Five Things to Watch: SEC Indoor Championships

As a sports journalism major and college basketball enthusiast, people are often surprised when I tell them that my favorite time of year is championship week — the week before the NCAA Tournament when the conference tournaments take place.

Conference weekend is both the start of and build-up to March Madness, when teams are given one last-ditch attempt to make it to the Big Dance. At that point, it doesn’t necessarily matter how moribund your season has been thus far.

If you can string together a consecutive wins over a few days, your season is born anew.

That’s what the conference meets feel like this indoor track and field season. One last shot to lay down a big result and climb up the national leaderboards to reach the national meet.

Another reason why I love conference tournaments is because of the emergence of bid stealers — teams that otherwise wouldn’t make the NCAA Tournament surprisingly winning their conference and knocking another team occupying one of the last spots out of the qualifying bracket.

That could play out this indoor track season in similar fashion with athletes fighting for top-16 spots on the NCAA leaderboard to go to the national meet.

The SEC is not just the dominant league in football, softball and sprinting (and surprisingly strong for college basketball this year), but quietly one of the deepest conferences in distance running this season.

Here are five things watch to watch out for during Friday and Saturday’s conference meet...

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The Men's 800m Could Shake-Up the National Leaderboard

The half-mile is the best event in this meet on both the men’s and women’s sides with the men in this field boasting 10 of the nation’s top-50 marks.

Several of those men are on the bubble of reaching the top-16 and effectively the NCAA Indoor Championships. This will be the first meet with preliminary heats that these men have raced this season, and only two athletes are guaranteed to make it out of each of the three preliminary heats and into the finals.

If the national meet were this weekend, the final two automatic qualifying spots in the 800 meters would belong to men who are entered in this field. Ole Miss’ Tiarnan Crorken holds the current NCAA #15 mark with a time of 1:47.6 while Florida freshman Sam Austin holds the NCAA #16 mark with a time of 1:47.7.

Both men will be trying to hold onto their spots and may have to run personal bests to do so.

One spot behind them on the leaderboard is Arkansas’ Leroy Russell (1:47.8), followed closely by Ole Miss’ Baylor Franklin (1:48.1), Texas A&M’s Caden Norris (1:48.5) -- who is competing on his home track -- and Mississippi State’s Leon Clarke (1:48.8).

Five others in this field behind that group hold times under 1:50 this year.

The SEC also has three men in the top-10 of this event (nationally) who should be in a safe national qualifying position. One is Arkansas’ Kieran Taylor, an indoor All-American from last year. However, the SEC #2 and SEC #3 times are actually those most capable of running an Earth-tilting mark.

Texas A&M’s Brandon Miller and Ole Miss' John Rivera once sat atop the NCAA 800 leaderboard with their twin 1:47.48 marks, but have since fallen to a tie for NCAA #10 position as neither man has contested the distance in over a month.

Both runners are capable of dipping under the 1:47 barrier this weekend, especially Miller who could theoretically run under 1:46 on a perfect day. As for Rivera, he ran his current best in a victory over American 1000 meter record holder Shane Streich and just threw down a blistering 2:51 split on the lead-off leg of Ole Miss' DMR.

Miller will be the title favorite this weekend, but look for Rivera and Taylor to contend for the win. Both men are incredibly experienced and are plenty familiar with the tactics associated with the preliminary and final rounds. On paper, they have the full range of middle distance accolades to be a major names in this field.

As for Crorken, Austin, Russell, Franklin, Norris, Clarke, there is a lot at stake for these men. While they are all national-caliber talents, there will be a bit more urgency in their performances this weekend. Expect one of these guys to be aggressive with their race strategy as they look grasp a national qualifying mark.

Be prepared, this field could significantly alter the NCAA Championships 800 meter qualifying picture as we know it.

Is This the Deepest Women's 800m Race of the Weekend?

As deep as the men’s 800 meters is, the women’s half-mile race should be even better. This field has a strong case for being the best race in this meet and the best 800 meter field in any conference.

There are 11 women in this field in the top-50 of the national leaderboard with several others close behind. Still, with only four of those women currently in national qualifying position, expect this race to become very fast as fringe qualifiers push to earn a national bid.

With the NCAA #16 mark currently sitting at 2:04.2, these women will likely want to dip into the 2:03 range to feel good about their qualifying chances, something that is admittedly a tough ask.

Fortunately, the SEC boasts the fastest 800 meter runner in the nation in Shafiqua Maloney of Arkansas. The NCAA indoor bronze medalist from last year has run a very solid time of 2:01.7 this winter and is no stranger when it comes to all-out efforts. She is the clear, although not guaranteed, favorite in this race, boasting championship half-mile experience that she didn't have last year.

