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First Thoughts (Part One): Sydney Vaught Solos Elite 5k Time of 15:02 to Win SEC Title, Colton Sands Takes Down Gary Martin & South Carolina Women Win SEC DMR Title Behind Salma Elbadra's 4:25 Split
Conference weekend is upon us! With this weekend being the last chance to earn a national qualifying mark, and with conference supremacy on the line, we are sure to see plenty of exciting headlines later today (Saturday).
Below are just a few of the more notable developments from Thursday and Friday night. Let's see what insights we can pull for how they will impact the remainder of the season (which is basically just the national meet).
Let's begin...
Arkansas' Sydney Vaught Makes Statement With Huge 15:02 (5k) Performance to Win SEC Title, Now Sits at NCAA #9 All-Time
Throughout the winter months, Arkansas' Sydney Vaught (née Thorvaldson) has been quietly productive and plenty consistent. Performances of 4:33 (mile), 8:55 (3k), a pair of 8:49 (3k) marks and a 4:28 anchor leg split showcased a level of comfort on the indoor oval that Vaught had not previously developed.
In fact, it looked like the Arkansas veteran was knocking on the door of a major breakthrough race! Her turnover had improved, she was consistently competing at a high level and she seemed to be peaking as we inched closer to the postseason.
Even so, it felt unlikely that a breakthrough race for Vaught would come at the SEC Indoor Championships. And if it did, then we didn't think it would be enough for her to qualify for the national meet. After all, conference meets have a tendency to be tactical and a race would need to play out perfectly for her to have a shot at qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
But on Thursday night, Vaught didn't leave anything to chance.
Instead, she took control.
In an SEC 5000-meter field crowded with top stars, it was Vaught who showcased a level of courage that is rarely seen in championship scenarios. The Razorback star pushed to the front of the field from the very beginning and immediately opened up a multi-second gap on her competition. In fact, through the first mile, Vaught had put seven seconds between her and Florida ace, Hilda Olemomoi!
Throughout the entire race, we kept waiting for the entirety of the pack to chip away at Vaught's lead and reel her back in -- but they just...never did. The Arkansas star was flat-out unstoppable. And when she crossed the finish line, she has recorded a jaw-dropping personal best of 15:02 for 5000 meters!
That mark puts her at NCAA #9 all-time for the indoor 5k and it also, of course, makes her the newest SEC indoor 5k champion.
Everything that we had seen from Vaught coming into the SEC Indoor Championships suggested that she was due for something big. But even if we thought a certain race scenario would play into her favor, we still didn't imagine her running 15:02! That's an insanely fast time which dramatically alters how we view the Razorback ace as we near the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Prior to Thursday, Vaught held all of the intangibles (which we mentioned earlier) that made her a significant threat. The only thing she was missing was a blistering fast mark which sent a statement to the rest of the NCAA -- and now, she has exactly that.
Let's remember that the indoor national meet is in Fayetteville, Arkansas this winter. In other words, Vaught will be able to race on her home track in two weeks as she guns for All-American honors. Not only that, but there's a good chance that the women's 5k at the NCAA Indoor Championships will be fairly honest from the gun -- something that should theoretically benefit the Razorback standout.
As for the remainder of that SEC 5k field, many of those women ran very well with Florida's Hilda Olemomoi and Alabama's Caren Kiplagat taking silver and bronze, respectively, with a pair of 15:12 (5k) marks. That's a personal best for the latter name who notably put herself in a national qualifying position. She can thank her Arkansas rival for making that happen and her Florida opponent for not letting the pace lag behind.
Florida' Judy Chepkoech (15:16) ran a very fast time of her own for 4th place while Missouri's Monica Wanjiku (15:23) ran a small personal best for 5th place. Admittedly, neither of those results tell us anything new about Chepkoech or Wanjiku. Those performances do, however, show us that those two women are able to reproduce their best performances on a consistent basis (or at least, when needed).
North Carolina's Colton Sands Upsets Virginia's Gary Martin to Win ACC 5k Title
It's quite incredible how much you can learn about a pair of athletes from just one race. And on Thursday night, we learned A LOT about North Carolina's Colton Sands and Virginia's Gary Martin in the men's 5000 meters at the ACC Indoor Championships.
