TSR Collaboration
Feb 11, 20207 min
Garrett: I want to stay at the Meyo Invite, but I’ll let you guys pick the next topic. Women’s mile or men’s 800?
Maura: Stepping down in distance to the men’s 800 seems like a good place to go next.
Garrett: Then let’s do that. The winner was Miami (Ohio)’s Finley McLear in a time of 1:48.27. Sam Voelz (Notre Dame), Cameron Cooper (Ohio State), Matt Manternach (Iowa), and Cooper Williams (Indiana) rounded out the top five in that order, all recording times of 1:49. Thoughts?
Ben: Fantastic race by McLear who put himself in position for NCAA's, but we got to talk about what happened to Cooper Williams who finished 5th. It’s a worrying performance for someone who was seen as a top three runner in the country in this event.
Garrett: That was mainly what I wanted to talk about. Just not a great race for someone who was looking so strong for consecutive weeks. I think it shows that he’s human and that the 800 meters is just as difficult to figure out as we thought it would be.
Maura: Williams has raced four weeks in a row. He has done at least two events meet, so maybe that’s just caught up to him.
Ben: I understand, but one of the biggest concerns with him is his ability to run tactically strong races, and I don’t know if he has shown that in the last few weeks.
Garrett: Oh I strongly disagree. He beat out John Rivera twice (one of those wins en route to a 1:47) as well as the Iowa State duo of Festus Lagat and Roshon Roomes.
Ben: That is a fair point, perhaps it is just a matter of him needing a bit of a break.
Garrett: Agreed. Indiana is typically a high-volume racing team so that could very well be the case. I think it would be an overreaction to hit the panic button on Williams, he's still a top talent.
Maura: A team that doesn’t appear to be high-volume racing is Minnesota. Bethnay Hasz ran her first race since her 15:25 5k in December and she just dropped a 4:38 mile at Meyo, a three second PR.
Garrett: I was encouraged by Hasz’s performance because I think it shows some underrated speed which could allow her to hang around in the All-American hunt late in certain races (i.e. the national meet).
Ben: It was a very solid performance from Hasz as she showed off her wheels, but I am curious about Annie Fuller of Michigan State. If she is trying to qualify for NCAA’s in the mile, then this was a great opportunity to do so. She did run 4:39, but she will need to run quicker to qualify.
Maura: I agree with you regarding Fuller. But someone I’m more curious about is Indiana’s Bailey Hertenstein. Hertenstein had a strong cross country season, highlighted by a 2nd place finish at BIG 10’s and a 31st place finish at NCAA's. But in her last two meets, she has recorded a DNF. Right now, Hertenstein won’t qualify for Nationals.
Garrett: Fuller is an interesting name because she is someone who I could see eventually sneaking into NCAA’s and flirting with an All-American spot. I think she just has to get into the right race to do so (maybe BIG 10’s). I'm a fan of hers.
As for Herntenstein, I’m not exactly shocked. I always saw her as a longer distance specialist given her cross country success. She’s still relatively new to running at this level so I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt for now.
Maura: One more athlete to make note of is Grand Valley State’s Allie Ludge running 4:39. This time puts her at the top of the NCAA for Division Two. She continues to impress on both the grass and track.
Garrett: Maybe she’ll give Cotter a run for her money in March if Cotter ever does run...
Ben: From one of the biggest indoor tracks in the country to one of the smallest, let’s talk about Camel City where we saw some quick converted times in the 3k and the mile.
Garrett: The mile seems like the logical place to start. Take one miler from the men’s race and one miler from the women’s race and give us your thoughts on them.
Maura: Ryan Adams of Furman. What can he not do? He ran 4:00 at Camel City and that converts down to a 3:57, a time he has already run this season, and places him at #6 in the NCAA for Division One. Personally, I think Admas will do better in the 3k given his recent 7:49 PR.
Then we have Michaela Reinhart of Duke. Reinhart placed 8th en route to a 4:43 which converts to 4:40. I’m not saying Reinhart will qualify for NCAA’s with a time like that (she will need to run much faster), but this time was a seven second PR and reflects her recent 9:18 3k.
Ben: I was really impressed by Zach Facioni of Wake Forest. He finished 7th and earned a converted time of 3:58 which should put him in position to qualify for NCAA’s which is not something I was expecting to say.
