Bullet Points: Regional Rounds (Day Three)

The third day of competition is now in the books...sort of. The West Regional Championships were delayed, and then ultimately postponed, due to inclement weather. This means that we didn't get to see the 1500 meter finals, the 800 meter finals, the 3k steeplechase finals or the 5k finals for the men. Those are going to be contested later today.

Even so, we still have plenty to talk about from the East region, so let's hop right into it...

1500 Meters

• It is utterly insane just how good Eliud Kipsang is. The Alabama star ran 3:37 in the prelims of the 1500 meters and then came back in the finals to 3:35.49. That's the NCAA #4 All-Time outdoor mark, but it's only the fourth-fastest performance in the event this year if you include Sam Tanner's indoor 1500 meter effort of 3:34 and the converted 3:50 mile Cooper Teare. Wild times we live in...

• Overall, I just love to see someone like Kipsang who runs so aggressively and from the gun. It's rare that you see this approach occur so often and be successful so often. Not that the preliminary rounds mean much, but I truly think that Kipsang can be in contention to win the national title at the NCAA Championships despite having to face Nuguse and likely Hocker. He just looks like that good.

• And how about Jack Salisbury? Yes, Yared Nuguse was runner-up in 3:36, but seeing the Georgetown runner earn an OTQ mark of 3:37 for a new PR suggests that he is peaking perfectly. Many of our TSR contributors were very high on Salisbury as this season unfolded and it looks like his momentum is top-notch right now. If he gets any better over the next few weeks, then he might enter the national title conversation as a sleeper pick. Watch out for this guy moving forward.

• Great runs from Brandon Tubby (3:38), Jesse Hunt (3:39) and AJ Ernst (3:38). They are the established veterans who proved that experience in the postseason doesn't make you a fringe contender, but rather a heavier favorite to advance. Also, with Hunt running 3:39, we should note that the Tar Heels have three men in total who have run under 3:40 this season. That's some next-level firepower and depth that is beginning to develop in Chapel Hill.

• Tough day for Sean Dolan who, despite his youth, has been masterful this season in tactical races. He has navigated the past year exceptionally well when it comes to championship and big-time meets, but he was the first man out from national qualifying. That, however, was bound to happen when you look at how crowded this field was.

• In fact, Dolan wasn't the only youngster who got left behind. Butler breakout star Jesse Hamlin? Out. Rising Michigan talent Nick Foster? Out. An "older-than-his-eligibility-says" runner in Villanova's Charlie O'Donovan? Out. Virginia's Rookie of the Year contender, Wes Porter? Out.

3000 Steeplechase

• These two races were fairly straightforward. The main favorites were able to cruise into Nationals and the fringe contenders were able to sneak into the last few spots. Were there a few contenders who didn't qualify for Nationals? Of course, that's bound to happen, but the names who did qualify have at least showed us a history of success in the steeplechase.

• Alex Miley (Duke), Pedro Garcia-Palencia (Eastern Kentucky), Alex Milligan (North Carolina) and Travis Koekemor (Campbell) have all had outstanding moments this season where they shined in the steeplechase or just shined in general. However, what they all lacked was significant experience in the steeplechase or significant experience of racing at an ultra high-level in the steeplechase. In my mind, that largely makes sense as to why some of these names didn't advance. Consistency and an understanding of how to navigate these crowded fields is extremely important when it comes to this event.

• The one name who did surprise me a bit was Cameron Ponder. The Furman runner is much better than his 9:08 mark from Friday indicates. He's run under 8:50 twice this year (three times if you add a few seconds onto his EKU results) as well as a 3:41 effort for 1500 meters. After becoming an All-American in the 3000 meters with a 7:54 this past winter, Ponder had everything on his resume to be a majorly successful name. He got a bit unlucky in this steeplechase race, but he's talented enough to be at the national meet and will surely come back with vengeance next year.

• How about Alexander Korczynski? The Northeastern talent has been a quietly great distance runner this year, but his resume wasn't strong enough to suggest that he would be able to qualify for Nationals. However, his consistency this season has been incredible and his progress over the spring months has been encouraging if you've looked at his resume (something I didn't do until now). Running an 8:44 personal best for the steeplechase shows us that Korczynski is peaking at the right time and he could be a quietly impactful name on the national stage.

800 Meters

• I'd like to tell you that there were a lot of surprises in this one, but this is another one of those instances where everything went largely as expected. Sure, there were maybe a few fringe contenders who snuck in, but guys like Dorenkamp, Kay and Raymond were talented enough to qualify and had done enough throughout the season to make an impact and deliver on their postseason potential.

• In fact, I really like all three of those names that I just mentioned. Raymond has been getting better and better with each passing week and running 1:48 is nothing new to him, at least not during this regional meet. Dorenkamp ran 1:49 three times this season prior to the regional meet, but has now added a fourth sub-1:50 effort on his resume. I always viewed him as a miler, but his consistency in the 800 meters this year has been outstanding. As for Kay, he hasn't been quite as consistent this spring, but running 1:48 gives his resume some firepower and his 2:23 mark for 1000 meters back in the winter validated his talent. Overall, that's why I'm not really surprised why all of these guys qualified.

• It was a bit of a surprise to see Matthew Payamps (Georgetown) and Leon Clarke (Mississippi State) not make the cut. The same can be said for Theo Woods (Georgetown) and Everett Smulders (Ole Miss). Ultimately, all of these men showed qualities that suggested they could qualify for the national meet, especially the Hoyas. I really liked Payamps and Woods this year, although Woods admittedly did falter a bit at the BIG East Championships. I felt like Georgetown's history of middle distance success would carry them through to the Eugene, Oregon, but that wasn't the case. I'm sure that will change once these men become more experienced veterans.

5000 Meters

• This was easily the most predictable race of Friday. I know we talk about how a few of these races were fairly predictable, but that couldn't be more true for this year's East region men's 5k field. If I told you that Beadlescomb, Brandt, Ratcliffe, Makepeace, Lundy, Masai, Kioko, Facioni, Jacobs, Shanklin, Veatch and Kiprop were all going to qualify for the national meet, would you be surprised? I can't imagine that anyone would.

• I do want to extend my apologies for Ian Shanklin. I thought the 10k was going to be his best chance of qualifying for the NCAA Championships (and I still think he could have qualified in that event), but he backed up his decision of choosing the 5k by earning a national qualifying spot. Shows what I know...

• Brutal weekend for Butler's Simon Bedard and Notre Dame's Kenny Vasbinder. The Butler distance veteran was the first man out of qualifying for the men's 5000 meters and faltered a bit in the 10,000 meters. He's incredibly talented with personal bests of 3:39 (1500), 13:37 (5k) and 28:11 (10k), but the tactical races seemingly got the better of him this weekend.

• As for Vasbinder, he actually didn't run poorly at all. He ran 13:49.48 (5k) and 29:10.14 (10k), finishing 13th and 14th, respectively, between both events. That is heart-breaking, especially because the graduate transfer from Columbia (who competes for Notre Dame) finished a combined 0.98 seconds out from national qualifying. Between two events! That's absolutely brutal for someone who has proven to be a great talent this year.