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2022 D1 Indoor Scratch Predictions
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Feb 28, 2022
- 18 min read
Conference weekend is finally wrapping up. Championship meets for the Missouri Valley Conference and the Southland Conference finished today, although there doesn't appear to be any major performances from those meets that altered the national leaderboard.
With those championships and a few others now complete, we will eventually (and officially) have our finalized national leaderboard for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Of course, just because we have a finalized leaderboard doesn't necessarily mean that everyone will run in the events that they are automatically qualified in.
For the D1 realm, the top-16 individuals and the top-12 relays in the NCAA automatically qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. However, athletes within that top-16 could be qualified in numerous events and instead would like to focus on certain events over others.
Opting out of a top-16 spot in a certain event is called a "scratch". This allows the next-fastest, non-scratching athlete to qualify for the indoor national meet in that event.
In some instances, we don't see any scratches in certain events. Other times, we could go as high as NCAA #30 in a certain event given how many scratches one discipline has.
There are often a TON of ripple effects that these scratches (and non-scratches) have on the national qualifying picture. At The Stride Report, it's our job to predict who is scratching which events and who is not...so let's get into it.
Women's 800 Meters
The 800 meters isn't usually an event that I expect many athletes to scratch from. Some athletes could move up to the mile or down to the 400 meters, but that isn't super common. Relays could play a role in terms of athlete's national qualifying decisions, but there is usually enough rest between the 800 meter prelims and the DMR finals to make a double work.
As we begin to look through the list, Virginia Tech's Lindsey Butler is the first name who we need to discuss. The NCAA #1 runner, who boasts a mark of 2:01 in the 800 meters, is a title favorite in this half-mile event.
However, she is also ranked at NCAA #2 in the DMR with her teammates.
After splitting 4:29 on the anchor leg of the Hokies' DMR this past weekend, I felt like it was somewhat realistic for Butler to scratch the 800 meters and go all-in for the DMR, especially if Arkansas' opted to field a limited lineup.
However, after showing so much strength on that anchor leg and eventually running 2:01 on Saturday, there is no way that Butler can scratch out of the 800 meters now. She is just too darn good in the 800 meters and is too much of a threat to win NCAA gold to opt out of the event.
Because of that, I see Butler running the DMR/800 double.
Her overall strength should allow her to rebound from the 800 meter prelims fairly well for the DMR despite having just one hour of rest. I do, however, think that Butler running the 800 meter prelims before that DMR anchor leg puts Virginia Tech at a slight disadvantage, leaving them vulnerable to one or two teams surprising them.
Even so, the DMR/800 double is likely too enticing to pass on for a runner as talented as Butler.
There is, however, one name who I am 99% confident will scratch from this event. That's Binghamton's Emily Mackay who sits at NCAA #9 in the 800 meters with a time of 2:03 from this past weekend.
Mackay has been one of the greatest breakout stars in the NCAA this winter. She caught our attention with an early-season flat-track converted 2:04 mark for 800 meters, but has since gone on to run 4:30 in the mile (NCAA #1) and 8:54 in the 3000 meters (NCAA #9).
While Mackay certainly could do the mile/800 double, it makes more sense for her to go after the mile/3k double. The mile is clearly her best event and contesting the 800 meters would force Mackay to run the 800 meter prelims in addition to her mile prelims on day one of the national meet.
Then, on day two, she would have a shorter turnaround from her mile final to the 800 meter finals (assuming she even makes it) compared to the 3000 meter finals.
Plus, her mile prowess makes her a far greater tactical threat in the 3000 meters compared to the 800 meters.
There is far less risk associated with the mile/3k double compared to the mile/800 double. This one should be a no-brainer for Mackay.
Arkansas' Shafiqua Maloney is also qualified for the indoor national meet in the 400 meters, but there is almost zero chance that she scratches out of the 800 meters. She is a title favorite in the half-mile event while she is barely an automatic qualifier in the 400 meters.
BYU's Claire Seymour is one of the final women who is qualified for this national 800 meter field, but she was also on BYU's distance medley relay which is the second-to-last DMR squad to qualify for the national meet.
There's a somewhat realistic chance that Seymour opts out of the DMR, but I would be surprised if she scratches out of the 800 meters. That seems unlikely to happen.
