What To Watch For: 2023 Boston University Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invitational Preview

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NOTE: Meet preview was published prior to release of heat sheets

In a season where the women's 800 meters will be/is dominated by the likes of Lindsey Butler, Roisin Willis, Juliette Whittaker and a handful of others, it's Sarah Hendrick (Kennesaw State) and Carley Thomas (Washington) who feel a bit overlooked.

It's easy to forget that Sarah Hendrick holds a 2:00.98 personal best over the half-mile distance. She is arguably one of the best women in the entire NCAA when it comes to soloing upper-tier times. And throughout 2022, she gained valuable national meet experience.

Hendrick's history as a tactical runner hasn't always been amazing. At the same time, she has often been unafraid to push the pace in basically any field that she toes the line for (i.e. 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships).

However, at last year's outdoor national meet, Hendrick took a far more conservative approach, a decision that allowed her to salvage a strong 5th place All-American finish in a crowded, top-heavy field.

Now, as we look to Saturday's race, I'll be curious to see what Hendrick's strategy will be. She's going to be facing a slew of Atlanta Track Club women (many of whom have been running fairly well as of late) as well as high school superstar, Sophia Gorriaran (our top-ranked recruit in the Class of 2023).

This race is probably going to be won around 2:01, maybe 2:00 on an exceptionally fast day. And while Hendrick is likely fit enough and strong enough to follow an aggressive pace, it will be interesting to see how she responds to the other women in this field.

We then come to Washington star Carley Thomas who, on paper, feels like the inverse of Hendrick as far as intangibles are concerned.

The Husky ace is tactically one of the better 800 meter runners in the country. Her understanding of positioning, surging, kicking, etc. is not appreciated enough. And when she gains season-long momentum, just like we saw last spring, Thomas can be massively difficult to take down.

Thomas has yet to match her 2020 freshman year indoor track campaign when she looked like a legitimate national title threat. Of course, trying to rebound from a broken femur later that year is not exactly easy.

The Aussie middle distance ace was able to rebound incredibly well last spring, running 2:02 which essentially matched her collegiate best of 2:02 from her freshman year. Her overall PR sits at 2:01 from the summer of 2019.

For Thomas to have already run 2:03 the other weekend, and history suggesting that she'll only get better as the season goes on, is it fair to suggest that she could run 2:02 on Saturday? What about 2:01? I don't think that latter mark is out of the conversation.

There's a real chance that Thomas can win this race if the winning time is around 2:02. But if this turns into a time trial-type environment (and it usually does on that Boston U. track), then the collegiate advantage could, in theory, go to Hendrick.

Other women such as Marlena Preigh (Washington), Chloe Foerster (Washington) and Isabella Giesing (UMass Lowell) have all shown tremendous promise either this season or last year.

Preigh just ran a huge 2:04.95 PR while Foerster, a true freshman, won her mile heat in a time of 4:42 at the Washington Preview back in January. She also ran 2:06 for 800 meters last weekend, potentially setting her up for a 2:04 or 2:05 effort on Saturday.

 Giesing, however, is easily the most experienced of this latter trio.

She ran 2:03.95 last year, qualified for the indoor national meet, is coming off of an excellent cross country season (relative to her past results) and already ran 2:45 for 1000 meters earlier this winter.

Yes, the RiverHawk ace did struggle in her first 800 meter race of this season, running 2:07 at last week's Boston U. meet, but it's fairly apparent that a time like that was just a fluke for her.

A lot of attention on this week's races will understandably be centered around what we see in Winston-Salem at the Camel City Elite Invitational.

However, the women's collegiate mile battle that we're expected to see at Boston University could just be as entertaining -- and it could have a significant impact on the final national qualifying picture.

The favorite in this race, at least among collegians, is likely Washington's Anna Gibson.

The Husky star is seemingly going to attack her third-straight mile race of the season. And while it is a bit surprising that Washington isn't diversifying her racing schedule, Gibson's momentum over the mile distance may be among some of the best in the NCAA right now.

It looks like they're trying to strike while the iron's hot.

The west coast veteran started the new year with a strong 4:35/2:05 (mile/800) double after running a 9:08 (3k) PR in December. But what really stunned us was her ability to move up to altitude and take down an entire contingent of New Mexico women en route to a 4:31 conversion the other week.

