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April Anarchy Round of 32: Green Region (Men)
- TSR Collaboration
- Apr 26, 2020
- 3 min read
#1 Sam Chelanga (Liberty ‘11)
vs
#8 Edward Kemboi (Iowa State ‘15)
In a battle between long and middle distance stars, there are plenty of accolades to go around. Sam Chelanga holds the edge in NCAA titles (four to two) over Kemboi and also holds the advantage in NCAA records with his collegiate record in the 10k (27:08).
Edward Kemboi, however, was a dominant star his senior year, winning both the indoor and outdoor 800 meter titles while beating #4 seed Clayton Murphy in the process. The former Cyclone often gets lost in the discussion of top 800 runners in NCAA history due to the historic group that came after him (Murphy, Korir, Saruni and Hoppel). However, Kemboi’s 2015 season was not much different than that of Hoppel’s in 2019.
It is hard to downplay the significance of Chelanga’s career as he beat Galen Rupp several times and was seen as one of the greatest NCAA runners of all-time while he was Liberty. While Chelanga is one of the favorites to win it all, Kemboi beat a popular runner (Mac Fleet) from a popular school (Oregon) in our voting to earn his spot, so it would not be crazy to see him pull the upset yet again.
#4 Clayton Murphy (Akron ‘16)
vs
#5 Eric Jenkins (Northeastern / Oregon ‘15)
This matchup may ultimately come down to your preference between middle distance or long distance runners. One of the most even matchups that I have seen so far in April Anarchy promises to be a close one.
Both runners have two NCAA titles to their name. Clayton Murphy earned his two titles in 2016 in the indoor 800 meters and then the 1500meters the following spring with an eye-popping time of 3:36. Meanwhile, Eric Jenkins beat teammate and #1 seed Edward Cheserek in the 3000 meters at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships to win gold, and also won the 5000 meters that same weekend (Cheserek did not run the 5k that year).
Both runners have all-time great marks with Murphy running 1:46 and 3:36 while Jenkins owns a collegiate best of 13:18 for 5000 meters. In the first round, each runner easily beat their competition. Jenkins defeated Josh Rohatinsky while Murphy took down Stephen Sambu.
Given their name recognition and recent popularity within the running community, it would not be shocking to see either runner challenge #1 seed Sam Chelanga in the next round. With hardly anything to separate these two, we are eager to see the voting results!
#3 Simon Bairu (Wisconsin ’05)
vs
#6 Dathan Ritzenhein (Colorado ’04)
Dathan Ritzenhein was able to outlast fellow high school phenom Ryan Hall of Stanford (#11 seed) in the opening round which set him up with one of Wisconsin’s all-time greats in this matchup. Ritzenhein's seed may seem a little low given his national title, American Collegiate Record in the 10,000 meters (now broken), and multiple All-American honors. However, Ritzenhein forewent a sizable portion of collegiate eligibility and had to redshirt his sophomore year due to injury. Even so, his resume is still wildly impressive and could be enough to take down another all-time great of his era (Simon Bairu).
One of the closest matchups in our bracket, Simon Bairu one upped #14 seed David Ribich 51% to 49% in the first round. Only Edward Kemboi vs Mac Fleet produced results that were that close. Bairu squeaked by and now has to face an all-time Colorado great in Dathan Ritzenhein. However, Bairu can boast numerous NCAA gold medals which includes his back-to-back NCAA cross country titles in 2004 and 2005. Will that be enough to topple Ritzenhein in our voting?
#2 Galen Rupp (Oregon ’09)
vs
#10 Nick Willis (Michigan ’05)
Everyone in the world knows the name Galen Rupp, right? The Oregon grad has been an American legend in the distance running world post-collegiately. However, his career in the NCAA is just as decorated. Between numerous national titles, American Collegiate Record in the 10k, a historic triple at the 2009 indoor national meet and Bowerman Award win, Rupp has accolades that are tough for even our #1 seeds to beat.
The three-time Olympian is looking to pull off yet another upset after taking down #7 seed Emmanuel Korir in the first round. Nick Willis' collegiate bests of 7:44 (NCAA #10 3k all-time) and 13:27 (5k) are hard to ignore, as is his mile national title and former world record in the DMR. One of the greatest BIG 10 runners in conference history, Willis will be looking to pull off yet another upset in this round.