Final Predictions:
Lindsey Butler (Virginia Tech)
Shafiqua Maloney (Arkansas)
Allison Johnson (Penn State)
Katy-Ann McDonald (LSU)
Sarah Hendrick (Kennesaw State)
Aurora Rynda (Michigan)
Imogen Barrett (Florida)
McKenna Keegan (Villanova)
Emily Mackay (Binghamton) -- SCRATCH
Gabija Galvydyte (Oklahoma State)
Victoria Tachinski (Penn State)
Brooke Jaworski (Texas)
Valery Tobias (Texas)
Isabella Giesing (UMass-Lowell)
Kassidy Johnson (Kansas State)
Claire Seymour (BYU)
Quinn Owen (Arkansas) -- LAST WOMAN IN
Men's 800 Meters
This year's men's 800 meter field is a little unique compared to the women's 800 meter field as there are a few more DMR implications that need to be taken into consideration.
Top-16 names such as John Rivera (Ole Miss), Crayton Carrozza (Texas), Yusuf Bizimana (Texas), Cole Lindhorst (Texas), Jonathan Jones (Texas), Kieran Taylor (Arkansas), Miles Brown (Michigan), Cole Johnson (Michigan) and Abduhalli Hassan (Wisconsin) all have the potential to contest the distance medley on the same day as their 800 meter prelims.
This creates a ton of uncertainty as it leads to wonder if any of these athletes will a) scratch the 800 meters entirely to be fresh for the DMR or b) actually attempt the DMR/800 double.
For the Texas men, I don't see any of these guys scratching from the 800 meters. When thinking about overall team points, the Longhorns could net-gain more points by having four guys in the 800 meters rather than if they had one or two guys focus on the DMR.
From a points perspective, it just doesn't make sense to scratch them from the 800, or even come back to run the DMR. Texas, after all, has one of the greatest middle distance rosters in the country. They could still field a competitive relay without Lindhorst, Carrozza, Jones and Bizimana.
However, I could absolutely see Lindhorst doing the DMR/800 double. At the Alex Wilson Invite a few weeks ago, he split 1:47 on Texas' relay and came back to run 1:47 in the open 800 meters a short while later.
When it comes to guys like Taylor, Brown, Johnson and Hassan, you could probably make the argument for one of them to scratch. However, none of the performances that we've seen from Arkansas, Michigan or Wisconsin have been so good that these men need to be taken away from their main event to focus on a relay.
That four-person group might double in the DMR, but I don't think they'll scratch the 800.
If the Ole Miss men want to go all-in for the DMR, then they'll need John Rivera. However, I just don't see him scratching. He's been way too good at this event this year to opt of the 800 meters. He may double, but with teammate Tiarnan Crorken looking like the last man out of this 800 meter field, the Rebels could still get away with either not having Rivera at 100% or not having him at all.
Final Predictions:
Brandon Miller (Texas A&M)
Moad Zahafi (Texas Tech)
John Rivera (Ole Miss)
Jonathan Jones (Texas)
Kieran Taylor (Arkansas)
Crayton Carrozza (Texas)
Yusuf Bizimana (Texas)
Aman Thornton (Clemson)
Ayman Zahafi (Miami)
Luis Peralta (Oregon)
Miles Brown (Michigan)
Cole Lindhorst (Texas)
Abduhalli Hassan (Wisconsin)
Sean Dolan (Villanova)
Cole Johnson (Michigan)
Marco Vilca (Texas Tech) -- LAST MAN IN
Women's Mile
Ah, yes. The women's mile. Now things get interesting.
The mile is always the toughest event to predict since there are so many possibilities that could happen with doubles (and even some triples). The national meet schedule often forces athletes to work around the mile when pondering their national meet declarations and scratches.
We've already spoken about Mackay. She seems like a lock to run the mile/3k double and scratch out of the 800 meters. The same can be said for Portland State's Katie Camarena and Oklahoma State's Taylor Roe, two women who will almost certainly attempt the mile/3k double.
There are, however, a few more interesting scenarios.
BYU's Courtney Wayment, despite sitting at NCAA #12 in the mile with a time of 4:33.97, is probably going to scratch from this event. She would do that in order to be fresh for the 5000 meters OR to be fresh for the DMR on day one.
