Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Mar 76 min
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.
With a seed time of 2:05 (800) and a personal best of 2:04, there is very little chance that anyone in this field comes even close to Emma Kelley. The future Wisconsin graduate student is a multi-time national champion in this event and nothing that she has done lately suggests that she won't win gold come Saturday.
A phenomenal 2:09 (800) mark at the University of Washington two weekends suddenly threw Ellie Rising onto our radar as an All-American favorite. Previously, her PR in this event was 2:10 and her only other race this season was a respectable 2:14 mark at the Husky Classic. With very little seasonal data to analyze, it's hard to get a perfect understanding of where Rising's fitness is at, although her ceiling very much makes her a contender for silver.
After posting an unconverted 2:13 (800) mark on a flat track earlier this season, Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw positioned herself as someone who could be nationally competitive. Sure enough, that remains true after she won the Landmark Conference title in this event with a conversion of 2:10. There's no denying that this Goucher runner has made a leap in her fitness, and it helps that she has prior national meet experience, but a 2:19 effort at Boston U. earlier this season leaves us wondering how she'll handle another super competitive field.
One of the most dynamic women in Division Three (although not even of this field) is Hope Murphy, someone who is running both the 800 meters and the 3000 meters (not a typo). With aerobic strength that is among the best in this field, Murphy would likely thrive with an aggressively paced race. And in theory, she should be able to effectively respond to most races scenarios that unfold around her.
There are a lot of positive signs which suggest that Mary Mason may be peaking perfectly. She just ran a converted 2:10 (800) mark on her home track and that came after she ran a 400-meter PR of 57.65 seconds from the meet prior. While she has never toed the line for the national meet individually, the Mount Union stud may have enough momentum to make that factor moot.
Maddie Hannan is the only one in this field whose range can rival that of Hope Murphy's (or maybe even exceed it). And with a 2:08 (800) PR, it's hard to discount this Eagle star from the race for silver. However, Hannan has yet to run under 2:12 (before conversions) this season, leaving her on a more even tier with other women who will be scrapping for runner-up honors.
The momentum that is behind Kayla Kass right now is incredibly encouraging. The Stockton sophomore started her season with a 2:25 (800) mark and proceeded to post times of 2:16 then 2:15 then 2:14 and, as of last weekend, 2:12. With prior national meet experience and a clear ability to peak for the postseason, don't be surprised if Kass cracks the top-five.
One of the more steady and reliable half-milers in this field is Alessia Sarussi, a veteran from Washington U. who has a 2:09 (800) PR and has run her fastest two times of the season at her conference meet two weekends ago. As a two-time All-American in this event who will also have fellow teammate Danielle Schultz in her preliminary heat, it's hard to find many negatives on Sarussi's resume going into this weekend.
The consistency that we've seen out of Libby Ranocha has been fantastic, running 2:11 (800) twice this season and three times if you count conversions. With a 2:57 (1k) PR, prior national meet experience and sprints-based turnover, this Emory senior is one of the more complete middle distance runners that you will find in this field.
At the last moment, Annessa Ihde earned a national qualifying spot with a 2:12 (800) effort that eventually got converted to a 2:11 mark. However, even without the conversion, that was still a straight-up personal best across both seasons. With a major, last-minute performance that admittedly sits as an outlier on her resume, trying to establish expectations for this Bethel middle distance runner poses as a challenge.
There have been significant gaps in Annie Huang's overall resume, not running for over a year at certain points. And while she is undoubtedly an improved and competitive athlete this winter, the somewhat limited data that we have on her makes her a wild card, especially after winning her conference title with a fairly large PR.
The first half of Frankie Chaidez's indoor track season was fairly underwhelming. However, a very clear rally in the second-half of these winter months led to a massive 800-meter PR of 2:13 which eventually gained a 2:11 conversion. While it's a great sign that this Loras talent is seemingly peaking, trying to replicate a result that came out of left field will be quite the task.
Between a pair of 2:12 marks for 800 meters (one converted, one regular), prior national meet experience and a speed-based background, Megan Bell has a fairly balanced resume in this field. And while the Rochester standout hasn't contested this event on the national stage before, seeing her race at this level in this event isn't necessarily new.
This Washington U. runner has made considerable gains over the last year. After seemingly being stuck behind a PR wall, Danielle Shultz broke through last spring and has done so yet again this winter. Now, the Bear veteran will just need to maintain this momentum going into the national meet.
At first glance, Mary Blanchard's resume this winter may seem underwhelming, posting multiple 2:20 marks over 800 meters and fading to 4th place in a not-too-quick 800-meter race at the MIAC Indoor Championships (although, in her defense, she was on the quadruple). However, an unconverted 2:56 (1k) time lines up well with her recent 2:12 (800) conversion from last weekend. And given that she has run her overall 800-meter PR and mile PR on the national stage before, it's safe to suggest that Blanchard is one of the more underrated backend seeds that you'll find in Division Three this weekend.
A three-second PR (four if you count conversions) was a great way for Emma Koutz to extend her season. She's run a handful of personal bests this winter and has very clearly been trending in the right direction at this distance. We're not saying that she'll make it to the finals, but she may place better in the prelims than some may expect.
After running an early-season 2:13 (800) mark in December, which was later converted, this UW-Oshkosh runner hasn't been able to replicate that fitness since then. In fact, she has even taken a few head-scratching losses. Even so, this is someone who has a 2:09 (800) PR and earned a bronze medal from the 2023 outdoor national meet, making her more than capable of advancing to the finals this weekend.
The good news about Alexa Estes is that she ran 2:12 (800) in a high-pressure, big-stage environment at Boston U. and her 2:54 (1k) PR from this season suggests that she could go even faster. The bad news, however, is that she settled for 3rd place over this distance at the New England D3 Indoor Championships. Luckily, the two women who beat Estes in that race won't be contesting the 800 meters and for the most part, she hasn't truly had a poor effort this winter.
While Jenny Cortes may have been dragged into the national meet with a 5th place finish at the UW-La Crosse Final Qualifier last weekend, she did so with a 2:14 (800) PR which gained a 2:12 conversion. Much like we mentioned with a few other women in this preview, Cortes' recent result suggests that she's hitting her postseason peak. However, trying to replicate that in a race that will be far more nuanced is the real challenge.
Despite being the last and final seed in this field, I see considerably more positives for Emily Moehringer than negatives. She has run both her 800-meter and mile PRs since mid-February, has fared well on a major stage at Boston University and has two other PRs (one coming from cross country) that also came in the postseason. It'll still be a very tall task for this Catholic University distance runner to make it to the finals, but her chances are seemingly better than a few other backend seeds.