Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Jan 14, 202111 min
Updated: Jan 15, 2021
The 2021 indoor track season is going to look a bit different this year due to COVID-19 safety protocols, but the fact that we have any meets at all is exciting for fans of the sport. Below, we opted to preview a handful of meets that we found entries for. However, keep in mind that this preview is by no means exhaustive of all the meets taking place this weekend.
Let's dive right into it...
The Arkansas women will be looking to get off to a hot start this winter as they are stacking the mile with a handful of their best distance talents. Ladies such as Katie Izzo, Lauren Gregory, Krissy Gear, Logan Morris and Abby Gray are all entered in the mile this weekend.
If you were to look at the potential that each of those women bring to the table, then I would say that they are all capable of dipping under the 4:40 barrier.
Whether that actually happens this weekend is an entirely different story, but at the very least, I think it's possible that Gear, Izzo and Gregory all run 4:39 or faster in their season debuts. That trio proved that they could run together incredibly well last winter and I don't see why that would change this year.
We should also note that Taylor Ewert is not listed in the entries.
The Arkansas men are taking an interesting approach to their season debuts, splitting up some of their best distance talents between the 1000 meters and the 3000 meters.
For instance, Amon Kemboi and Andrew Kibet are listed in the 1k while fellow teammates like Jacob McLeod, Ryan Murphy, Myles Richter and Matt Young will pursue the 15-lap event.
For Kibet, toeing the line in the 1000 meters makes plenty of sense as he was traditionally a middle distance talent during his JUCO days. However, Kemboi will likely view this race as speed work before he moves up to the longer distances.
The funny thing, however, is that neither Kibet nor Kemboi are probably going to be considered as the favorites for this weekend's 1000 meter race. The favorite is likely Kieran Taylor who has run 1:48.06 for 800 meters. His prior 1k personal best of 2:26 isn't anything amazing, but he's only run the event twice, coming out on top in his 2019 season debut.
As for the 3000 meters, don't sleep on Matt Young who didn't get enough respect this past fall despite how well he ran. The Razorback veteran also had a ton of momentum at the tail-end of last winter, running a 5k personal best of 13:49.
Will he break the eight-minute barrier this weekend? Truthfully, that seems a bit aggressive for his season debut, but it's not totally out of the question for a guy who owns an 8:03 personal best in the event.
There are a handful of talented SEC women's distance talents scattered throughout the Vanderbilt Invitational entries for this weekend. The only catch is that many of these top women won't exactly be clashing with each other.
The Tennessee duo of Katie Thronson and Sydney Seymour will headline the women's 5k this weekend. After huge breakout cross country seasons from them this past fall, the most reasonable prediction is that these Lady Volunteers will finish 1-2 this weekend. We're not super confident that they'll be defeated by anyone else.
Missouri veteran Karina Liz is entered in the 800 meters and should be the overall favorite with her personal best of 2:05. That's the fastest seed time in the field by over three seconds.
The mile should be fairly competitive between women like Alabama's Amaris Tyynismaa (who is also entered in the 800 meters), Mississippi's Anna Elkin and a handful of other underrated SEC talents. Still, there isn't necessarily a true star in the field.
Finally, the women's 3000 meters is pretty much going to be an all-Ole Miss affair with Loral Winn (also entered in the mile), Anna Elkin (also entered in the mile) and Victoria Simmons listed as the top three seeds.
Overall, there are a few underrated and respectable distance talents that we'll get to see at the Vanderbilt Invitational this weekend. However, don't expect a ton of fast times. Some of these fields are bit diluted and some of the SEC stars won't be present.
The Ole Miss Rebels won't be fielding Waleed Suliman, Mario Garcia Romo or Cole Bullock this weekend, but their deep middle distance contingent will be stepping onto the track ready to make some noise.
The pack of Cade Bethamnn, Everett Smulders, Baylor Franklin and Jacob Lough headline the field with seed times of 1:49 or faster, although only Bethmann and Smulders have actually run under the 1:50 during collegiate competitions while Franklin has run his 1:49 in a time trial. Lough is expected to be the rabbit.
We'll be interested to see how Bethmann fairs in this race after a difficult cross country season where he was supposedly coming back from an injury. He owns a personal best of 1:47 and was one of the top middle distance youngsters in the nation a few years ago alongside Smulders. It's tough to say what we should expect out of either of those men, but a 1:49 isn't totally out of the question for their season debuts.
As for the longer races, it looks like we'll finally get to see the return of Alabama runners Eliud Kipsang and Noel Rotich in the 3k and 5k, respectively.
