ACC Outdoor Championship Preview

The Atlantic Coast Conference is one of the NCAA’s most competitive conferences and it produces many All-Americans each year. This Thursday through Saturday, The University of Virginia will be hosting the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championship. I’ll be in Charlottesville all three days covering the action, so I’m excited to see some great races. If you see me, feel free to say hello!

MEN

800

The most notable headline relating to the ACC 800 this season has been the absence of Wake Forest’s Robert Heppenstall. The senior is redshirting this season in an effort to run the World Championship standard (1:45.80) for the competition in Doha in September. Georgia Tech’s Avery Bartlett is the top seed, coming in at 1:47.54. He has a decent edge on the rest of the field, as the next fastest entrants are Bashir Mosavel-Lo of Virginia Tech at 1:48.82, Matt Wisner of Duke at 1:49.32, Drew Glick of Pittsburgh at 1:49.74, and Bennett Hillier of Georgia Tech at 1:49.93. These are the only athletes entered under 1:50, but there is a big group seeded at 1:50 or just above. Bartlett looks to be the best in the field, but after him and Mosavel-Lo, the seed times are all very closely distributed so this should be a very competitive race.

1500

Yared Nuguse enters this race as the class of the field, seeded at 3:38. This is a time that puts him #1 in the East Region and #3 in the NCAA as a whole. It is safe to say that Nuguse will be a strong contender for the national title in June. After Nuguse, Brandon Tubby of North Carolina and Philip Hall of NC State come in at 3:44. At 3:46, the floodgates begin to open.

Nate Sloan (Pittsburgh), Matthew Novak (Virginia), Istvan Szogi (Florida State), Jack Joyce (Virginia Tech), Dylan Jacobs (Notre Dame), and Alex Milligan (North Carolina) are all seeded at 3:46 which should make for a very competitive race. The 1500 at ACC's tends to be pretty tactical, so it will be important for Nuguse not to wait too long to go for it if he wants a decisive win. Teams like Notre Dame and North Carolina could come up big with team points in this race if things go their way.

5000

The men’s 5000 will showcase some of the top talent in the NCAA. Syracuse’s Aidan Tooker and Wake Forest’s Zach Facioni are both seeded at 13:48 for the top times. Tooker will also be running the steeplechase the night before, so he may be fatigued and not as fresh as his competitors. More on that later.

As I have mentioned in multiple articles before this, I have been impressed with freshman Zach Facioni since I watched him run at the ACC Cross Country Championship this past fall. He battled Virginia Tech senior Peter Seufer every step of the way and came up just short at the line. It’s not every day that you see a freshman going at it with such an experienced veteran, but Facioni ran an incredible race. Peter Seufer is seeded right behind Facioni at 13:51, so it’s possible we will get to see another great race from them.

Next up is NC State’s Ian Shanklin, seeded at 13:55. Brent Demarest of Virginia and Sean Burke of Boston College come in at 13:59. Some other notable entries who are entered with no times this season are JP Flavin of NC State who has run 28:58 for 10k this year and Iliass Aouani of Syracuse who has run 28:25 for 10k this year (and has a 13:51 5k PR).

10,000

The men’s 10k could end up being one of the most exciting races at this year’s ACC Championship. Syracuse’s Iliass Aouani comes in with the top time at 28:25. He ran that time at the Stanford Invitational a few weeks ago and that sets him up to not only perform well this weekend, but through Regionals and into Nationals as well. Behind Aouani is Emmanuel Cheboson of Louisville who has run 28:42. He will make for great competition for Aouani if they decide to break the race open early. That might be unlikely though as Aouani will want to save something for the 5k later in the meet.

Notre Dame Freshman Danny Kilrea has the third fastest seed in the field at 28:55, a time that makes him the fastest freshman in the country this year. Lachlan Cook of Virginia and Sean Burke of Boston College are seeded at 29:10 and 29:11. The Virginia Duo of Brent Demarest and Alex Corbett are seeded at 29:17 and 29:18, putting three Virginia athletes in the top seven seeds, which could make for huge team points.

Entered with no time are Virginia Tech’s Peter Seufer who has run 29:21 earlier in his career, and NC State’s Patrick Sheehan who has run 13:57 for 5000 meters.

3000 Steeplechase

When looking at the ACC steeplechase results for this season, one thing quickly becomes clear. Aidan Tooker has yet to compete in his best event. The Syracuse junior was 4th at NCAA's last spring and holds a PR of 8:35. The consequence of Tooker not having raced a steeplechase this year is that he is seeded with no time, which puts him in the slow heat. Nobody in the slow heat is seeded faster than 9:14, so Tooker will have to go for a solo win if he wants to take the title.

In the fast heat, Louisville’s Albert Kosgei is the top seed at 8:47. If Tooker can’t pull it off in the slow heat, Kosgei will have a good shot at the win. Mike Ungvarsky of Duke is not far behind with an 8:50 along with Fitsum Seyoum of Virginia Tech and Josh Higgins of Pittsburgh at 8:54.