Another woman in a somewhat safe national qualifying position is LSU’s Katy-Ann McDonald as she sits at NCAA #7 with her 2:03 result. That, however, doesn't mean that she won't be attacking this field. She had a very strong postseason peak last winter and is capable of replicating that this weekend.

Despite having a few up-and-down performances on her resume, McDonald's top-end talent isn't that far off from Maloney or Florida's Gabriella Wilkinson (who we'll get to in a moment).

Both the NCAA #11 and NCAA #13 spots in the women's 800 meters, which belong to Quinn Owen (Arkansas) and Presley Weems (Auburn), respectively, sit within 0.2 seconds of the current NCAA #16 mark.

As strong as those women are, there will be serious pressure for them to go after a fast time. Weems isn't running the mile, so this is her last all-in chance to solidify her spot to the indoor national meet. She probably understands that she is far from a national qualifying lock with her current mark.

We now need to talk about the Florida duo of Imogen Barrett (NCAA #19 in the 800 meters) and two-time All-American Gabrielle Wilkinson (NCAA #38).

Barrett has built her reputation in the mile, proving to be a strong tactical runner who is super experienced. She understands the nuances of championship racing better than most. However, the traditional miler is making the 800 meters her priority this weekend. In fact she is not even entered in the mile.

That's a bit of a surprise, but it's not like Barrett hasn't had success in this event before. She's talented enough to earn a national qualifying bid, but will her experience and tactical acumen before enough to avoid being overwhelmed by this field?

In theory, it should be.

Then we have Gabrielle Wilkinson who is only listed at NCAA #38 in the women's 800 meters this winter after contesting the event just once this season. Despite that, she has the credentials to challenge Maloney for the win.

Wilkinson has run 2:01 for 800 meters twice in her career and is basically an All-American lock if she can get to the national meet (we think). However, after running 2:05 earlier this season, this Gator superstar is cutting it close with earning a national qualifying bid.

If Wilkinson is in the same form that she was in last year, then she could very easily upset Maloney for the victory this weekend. However, given how little she has raced this winter, it's hard to know for sure if that is actually a possibility.

Other names in the hunt who have run under 2:06 are Anna Marian Block (Georgia), Michaela Rose (LSU), DeAnna Martin and Jenna Schwinghamer (both of Kentucky) and Sydney Steely (Mississippi State).

Men’s 3k: NCAA Stars Look for Second National Qualifier

Continuing the theme of deep fields that are looking to get into the NCAA Indoor Championships, the men’s 3000 meter field is filled with athletes on the outside-looking-in of an automatic national qualifying spot.

Several of these men have already dropped impressive times at this distance. The problem, however, is that the current cut-off automatic national qualifying time sits at 7:46, which was the NCAA #1 mark last season.

Not only that, but when you look at just the ACC Indoor Championships alone, that field could add to the long list of elite national qualifiers in this event exact event.

Ole Miss superstar Mario Garcia Romo seems like the top candidate to go for a 7:46 mark (or faster) for the first time this year. The Ole Miss ace ran a 3:53 mile and won a 3k race in a time of 7:47 two weekends ago.

It seems more likely than not that Garcia Romo will run 7:46 or faster as he isn’t running the mile this weekend. However, we have to ask...who is going to make this race fast? Will Garcia Romo push the pace alone? Or will he rely on someone else to do so?

Both options hold some level of risk.

An aggressive pace asserted by him has a greater chance of Garcia Romo potentially faltering in the race. At the same time, relying on someone else to establish a hot pace leaves the race (and a potential national qualifying bid) out of his control.

Luckily for Garcia Romo, he isn't the only runner who is on the fringe of a 3k national qualifying bid. Alabama's Hillary Cheruiyot was in the same Vanderbilt 3k race as Garica Romo from earlier this month.

In that race, Cheruiyot ran a strong time of 7:48.

The Crimson Tide men have been no strangers to running aggressively and pushing for fast times. Could Garica Romo be the benefactor of Cheruiyot also being in need of a national qualifying bid? In theory, that would make sense.

However, for as good as Cheruiyot is, Garcia Romo's top competition for the out-right win is Arkansas’ Amon Kemboi, a nine-time All-American who ran an NCAA #3 time of 7:42 last weekend.

In terms of his resume, Kemboi should be the title favorite, but we've seen Garcia Romo get the best of Kemboi before, specifically last year at the indoor national meet.

Even so, Kemboi seems like the most reliable pick to finish amongst the top-three this weekend.

There are a few other men who are coming up in distance for the 3000 meters. Those names include top-tier milers such as Eliud Kipsang (Alabama), Davis Bove (LSU), Elias Schreml (Arkansas) and Cruz Culpepper (Ole Miss), each of whom have run between 7:53 and 7:57 this year.

