2026 NCAA D1 Indoor Championship Scratch Reactions: Colin Sahlman Shockingly Opts Out of 800m & Mile While Rosemary Longisa & Chloe Foerster Choose Mile Over 800m

On Tuesday night, the NCAA released their declared entries (and their declared scratches) for the upcoming Division One NCAA Indoor Championships. And while there were a good number of entries that were largely unsurprising, there were also a handful of fascinating event decisions.

Let's take a look at some of the more unexpected accepted entries / scratches that we saw come across our computer and phone screens yesterday evening...

Colin Sahlman Shockingly Scratches From Both 800 Meters & Mile to Presumably Pursue DMR & 3k

Throughout the winter months, and even before this current indoor track season, we knew that Colin Sahlman had some of the best range in the NCAA. In fact, you could argue that he definitively DOES have the best range among any and all collegians.

That versatility was showcased this winter with national qualifying efforts over 800 meters, the mile, 3000 meters and the DMR. And it's not like Sahlman was just squeaking into national qualifying positions -- he was among the very best in each of those events!

Sahlman's monstrous 800-meter time of 1:44.70 from earlier this season gave him a marquee win at the Millrose Games as well as the NCAA indoor record. He also ran 3:52.30 in the mile last month, emerging as the NCAA #3 miler with that mark. The Lumberjack star only contested one 3000-meter race this season (all the way back in December), but that effort led to a significant win over George Couttie in an NCAA #4 time of 7:36.

Of course, when it came time for national meet entries, we expected the Northern Arizona ace to pursue either the 800/3k double or the mile/3k double. Those doubles seemed plenty realistic and he looked like a fairly clear national title favorite in either the 800 meters or the mile.

But instead, Sahlman took us by surprise.

In fact, you could say that we've been left in complete shock!

Despite being the collegiate record holder over 800 meters, Colin Sahlman has SCRATCHED out of that event for the national meet! Of course, that was always a realistic possibility -- and for good reason.

Penn State's Handal Roban may be just as much of a national title favorite as Sahlman would have been over 800 meters. Meanwhile, the men's mile doesn't have the same kind of threat for NCAA gold. Not only that, but the mile/3k double is more manageable at the national meet than the 800/3k double is.

With Sahlman scratching the 800 meters, one would assume that he was going to try the mile in addition to the 3000 meters.

But nope. That's not what happened.

Instead, Sahlman ALSO scratched from the mile! In turn, the Lumberjack standout is left with the scenario that, frankly, we just didn't see coming: the DMR/3k double.

Now, yes, it is possible that Sahlman won't even contest the DMR at all. If he also opts out of that event, then he would be completely fresh for the 3000 meters, something that Villanova's Marco Langon, North Carolina's Colton Sands, New Mexico's Habtom Samuel, Virginia Tech's George Couttie and many others would not be able to say.

It should also be mentioned that NAU could have an All-American DMR lineup even without Sahlman thanks to having guys like Ford Washburn, Clay Shively, Reinhardt Harrison and Tor Hotung-Davidsen (the latter of whom is also entered in the mile).

Even so, it feels more likely than not that Sahlman will contest the DMR. With him on the anchor leg, the Lumberjack men could very realistically be favorites to the win the national title in that event. And while Sahlman will have to double back to the 3000 meters the next day, he won't have the mile or 800-meter finals to worry about just a few hours beforehand.

Despite the shocking nature of his scratches, Sahlman's scratches do hold a semblance of logic. The idea of him winning the NCAA gold in both the DMR and the 3000 meters is somewhat realistic. And yet, not having the fastest indoor half-miler in NCAA history contest that event OR the mile is fairly stunning on the surface.

But there are also a small handful of athletes who are indirect winners of Sahlman's decision to scratch both the 800 meters and the mile.

We originally anticipated that Sahlman would contest the 800 meters at the national meet. If he did that, then it seemed extremely unlikely that any other name in a national qualifying position would scratch from that event. In turn, Penn State's Niko Schultz would be the first man out of national qualifying over 800 meters.

However, Sahlman's unexpected scratch out of the 800 meters means that Schultz is the last man into the NCAA Indoor Championships in that event. As a result, the Penn State men have officially advanced four runners to the national meet over the half-mile distance.

Not only that, but another Nittany Lion runner also has to be thrilled about Sahlman's decision. I am, of course, talking about Handal Roban.

The Happy Vally product has been outstanding this winter, having clocked 1:44 for 800 meters on two separate occasions this winter. Naturally, Roban was the only other clear-cut national title favorite alongside Sahlman going into the NCAA Indoor Championships.

But with the NAU star now out of the event, Roban enters the indoor national meet as the obvious favorite for NCAA gold over 800 meters.

