2022 UW Indoor Preview

The University of Washington is home to the famed indoor track facility known as "The Dempsey", a 307 meter oval that has produced some of the fastest distance marks in the NCAA each and every year.

With the 2022 indoor track season now fully kicking off, it is only appropriate that we break down some talented fields at the UW Indoor Preview for this Saturday. Here are a few headlines that you need to know about...

Washington Women Crowd Mile, Stanford's Suarez & Deligianni Also Entered

With the Huskies playing host to a meet on their home track, it's only natural that they stack certain events with certain talents as they see fit. That seems to be the case with the women's mile which features numerous UW women between the first and second heats.

In the top-seeded heat is Madison Heisterman and Anna Gibson.

Heisterman is a sneaky-good talent and shouldn't at all be judged on her 3000 meter rust-buster performance from earlier this year. She owns a 4:39 mile PR as well as a very strong personal best of 4:14 for 1500 meters.

However, what makes Heisterman such an underrated threat is her range. The Washington runner boasts a personal best of 2:05 for 800 meters and has proven, at times, to be a respectable contributor on the grass.

This could be a major breakout season for Heisterman if she is able to recapture the momentum that she had at the tail-end of last spring. Her resume is quietly strong and it also has a lot of redeeming qualities. If she has one of the better performances of her career, she could mix it up with a handful of post-collegiate talents in this race.

As for Anna Gibson, she is in a slightly different, but largely the same, situation as her teammate. Her personal best in the mile is "only" 4:42, but she has also run 4:15 for 1500 meters, leading us to believe that she can produce something slightly faster at the mile distance.

Not only that, but Gibson has also shown flashes of excellence in the middle and long distances. She's run 2:07 for 800 meters and 16:37 for 5000 meters. Neither of those marks are nationally elite times, but they're still solid results that offer strong versatility to Gibson's resume.

In theory, the range and dynamic distance prowess that we've seen out of Gibson and Hesterman should allow them to be fairly flexible when it comes to the variety of race scenarios that they could see this weekend.

However, with the pace expected to be somewhat honest, we'll mainly be aiming to see if both of these women can inch closer to their previous personal bests.

As for the second heat, this section features Washington standouts such as Carley Thomas, Taylor Chiotti, Sophie O'Sullivan and Julia David-Smith (who is running unattached).

The big name to watch here is Thomas, the middle distance star who ran 2:02 for 800 meters back in the winter of 2020 before the pandemic and a broken femur sidelined the young talent for a significant amount of time.

Thomas spent the 2021 spring track season rebounding from her setbacks, running as fast as 2:05 for the half-mile distance during her comeback campaign.

With more time to recover and more time to build back her fitness, the 2022 indoor track season could prove to be an exciting one for Thomas. This mile race will be a great way to gauge her current fitness and it will also be a great starting point for her to build off of throughout the rest of the season.

We also need to recognize that Stanford rookie Audrey Suarez and second-year talent Ellie Deligianni are both entered in the second heat of this women's mile field.

In her first season with the Cardinal, Suarez proved to be a solid and respectable contributor on the grass, finishing 103rd at the NCAA XC Championship. However, the track might be where she is at her best.

With a 1600 meter PR of 4:45 from high school, there is potential for Suarez to replicate (or at least, get near) that mark on Saturday. Of course, from an analytical point of a few, hitting a specific time may not be the specific focus of this meet for Suarez.

In the grand scheme of things, the aim is likely to get her accustomed and acclimated to racing high-level competition on the indoor oval. We'll worry about specifics and times later.

As for Deligianni, she could be a really solid and underappreciated name in this field. The Stanford middle distance standout has run 2:05 for 800 meters multiple times and has a respectable 4:22 personal best for 1500 meters.

Those 2:05 personal bests came in the final races of Deligianni's spring season, meaning that she was peaking at the right time and could have (potentially) run something faster in the 1500 meters if that fitness translated to the longer distance.

This mile race will be more of a rust-buster and early-season starting race for the Cardinal middle distance talent. However, if she is able to replicate her momentum from last spring and bring it to the Dempsey this weekend, then Deligianni could be a key name to watch.

Schadler Headlines Underrated 3k Field

Allie Schadler is a nationally competitive talent who often gets lost in conversation when talking about other collegiate distance running standouts. This weekend, however, could be a good way for Schadler to come out and make a major statement.