BYU's DMR currently sits at NCAA #12, although after eliminating duplicate relays, they are technically NCAA #11. They are the second-to-last relay into the national meet.
After helping her DMR win a national title last winter, Wayment will likely forgo the relay this time around and go after individual glory. That makes sense, especially since BYU has such a low seed time this winter.
Wayment is the overwhelming favorite in the 5000 meters and trying to come back from the mile prelims to run that event would be a major challenge.
Not only that, but assuming Wayment made it to the mile finals, she would have to run another mile race on day two of the national meet before contesting her next-best event, the 3000 meters, later that day.
Yes, Wayment could scratch out of both the mile and the 5000 meters to run the DMR, but that seems unlikely. I expect her to go after the 5k/3k double.
Arkansas' Lauren Gregory is in a similar situation...except it's a bit more complicated.
Right now, Gregory is ranked at NCAA #6 in the mile, NCAA #5 in the 3000 meters, NCAA #6 in the 5000 meters and was part of the Razorback's NCAA #1 DMR lineup. That's a lot to consider when thinking about her postseason implications.
When it comes to the DMR, I actually think Gregory will scratch from that event. Despite the Razorbacks owning the nation's top distance medley relay mark, Arkansas' team as a whole will likely structure a roster lineup that nets them the most points.
Gregory could run the DMR/3k double, but that's not the most efficient way for Arkansas to score points.
Instead, Gregory should scratch the DMR in favor of the mile or the 5000 meters on day one. Then, Arkansas could still field a nationally competitive lineup that could absolutely score a few points, even without Gregory.
Sure, the Razorbacks may not win that relay, but this move would then free-up Gregory to go after even more points in the open events.
This leaves us with the mile and the 5000 meters. There is zero doubt in my mind that Gregory will run the 3000 meters. That is probably her best event and not contesting the event would essentially be leaving points on the board given that it is the last distance event of the national meet.
Running the mile would force Gregory to not only run the mile prelims on day one, but it would also force Gregory to run the mile finals on day two (assuming she qualifies). This means that she wouldn't be fresh on day two heading into the 3000 meters.
That's why it makes so much more sense for her to go after the 5000 meters. She is arguably just as much of an All-American favorite in that event as she is in the mile and she wouldn't have to double on day two.
Meanwhile Arkansas could still score points in the DMR and the Razorbacks could maximize their potential scoring output.
So to make a long story short, yes, I do think Gregory scratches from the mile.
I now want to talk about Stanford's Julia Heymach. She is nationally qualified in the mile, the DMR and the 3000 meters, leaving us with a small sense of uncertainty as to what she will pursue in Birmingham, Alabama.
Yet, despite the uncertainty, I don't see a scenario where Heymach scratches from the mile. She ran 4:31 in the mile earlier this winter and sits at NCAA #2 in the event. The real question, however, is if she will opt out of the DMR to keep her legs as fresh as possible for the mile finals and the 3k finals on day two of the national meet.
Scratching from the 3000 meters wouldn't make much sense for Heymach (or anyone, really) given that it is the last distance event of the weekend. However, the DMR/mile double is a realistic one and if Heymach doesn't want to do three different events (and four races) in two days, then the 3k could be left by the wayside.
However, the more realistic option is that she does the triple and if she doesn't do that, then she'll do the mile/3k double. Scratching out of the mile seems extremely unlikely unless Stanford believes that they can win the DMR national title with her fresh on the anchor leg.
As for a few other names, expect women like Sintayehu Vissa (Ole Miss), Madison Heisterman (Washington), Anna Gibson (Washington), Mia Barnett (Virginia) and Aneta Konieczek (Oregon) to go after the DMR/mile. There's not much of a reason why any of these women wouldn't do this double.
We do, however, need to consider one additional runner: Washington's Allie Schadler.
The Husky veteran sits at NCAA #19 in the women's mile. If Gregory and Wayment scratch from this event like I think they will, then Schadler becomes the first woman out of a national qualifying spot in this event.
However, let's suppose that there is one additional name who ends up scratching from the mile, maybe in favor of the DMR or to be fresh for the 3000 meters. If that happens, then Schadler would be the last woman in for the national meet and Indiana's Bailey Hertenstein would instead be the last woman out.