Put simply, no one is a bigger fan of Colin Sahlman right now than Penn State is.

But with Sahlman scratching the 800 meters, the obvious assumption was that he would then contest the mile. And in that scenario, Princeton's Connor McCormick would have missed the national meet despite sitting at NCAA #17 in that event.

Thankfully for him, Sahlman scratched both events. What could have been crushing heartbreak for the Tiger veteran has (probably) turned into a very, very, very big sigh of relief.

Rosemary Longisa & Chloe Foerster Opt Out of 800 Meters in Favor of Mile

Washington State's Rosemary Longisa and Washington's Chloe Foerster are incredibly familiar with each other at this point in the season. Those two women have faced each other head-to-head on three separate occasions this winter -- and each of those matchups have come on Washington's indoor track.

In their first matchup, Foerster ran 2:37 over 1000 meters to defeat Longisa who ran 2:38. However, in their next two battles, Longisa got the better of the Husky ace. In the mile, Longisa beat Foerster, 4:24 to 4:25. Over 800 meters, Longisa beat Foerster, 1:59.71 to 1:59.91.

Despite the interesting battles, the win-loss record that those two women have against each other doesn't really matter, not for this article. Their national meet scratches and declarations, however, most certainly matter.

Longisa is opting to scratch the 800 meters and go all-in for the mile. And truthfully, I don't agree with that decision. Sure, I did say in our Scratch Predictions article that, "she can't go wrong regardless of what she chooses." But just because there isn't a wrong answer doesn't mean that there wasn't a better choice.

The women's mile is ridiculously stacked this winter. BYU's Riley Chamberlain, Oregon's Wilma Nielsen, Oklahoma State's Billah Jepkirui and NC State's Sadie Engelhardt have been simply phenomenal this season. Each of those women could realistically win NCAA gold in the mile. Heck, if you throw Oregon's Silan Ayyildiz in there, then that is FIVE different women who could potentially win the national title in the mile.

The women's 800 meters, however, doesn't feel quite as crazy, at least not by comparison. Make no mistake, Penn State's Hayley Kitching, Stanford's Juliette Whittaker, Clemson's Gladys Chepngetich and Harvard's Sophia Gorriaran could all realistically win the half-mile national title. Even so, those women don't feel like locks for NCAA gold in the same way that the women mentioned above do for the mile.

Not only that, but Longisa is ranked at NCAA #3 over 800 meters this winter while her mile time puts her at NCAA #7 on the national leaderboard. In terms of her raw talent and her ceiling as an athlete, the 800 meters seemingly held more upside for the Washington State star.

Foerster, however, is a different conversation.

Unlike Longisa, this Washington veteran has extensive national meet experience. This will be her fifth national meet appearance on the track -- and if you include cross country, it's her eighth national meet appearance overall.

At each of those national meets on the track, Foerster has contested either the 1500 meters or the mile. Yes, it's true, her success has been limited at times, but this is someone who earned 6th place All-American honors in this same event last year as well as 8th place All-American honors over 1500 meters last spring.

After fading to 5th place at the BIG 10 Indoor Championships over 800 meters this past weekend, it feels safe to say that Foerster's skillset is better suited for the mile distance. In fact, her newfound 800-meter speed (which features a 1:59 PR) could make her a massive threat in tactical affairs that require a fast finish.

In other words, I think her decision to scratch the 800 meters for the mile was the right call.

Liberty's Allie Zealand Goes All-In For 3k, Scratches Mile

I love this decision. I think scratching the mile to go all-in for the 3000 meters is absolutely the right call and something that I petitioned Allie Zealand to do on The Stride Report Podcast earlier this season.

However, if you listened to that episode, then you know that my fellow co-host Ben Weisel disagreed with me.

After running 8:44 for 3000 meters back in December, Zealand had comfortably secured herself a spot to the national meet in that event. She later ran 4:28 in the mile on her home track, taking down NC State's Sadie Engelhardt in one of the more surprising upsets of the season.

And yet, despite running 4:28, Zealand needed two scratches in the mile to even be considered for the national meet in that event.

Ben's opinion was that the Liberty sophomore should contest the mile/3k double -- gaining experience in multiple events was vitally important in his mind.

However, I didn't see it the same way.

Zealand has a very realistic chance of being an All-American over 3000 meters at the national meet. That's why choosing to double back on tired legs from the mile, an event that she is not nearly as highly ranked in, would only dilute her chances of being a 3k All-American.

That just didn't make sense in my mind.

Thankfully, Zealand and the Liberty coaching staff had the same vision for their sophomore star that I did.

