MPSF Preview

The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships features some of the best male and females runners in the country with distance powerhouses such as BYU, Colorado, Oregon, and Stanford all conjugating at Dempsey for a weekend of spectacular racing. The meet features a plethora of other athletes with potential to earn their trip this weekend (along with many who are already qualified). This is a must-watch meet for any track fan.

The 800m is arguable the “weakest” distance event at the meet which speaks to the depth of competition given Isaiah Jewett of USC is currently ranked #4 in the NCAA with a mark of 1:46.60 (@). The junior ran that time at the historic Texas Tech Classic this season which produced an NCAA American record and five of the top seven marks this season. Given that Blake Haney of Oregon is seeded second with a mark of 1:49.60, this race is Jewett’s to lose. This race should be entirely championship focused as no one besides Jewett appears capable of making NCAA's in the 800 this season.

Another event that appears to be championship oriented is the mile. While eight of the top 20 marks in the NCAA come from MPSF athletes, none of these eight are entered in the mile this weekend. Of that group, six are qualified for the national meet in the mile with only Cooper Teare of Oregon and Alex Ostberg of Stanford sitting outside the top 16. However, both of these men already have qualifying marks in the 3000 and appear to be focused there rather than try the double at NCAA's.

With most of the top-talent sitting this one out, the stage is set for William Paulson of Arizona State to earn his first MPSF title. Paulson broke 4:00 for the first time this season, running 3:59.94 at the UW Invitational back in January. The Princeton transfer has only raced twice since then - a 4:08 mile at Camel City and a 7:58 3K at Iowa State. He is the only man in the field to break the 4:00 barrier this season, but should face strong competition from a group of men looking to break that mark, led by Talem Franco of BYU.

Franco has made big jumps this indoor season, cutting down his personal best for the distance from 4:03 to 4:01. With the progression, it is certainly possible that he breaks the 4:00 barrier this weekend if the race goes out at the right pace. Behind Franco, both Paul Ryan of Washington State and Marcus Dickson of BYU have also broken 4:04 and should provide a strong challenging contingent for William Paulson.

The 3000 is where things begin to get interesting. The race is headlined by the likes of Joe Klecker of Colorado (#4), Cooper Teare (#7), and Alex Ostberg (#9), along with a group who will be chasing the qualifying mark of 7:52.69 which is held by James Sugira of Eastern Kentucky. Klecker will be the favorite coming into the race after running a personal best of 7:48.32 (@) at the Colorado Invitational. Two years ago, he finished 4th at NCAA's for this event and will be looking to earn his first MPSF title over the distance this weekend.

The bigger storyline in the event might be the group of runners chasing a qualifying mark this weekend. Conner Mantz, Rory Linkletter (both of BYU), and Steven Fahy of Stanford are all on the outside looking in right now. Of the three, only Mantz has run a 3K this season, posting a mark of 7:53.32 which currently sits at #18. Both Linkletter and Fahy will be making their season debut at the distance and both would need personal bests this weekend if they hope to qualify. That is certainly a possibility given the talent in this field.

With Mantz and Linkletter being teammates, the pair could easily opt to work together and chase a fast time, knowing that this is their last chance to do so. If the two can pull it off, BYU would have four men (along with Clayton Young and Connor McMillan) qualified in the event. That would be 25% of the NCAA field in the 3K from a single school...crazy. Of course, that is only if they can actually pull of the feat which is no small task given the current qualifying mark.

This race should be a fast one and likely one of the most exciting events of any competition this weekend. With five men capable of running near the 7:50 mark, the conference title could go to any one of these men.

With most of the top runners focused on the 3000, the 5000 meters lacks the same front-end talent, but features an incredibly deep field. The race has 17 men who have run under 14:15 this season, headlined by Robert Brandt of UCLA who currently sits #12 in the NCAA with a 13:40 season best.

Brandt is the odds-on favorite to win the race as he comes in with a mark 12 seconds faster than anyone else in the field has run this season. Steven Fahy will be making his indoor debut at the distance and has run 13:44 indoors. His Stanford teammate Alek Parsons is coming off a personal best of 13:58 from Husky and should also be in contention. Both Stanford men would need big showings to come close to qualification as the #16 time is currently 13:42 held by Rory Linkletter.