That is much more realistic than some people realize, but I just don't know where that third scratch would come from.
Final Predictions:
Emily Mackay (Binghamton)
Julia Heymach (Stanford)
Katie Camarena (Portland State)
Anna Gibson (Washington)
Eusila Chepkemei (Middle Tennessee State)
Lauren Gregory (Arkansas) -- SCRATCH
Sintayehu Vissa (Ole Miss)
Madison Heisterman (Washington)
Taylor Roe (Oklahoma State)
Madison Boreman (Colorado)
Olivia Howell (Illinois)
Courtney Wayment (BYU) -- SCRATCH
Laura Pellicoro (Portland)
Micaela Degenero (Colorado)
Aneta Konieczek (Oregon)
Ellie Leather (Cincinnati)
Rachel McArthur (Colorado)
Mia Barnett (Virginia) -- LAST WOMAN IN
Men's Mile
This is, without question, one of the most fascinating events in D1 this year when it comes to national qualifying. There are numerous scenarios that could unfold and there is so much potential for certain names to opt out of this event for others.
However, I think the one name who we absolutely need to start with is Yared Nuguse.
The Notre Dame superstar has been phenomenal this year and owns national qualifying marks in the mile, the DMR and the 3000 meters. In theory, he could win any and/or all of those events two weeks from now.
Here's the thing: Prior to this weekend, I would have said that Nuguse was going to pursue the DMR/3k double. The Fighting Irish always go all-in for the distance medley relay and having to run the mile finals on day two could potentially interrupt his chances of NCAA gold in the 3000 meters.
However, one coach I spoke to raised a very good point.
"He's probably doing the triple. They gotta be going for The Bowerman this year."
And suddenly, the idea of Nuguse doing the DMR/mile/3k triple seemed incredibly reasonable. After all, why would Nuguse come back to the NCAA after being an Olympian this past summer? Sure, maybe he wanted additional cross country success, but outside of The Bowerman, Nuguse has pretty much done it all.
Next weekend is a monumental opportunity for Nuguse to solidify his legacy as one of the greatest collegiate distance runners. I'm not saying that he will be THE greatest collegiate distance runner ever, but triple gold this weekend is just ambitious enough and just reasonable enough for Nuguse to pull it off.
Let's now move to Michigan State's Morgan Beadlescomb, an elite superstar who is nationally qualified in two events this winter: the mile and the 3000 meters.
Now, there are two ways to approach Beadlescomb's postseason aspirations. We can look at the events that we think he SHOULD run versus the events that we think he WILL run.
In my mind -- and I can't believe I'm saying this about a 3:52 guy -- I think Beadlescomb should scratch the mile and go all-in for the 3000 meters.
The clear and obvious goal for Beadlescomb this winter is to win a national title. He has always been an upper-echelon All-American, but this is the first time that we've seen him be a true threat for gold on the national stage.
A mile/3k double is VERY doable for Beadlescomb. However, in my mind, Beadlescomb is better suited for the 3000 meters than he is the mile.
He can handle tactical settings or aggressive paces in the 3000 meters and has shown tremendous poise in that event. The Spartan veteran has also leaned towards the longer distance races throughout his career.
Doing the mile/3k double would mean that Beadlescomb wouldn't be fresh for the 3000 meters. The mile is also a race with a lot more variability, especially when you factor-in the preliminary rounds.
However, if he were to scratch out of the mile, then Beadlescomb would be, without question, the freshest 3000 meter runner in that field with many of the top men in that race coming back from the DMR, the 5000 meters or the mile.
Not only that, but Beadlescomb's greatest threat to NCAA gold, Yared Nuguse, will almost certainly have at least one race under his legs before the 3000 meters.
Beadlescomb's best chance of winning a national title is to be fresh for the 3k, but at the end of the day, I think it's going to be too challenging for him to pass on a mile/3k double.
The Michigan State star has run 3:52 in this event and the idea that he could still be a title contender despite doubling makes it difficult to leave an extra opportunity for gold behind.
So despite my objections, I think Beadlescomb will still go for the mile/3k double.