Schadler's resume is loaded and highly versatile. She has run 2:47 for 1000 meters, 4:31 in the mile, 8:58 for 3000 meters and 15:33 for 5000 meters on the outdoor oval (unattached). On paper, this Washington runner should be in the mix to earn a win in most fields that she's entered in.

Admittedly, Schadler will have her hands full as she battles with former Stanford runner and current Osielle runner Rebecca Mehra in this race. That said, a win is still very realistic for the Washington star.

After a solid, but uneventful 15:50 effort for 5000 meters back in December, a step down in distance to what appears to be her ideal distance (the 3000 meters) seems to be a good move. A solid time or a strong finish could be the building block for something bigger as we look ahead to the rest of Schadler's season.

Behind Schadler is a very deep and underrated field of women which features talents like Lucy Jenks (Stanford), Katie Camarena (Portland State), Haley Herberg (Washington), Sophia Cantine (Washington), Christian Aragon (Stanford), Laura Pellicoro (Portland), Veerle Bakker (Portland), Grace Connolly (Stanford), Yukino Parle (Boise State) and Abi Archer (Stanford).

This is a very unique and interesting field. All of those women I just listed boast strong credentials or have had glimpses of promise in a variety of different races. However, the 3000 meters isn't exactly the ideal distance for these women.

Jenks' best performances have come in the 1500 meters or the 5000 meters -- but not the 3000 meters. Aragon has had plenty of success in the 3000 meters in the past, but reputation has largely been built in the mile and in cross country. The same could be said for Camarena who has run 9:19 for 3000 meters, but has run a relatively more impressive mark of 4:13 for 1500 meters.

Herberg, meanwhile, has also been great in the 3000 meters, owning a time of 9:16 for the distance, but her best races have been in the longer events like the 5000 meters and the 6000 meters during cross country.

Cantine is, debatably, at her best in the mile and other middle distance events. Archer, meanwhile, has posted her best performances on the grass. The same goes for Parle.

To be clear, all of these women are more than capable of earning a top finish or a fast time in the 3000 meters this weekend. In fact, this is probably the perfect 3k field for many of these women to be entered in. The field is not too fast, but not too slow, and everyone seems to be on fairly equal footing in terms of their talent at this distance.

If the respective chase packs can hang on to the pace for long enough, then we could see a slew of personal bests coming out of this race.

Elite Mile Field Features Johnsen vs Ellis vs Lumb vs Houser, John Lester Makes Collegiate Indoor Debut

Is this the race of the weekend? I think it might be.

We spoke yesterday about the men's mile field at the Arkansas Invitational and how that race has the potential for some wicked fast times. However, this mile field is truly elite and could result in some blistering early-season marks. Let's dive into it.

Can someone tell me what Colton Johnsen (Washington State), Sam Ellis (Princeton) and Kieran Lumb (Washington) all have in common? It's the fact that they all own mile personal bests of 3:57.

That's insane! Rarely do you find an early-season battle as strong as this which features three men who have that fast in the exact race that they are contesting.

Not only that, but Washington's Luke Houser also owns a personal best of 4:00 in the mile as well. On paper, he may not have the same elite firepower at this distance that Johnsen, Lumb and Ellis do, but he could absolutely be a major name in this field depending on how the race unfolds.

A lot of this race will depend on what professional runners like Sam Prackel (Adidas) and John Gregorek (Asics) decide to do with the pacing and the surges. However, Johnsen, Lumb and Ellis are all, on paper, talented enough to stick with the pace that we will likely see out of Prakel and Gregorek.

In my opinion, Lumb is the man who is most prepared to handle the various races scenarios that could unfold on Saturday. With personal bests of 3:38 (1500), 7:46 (3k) and 13:24 (5k), this Washington runner has the necessary speed and endurance to properly react to how this race will play out in front of him.

Lumb is also someone who thrives in fast settings and seems to run with incredible control based on the instances that I have watched him race.

That said, Johnsen is arguably just as versatile as Lumb with personal bests of 7:53 (3k) and 13:34 (5k). The question, however, is whether or not Johnsen will be able to fully capitalize on his versatility and take down some top names in the process.

The Washington State runner doesn't need to win this race, but earning a win over someone like Ellis would be a great way to extend his already strong start to this winter season.

Speaking of Ellis, we hadn't seen the Princeton runner toe the line in quite some time until this past fall. The Ivy League's precautions towards athletics during the pandemic sidelined Ellis and the Tigers up until this past cross country season.

