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First Thoughts (Part One): Wake Forest Men Narrowly Fend Off North Carolina in DMR While Oregon Women & Virginia Men Officially Set New NCAA DMR Records
Well that was fun, huh?
Friday night was an absolute thriller as we saw incredibly tight matchups, all-time performances and an NCAA record within the span of just a few hours. That, in turn, has left us with plenty to talk about despite there being only a small handful of meets to analyze.
Due to time constraints, we'll only be discussing the DMR performances from Friday night. Any individual performances or races from the Alex Wilson Invite will be analyzed tomorrow.
Let's break down the latest series of performances, shall we?
Oregon Women Officially Set New NCAA DMR Record at Boston University via 10:42 Mark
Going into Friday's Boston U. Terrier DMR Challenge, I was convinced that the Oregon women were going to flat-out destroy their competition. And in doing so, I felt that they would also run an unreal time, specifically a mark of 10:33.
Well, that latter prediction proved to be far too ambitious. And yet, the Ducks still pulled through with a brilliant mark of 10:42. That was effort was enough to give them the win over a strong North Carolina squad that ran 10:44. But more importantly, the Oregon women walked away with a new NCAA record!
The faster times that we saw at the Husky Classic the other weekend do not technically count towards the official record books since they were run on an oversized track.
What's maybe even more impressive about the Ducks' performance is that they didn't have Wilma Nielsen, Maddy Elmore or Klaudia Kazimierska for that relay. Instead, Julia Nielsen, Moriah Oliveira, Mia Barnett and Silan Ayyildiz were the ones responsible for the record.
The ladies from Eugene fought valiantly throughout the race, but it was Ayyildiz's 4:26 anchor split that really allowed the Ducks to have so much success. Not only did she quickly catch up to the leaders, but she also gapped her closest competitors fairly convincingly.
It's not yet clear what relay combination the Ducks will field at this year's indoor national meet. It's hard to imagine that Wilma Nielsen and/or Silan Ayyildiz will come back from the mile prelims to contest the event, and it's not yet clear if Mia Barnett will advance to the indoor national meet in the mile. Right now, she needs one scratch to make the prelims.
Thankfully for Coach Shalane Flanagan, adding freshman Ali Ince to this lineup should keep the Ducks in the mix for NCAA gold. Or, at the least, a top-half All-American honor.
As for the other teams in this field, I thought UNC ran exceptionally well. In fact, I thought they had the most balanced lineup in the field! Makayla Paige was decisively the best lead-off leg in the field with a huge 3:17 split. After her, Ella Auderset split 2:03 (800) before Taryn Parks anchored home the relay with a mark of 4:30!
The Tar Heels should be viewed as All-American favorites going into this year's indoor national meet. Yes, it's unlikely that they'll have Paige for this relay, and that certainly hurts. But if Brynn Brown is able to take over the anchor leg while Parks is moved to the lead-off leg, then the drop-off in talent shouldn't be a ton.
Behind UNC were Georgetown (10:47) and Harvard (10:47), two squads who both ran well all things considered.
The former was relying heavily on the success of their anchor, Melissa Riggins. Meanwhile, the Crimson were banking on Sophia Gorriaran and Victoria Bossong to carry this relay. However, with Penelope Salmon beating expectations with a 4:34 anchor split, it was hard to be upset by anything that Harvard accomplished on Friday.
NC State (10:48) and Providence (10:51) each did enough to get by. And while I think this is a fairly solid outing from the Wolfpack, I was admittedly underwhelmed by the Friars. Shannon Flockhart didn't look like herself and having Kimberley May on the anchor leg didn't seem to matter in the grand scheme of things.
Thankfully for the Friars, they have likely done just enough to secure their spot to the indoor national meet in the DMR...but not by much.
Wake Forest Men Barely Fend Off North Carolina to Secure DMR Win at Boston University As FIVE Relays Go Sub-9:20
If you enjoyed the women's DMR at the Boston U. Terrier DMR Challenge, then you probably loved what you saw in the men's race. In a battle that featured a handful of lead changes and a VERY narrow finish, it was the Wake Forest men who emerged victorious...but only barely.
Thanks to an incredible late-race kick from Rocky Hansen, the Demon Deacons barely out-leaned Ethan Strand and the North Carolina men by 0.02 seconds to secure the win, 9:17.17 to 9:17.19. And 3rd place Princeton? They nearly got the win as well! The Tigers scored bronze by running 9:17.30.
The main goal for Wake Forest in this race was to simply get through the first three legs and put anchor Rocky Hansen within striking distance of the leaders. And for the most part, they did just that!
Admittedly, having Hansen split a monster time of 3:50.22 over the final 1600 meters was way better than what we thought he would run. Remember, this is someone who had "only" run 3:57 in the mile this season, although it was clear before this weekend that he was better than that.
The Demon Deacons now sit at NCAA #4 all-time in the DMR. The issue, however, is that Hansen will almost certainly be contesting the 5000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships, making a relay appearance from him unlikely. Could that mean that we see Luke Tewalt enter this DMR as a replacement in March despite him racing the 3k the next day? And if so, what does that do to Wake Forest's All-American and/or national title odds?
As for North Carolina, a 3:49 anchor split from Ethan Strand is truthfully not surprising given how incredible he has been this winter. Even so, the fact that he nearly got his team the win despite not having Parker Wolfe and with their lead-off leg finishing last is incredibly impressive.