Kipsang only raced once this past fall (finishing 28th at the SEC XC Championships), but while competing unattached last winter, he ran 4:04 in the mile. He is seeded with a 3k time of 8:00 which seems about right given what we saw from him last year.
He'll be the somewhat-clear favorite to take home the win this weekend in the 3000 meters, although Kipsang will likely need to battle a contingent of Tennessee youngsters like Eli Nahom, Mike Griffin and Riley Buchholz to get the victory.
As for Rotich, we saw him race this past fall (only once) at the SEC XC Championships, but he struggled in that race, placing 58th overall. Even so, let's not forget that this is someone who ran 4:09 (mile), 8:12 (3k) and 13:58 (5k) last winter. When he's at his best, Rotich is not an easy name to take down.
That's why it should be an exciting battle between him and Tennessee veterans Alex Crigger, Karl Thiessen and Conner Hawkins. Both Crigger and Thiessen had fairly strong cross country seasons this past fall, so if they're able to translate their fitness from the grass to the oval, then they could make things interesting against Rotich.
The women's 3k in Ann Arbor, Michigan this weekend could be a thrilling one. Between sophomore Ericka VanderLende (Michigan), freshman Katelynne Hart (Michigan) and sophomore Sarah Schmitt (Indiana), this women's race should be incredibly exciting.
The main name to watch is Hart, the true freshman who is largely considered to be one of the best rookies in the NCAA this year. We'll finally get to see what she looks like in a Wolverine uniform and it wouldn't be a total shock if she won this weekend.
However, Hart will have to go up against an established distance standout in teammate Ericka VanderLende (who is admittedly better on the grass than the track) as well as an up-and-coming Indiana runner in Schmitt.
But what about some of the elder runners who are entered in this field? The Michigan State duo of India Johnson and Jenna Magness are two quietly talented distance veterans and it's very possible that one of them could emerge as the winner of this race. Admittedly, the 5000 meters is probably their ideal distance, but their extensive experience could give them the edge over these promising youngsters.
I couldn't be more excited to see the men's race results in Michigan this week. Each distance race currently features numerous top-ranked runners in the entries and if everyone actually toes the line, then we could have a handful of entertaining battles on our hands.
Cooper Williams is going to be the star of the show in the men's 800 meters as he is the overwhelming favorite. He'll have to deal with a quietly great tactician in Cole Johnson (Michigan) as well as an experienced veteran teammate in Teddy Browning (Indiana).
Williams will be the guy to beat, but an early-season loss, while truthfully not a big deal, would certainly be considered an upset.
In the mile, we'll get to see the middle distance man from England (Tom Dodd) make his NCAA debut. The international transfer from this past summer owns eye-catching personal bests of 1:48 (800) and 3:43 (1500). He's the top seed in this race for Michigan, but he'll have his hands full with his competition.
Fellow teammate Anthony Berry is also listed in the entries and one could argue that he is the best overall miler in this field given his consistency, experience and 4:01 mile PR. He'll be tasked with taking on Indiana ace Ben Veatch, an experienced veteran who is almost always competitive in any race that he toes the line for.
And finally, we come to the 3000 meters.
This might be the race of the weekend. Veatch and teammate Matthew Schadler will be the two names to watch this weekend and are probably favored to go 1-2 in the eyes of many. They have a unique balance of endurance and speed that some of the other guys in this field haven't always shown.
However, that Indiana duo will also have to deal with top cross country All-Americans Devin Meyrer (Michigan) and Curt Eckstein (Purdue), giving fans of BIG 10 track and field an exciting matchup to look forward to.
There's a lot of firepower in this race among just those four names, and we haven't even talked about the likes of Olli Raymond (Michigan), Arjun Jha (Indiana) or Bailey McIntire (Purdue).
Considering the COVID-cautious circumstances and the fact that this is their season debut, I wasn't expecting to see fields that were as competitive as this for this weekend.
The entries for Texas Tech's Corky Classic are admittedly a bit light, but there are still a few key developments and entries that we wanted to highlight.
In the men's 800 meters, we'll get to see Takieddine Hedeilli (TSR #15) make his season debut...sorta. The Texas Tech standout is listed in the 800 meters as an unattached runner, leaving us to wonder if he'll officially be racing for the Red Raiders this winter. If not, then that's a key middle distance name who could be left out of the NCAA Indoor Championships.
We should also mention Arnaud Taki, the West Texas A&M runner who is one of the top talents in D2. He'll be opening up his season in the 800 meters as he prepares for an All-American pursuit.
Finally, Texas Tech sophomore Alfred Chawonza is slated to run in the 1000 meters this weekend. He ran an altitude-converted 1:49.79 as a freshman last winter, so watch out for him this year. Chawonza was a star in high school and could really make a splash if he improves with another year of training under his belt.