No one is surprised to see Gibson emerge as a nationally competitive miler within the NCAA. That's something that we expected to see out of her after her breakout campaign last winter.

But a 4:31 conversion puts her in a different tier. And as long as she is able to maintain this streak of performances going into March, Gibson feels like an All-American lock.

Of course, the next step for Gibson is to prove that she can come back down to sea level and run something close to her 4:31 conversion. In theory, that shouldn't be a ridiculous ask, especially in a field as balanced as this and for someone who trains at sea level.

However, Gibson isn't going to simply be given the honor of finishing as the top collegiate in this mile field. Harvard's Maia Ramsden has been on absolute fire over the past year, stacking her fitness to a point where she can be a legitimate problem for basically anyone.

After running 4:12 for 1500 meters last spring, Ramsden ventured to the grass and emerged as one of the more pleasant surprises of the fall months. She was 7th at both the Cowboy Jamboree and at Nuttycombe before winning the Ivy League title, the Northeast regional title and then placing 11th at the NCAA XC Championships.

And if there were any questions about how her cross country fitness would translate to the indoor oval, the Kiwi ace answered them. She was able to run 8:54 (3k) and 2:43 (1k) in her first two races of the season.

On paper, those first two efforts suggest that Ramsden could be due for a monster performance. She has historically had her best races in the mile/1500 meters. And when you consider that she is clearly in better shape than when she ran her 4:36 (mile) PR last winter, it doesn't feel unrealistic to suggest that this Crimson standout could run anywhere between 4:31 and 4:33 come Saturday.

Gibson may be the favored collegiate given that she is more established in the mile overall, but no one should be surprised if Ramsden gets the best of her west coast opponent. On paper, Ramsden may be just as fit, if not more so, than Gibson.

This, however, is also going to be the first time that Ramsden truly faces a pro-heavy field (as a collegiate). We'll be interested to see how she responds in a slightly different race setting than what she has seen over the last year.

We finally come to Sophie O'Sullivan, the other Washington runner who looks like she's on the verge of breaking out more than she already has.

The rising Irish distance talent admittedly had a quiet start to her collegiate career. However, over time, she has built momentum and looks increasingly more like a national-caliber threat.

O'Sullivan ran 4:17 for 1500 meters last spring, had a very strong end to her 2022 cross country season, ran a 4:36/2:05 (mile/800) double in mid-January and just posted an outstanding 9:03 (3k) personal best last weekend.

O'Sullivan has all of the momentum in the world right now. Her resume is screaming for her to run something along the lines of 4:33 or 4:34. And when you consider her pedigree -- she is the daughter of Olympic star, Sonia O’Sullivan -- it simply feels like a matter of time until she's in the All-American conversation.

There are a lot more reasons to think that O'Sullivan will thrive in Saturday's field than not.

As for a few other names, women such as Caroline Timm (Kennesaw State), Lydia Olivere (Villanova) and Isabella Goldstein (Harvard) are also in this field, although it's unclear which heats they'll be entered in.

Timm, a graduate transfer from Princeton, was excellent during the spring. She won the Ivy League title in the 1000 meters last winter in a time of 2:47, she nearly edged Ramsden for the Ivy League title in the 1500 meters last spring, ran 4:13 for that same distance at her regional meet and just posted a 4:38 mile PR last week.

The former Ivy League standout has quietly shown signs of being an excellent tactical runner and now her fitness is starting to catch up to that aspect of her profile.

It should also be noted that Timm is entered in the 800 meters in addition to the mile.

For the last few seasons, the Harvard men have been headlined by their dynamic duo of Acer Iverson and Graham Blanks -- and understandably so. The Crimson duo were among the absolute best distance talents in the NCAA this past cross country season. And in December, Blanks ran 13:18 for 5000 meters while Iverson ran 13:26 in the same race.

Now, both men are set to drop down to the mile, a clear effort to refine their speed for championship races that will almost certainly become tactical -- especially at the indoor national meet.

Trying to figure out just how good both Blanks and Iverson will be in this race is admittedly hard to figure out...mainly because we have very little data to analyze.