Like Hansen, it's unlikely that we'll see Strand (or Wolfe) compete in the DMR at this year's indoor national meet. And if Coach Chris Miltenberg wants to keep Colton Sands fresh for the 3k, then it's unlikely that the Tar Heels will have him entered in this lineup.
So for as good as this result was, it's best to recognize that UNC's trio of stars will be focusing on their own endeavors come the middle of March.
How about Princeton? The Tigers shattered my expectations for them.
Sure, I was high on Harrison Witt as their anchor leg and I thought there were a couple of ways that this team could run a top time. Even so, I wasn't expecting Princeton to run the NCAA #6 all-time mark in the DMR.
Connor McCormick (2:51) held his own and kept his team competitive despite having to face multiple national-caliber standouts. Samuel Rodman's 1:49 (800) split wasn't ideal, but Xavier Donaldson dropping a 45.95 (400) split on his leg made up for that. Of course, it was Witt who validated his recent breakout mile performance from last weekend with a monster anchor effort of 3:51.58!
Witt is very clearly the heart and soul of this relay, but it's important to recognize how well the rest of this lineup performed. And based on a recent post-race interview that we had with Witt, it sounds like the Princeton star is willing to prioritize team success for individual glory.
Is there a possibility that Witt scratches the mile at the indoor national meet to be completely fresh for the DMR? If so, then the Tigers may be viewed as national title favorites.
Both Georgetown (4th) and Virginia Tech (5th) had great races, even if they fell outside of the top-three in the results. They did, after all, run 9:19 (each).
What I loved about both of these lineup is how strong their lead-off legs were. Virginia Tech's Nick Plant opened up the race with a HUGE 2:49 split over 1200 meters. He was followed by Georgetown's Abel Teffra who ran 2:50.
Unfortunately, neither the Hokies nor the Hoyas had their 800-meter leg record a split under 1:50. That was a very surprising development given that both programs are often viewed as middle distance powerhouses. And while Tinoda Matsatsa (3:53 split) and George Couttie (3:54 split) each produced strong marks, the performances from the other anchor legs in this field were flat-out better.
Virginia Men Officially Set New NCAA DMR Record of 9:14.19 at Arkansas Qualifier to Defeat Oklahoma State by Two Seconds
I will fully admit, going into Friday night, I was not all that high on the Virginia men. I didn't think Conor Murphy had been competing at his best over the past year and I haven't always known which version of Wes Porter we were getting this season.
But what I did know was that the Cavaliers had Gary Martin as their anchor leg. And if they were going to take the win at the Arkansas Qualifier on Friday, it was going to be because of him.
Sure enough, that latter part turned out to be true as Martin dropped a huge anchor split of 3:50. In doing so, he gave UVA the overall win and the NCAA record of 9:14.19. Washington's DMR time of 9:14.10 from earlier this season is the fastest-ever mark among "all conditions," but it is not the "official" collegiate record due to the fact that the Huskies were racing on an oversized track.
But Martin wasn't the only reason why this Virginia squad had so much success on Friday. Porter was one of the biggest winners of this entire race, splitting 2:50 over 1200 meters to position his squad alongside the leaders.
With Murphy splitting 1:47 for 800 meters -- which is one of the better performances that we've seen from him over the last year -- the Cavaliers were within one second of the leaders. And with the single-best anchor in the field, and maybe the second-best anchor in the NCAA, Martin was able to comfortably gap Ryan Schoppe who split 3:52 on his leg.
The DMR is a tricky event. While one team may have a ton of success during the regular season, they may not have their full lineup at the national meet due to individual goals.
But when it comes to UVA, there is a real possibility that this same group of men will all be fresh for the NCAA Indoor Championships. And even though Martin would have to scratch the mile in order for that to happen, he would still be viewed as a national title favorite over 3000 meters the following day.
In fact, in a best case scenario, Martin could walk away from the winter months as a two-time national champion.
As for Oklahoma State, it's hard to critique a team that ran 9:16 in the DMR and settled for runner-up behind the NCAA record holders. Ryan Schoppe's 3:52 anchor split signals that he's back near top form while Brian Musau (2:50) and Mehdi Yanouri (1:46) were as good as one could possibly ask for.
Yanouri, in particular, looks like he's on fire and could ultimately be the difference maker in whether or not the Cowboys win their third-straight DMR national title this winter. However, that also depends on who contests the opening leg of Oklahoma State's relay. And if Musau is able to go all-in for the 5000 meters, then the idea of the Cowboys winning gold becomes increasingly more tricky to envision.
Oregon, Arkansas and Iowa State all produced times of 9:21 and finished the race within 0.22 seconds of each other. But the craziest part? The Ducks are the only team in a position to qualify for the indoor national meet.
Arkansas and Iowa State now sit at NCAA #13 and NCAA #14 on the national leaderboard. And unless they are able to run faster than 9:21.23 in the next week, both of those historic DMR powers are, shockingly, not going to advance to Virginia Beach.
But as disappointing as it is for the Razorbacks and the Cyclones to be in the positions that they are in, it does feel like the Ducks were the more deserving team when looking at the splits.
James Harding's 2:50 split for 1200 meters was better than expected. And despite their 400-meter leg splitting just 49 seconds, veteran Matthew Erickson came through a HUGE performance by splitting 1:45 for 800 meters! And with Elliott Cook splitting 3:55 on the anchor leg, it's hard to say that the Ducks had any legitimate weaknesses on Friday.
And the best part? That entire Oregon relay has the chance of being completely fresh for the NCAA Indoor Championships if Erickson doesn't improve his spot on the national leaderboard (over 800 meters) in the next week.
