Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Jan 22, 202112 min
This weekend is set to be a good one with plenty of action taking place this Friday and Saturday. Here are the main headlines and storylines that we'll be watching later this evening and throughout tomorrow...
NOTE: Some meets did not have performance lists (that we could find) and therefore did not have any analysis written for them.
The men's 800 field at the Gladstein Invitational looks a bit...odd. Unless we're reading these entries wrong, there are only three men listed for this race, and they're all from Indiana.
Cooper Williams, the man who ran 1:48 last weekend, will likely be aiming to dip under that mark on Saturday in an effort to further secure his spot to Nationals and gain some early-season momentum.
It's unclear if teammates Aaron Bennett or Nick Couyoumjian will be there for pacing duties or if they actually intend to race. Either way, another 1:48 is probably in the cards for Williams. It will be interesting to see what he can do in a field where he's the overwhelming favorite.
We've got quite the matchup in the men's mile this weekend at that Gladstein Invitational as we'll get to see a total of six men toe the line with seed times of 4:04 or faster.
On a paper, the clear favorite of this race is Matthew Schadler. The Indiana runner was outstanding last winter, consistently lowering his personal best in the mile all the way down to a time of 3:58.
He's the only man in this field who has run under the four-minute mile barrier and if he's in the same fitness that we saw from him last year, then he is likely the guy who will be favored to take home the victory this weekend.
Even so, let's not discount the prowess of Tom Dodd and Anthony Berry, both from Michigan.
Dodd, an international transfer from England, just ran 4:03 for the mile last weekend and won in convincing fashion. He owns 1:48 speed for the 800 meters and could be a guy who gives Schalder some trouble in the latter portions of this race if he's close enough.
As for Berry, we said this last week about him, but he's an extremely consistent veteran who has run 4:01 in the mile. He's been on the cusp of a sub-four performance for a while now and this field may be perfectly balanced (in terms of competition) to give him that sub-four result.
The race, of course, would need to be set up in his favor.
Schadler, Dodd and Berry are the three major names we're watching, but we can't discount others such as Cole Johnson (Michigan), Dustin Horter (Indiana) and Teddy Browning (Indiana).
Johnson is a sneaky-good tactician (at times) and has some underrated speed. He's still looking to reach that next level, but he's a name on the brink of a breakout performance.
As for Horter, he has struggled to stay consistent and his season opener in the 800 meters wasn't great, but he's a 4:04 miler who ran that time less than a year ago. The mile is likely his sweet spot and this may be a good chance for him to regain some momentum.
Finally, let's talk about Browning. I can't speak highly enough about this Indiana veteran. He shows up each and every week and is always competitive. He's super consistent, highly experienced and knows how to run tactically. He's run 3:43 for 1500 meters and qualified for an outdoor national meet on his own merit.
I'm not ready to say that he's going to win this weekend, but don't be surprised if he's mixing it up with the top names in this field.
The women's 3000 meters race at the Simmons-Harvey BIG 10 Invitational gave us an excellent battle between the Michigan women, Michigan State women and Indiana's Sarah Schmitt. Now, we'll see a similar BIG 10 rivalry showdown, this time in the mile.
Michigan's Ericka VanderLende will run alongside freshman standout Katelynne Hart in an effort to take down the IU duo of Bailey Hertenstein and Sarah Schmitt. Those are the big names in this field, although one could argue that they'll dropping down in distance this weekend.
When it comes to the mile, these women are roughly on the same level, although Hart will likely have edge with a 4:38 1600 PR from her high school days, as well as a 4:39 mile PR.
Now, admittedly, the headline looks better when talking about two pairs of long distance standouts. However, the favorite in this race (based on seed time) is actually Michigan's Alice Hill who is entered with her personal best of 4:40.
She's an experienced veteran and a consistent competitor in the mile. She knows how to navigate these kind of races and it wouldn't come as a surprise if Hill took home the win this weekend.
Be sure to keep an eye on Jenna Barker (Indiana). She's a solid talent whose development this season could prove to be pivotal for the Hoosiers goals in cross country, both this winter and next fall.
The men's 3000 meters could end up being very fast this weekend, although the main contenders (on paper) all appear to be from Indiana.
Kyle Mau doesn't have any indoor track eligibility remaining, but he'll be competing unattached in this race. He is probably considered to be the favorite, but more importantly, he will likely be the guy who keeps things honest. He'll be flanked by teammate Ben Veatch who is coming off of a 4th pace finish in the mile last weekend in his season debut.
With these two in the field, it is very possible that we see a time under 8:00, and maybe even under 7:55 as well. Neither of these men have been afraid to chase fast times in the past and Veatch is likely aiming to secure himself a national qualifying spot. He ran out of time to qualify for last year's indoor national meet (which was eventually cancelled) in a handful of events.
Also in this race are teammates Arjun Jha and Matthew Schadler. We saw Schadler entered in two events last weekend, but he only ran the 3k (en route to an 8:09 personal best). We would expect that he runs the mile this weekend, but it's also possible that he runs this race as a rabbit.