As for the women, it was hard not to be blown away by Gabrielle Jennings’ performance. Her 4:37 was converted to a 4:34 and should get her to Nationals this March. It is a big PR for her and proves that she is a real threat to be an All-American in the mile this year.
Garrett: I’m thrilled with Diego Zarate’s performance. The Virginia Tech veteran has been one of the NCAA’s more underrated milers for a while now, so to see him run a 3:58.06 conversion (which will surely get him into Nationals) is great to see. He’s got some excellent speed and he’s quietly one of the best tacticians on the east coast.
On the women’s side, I might as well talk about Zarate’s teammate. Sarah Edwards was killing it in the 1000 meters earlier this season, so to see her run a 4:34 mile conversion isn’t exactly surprising. Given the kind of range that she has, I think she’ll end up being sneaky good on the national if the final gets tactical.
Garrett: Also, shout-out to Aaron Wier and Katie Wasserman. They did not break the 4:00 or 4:40 barriers, but they did dip under them with conversions. Both of these athletes have been having great years so far and have continued to make solid progress.
Ben: As someone who has raced Aaron Wier many times in the OVC, it is great to see him having success at Furman this year. But why don’t we shift gears to the 3k? The main man on my mind is Peter Seufer and his converted 7:48.
Maura: Sticking with the Virginia Tech trend, Seufer has been on my radar since cross country ended. The 3k will be Seufer’s best bet at NCAA’s.
Garrett: This race just suited him perfectly. He wasn’t going to get buried by an overwhelming field of elites, but Chelimo was going to make him work. It’s also really cool to see a time like this from him as it essentially validates his 4th place performance from the NCAA XC Championships last fall.
Ben: Do we think that he will look to qualify in the 5k as well? If he does, then which event does he finish higher in?
Maura: He has yet to race a 5k this season, so unless he goes to Iowa State or Washington this upcoming weekend, it might be difficult for him to find a fast race. But if he does qualify in the 3k and 5k, I think he will fair better in the 3k.
Garrett: Maura makes a good point about his scheduling, but if he does qualify, then he definitely has a better chance of earning a better finish in the 5000 meters. The 3000 meters is so deep this year and it will likely be tactical. The 5k suits his racing style and would require a little less foot-speed than the 3k would.
Ben: I agree with Garrett, although this 3k does show that Seufer will be able to hang with the best in the country in the 5k. Looking at another event, how about the performances in the 800?
Maura: Justin Pacifico of Florida came essentially out of nowhere. His name doesn’t pop up much when talking about the 800 meters, but being the top collegiate here, less than one second behind Craig Engels, should put him in the conversation for an NCAA qualifier.
Ben: I’m with Maura. I hadn’t heard of Pacifico, but after this weekend, he needs to be taken seriously as he competed well against an impressive pro field.
Garrett: I’ve actually been on the Pacifico bandwagon for a while now. He’s got a lot of experience and he really knows how to navigate through crowded races such as these. He handled a really strong field exceptionally well en route to a 1:48 conversion and a likely national qualifier.
Garrett: Also, I was a little surprised to see Bashir Mosval-Lo and Matt Wisner falter a bit. They didn’t have bad races, but I thought they would be up with Pacifico.
Ben: That was my main takeaway. I thought that this was a good opportunity for both of them to punch their tickets to Albuquerque, but they fell a bit short.
Maura: An athlete that didn’t fall short of qualifying for NCAA’s this weekend was Nebraska’s George Kusche in the 3k.
Garrett: That 7:50 3k mark was excellent. This past cross country season paired with his 3:57 mile indicated that he could run something strong in the 3000 meters, but a 7:50 is pretty special.
Ben: Super impressive time and run by Kusche. I still see him running the mile, but this 3k shows that he has gone up another level this year. Even in a strong mile field, he has to be one of the favorites to lock down an All-American spot.
Maura: What I like about Kusche’s 3k was that he was pushed to the line and only won by less than a second. That's a really nice win to have under his belt all things considered.
Garrett: Wesley Banguria*, the JUCO product who kept Kusche honest this past weekend, is having an outstanding year. I’m sure we’ll probably see him in an Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma State or Iowa State singlet soon...
Maura: I’m going to bank on Iowa State for Banguria.
Ben: He would be a great addition for Iowa State, especially after missing out on Kemboi and Cheboson this past winter.
*Side Note: Following the publication of this article, we were informed that Wesley Banguria has already signed with Iowa State back in December. Our predictions were so good that we made them reality...