The race itself was extremely straightforward. Martin put himself near the front for most of the race and it wasn't too long before Sands tailed right behind him. From there, the two men clicked off laps until the bell rang.
At that point, Martin was still leading and the pace was quickening to a near sprint. Even so, Sands stayed right behind him. And with 100 meters to go, Sands passed with Martin, putting in one final kick to down the UVA juggernaut and win the ACC title over 5000 meters, 13:40 to 13:41.
This is a very interesting pair of results, mainly because Sands' stock has never been higher while Martin's stock had begun to slide ever-so-slightly going into the ACC Indoor Championships.
For Sands, this win is massive validation that he is among the most elite names in the NCAA. His late-race speed and his kick have become incredibly lethal and he has now proven on more than one occasion that he can take down superstars...even if his tactics on Thursday night were fairly elementary.
Either way, the idea of Sands contending for NCAA gold in either the 5k or the 3k in Fayetteville, Arkansas has become more and more realistic.
Martin, however, is a different story. The phenom miler with elite range hasn't been racing much this season. And when he has raced, he's looked good...but not quite great.
A 3:52 mile effort at the Millrose Games was plenty fast, but it was clear that Martin was chasing a faster time and was ultimately hurt by the ambitious pace. He was then supposed to race over 3000 meters at the Boston U. Valentine Invite, but scratched out of the event. He did split 3:51 in the DMR last weekend, the fastest in the field, but wasn't able to hang with the other anchors in their battle for gold.
And now, in a 5k race that was generally pretty slow and benefitted guys with elite speed (such as Martin), the Virginia ace was outclassed by someone who he soundly defeated by 12 seconds in the same event back in December.
It would be a mistake to say that Martin has been racing poorly -- because he most certainly has not. Even so, it's clear that he's not at 100%. That does, however, align with a recent rumor from a non-ACC source that Martin fell ill earlier this season, so much so that he had to take nearly a full week off from running.
That is only a rumor and it has not at all been confirmed. Even so, that would explain why this Virginia superstar hasn't looked quite as sharp as we're used to seeing this season.
South Carolina Fends Off Florida to Win SEC Title in DMR, 10:45 to 10:46, Gamecocks Now Sit at NCAA #9 All-Time
Truthfully, the biggest reason why South Carolina and Florida ran as fast as they did in the DMR on Thursday night is because their anchor legs, Salma Elbadra and Claire Stegall, were flat-out incredible, respectively.
That said, I thought the first three legs for the Gamecocks' and Gators' DMR squads were fairly solid as well.
For South Carolina, Eline Mast (3:21) kept her team near the lead during the opening leg while Akala Garrett (52.30) had a significant impact on the 400-meter leg. Sylvia Chelangat (2:05) had one of the faster 800-meter splits in the field.
For Florida, Bethan Morley (3:21) was perfectly even with South Carolina at the exchange while Malia Campbell (53.21) had a more-than-respectable effort on the 400-meter leg. However, maybe more importantly, Layla Haynes (2:04) had the second-fastest 800-meter split of any woman in the field.
By the time that Salma Elbadra and Claire Stegall got the baton, only Arkansas' Josphine Mwaura was still with the leaders. And truthfully, the long distance talent never stood a chance against two star milers.
Stegall was the aggressor on the anchor leg, pushing the pace while Elbadra stuck right behind her. But with one lap to go, Elbadra made her move, charging past the right shoulder of her Florida opponent on the back straightaway to eventually give the Gamecocks the win...oh, and the NCAA #9 all-time mark.
Elbadra's final split? A massive mark of 4:25.
And Stegall? As just a rookie, she split 4:27.
At this point, Elbadra has to at least consider scratching out of the mile at the national meet in favor of the DMR. The Moroccan distance standout would still be able to double back for the 3000 meters in this scenario and she wouldn't have to race the mile finals before that event.
Not only that, but the women's DMR looks fairly wide-open at the national meet.
Sure, Oregon and BYU will likely field competitive lineups, but a handful of other talented relays will likely be missing key names. In fact, when you go down the list of women's DMR squads that are positioned to qualify for the national meet, only Boston College can go all-in with a fully fresh lineup without having to worry about scratches or doubling certain names.