However, there are men who, in my mind, are almost guaranteed to scratch from the mile. I'm specifically looking at the Northern Arizona duo of Nico Young and Abdi Nur. Those men are also qualified in the 5000 meters and in the 3000 meters.
Young and Nur are SO much better in the longer distances than they are in the mile. It would be a crime if they opted for the mile over the 5k. For that reason, I think they'll scratch.
We also need to talk about Washington's Kieran Lumb. He ran a 3:55 mile at the beginning of the season and led us to believe that he was the next up-and-coming NCAA star. However, Lumb hasn't raced since then and there have been (unconfirmed) rumors that he may be injured.
Either way, his absence has gone on for too long to think that it is intentional. Because of this, I think Lumb is going to be a scratch in the mile.
Let's transition our conversation to Lumb's teammate, Brian Fay.
I'll be honest, I'm not at all confident about what he will run.
Right now, Fay is ranked at NCAA #10 in the mile and NCAA #8 in the 5000 meters. He was also on Washington's DMR lineup that ran the NCAA #1 time earlier this month.
There isn't necessarily a "wrong" answer for Fay when it comes to his national qualifying choices. However, there is probably an answer that is the "most right".
Fay will probably run an individual event. It just seems unlikely that he would pass on individual glory after being a top-10 name in two different distance events this season.
There is, however, a possibility that Washington thinks that they can win the DMR national title with Fay being fresh. In that case, they could have him scratch from the mile and the 5k...but that seems like it's asking a lot.
Conversely, if Fay wanted to go all-in for the 5000 meters, then the Huskies could replace Fay on their DMR with 3:56 miler in Joe Waskom. On paper, that would work out.
However, Fay isn't significantly better in the 5k than he is in the mile (and vice versa). This means that it would actually make more sense for him to run the mile and double back in the DMR.
On paper, that could work out given how much rest he would have. That is the official prediction that I am making, but that is also far from a guarantee.
With so many potential scratches coming from Lumb, Young, Nur and maybe few more, it seems fairly obvious that Texas' Crayton Carrozza will get a national qualifying spot in the mile...but does he even want it?
Carrozza currently sits at NCAA #6 in the men's 800 meters and it feels fairly obvious that he will run that event at the indoor national meet. But could a possible mile/800 double be on his schedule during that second weekend of March?
Well, it depends on what your perspective is.
On one hand, Carrozza is clearly better in the 800 meters than he is in the mile. Given that the mile prelims and the mile finals come before the 800 meter prelims and the 800 meter finals, Carrozza would be exerting energy in his secondary event before his best event.
On top of that, a mile/800 double would essentially eliminate the idea of Carrozza running the DMR, although I don't know if that was even on the table for him anyway.
On the other hand, Texas is a team that will be focused on scoring as many points as possible. The Longhorns also have three other men entered in the 800 meters, giving them some scoring flexibility if they wanted to experiment with Carrozza doubling.
I sincerely don't have a good idea about what Carrozza will do, but my guess is that he runs the mile/800 double. He may be a lower seed in this mile field, but he is probably one of the best backend seeds in any distance event this year.
The only other name who I have some uncertainty with is Washington State's Colton Johnsen. He is ranked at NCAA #15 in the mile and NCAA #16 in the 3000 meters. If Johnson believes that his best chances of national success are in the 3000 meters, then he may scratch the mile.
However, when you consider that he's one of the last qualifying seeds in both events, he probably wants to give himself as many chances to earn an All-American finish as possible.
I say that he does the double and avoids the scratch.
Final Predictions:
Morgan Beadlescomb (Michigan State)
Mario Garcia Romo (Ole Miss)
Nico Young (Northern Arizona) -- SCRATCH
Eliud Kipsang (Alabama)
Yared Nuguse (Notre Dame)
Jack Yearian (Oregon)
Jonathan Davis (Illinois)
Reed Brown (Oregon)
Evan Dorenkamp (Penn State)
Brian Fay (Washington)
James Young (Ole Miss)
Kieran Lumb (Washington) -- SCRATCH
Matthew Payamps (Georgetown)
Abdi Nur (Northern Arizona) -- SCRATCH
Colton Johnsen (Washington State)
Nick Dahl (Duke)
Crayton Carrozza (Texas)
Isaac Basten (Drake)
Nate Osterstock (Southern Utah) -- LAST MAN IN
Women's + Men's 3000 Meters
Alright, here's the deal.