As for Jha, he's been a strong talent for Indiana who will likely step up over the next few seasons and emerge as a key contributor, especially with Mau out of eligibility in everything but outdoor track.
Jha owns a personal best of 8:07 for 3000 meters and also ran 13:56 for 5000 meters (unattached) as a freshman back in the spring of 2019. He's a sleeper pick to make some noise and potentially drop something fairly quick this weekend.
Hawkeye standout Mallory King hasn't always received the attention that she deserves. She is a top 800 meter talent who owns a personal best of 2:05. She qualified for the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships (which ended up being cancelled) as the final automatic qualifier.
Despite owning a 2:05 personal best, King had actually never run faster than 2:07 prior to that 2:05 performance. She clearly had a breakout race at the Iowa State Classic last winter and although King has consistently dipped under the 2:10 barrier, seeing her replicate last year's success throughout this season will be the main thing to watch.
King is the clear favorite in this weekend's 800 meter field, although her competition is certainly capable of keeping things interesting. Four other women are seeded with times of 2:09 or faster. Those names include Alli Bookin-Nosbisch (Iowa), Clare Pitcher (Iowa), Tracy Towns (Illinois) and Bianca Stubler (Wisconsin).
Towns is the next fastest seed after King, sporting a time of 2:07. We've seen what Coach Sarah Haveman has done with her longer distance runners, but it'll be interesting to see how Towns, a true middle distance runner, performs this weekend and throughout the season.
We're not expecting massive fireworks out of this field, but don't be surprised if you see a few quick times produced from King, Towns or one of the other aforementioned women.
The Wisconsin men brought in a loaded distance recruiting class this year. Yes, many of the names that they added are predominately cross country runners, but the one big-time talent who stood out among the rest was Abdullahi Hassan.
The Canadian middle distance phenom ran 1:47 for 800 meters during his prep days, making him one of the most coveted recruits in North America. He has since joined the Badgers and will be teaming up with 1:48 runner Hudson Kugel to bring a surprising spark to the middle distance portion of this Wisconsin roster.
It's a bit odd to see Kugel in the slower heat while Hassan is in the faster section. Kugel's personal best of 1:48 should have been good enough to get him into the faster heat. However, Kugel is seeded with a time of 1:50, leading us to believe that putting him in the slower section may have been intentional.
As for Hassan, the story is a bit different. He'll have his hands full with top-tier unattached runners such as Eric Sowkinski, Tysen VanDraska and Jim Warren. This race will surely be fast, so how will the Wisconsin rookie respond in his NCAA debut? That's the biggest question we have for Saturday's race.
I firmly believe that if it weren't for his scattered absences, Jonathan Davis could have truly been one of the best distance runners in the NCAA over the past decade...and he still might have that chance!
The Illinois runner has been a nationally competitive name since he first came into the NCAA. He ran 3:58 on a flat-track (which converted to a 3:55) and ran 7:49 for 3000 meters during the winter of 2018. Unfortunately, Davis has been absent from competition in a few select seasons and despite him competing on the indoor oval last year, he raced only three times in total, failing to qualify for the national meet.
Now, the redshirt senior is back and will supposedly be making his season debut in the 3000 meters this weekend. He's expected to be the clear favorite, although what he actually ends up running is anyone's guess.
Regardless of how he performs, it's exciting to see the Illinois star ready to make one last go. When he's at his best, his a lethal weapon and extremely difficult to take down.
One of the biggest breakout stars from this past fall was Missouri's Sarah Chapman, the distance runner who took down an entire contingent of Arkansas runners at the Gans Creek Classic and later finished 3rd at the the top-heavy SEC XC Championships.
Chapman has been a respectable talent for a while now, owning personal bests of 4:42 (mile) and 9:18 (3k). However, it's clear that her fitness is at an entirely new level right now.
So what does that mean for her 2021 indoor track season? Can we expect to see her throw down new personal bests and enter the upper-echelon of distance runners this winter? That has yet to be seen, but she is set to double this weekend in the mile and 3000 meters.
Whether or not Chapman actually doubles this weekend is unclear, but a potential battle between her and Iowa State ace Cailie Logue in the 3000 meters could prove to be incredibly exciting. These two are both at the top of their game right now, so a pair of sub-9:10 performances could be the result of these two racing alongside each other.
Logue may be the favorite, but Chapman has enough recent momentum and enough middle distance success to keep things interesting late in this race if she's still within striking distance.
Despite initial intel suggesting that Lomong wasn't going to be starting his time at Iowa State until next fall, it turns out that the former Ohio State runner will actually be competing for the Cyclones starting this winter!
The 1:47 runner, who has run under the 1:50 barrier 13 different times throughout his collegiate career, will be making his season debut in an 800 meter field which features six -- yes, six -- different men with seed times under 1:50.