If South Carolina wanted to scratch Elbadra from the mile, then they would have a reasonable shot at a top-half All-American finish. Of course, if that's going to happen, then the Gamecock star needs to replicate her monster anchor leg split from Thursday night.
We then come to Florida, a team that now sits at NCAA #11 all-time in the DMR.
Understandably, there was far less excitement for the Gators after this race than there was for the Gamecocks. But truthfully, Coach Will Palmer and his team should be thrilled! Florida just qualified their DMR for the NCAA Indoor Championships and they posted a top-11 all-time mark!
That, of course, is bad news for Clemson, a team that previously sat at NCAA #12 in the DMR for this season. With Florida running as well as they did, the Tigers have effectively been removed from national qualifying consideration.
Quick Hits
Iowa State's Makayla Clark, BYU's Riley Chamberlain, Oklahoma State's Kaylie Politza and BYU's Tessa Buswell each ran 2:02 for 800 meters in the prelims of the BIG 12 Indoor Championships. After altitude conversions, Clark gains a mark of 2:01.83. That is a substantial development for the Iowa State veteran. That mark puts her at NCAA #15 over 800 meters so far this season, meaning that she is now going to be in an automatic national qualifying position. That said, she'll need to hope that she doesn't slide past NCAA #16 with all of the conference chaos that is happening on Saturday.
Clemson's Brian Kweyei did not make it out of the 800-meter prelims at the ACC Indoor Championships, a surprise to many given that he ran 1:46-low earlier this season. Of course, tactics have been an issue for the Tiger star in the past and it looks like those same challenges are still present. He will, however, have a chance at redemption once he returns to the national stage.
Sneaky-good 5k win for Boston College's Imogen Gardiner at the ACC Indoor Championships. She's been a name that has flown under the radar this winter, but she seemingly can't do any wrong. Taking down a 15:11 (5k) runner like Mary Bonner Dalton is incredibly impressive.
The men's 5000 meters at the SEC Indoor Championships was incredibly odd. Arkansas' Nick Busienei, who had only contested one race this season (posting a 7:49 mark for 3k), was initially paced by teammate Jack Williams. As a result, he built a significant lead before Florida's Kelvin Cheruiyot opted to chase him down. In doing so, the Gator freshman slowed the pace enough for other men like Alabama's Dismus Lokira and fellow Razorback James Sankei to join the lead group. That, however, lasted for less than two laps before Busienei surged again, gapped the field and won the SEC title in a time of 13:31 (a meet record). Tactically speaking, that was one of the weirdest races I've seen in a while.
BYU's Jane Hedengren ran 4:31 in the mile prelims at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships (at a Texas Tech facility which sits at minor altitude). That's super impressive, but she was also the top overall finisher in the prelims by a margin of nearly 18 seconds. She was also in the second heat, meaning that she knew exactly how fast she had to run in order to advance to the finals. So...why did she choose to run that fast in the prelims when it wasn't at all necessary? Honestly, I'm not sure.
I originally suspected that the Penn State men would be too deep to get all of their top 800-meter stars out of the prelims and into the finals at the BIG 10 Indoor Championships. But sure enough, the Nittany Lions advanced four men to the finals with Allon Clay, Handal Roban, Yukichi Ishii and Niko Schultz taking four of the top-five seeds in the prelims. If Penn State wants to, they can control the men's 800-meter final and dictate how it plays out on Saturday.
Colorado's Justine Kipkoech was unable to make it out of the mile prelims at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships, emerging as the only notable omission from the finals in that field. Poor tactics and positioning were the main culprit behind him faltering in the prelims, but it's probably better to have that happen now than at the national meet.
At the BIG 10 Indoor Championships, the Oregon men took four of the top-seven spots over 5000 meters (with Simeon Birnbaum winning with a blistering-fast last lap). However, that number could have been five of the top-eight spots had Connor Burns not been DQ'd from earning silver. That DQ likely stemmed from a mid-race move that Burns made where he jumped to an outside lane to get some space. In doing so, he seemingly caused a pair of men to fall.
Oklahoma State's Brian Musau made his season debut over 5000 meters at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships...but produced a DNF result. I have no idea what happened with Musau, both in this race and his season, but the reigning NCAA indoor and outdoor 5k champion will not be able to defend his crown in that event this season.
