One Sentence Previews: 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships Women's 800 Meters (D3)

Additional contributions by Garrett Zatlin

NOTE: Athletes are listed in order of their seed position. Final predictions are at the bottom.

Seeland is once again the overwhelmingly heavy favorite and it will take a herculean effort to upset her for gold.

The fact that Kearney is doubling back from the 1500 meters damages her title chances (which are slim for anyone given how good Seeland is), but she is one of the best all-around talents in the country regardless of her being on tired legs.

One of the most consistent runners in D3, Kelley looks likely to record a high finish given the fact that her 2:08 PR came at the tail-end of this season, indicating that she's peaking better than most women in this field.

Margaret Trautner has a wealth of experience at championship meets and is quietly one of the more consistent runners in the nation, all of which makes her a fairly safe pick to run well at the NCAA Outdoor championships.

Sall has been a household name in Division Three for quite some time, and she is having her best season yet, making it hard for us to find a scenario where she's not a top All-American.

Johnson's most recent race was a four-second personal best and she has established herself as a threat to almost anybody in the country given the fact that she hasn't finished outside of the top-five of any race since February.

Uhl has run the 800 meters at three national meets and her highest finish is 7th place, a finish that could be improved upon given her experience and two middle distance PRs in the past 10 days.

Whether it’s the 1500 meters, the 800 meters or the indoor mile, Demco always seems to navigate the prelims incredibly well, emerging as one of the better tactical runners in all of Division Three.

Donnelly has been very good all year long and is in a great spot to contend for All-American honors, especially when you consider that she hasn't really had a "bad" race in 2022.

Her season opener was a 2:22 mark, but she has managed to drop that time all the way down to 2:10.91, giving her arguably the best season-long momentum out of anyone in this field.

Maddux hasn’t had the best luck at past national meets, but she looks to be in the best shape of her life now and is coming off of a big 2:10 PR which could make her more competitive in this field if she's able to replicate that result.

Dunne will have a chip on her shoulder in her return to the national meet after missing the 800 meter finals by one spot last spring and her recent late-season consistency suggests that she can avenge herself this weekend.

Her best mark of the season came in a solo effort, so she is likely capable of running faster and maybe even capable of sneaking into the final depending on how these prelims play out.

Being part of an elite middle distance group at the U. of Chicago has helped Ordonez to reach great heights this year, leaving us to wonder if her recent personal bests can be replicated (and built upon) at the national meet.

As the only true freshman in the field, Paige Fassbender will gain valuable experience from this weekend, although her back-to-back 2:11 marks over the last 10 days make her a very interesting name.

Neilon has been at this stage before and some of the best races of her life have come in the last three weeks, giving her an overall resume that is a lot better than some people realize.

A two time All-American veteran, including a 3rd place finish at the indoor national meet this year, Lambert absolutely has the potential to make the final as she is far better than her seeding position suggests.

Packard has more national meet experience than anyone in this field and although she has been well off of her 2:06 personal best this year, the fact that she still holds so much upside makes her fairly dangerous.

Hoffman, who finished 4th at the NCAA Indoor Championships this past winter, is yet another athlete who could outperform her seeding if she replicates her postseason peak from last March.

Her three-second personal best at the Swarthmore Final Qualifier came at just the right time, but her next-best time (ever) is 2:15, meaning that Duignan needs to replicate her recent 800 PR at the national meet this weekend if she wants any chance of getting out of the prelims.

Teszler has prior national meet experience and has been incrementally improving her 800 meter marks this season, giving us plenty of positives heading into the national meet.

After a tough start to the outdoor season, Sarussi finds herself back in the form that earned her All-American honors during the indoor season, meaning that she might have a somewhat realistic shot of making the final despite being the last seed.