South Carolina's Salma Elbadra & North Carolina's Vera Sjoberg Opt Out of Mile, Likely to Pursue DMR/3k Double

One of the bolder predictions I made in our Scratch Predictions article was that South Carolina's Salma Elbadra would scratch out of the mile to pursue the DMR/3k double. And while we can't say with 100% certainty that she'll contest the DMR, that certainly seems to be the case after seeing that she did, in fact, scratch the mile.

I think this is an excellent decision. The women's mile is incredibly competitive this year, especially at the top. And while Elbadra would have a very realistic shot at earning All-American honors in that event, a fully fresh South Carolina DMR lineup holds the potential to do more damage.

Remember, the Gamecocks clocked the NCAA #9 all-time DMR mark of 10:45 at the SEC Indoor Championships where Elbadra split 4:25 on the anchor leg. If the Moroccan distance star can replicate that kind of split against other anchor legs that could, a) be doubling, or b) be replacement anchors, then the Gamecocks could realistically earn a top-half All-American honor.

Not only that, but if Elbadra had tried the mile/3k double, then she would have had to contest the mile finals on day two (assuming she got out of the prelims). That would have left her with just two hours of rest before contesting the 3000 meters. But in this scenario, she'll get a full 24 hours (ish) of rest before her final race.

In terms of scheduling, the same logic can be applied to North Carolina's Vera Sjoberg. However, I question if she should even enter the DMR.

The Tar Heels likely won't have 800-meter ace Makayla Paige for this relay -- and she makes a major difference if she is UNC's lineup. Plus, Sjoberg has been "just okay" when it comes to the mile distance this season, both in the open event and on the anchor leg of a DMR.

When Sjoberg is at her best and firing on all cylinders, she can be a massive threat over 3000 meters. We saw that back in December when she ran 8:43 for the distance. That's partly why I like the idea of her eschewing the mile altogether and focusing on the 3000 meters.

However, Sjoberg contesting the DMR the night before, while certainly more reasonable, feels slightly unnecessary (if she ends up doing it, of course).

Notre Dame's Ethan Coleman, Clemson's Silvia Jelelgo & Iowa State's Betty Kipkore Unexpectedly Scratch From 5k

I will fully admit that I didn't expect Notre Dame's Ethan Coleman or Clemson's Silvia Jelelgo to scratch out of the 5000 meters. The former was listed at NCAA #17 on the men's national leaderboard while the latter was listed at NCAA #18 on the women's national leaderboard.

There were very real scenarios where both athletes got into the national meet after scratches. In fact, it would have happened if they didn't opt out of the event! However, one quick glance at the TFRRS resumes of both Coleman and Jelelgo solves the riddle of why they scratched.

Coleman hasn't competed since December when he ran his 5k time of 13:24. Jelelgo, meanwhile, hasn't competed since the very end of January. In most cases (but certainly not all), those kinds of scratches indicate that the athletes are recovering from an injury or a significant illness.

However, seeing Betty Kipkore scratch out of the 5000 meters certainly wasn't on my bingo card. The Iowa State product has been outstanding in the latter-half of this season and seemingly holds all of the momentum in the world going into the NCAA Indoor Championships. I was somewhat confident that she could attempt the 5k/3k double.

But instead, Kipkore is scratching out of the 5000 meters, likely to attempt the DMR/3k double -- and I love that decision.

While Kipkore certainly could have been competitive over 5000 meters, it seems fair to say that she is simply better over 3000 meters. Not having a race over three miles long in her legs before that 3k race the next day should be massively beneficial for the Cyclone star.

Plus, the Iowa State women should have a very competitive DMR lineup if they are able to fully replicate what they did at the Arkansas Qualifier (the same track as the national meet) from a few weeks ago!

Everything about this decision made sense, but I didn't initially think of it.

Quick Hits

• Michigan's Trent McFarland has officially declared for the mile. That isn't super surprising given how much his stock has risen as a national title threat (and dare I say favorite) in that event. However, seeing how much effort he has to put in the mile prelims will also be important to monitor in case he opts to double back to the DMR on the first day of the national meet.

• No surprises with Riley Chamberlain. The BYU star opted out of the 5000 meters to focus on the mile and 3000 meters. However, it's still unclear if she will try the ambitious the DMR/mile/3k triple.

• Virginia's Gary Martin unsurprisingly scratched from the 5000 meters in favor of the mile. Of course, the real uncertainty is whether or not he'll double back for the DMR. And given that he didn't qualify for the national meet over 3000 meters this season, I'm inclined to believe that the DMR will be part of his workload.

• Ohio State's Aniya Mosley opted out of the mile for the 800 meters -- which is absolutely the right call. She is, after all, an experienced All-American in that event who ran 2:00.80 for the half-mile distance in the spring of 2024.

• The Penn State men have officially sent four 800-meter runners to the national meet while the Oregon men have advanced five Ducks to the national meet over 3000 meters. Impressive depth by both squads this season.