We'll admit, there aren't a ton of exciting entries for the distance races in the Badger Icebreaker meet. However, we will get to see a BIG 10 rivalry clash as Wisconsin's Alissa Niggemann will go against the Illinois duo of Rebecca Craddock and Allison McGrath.
These three women haven't competed since the 2019 cross country season. During that fall season, one could argue that this trio was largely in the same tier as each other when it came to their overall fitness. All three women are respectable talents and while they aren't necessarily superstars, they are legitimate front-runners who made key improvements over a year ago.
This Niggemann-Craddock-McGrath battle could end up being one of the better distance matchups of the weekend.
After their season opener in the 3000 meters from last weekend, the Minnesota sisters are back in action, this time racing in the 5000 meters.
Bethany Hasz is the clear headline star of this field and it wouldn't at all be surprising if she dipped under 16 minutes in this race. She won't have anyone to push her, but she showed us last weekend that she doesn't need to be pushed to post a respectable time.
One interesting note that we wanted to make was that Megan Hasz, a 15:39 (5k) runner, is listed as the sixth seed in these entries with a time of 16:50. What that tells us is that Megan may not be at 100% right now, a theory that makes sense given her unexciting 3k performance from last weekend.
Even so, there's a good chance that we at least see another notable performance from the Minnesota Golden Gophers this weekend.
The women's 3000 meters at at the McCravy-Green Invitatioanl will give us (what could be) an exciting in-state rivalry battle between top distance talents from Kentucky and Louisville.
Gearing, a recent transfer from Clemson, had an absolutely monster breakout season this past fall, emerging as one of the best distance runners in the SEC. The newest Kentucky runner was flat-out incredible and managed to up her fitness to a new tier. But how will she translate that newfound fitness to the indoor oval? That's a major question that we will hopefully answer this weekend.
Also listed in entries are the Louisville trio of Purity Sanga, Dorcas Wasike and Ivine Chemutai.
Chemutai had a respectable cross country season, but struggled a bit at the ACC Championships. With respectable marks of 9:43 (3k) and 16:40 (5k), we think there's potential for her to improve upon that 3k time this weekend, although it's still difficult to get a gauge on her true fitness.
Sanga, a transfer from Tennessee Tech, is one of the more respectable distance runners on the east coast. She is quietly consistent and is very underrated in terms of highly she can place in a race. Her resume doesn't blow you out of the water, but she can certainly be competitive against Gearing and Wasike.
Speaking of Wasike, the long-time Louisville Cardinal has left many of us at The Stride Report scratching our heads. After a great streak of performances through the winter of 2019, Wasike began to fade a bit. Her absences between seasons and her unexciting performances from last winter have left us wondering what has happened to the All-American star who once ran times of 9:08 (3k) and 15:25 (5k).
If Wasike is anywhere close to her previous fitness, then she can definitely come away with the win this weekend. However, until we see that, we can't be too sure that will happen.
This men's 3k race has a little bit of everything.
Let's start with Bienenfeld, the Cincinnati Bearcat who made headlines this past offseason when it was announced that he'll finish his eligibility with the Oregon Ducks next fall as a graduate transfer.
Bienenfeld has been on fire as of late, running times of 13:42 (5k) and 28:31 (10k) during his time in Germany. When paired with his extensive experience and his speedier personal bests of 4:04 (mile) and 8:01 (3k), there is no reason why Bienenfeld should lose this race. He's clearly the top name in this field and is just the all-around better talent.
However, we will be excited to see how Kentucky freshman Matt Duvall runs this winter. He had a killer cross country season and was voted as TSR's "Best Freshman" this past fall. We'll see if his cross country scoring value can translate to fast times on the track.
And how about Ahmed Jaziri? The Eastern Kentucky runner recently joined the Colonels from Tunisia with personal bests of 3:43 (1500), 14:08 (5k) and 8:35 (steeplechase). The steeple is clearly Jaziri's best event, but he has respectable marks in other areas and should at least make things competitive in this race.
Finally, let's talk about the Louisville duo of Albert Kosgei and Shadrack Kipkosgei.
Kosgei owns respectable marks of 4:09 (mile), 8:21 (3k) and 14:37 (5k), but much like Jaziri, he is more of a steeplechaser with a personal best of 8:38.
As for Kipkosgei, we don't know a ton about him, but he was having a strong cross country season this past fall. However, he didn't compete at the ACC Championships this past fall, instead ending his season following a very strong 6th place at the Louisville Classic.
Assuming that he's healthy and ready to go, could Kipkosgei effectively transition that fall fitness to the indoor oval? It's tough to say for sure, but I guess we're about to find out.