Admittedly, Lomong hasn't been at his best on the indoor oval. He has run 1:49 during indoors (twice) in his career (both at the BIG 10 Indoor Championships) and has never qualified for a national meet in either indoors or outdoors. Still, he's an exceptional talent and someone who could make a major splash after not racing since the spring of 2019.
Alright, let's move on and talk about the rest of this field.
The elite trio of Festus Lagat, Roshon Roomes and Daniel Nixon no longer have indoor track eligibility and will compete unattached, but they will surely make this race incredibly quick and could lead a few others in this field to some fast times.
The attached collegiates to watch in this race are Cebastian Gentil (Iowa State), Jason Gomez (Iowa State) and Christopher Conrad (Missouri).
Conrad is coming off of one of the better performances of his career, running 1:49 last weekend and falling just short of the Ole Miss duo Baylor Franklin and Everett Smulders. That was likely a recent boost in confidence for the Missouri runner and with an even faster field to chase this weekend, don't be surprised if we see Conrad dip into the 1:48 range.
His personal best of 1:48.68 comes from the 2019 outdoor track season, but Conrad now has a chance to improve upon that mark.
As for Gentil and Gomez, these are two more underrated talents. Gentil has run 1:49 and doesn't get enough attention thanks to the superstar talents who have been in front of him over the last few seasons. With a fast field in front of him, another 1:49 is likely in the cards for the Rhode Island native.
And then we come to Gomez, a recent transfer from the D2 level who has run 1:50 (according to TFRRS), but is seeded with a 1:49. He had great success at Notre Dame de Namur before the university ran into some financial challenges and Gomez was forced to look elsewhere.
It's tough to know what to expect out of the D2-turned-D1 runner, but this will be a nice first glimpse as to how he is handling his transition in Ames, Iowa.
Long-time distance standout Annie Fuller spent most of her collegiate years at Michigan State, but has since transferred to Texas A&M to pursue her graduate degree. The former Spartan boasts strong personal bests of 2:08 (800), 2:52 (1000), 4:17 (1500), 4:35 (mile) and 9:21 (3k). She was also been a two-time All-American on the grass.
The long distance talent will be making her debut for the Aggies this weekend and is entered in both the mile and the 3000 meters. She'll be the overwhelming favorite in both races, even if she does double.
There's truthfully not a ton to talk about here, but Fuller's debut for Texas A&M is an exciting one and it will be fascinating to see how she handles an entirely new environment and entirely new competition in College Station.
The men's mile could be an exciting race on Friday afternoon in Blacksburg, Virginia as we'll see a handful of experienced distance runners from both UNC and UVA go head-to-head.
The Tar Heels are fielding their two recent graduate transfers, Allen Siegler and Conor Lundy, as well as long-time UNC runner Brandon Tubby. On paper, Siegler will be the man to watch with his 4:02 personal best, although we'll simply be interested to see how him and Lundy perform in their new pale blue singlets.
It should be noted that Lundy is also entered in the 3000 meters.
As for Asfaw, he'll be making his indoor track debut after a huge breakout cross country season where he established himself as one of the top distance runners not only in the ACC, but also the NCAA.
Asfaw owns a modest personal best of 4:08 for the mile, but if he's healthy and able to carry his cross country momentum to the indoor oval, then he should be able to run a new personal best. He'll certainly have enough competition to push him.
We know the UVA veteran has discovered some newfound fitness, but we're not sure how that's going to translate to the indoor oval. We think he can run a new PR on Friday, but by how much is the real question.
The women's 1k at Virginia Tech could end up being VERY quick as we'll see a handful of top middle distance runners from around the ACC toe the line. Half-mile standouts Andrea Foster and Laurie Barton are two of the biggest names to watch, especially Barton, who recently ran 2:05 for 800 meters last weekend.
However, the Virginia Tech women will be fielding some strong talents of their own. Grace Boone just ran 2:49 for 1000 meters last weekend and will be flanked by fellow unattached teammates in Sarah Edwards and Sara Freix.
Whoever comes out on top in this race will likely get a major boost in confidence. This is by no means going to be an easy field to navigate and the end result could end up being a sub-2:45 time.
There are a few respectable names from UNC and Virginia in this race, but Lundy is the main (attached) collegiate to watch. His seed time of 7:58 will have to go up against Peter Seufer who no longer has indoor track eligibility.
Although Lundy is the top attached collegiate in this field, Seufer will surely make things fast. That could actually be beneficial for the recent UNC grad transfer who is likely aiming to dip under the 8:00 barrier.
We're still not sure how this race will play out, and there are a few other names who could make things interesting such as Peter Morris (Virginia), Alex Corbett (Virginia) and Jack Joyce (Virginia Tech, unattached).
We also have to consider that Lundy may be doubling in the mile. If he does, then that changes the dynamic of this race. Still, we're just excited to see a new upper-echelon distance talent debuting for a revamped Chapel Hill squad.