Ian Dickenson
Mar 66 min
Updated: Mar 7
Written by Ian Dickenson, edits and additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve
Editor's Note: Our TSR writers were asked to produce three sentences or less of analysis on every entrant in every distance event for every division.
Alaysia Brooks has unparalleled speed and a 2:06 half-mile PR that nobody in this field can match. She tore apart her conference meet to win this event by almost four seconds. If she can emerge from the prelims unscathed, then she could leave with a runaway title.
2. Jessica Simon (Adams State)
Just under a month ago, Jessica Simon burst into the national conversation and our rankings with an elite (2:07) converted mark that earned her our TSR #11 spot. She has performed excellently at altitude, notching her qualifying mark at 7723 feet, but she has also displayed impressive speed. Simon could be one of over a dozen Adams State athletes expected to find success on the national stage this weekend, although the real question is if she can contend for gold.
3. Aryelle Wright (Colorado Mines)
In this eclectic mix of a field, Aryelle Wright stands out as the title favorite, at least in the eyes of (most) TSR writers. Sure, she doesn’t have the 2:06 (800) PR that Alaysia Brooks holds, but Wright might have the best (recent) championship record of anyone here (although Chapko could rival her over their careers). With unwavering reliability and a number of All-American honors, she'll be fighting for her first gold medal.
4. Lina Hanich (Academy of Art)
True championship racing is hard to replicate during the regular season, but with the GVSU Big Meet spanning over two days last month, we saw Lina Hanich put up two fantastic performances over 800 meters while also competing in two 4x400-meter relays. For someone who’s not the most experienced, that ability to double serves as an indication that Hanich can handle the pressure of preliminary rounds and produce a finish close to (or better) than her lofty seed position.
5. Katie Heck (Fort Lewis)
There are a lot of relative newcomers in this field, but Katie Heck comes in as the runner-up over 1500 meters from the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships, meaning that she has proven herself, tactically, on the national stage. She also had an extraordinary cross country season this past fall and just recently placed 2nd in the half-mile at the RMAC Indoor Championship, beating some top names. Heck is undoubtedly one of the best runners listed here, but whether she can use her aerobic metric mile strength to earn a gold medal over 800 meters is the biggest question.
6. Katherine Marsh (Adelphi)
It's not often that you see a pair of identical twins lining up together at such a star-studded meet, but Katherine Marsh will be doing just that with her sister, Isabel, who we will also talk about shortly. Outside of it being just plain fun to see, it should not be discounted what a benefit it could be for Katherine Marsh to race with her twin sister who is also a very real All-American threat. I would bet on Marsh earning All-American honors here.
7. Lieke Hoogsteen (Adams State)
Placing 3rd on the conference stage seemingly doesn’t bode too well for Lieke Hoogsteen’s chances of All-American honors at the indoor national meet. However, when you consider that her bronze-medal finish came at the ultra-competitive RMAC Championships, a 3rd place finish isn’t all too discouraging. There, she beat out top UCCS star, Kate Hedlund, so we know that Hoogsteen is certainly capable of impressing against top competition.
8. Ines Macadam (Tiffin)
Ines Macadam has been consistently solid for a long time now, but this is the first time that she’s coming into the national meet as a major player in the All-American conversation. When she competed at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships, she just edged her way into the meet and then snuck into the final, so this will be a test of her ability to withstand newfound pressure and expectations.
9. Elizabeth Acheson (U-Mary)
It’s been almost three years since Elizabeth Acheson placed 4th and 5th over 800 meters at the 2021 indoor and outdoor national meets, respectively, but she hasn’t returned to that top form in the ensuing years. To be clear, she certainly still knows how to navigate a variety of different race scenarios, taking seven victories this winter, but whether she is fit enough to hang with the top bunch here is the pertinent question.
10. Taryn Chapko (Grand Valley State)
Taryn Chapko has been at this elite level for a while now. She is one of the few runners in this field to have reached the 800-meter final at last year’s outdoor national meet and even earned herself bronze in this event at last year’s indoor national meet. This Grand Valley State veteran is without a doubt one of the contenders to win gold and in the grand scheme of things, this may be her best chance yet.
11. Isabel Perez-Zoghbi (Cal Poly Humboldt)
Most of the athletes here come from a middle distance background, running primarily the 800 meters along with the mile and sometimes the 400 meters...but Isabel Perez-Zoghbi has a singular skillset in this field. She runs cross country, yes, but her focus on the track has mainly been the 400-meter hurdles. This winter, the redshirt freshman also contested the shot put, the 60-meter hurdles, the 400 meters and the 200 meters before competing in two half-mile races and successfully qualifying for the indoor national meet the second time around.
12. Caroline Fuehren (Lenoir-Rhyne)
This Lenoir-Rhyne junior has not been competing for very long in her collegiate career, but her two conference titles (in the 800 meters and the 4x400-meter relay) inspire confidence. With a less seasoned field that reflects her own experience level, Caroline Fuehren might be able to overlook her own inexperience and outperform expectations.
13. Isabel Marsh (Adelphi)
The second half of Adelphi's twin tandem, Isabel Marsh will be looking to work with her sister, Katherine, to lock down a spot in the finals, though it will be a difficult path. Their heat appears to be the toughest of the three with Isabel having the only 800-meter seasonal best slower than 2:09 in her section. Even so, she is better than that time indicates, holding a 2:08 half-mile PR, and it's important to remember that she made this final last year.
14. Marian Ledesma (Western Washington)
Marian Ledesma is one of the more accomplished athletes in this race and was 5th over 800 meters at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. However, she hasn’t had the winter campaign that she likely wanted leading into the NCAA Indoor Championships. Ledesma finished 2nd at the GNAC Indoor Championships in a relatively modest time of 2:17, so she'll be best served by casting that result aside as a fluke.
15. Erin Dorn (Davenport)
After a long collegiate career preceding this season, Erin Dorn has really rounded into form and enjoyed a minor breakthrough in recent months. She earned her first conference title and a new PR two weekends ago with a 2:10 half-mile effort at the GLIAC Indoor Championships. As such, few women have the kind of momentum that Dorn holds.
16. Kate Dawson (Pittsburg State)
Although Kate Dawson sits towards the back of this field based on the national leaderboard, she has an ace up her sleeve: she’s racing in front of a home crowd. The Pittsburg State ace is by far the most familiar with this track of any woman in this field, she won’t have to travel at all and she will have the crowd in her favor. That could be what she needs to be elevated into All-American contention.
17. Kaylee Harp (NW Missouri)
Kaylee Harp will have to come back and turn around her momentum from a relatively disappointing conference meet appearance in which she lost to four women, three of whom did not qualify for the indoor national meet. Even so, she has the experience and past success to suggest that she'll do exactly that. This is a field containing many newcomers to the national stage, so Harp should have the confidence and race IQ to make it through to the finals despite being the last runner into this race.