It would be surprising to see anyone new qualify from this race given Brandt is the only one who has run a qualifying mark and will have no incentive to chase a fast time this weekend. Unless Fahy and Parsons take it from the start, expect Brandt to come away with the win in this one.

If you have a chance to watch one event besides the 3000, make it the DMR. Currently, both Washington (#8) and Stanford (#12) are slated to compete at NCAA's, with BYU (#13) and UCLA (#16) close behind.

Stanford has changed up their lineup from the last time they ran this event and will come into the weekend as the favorite. Their roster includes Alex Ostberg and Isaac Cortes, along with the NCAA 3K leader Grant Fisher. Last time they ran this event, Fisher split a 3:55 on the mile to anchor his team to a mark of 9:29.35. The team is currently ranked #12 in the NCAA which makes them the last team in and should move up in the rankings this weekend with their new lineup.

Washington’s spot should be secured given that they are currently #8, but they also have upped their lineup by adding Talon Hull to the group. The Huskies should provide good competition for Stanford and will have a fresh Mick Stanovsek on the 1600 leg to battle with Fisher.

Behind these two, BYU and UCLA will be chasing qualifying marks after falling just short last weekend. BYU has the better chance given that they currently sit at #13 and will be running the same group from last weekend’s Alex Wilson Invitational. Their time of 9:30.14 is less than a second back of #9 Illinois which means if they can make even a slight improvement, they should be headed to NCAA's. With both Stanford and Washington likely looking for fast times, this is the perfect setup for BYU. Even finishing 3rd at MPSF gives them a strong chance to make NCAA's, so time will likely be the emphasis over finishing place.

The MPSF Indoor Track Championship takes place this weekend and features some of the top teams from the western United States including Colorado, Stanford and Oregon. Over the years, this meet has become a key last chance opportunity for athletes to qualify for the NCAA championships due to it being hosted at an oversized track along with deep competition.

This year looks like it will be more of the same - currently 12 runners from the MPSF hold one of the last qualifying spots in their respective event and another eight are on the bubble of making NCAA's. Here are some of the biggest storylines going into this weekend’s conference action...

The mile has the most athletes on the qualifying fence. Below are the current NCAA rankings...

IN

12. Tabor Scholl (4:34.98)

13. Katie Rainsberger (4:35.15)

14. Susan Ejore (4:35.57)

OUT - Assuming no scratches

19. Whittni Orton (4:36.14)

21. Taryn Rawlings (4:36.92)

22. Erica Birk (4:36.95)

23. Allie Schadler (4:37.12)

As it stands now, four of these women will not make NCAA's if there are no scratches. We are currently projecting Weini Kelati (New Mexico), Nicole Hutchinson (Villanova), Alicia Monson (Wisconsin), and Allie Ostrander (Boise State) to scratch the mile, which would make Whittni Orton the second to last runner to qualify for Nationals.

Still, there are numerous runner aiming for a time behind Orton, so her qualifying spot isn't safe. She is currently slated to race the 800 this weekend which should serve as a speed tune-up for the 1200 leg of the DMR, an event in which BYU is currently ranked #4. Orton is guaranteed a trip to NCAA's as a member of this team and looks like she will be focused solely on that rather than make one last attempt in the mile to guarantee a spot individually.

Of the remaining women, all but Rainsberger are entered in the mile this weekend. Erica Birk of BYU is currently ranked #9 in the 3000 and is also a member of BYU’s DMR team, so even if she were to qualify in the mile, she would likely scratch the event. Similarly, Rainsberger also has qualifying marks in both the DMR and 3K and will be racing only the 3K this weekend.

That leaves Scholl, Rawlings, Ejore, and Schadler left to fight for the last spots. Scholl and Ejore both already have qualifiers and barring any crazy scenarios across the country this weekend, both should feel relatively safe with their marks knowing that a couple women will likely scratch.

As for Rawlings and Schadler, MPSF is historically a fast meet which gives them a decent chance at qualifying this weekend. The one thing that hurts them is that all of the women seeded ahead of them already have NCAA qualifiers and likely will not want to push the pace in lieu of bumping themselves out of qualification.

With Ejore looking to focus on the mile and DMR, it is likely that she opts out of the 800 (currently #13) which opens up at least one more spot in the event. That one spot could be on the line this weekend when Jemima Russell and Alyssa Brewer of USC toe the line.