The 3000 meters is the last distance event of the national meet, taking place on day two. Regardless of what an athlete runs in the prelims or the finals of other distance events, doubling back in the 3000 meters is still incredibly realistic and doable.
The only unrealistic distance double involving the 3000 meters is if someone finished the 800 meter finals and then 30 minutes later ran in the 3000 meters. In theory, that could happen, but we almost never see any national qualifying overlap between those two events and we certainly don't have that this winter.
Generally speaking, we never see anyone scratch the 3000 meters. The only reason why people scratched from this event last winter is because they didn't want to exhaust themselves before the NCAA XC Championships.
However, when you look at the non-winter cross country seasons, no man or woman during the 2020 or 2019 indoor track seasons scratched this event.
And I think that will be the same case here.
Final Predictions (Women):
Lauren Ryan (Florida State)
Courtney Wayment (BYU)
Ceili McCabe (West Virginia)
Mercy Chelangat (Alabama)
Lauren Gregory (Arkansas)
Parker Valby (Florida)
Katelyn Tuohy (NC State)
Samantha Bush (NC State)
Emily Mackay (Binghamton)
Kelsey Chmiel (NC State)
Katie Camarena (Portland State)
Kaylee Mitchell (Oregon State)
Taylor Roe (Oklahoma State)
Julia Heymach (Stanford)
Alexandra Hays (NC State)
Tori Herman (Kentucky) -- LAST WOMAN IN
Final Predictions (Men):
Yared Nuguse (Notre Dame)
Abdi Nur (Northern Arizona)
Nico Young (Northern Arizona)
Amon Kemboi (Arkansas)
Eduardo Herrera (Colorado)
Cole Sprout (Stanford)
Morgan Beadlescomb (Michigan State)
Wesley Kiptoo (Iowa State)
Antonio Lopez Segura (Virginia Tech)
Charles Hicks (Stanford)
Athanas Kioko (Campbell)
Ben Veatch (Indiana)
Duncan Hamilton (Montana State)
Cameron Ponder (Furman)
Olin Hacker (Wisconsin)
Colton Johnsen (Washington State) -- LAST MAN IN
Women's 5000 Meters
For the most part, this is a really straight-forward event. I'm convinced that Wayment and Gregory will run this event over the mile and the DMR. You can read the women's mile section above for my reasoning.
Any other potential doubles stemming from this event will likely be in the 3000 meters, an event that pairs beautifully with the 5000 meters in terms of scheduling.
You could maybe make an argument that NC State standouts like Kelsey Chmiel and Alexandra Hays could be on the Wolfpack's DMR, but that seems unrealistic given how many other strong options Coach Laurie Henes has for that relay.
There is also the argument that Florida State's Lauren Ryan could scratch from the 5000 meters in order to be all-in for the 3000 meters. That's a somewhat realistic scratch, especially since she has run 8:47 in the 3k, but athletes double back from the 5k all the time. I don't see why Ryan wouldn't be able to do that two weeks from now.
Final Predictions (Women):
Courtney Wayment (BYU)
Kelsey Chmiel (NC State)
Maddy Denner (Notre Dame)
Adva Cohen (New Mexico)
Alexandra Hays (NC State)
Lauren Gregory (Arkansas)
Mercy Chelangat (Alabama)
Emily Covert (Colorado)
Ruby Smee (San Francisco)
Jenna Magness (Michigan State)
Kayley DeLay (Yale)
Haley Herberg (Washington)
Lauren Ryan (Florida State)
Emma Heckel (New Mexico)
Gracelyn Larkin (New Mexico)
Katelyn Tuohy (NC State) -- LAST WOMAN IN
Men's 5000 Meters
I'll be honest, I really thought that we would see more potential scratches in this field.
However, as I look down the national leaderboard, I can only see one realistic scratch. All others could very easily run this 5k and then come back to race the 3k. Yes, there is the potential for one or two of these men to scratch the 5k entirely and go all-in for the 3k, but I don't know who that would be.