Blanks has never contested a mile or 1500 meter race as an attached collegiate, although he did run 3:44 unattached in the spring of 2021. Iverson, meanwhile, hasn't contested a mile race since 2020 (where he ran 4:13) and his lone 1500 meter race from last spring resulted in a modest 3:49 mark.

It seems fair to suggest that both Blanks and Iverson can run under 4:00 this weekend. Their overwhelming fitness should at least translate to a time somewhere around 3:58 or 3:59. Their latest 1000 meter times (Blanks running 2:23 and Iverson running 2:25) were also fairly solid.

However, trying to figure out if they can go any lower than 3:58 on Saturday is a challenge.

Do they have so much raw fitness that they can simply will their way to a 3:56 mark? Or dare I say 3:55? I would typically dismiss that possibility, but after getting burned in my predictions last week, I don't know if I really want to doubt Blanks or Iverson.

But what if I told you that neither Blanks nor Iverson will be viewed as the top Harvard runner in Saturday's mile field?

That's because Vivien Henz, the newest Harvard runner from Luxembourg, has emerged as the top seed. He's entered with a 3:56 mark, and no, that's not an unrealistic time for this overseas standout.

Henz, who isn't even 18-and-a-half years old yet, has posted some incredible middle distance marks despite being incredibly young. The European ace has run 1:49 (800) and 3:38 (1500), all before his 18th birthday.

And the best part? That 3:38 mark was far from a fluke.

The newest Harvard star has run under 3:40 a total of three times throughout his still-budding career. Sure, he's never run that fast on the indoor oval, but 3:43 for 1500 meters on an indoor track is still incredibly impressive for someone who was 17 years old at the time.

There is still a lot that we don't know about Henz. He was admittedly a non-factor during the cross country season and his season debut from last weekend resulted in him running a modest time of 1:51, well behind Princeton standout, Samuel Rodman.

It feels like Henz could run anywhere between 3:55 and 4:01. I sincerely don't know where within that range he'll end up. But on paper, he might be better suited for this race than either of his star-caliber teammates.

Be sure to also keep an eye out for Iona's Mael Gouyette.

The Gael standout has yet to race this winter, but owns a promising 3:59 mile PR. And with additional marks of 3:42 (1500), 7:59 (3k) and 14:03 (5k) scattered throughout his resume, it feels like this current junior is due for a noticeably-improved performance.

Josh DeSouza (Iona), Evan Graff (UC-Colorado Springs), Ben Rosa (Harvard) and Shane Brosnan (Harvard) are all additional names to monitor during Saturday's race.

I don't necessarily want to spend a ton of time on this section. Partly because the DMR races are tonight (Friday) and I want to get this preview out with some time to spare. The other part is because the relays truthfully aren't as top-heavy as some of the other fields that we've already spoken about.

Even so, it's important to note that the Washington women are going all-in on a DMR squad, fielding a lineup that features Marlena Preigh, Madison Heisterman, Anna Gibson and Sophie O'Sullivan. That's the listed order that the entries show, although I would be surprised if that's actually the combination that the Huskies choose to employ.

Washington should handle this DMR field fairly easily. The Kennesaw State women have some legitimate threats in Sarah Hendrick and Caroline Timm at each end of their relay, but the Huskies are far more complete through each of their four legs.

There's a good chance that Washington will scare the 11:00 barrier. In fact, they'll probably go under that mark. But if Kennesaw State and/or the rest of the field aren't able to push the Huskies to a fast enough time, then I don't know if they'll necessarily be locks to qualify for the national meet. I imagine a result around 11:57 or faster this weekend will put less pressure on their DMR's national qualifying hopes later this month.

On the men's side, the Iona men are probably the most complete lineup in this DMR field, but I don't feel super confident that they're going to dominate this race. Karl Winter is a 3:39 (1500) runner who will anchor Syracuse's relay. Steven Jackson just ran a 3:57 mile PR on this same track last weekend and will anchor Boston College's relay.

I would think that Iona gets the edge, but there's a lot of potential for these results to look very different than what I ultimately predicted.

*Collegiates only, assumes all runners will contest the race that they are entered in.

*Predictions were made before the release of official heat sheets.