Coming in at 8:56 is Matthew Novak of Virginia and Gavin Gaynor of NC State. A notable absence in the field is Noah Affolder from Syracuse, who has a PR of 8:40 and was 9th at NCAA's last year. As first reported by TSR, Affolder is redshirting this spring season and is looking to transfer elsewhere this summer.

The steeple is not ultra-competitive in the ACC this year, but Tooker’s race will be the one to watch to see if he can win from the slow heat. Drew Hunter did it in the two-mile at USA's during indoors, so hey, anything is possible.

---

WOMEN

800

The women’s 800 is very deep this year and should make for a very competitive final. Kayla Johnson of Miami comes in with the top seed at 2:04.43 but is closely followed by Virginia Tech’s Rachel Pocratsky follows in 2:04.67. Right behind her is Jessica Harris of Notre Dame at 2:04.84. It will be interesting to see how women like Harris and Pocratsky, who have been equally successful in the 1500, will handle an 800 specialist like Johnson this weekend. Pocratsky has the edge from an experience standpoint, but this will not be an easy race for her.

We should also mention Kamryn McIntosh of Clemson who is seeded at 2:05.54. She was one of our sleeper picks to watch during indoors and it looks like she is living up to that hype during outdoors.

1500

In the women’s 1500, we have a similar situation to the men's 800. NCAA #2 Jessica Harris is not running, and she would have been the heavy favorite at 4:13 if she was. Even without Harris, the field looks to be dominated by two women. Florida State’s Maudie Skyring is entered at 4:16 and NC State’s Nevada Mareno is entered at 4:17. These two may end up battling for the win if the race goes out fast.

Following those two is Rachel Pocratsky of Virginia Tech and Liz Lansing of Duke at 4:20. Pocratsky may not have the seasonal bests that Mareno or Skyring have, but she is more than capable of pulling off the 1500/800 double gold if the races favor her tactically.

Jodie Judd of Florida State and Paige Duca of Boston College come in right behind at 4:21. Like the 800, this race will be considerably deep, and if the top two seeds do not decide to go for it early, there could be a large pack fighting for spots at the end.

5000

In the 5000, the top-seeded athlete is Paige Stoner of Syracuse at 15:28. Louisville's Dorcas Wasike is a bit further back on the start list at 16:13, but she has a PR of 15:25 which will certainly put her in the hunt for the win. Following those two is Militsa Mircheva of Florida State at 15:45.After that there is a bit of a gap until the next entry, which is Jacqueline Gaughan of Notre Dame at 16:01. She is only a freshman which makes her time even more impressive.

Next up is Dominique Clairmonte of NC State who has run 16:04. Rachel Bonner of Syracuse is seeded at 16:05, and Samantha Halvorsen of Wake Forest is right behind her at 16:06. Sara Friex of Virginia Tech also comes in at 16:09.

There are a few notable athletes entered without seed times. Notre Dame’s Jessica Harris who has run 2:04 and 4:13 this season and will be making what appears to be her debut at this distance. Maybe we will see her add a third NCAA top time to her season this weekend.

NC State All-American Elly Henes is entered with no time, and while she holds a PR of 15:41, she ran unattached at Payton Jordan last weekend so it is unclear if she is redshirting. Obviously, if she races this weekend, that will not be the case.

10,000

The 10,000 is headlined by Dorcas Wasike of Louisville who is seeded at 33:28. However, we can't forget that Wasike has run 32:11 and finished 2nd at NCAA's last spring. She is the heavy favorite to take the title this weekend with Stoner not in the entries.

Elizabeth Funderburk of Florida State is seeded right behind her at 33:31, which is her PR. Meredith Smith of Wake Forest is the third seed at 34:14, and Monica Hebner of Duke and Annie Heffernan of Notre Dame are right behind her at 34:20 and 34:23, respectively.

The no-time entries in the 10k could significantly shake things up. Notre Dame’s Anna Rohrer has not raced since she finished 10th at NCAA's in cross country last fall, but she has a PR of 31:58. If she’s healthy, she could be a serious contender.

Samantha Halvorsen of Wake Forest has a PR of 33:52. She finished 16th in the 10k at NCAA's last year and will be making her season debut this weekend. Virginia Tech’s Sara Freix has a PR of 34:12 which could make her a factor as well.

3000 Steeplechase

The women’s steeplechase field is considerably small this weekend with only 14 athletes entered. Paige Stoner of Syracuse is entered at 10:01, but she finished 3rd at NCAA's last in a time of 9:46. When you look at her resume, it's clear that she is the overwhelming favorite. That said, Nell Crosby of NC State is seeded at 10:04 for the second fastest seed. She could make Stoner work for this win.Syracuse’s Laura Dickinson is seeded third at 10:10, putting her in a position to score big points for Syracuse along with Stoner.

After those three, the field quickly strings out. It would not be surprising to see this race turn tactical early on as these three athletes are significantly faster than the rest of the field and may be encouraged to sit and kick.