the work at the SEC Championships and got kicked-down by Kimeli in that race. It was understandable why shouldn't want that to happen again, but her decision ended up hurting her more than helping her.
Overall, this will probably go down as one of the weirdest races of the weekend. There were a bunch of odd moves and very surprising tactical decisions. Ironically, the runner who seemingly didn't want to lead ultimately had to do just that for the most of the race and she was rewarded with a national title.
Despite what the top seeds may have said, this race was primed to be between BYU and Arkansas, two of the best distance programs in the NCAA this year (and most years).
The 1200 meter leg was an impressive showing of strength and speed by Lauren Gregory. She was flanked by BYU's Olivia Hoj for most of her leg until Gregory simply put in a burst of speed and separated herself from the rest of the field.
Gregory's move was a convincing one, leaving Hoj in a "no man's land" of sorts before getting caught by Florida's Gabrielle Wilkinson who had a great double after racing in the women's 800 meter prelims.
However, the lead established by Gregory would eventually disappear over the middle distance legs. With no Shafiqua Maloney nor Kennedy Thomson on the 800 leg, BYU's 400 meter and 800 meter pieces (which featured the Ellsworth sisters) were able to cover the gap and hand off the baton to their anchor leg tied with Arkansas.
The final leg came down to BYU's Courtney Wayment and Arkansas' Krissy Gear. In theory, this would be a thrilling matchup, but it's important to remember that Gear raced in the mile prelims earlier in the day. With Wayment completely fresh and owning an NCAA-leading personal best of 4:30 in the mile, it wasn't a total shock to see her put in a hard move and completely separate herself from the field.
In the end, the Cougars took home the national title in convincing fashion. Meanwhile, the chase pack behind Gear made up a little bit of ground, but the Arkansas star was essentially racing no one else for 2nd place.
Honestly, I can't help but think about how this race shapes the conversation of "best distance program in the NCAA" this winter. Arkansas has had a little more depth across all distance events, but between the two teams, BYU has the better 800 meter runner, the better miler and the better 3k runner (even if you take out Wayment) based solely on times.
As for the rest of this race, we saw a tight trio of anchors from Florida State (Skyring), Alabama (Tyynismaa) and Oklahoma State (Roe) take spots 3-4-5, in that order. However, with one of Alabama's middle distance legs not getting off the track in time and colliding with another runner, the Crimson Tide were disqualified. It's unfortunate anytime an athlete or relay is DQ'd, but even more so in this case when you consider that sophomore Amaris Tyynismaa split the fastest time in the field with a 4:31.
However, Alabama wasn't the only relay that was disqualified. According to the results, the Washington women were also disqualified, although their social media suggests otherwise.