Russell currently holds the last qualifying spot as she sits at #16 with a time of 2:05.90. Only three spots behind her is teammate Alyssa Brewer who has run 2:06.12 this year. As it stands, Brewer does not make the meet, but could be the beneficiary of a number of scratches by women ahead of her.

It is unlikely that Danae Rivers, Rachel Pocratsky, or Susan Ejore choose to double the mile and 800 which means Brewer would qualify for NCAA's. That said, her current standing leaves no room for error and she would be better off trying to better her mark this weekend, knowing that others around the country will be trying to do the same.

The darkhorse of the field will be Lauren Ellsworth of BYU. Coming off a three second personal-best at the Iowa State Classic, Ellsworth has run 2:07 this season and would need at least another second faster if she wants to qualify for NCAA's. The sophomore has been consistently improving this season and will be one to watch this weekend.

Moving into the true distance races, the 3000 features five women who have qualifying marks, including Jessica Hull of Oregon who currently sits at #2 in the NCAA. Hull may be going for the triple-crown this weekend as she is entered in the mile, 3000, and DMR. While it may seem like a big workload, there is a strong chance Hull will race all three events at NCAA's if Oregon can grab a qualifying mark in the DMR.

Katie Rainsberger and Lilli Burdon of Washington are the 2-3 seeds in the race despite Burdon having yet to race the 3K this season. Outside of the DMR, this will be Burdon’s only real chance to qualify for Nationals and she will need help from Hull and Rainsberger to set a hot pace. Burdon owns a personal best of 8:59, but has yet to run anything near her personal best in the mile this season which could be reason for concern heading into this weekend. Even if she can post a fast mark, there will be plenty of women in the race also looking to cement their status as national qualifiers.

Makena Morley (Colorado), Abbie McNulty (Stanford) and Tabor Scholl (Colorado) are currently set to run at NCAAs. It is not likely anyone ahead of them will scratch which means that Scholl (currently #16) is right on the edge of qualifying. The good news is she already has a qualifying mark in the mile. The bad news is both Kaitlyn Benner (#19) and Isobel Batt-Doyle (#24) will be chasing her for that last spot.

Benner is one of Scholl’s teammates at Colorado, so it would not surprise us if Scholl scratched the mile to make room for Benner in the 3K. The only time Benner has run at the Indoor NCAA Championships was back in 2016 when she finished 8th in the 3K. She would need to improve by roughly 1.5 seconds (running a 9:07) which would better her personal best set two weeks ago at Husky.

As far as the race itself, Hull is the clear favorite and should win regardless of the pace goes out. She has the fastest personal best in the field and the fastest closing speed, giving her the advantage regardless of tactics.

The one event which likely will not produce any NCAA qualifiers is the 5000. Top-seeded Philippia Bowden of Oregon comes in with a mark of 15:52, roughly ten seconds back of qualifying. Her teammate Weronika Pyzik is seeded behind her with a 16:05 and the competition steadily drops off after her. The race will likely turn tactical given the nature of championship settings, but given that Bowden and Pyzik have the best marks in the field by over 12 seconds, it should be their race to lose.

The distance medley relay is the only true distance team event and there is a chance we see two teams chase qualifying marks this weekend. The top two seeds of BYU and Washington already have NCAA qualifiers and are not fielding their top rosters. Behind them, Stanford (#14) and Oregon (#22) could be making a big push to sneak into the national meet.

Stanford is running almost the same group from when they ran 11:04 at Alex Wilson last weekend. The only change appears to be Ella Donaghu replacing Jessica Lawson, presumably on the 1600 leg. Donaghu has run 4:43 for the mile this season compared to Lawson’s best of 4:46. An improvement of three seconds would be enough to move Stanford into qualifying position - assuming everyone else runs to their potential.

Oregon has only raced the DMR once this season when they ran 11:17 at the Arkansas Invitational back on January 25th. The team looks to be going all-in this weekend with Susan Ejore and Jessica Hull both entered in the event. The final qualifying spot could very well come down to a head-to-head matchup between Stanford and Oregon, in which case we like the Ducks chances. Hull has looked phenomenal all season and Donaghu’s mile best is nowhere near what Hull has run. For both teams to qualify (assuming no one in the NCAA runs faster this weekend), the pair would both have to break 11:00 which would then bump out MPSF rivals Washington from their current #11 ranking.