The good news is that Ellis looks prepared to make some noise on Saturday. He ran a 4:02 rust-buster mile back in December and has had a month to further build his endurance and refine his speed.

While I'm not sure I see too many scenarios where Ellis repeats his personal best of 3:57 this weekend, I do think that it's more likely than not that he dips under the four minute mile barrier on Saturday.

As for Houser, could this be the breakout race that truly gets him to the next level? It's certainly possible, especially in a field as fast as this.

The Washington runner has emerged as a true low-stick for the Huskies over the last few seasons and has run fast times outside of his 4:00 mile PR. Houser also owns marks of 7:58 for 3000 meters and 13:47 for 5000 meters.

On paper, Houser has the necessary aerobic stamina to stick with something fairly quick. His mile PR suggests that a sub-four result this weekend isn't out of the question. In fact, if I was forced to choose, I would say that it's more likely than not that Houser dips under that four minute milestone.

As for the other two men in this field, the Princeton duo of Duncan Miller and Ed Trippas will be key names to watch.

Miller, much like teammate Sam Ellis, ran 4:02 in the mile back in December. Trippas, meanwhile, while not much of a miler, did run 8:19 for the 3000 meter steeplechase en route to an appearance at the Olympic Games last summer.

There are too many unknowns with Miller and Trippas to accurately predict what role they will play in this race. Of course, they each have past performances which indicate that they could produce a big-time result this weekend.

One last note on this race: Keep an eye out for John Lester in heat two. The true freshman from Stanford ran personal bests of 1:47 (800) and 4:06 (mile) during his time in high school. After two uneventful races on the grass this past fall, Lester could be primed for something very exciting this season and beyond.

Fay to Battle Shields, Stallings, Ahl & Dannatt in Men's 3k

If the men's mile is the most exciting race of the weekend, then the men's 3000 meter race may be the most interesting race of the weekend.

This field features numerous distance running standouts, specifically collegiates who boast differing backgrounds both on and off the track.

Washington's Brian Fay is a recent international addition from Ireland who owns a solid list of times, including marks of 3:58 (mile), 7:53 (3k), 13:33 (5k), 28:41 (10k) and 8:29 (steeplechase). On paper, those performances make Fay the most prepared to handle whatever this field throws at him.

With an All-American honor in cross country this past fall, it's hard to argue against Fay being the favorite in this race. Of course, just because he's the favorite doesn't mean that the field as a whole isn't capable of giving him a loss.

Washington State standout Zach Stallings, for instance, has run 3:39 for 1500 meters and 3:58 in the mile. He is oftentimes underappreciated given the impressive performances that we've seen out of his teammate, Colton Johnsen.

Even so, Stallings' raw mile speed should make him a factor in this race. However, we're not entirely sure what he can do in the longer distances. His 3000 meter personal best of 8:02 is solid, but that result came last winter before his breakout races in the mile and the 1500 meters.

If this race unfolds how we think it will, then Stallings should be able to dip under the 8:00 barrier on Saturday...we think.

However, maybe the biggest x-factor to watch in this race is Jonathan Shields, the Boise State veteran who has a very respectable resume. He recently ran 13:51 in the 5000 meters and owns others marks of 3:43 in the 1500 meters and 8:09 in the 3000 meters.

On paper, Shields has been improving fairly steadily and fairly consistently over the last few months. He's not a superstar, but he has a ton of momentum right now, something that could be converted into a top-notch time and a true breakout race.

Watch out for Shields this weekend.

We also can't end this article without talking about the D2 stars from Simon Fraser, Aaron Ahl and Charlie Dannatt.

Seeing both of these men entered in the 3000 meters this weekend was a bit of a surprise. Both Ahl and Dannatt are predominately middle distance guys, focusing on the 800 meters and the 1500 meters this past summer.

Last July, Ahl ran marks of 1:48 (800) and 3:38 (1500) while Dannatt ran 3:39 (1500).

However, when you look at their cross country results from this past fall, it actually makes a ton of sense for these two men to come down in distance instead of immediately entering the mile or 800 meters.

Regardless of how this 3k race actually goes for them, both Ahl and Dannatt will be able to steadily work their way down to the mile without making a major jump from the endurance-heavy 10k to the speed-based mile.

We should also note that in heat two is D3 superstar Aidan Ryan. The Williams superstar has often thrived in the 3000 meters throughout his collegiate career and could be in the perfect field to provide with him with a new personal best. His current PR sits at 8:08.