Not only that, but most of these guys are better 5k runners than 3k runners.
My only pick to scratch from this race Washington's Brian Fay. I believe that he will run the mile/DMR double. I give my full thoughts and analysis in the above section.
With Fay theoretically gone, that opens up the door for 2021 outdoor 5k bronze medalist, Athanas Kioko of Campbell. With a flat-track converted of 13:27, Kioko would barely sneak into the national meet.
Outside of Fay, I can't find a good reason for anyone else to scratch from this event.
Final Predictions (Men):
Adriaan Wildschutt (Florida State)
Dylan Jacobs (Notre Dame)
Wesley Kiptoo (Iowa State)
Ky Robinson (Stanford)
Aaron Bienenfeld (Oregon)
Abdi Nur (Northern Arizona)
Nico Young (Northern Arizona)
Brian Fay (Washington) -- SCRATCH
Cole Sprout (Stanford)
Ehab El-Sandali (Iona)
Sam Gilman (Air Force)
Alex Maier (Oklahoma State)
Barry Keane (Butler)
Drew Bosley (Northern Arizona)
Ahmed Muhumed (Florida State)
Amon Kemboi (Arkansas)
Athanas Kioko (Campbell) -- LAST MAN IN
Women's + Men's Distance Medley Relay
When it comes to national qualifying for relays, the NCAA takes the top-12 declared relays, not the top-16 like they do with the individual events. And since teams can enter any combination of athletes that they would like, you never see any scratches come from this field.
However, the real uncertainty is whether or not certain men or women will double back from other events to run on their relays or if they will scratch their open events entirely to focus solely on the DMR.
Below, I compiled a list of every male and female distance athlete found in our above predictions who could possibly run on their team's distance medley relay, even if it's only a 1% chance. Any further analysis surrounding the DMR can be found in the above sections...
Potential DMR Legs (Women)
Lindsey Butler (Virginia Tech)
Shafiqua Maloney (Arkansas)
Claire Seymour (BYU)
Quinn Owen (Arkansas)
Julia Heymach (Stanford)
Anna Gibson (Washington)
Lauren Gregory (Arkansas)
Sintayehu Vissa (Ole Miss)
Madison Heisterman (Washington)
Courtney Wayment (BYU)
Aneta Konieczek (Oregon)
Mia Barnett (Virginia)
Katelyn Tuohy (NC State)
Samantha Bush (NC State)
Kelsey Chmiel (NC State)
Kaylee Mitchell (Oregon State)
Alexandra Hays (NC State)
Tori Herman (Kentucky)
Maddy Denner (Notre Dame)
Haley Herberg (Washington)
Potential DMR Legs (Men)
John Rivera (Ole Miss)
Jonathan Jones (Texas)
Kieran Taylor (Arkansas)
Crayton Carrozza (Texas)
Yusuf Bizimana (Texas)
Miles Brown (Michigan)
Cole Lindhorst (Texas)
Abduhalli Hassan (Wisconsin)
Cole Johnson (Michigan)
Mario Garcia Romo (Ole Miss)
Eliud Kipsang (Alabama)
Yared Nuguse (Notre Dame)
Brian Fay (Washington)
James Young (Ole Miss)
Kieran Lumb (Washington)
Amon Kemboi (Arkansas)
Ben Veatch (Indiana)
Olin Hacker (Wisconsin)
Dylan Jacobs (Notre Dame)
Alex Maier (Oklahoma State)
Final Predictions (Women)
Arkansas Razorbacks
Virginia Tech Hokies
Ole Miss Rebels
Virginia Cavaliers
Arkansas Razorbacks (B) -- NOT ELIGIBLE
Oregon Ducks
Oregon State Beavers
Washington Huskies
Stanford Cardinal
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
NC State Wolfpack
BYU Cougars
NC State Wolfpack (B) -- NOT ELIGIBLE
Kentucky Wildcats -- LAST RELAY IN
Final Predictions (Men)
Washington Huskies
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Ole Miss Rebels
Alabama Crimson Tide
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Indiana Hoosiers
Princeton Tigers
Michigan Wolverines
Wisconsin Badgers
Texas Longhorns
Iowa State Cyclones
Arkansas Razorbacks -- LAST RELAY IN