Of that group, Kipsang is the only one with a national qualifying time in the mile (3:54), although Bove’s mark of 3:56 sits at NCAA #18, so he could get in with scratches assuming not much changes at that distance this weekend (which is not a given).

Kipsang is probably better than his 7:53 mark indicates, although how he handles doubling back from the mile will be interesting. That double leaves us with some level of uncertainty about his 3k chances this weekend.

Could Kipsang or Bove drop a time well into the 7:40s in the 3000 meters this weekend? We’ve certainly seen stranger things happen this season.

Other names who have run in the 7:50s range are Andrew Kibet, Emmanuel Cheboson and Ben Shearer, all of Arkansas. If the Razorbacks opt to control the front of this race, then one of these guys could be due for a major result.

If I were Vegas, I'd be setting the over-under at 1.5 for the number of new NCAA qualifiers that will be coming out of this field.

Women's Mile: Numerous Postseason Implications

Last year, a women’s mile mark under 4:39 gave you a top-20 spot on the NCAA leaderboard. This year, it would barely be in the top-50. Such is the case with almost every distance event in the country during this historic season.

There are four women who have run either 4:37 or 4:38 this winter who are in this field, and they will likely be desperately clinging to 4:32 runners such as Lauren Gregory (Arkansas) and Sintayehu Vissa (Ole Miss) in hopes of a necessary sub-4:35 mark to reach the indoor national meet.

Arkansas’ Krissy Gear, last year’s indoor national runner-up at this distance, is amongst that group, as is Alabama’s Jami Reed, Vanderbilt’s Grace Jensen and Kentucky’s Jenna Gearing. Several women sit right at (or behind) the 4:40 barrier as well.

Not only that, but Arkansas’ Logan Jolly sits right below the indoor national meet cut-off line at NCAA #19 with a 4:35 mile mark.

There is so much at stake for so many women in this field. There are also so many takeaways that we could end up seeing depending on who is in this field.

Gear, when she's at 100%, is one of the most talented runners in the country. However, she hasn't quite been at full strength this season despite running a very impressive mark of 4:37. Despite her less-than-stellar mile performance from last weekend, there is still a very real possibility that she rebounds with a fringe national qualifying time!

Meanwhile, teammate Logan Jolly is on the fringe of national qualifying with her mile time. She just had the best race of career last weekend, but she'll need to replicate that magic if she wants to be an automatic qualifier for the indoor national meet.

As for Vissa, this is going to be a major race for her. She had a heroic anchor leg of her DMR last weekend and earned an upset win over Jenna Magness in the 3k earlier this season, but she hasn't truly been challenged in the mile yet this season.

The upcoming battle between her and Gregory is going to be an absolute thriller.

Men's Mile: Kipsang & Bove to Battle Ole Miss Men

Alabama's Eliud Kipsang is the biggest talent in this SEC mile field, known for asserting fast and aggressive paces. For everyone on the fringe of a national qualifying spot, that should be great news...assuming that's the strategy that he employs for this race.

One of those top talents looking for a national bid is Davis Bove whose main focus at this meet is probably a qualifying time in the mile rather than anything he'll do in the 3000 meters.

Both Kipsang and Bove will be up against a slew of Ole Miss Rebels including NCAA #9 miler James Young (3:55), as well as teammates Shane Bracken (3:57), Everett Smulders (3:58) and the aforementioned Cruz Culpepper.

Also colliding with that group is Arkansas' Elias Schreml who has run 3:57 in the mile this winter and seems to be on a hot streak, seemingly doing no wrong every time he toes the line.

It will be interesting to see if Kipsang follows his usual aggressive front-running tactics. He already has a spot to the national meet secured with his 3:54 time, so he doesn't necessarily need to go all-out with the pacing if he doesn't want to.

That could be a bit of an issue for a handful of Ole Miss who are likely eager to prove that they belong on the big stage. But who from that group would run aggressively? Who will be the man to run hard from the front if Kipsang opts to be conservative?

Well, that could actually be someone who you've never heard of before.

In the third heat of the men's mile prelims, a South Carolina runner named Anass Essayi sits in the entries without a seasonal best, an NCAA rank or a personal best. In fact, he doesn't have a single result on TFRRS.

However, if you look up Essayi on World Athletics, his profile may shock you. The Moroccan distance runner has posted a jaw-dropping time of 3:34 for 1500 meters and has also run 7:52 on an outdoor track (as well as 7:54 on the indoor oval).

The 20-year old Olympic qualifier could be a MASSIVE sleeper name in this field and could stun the nation if his outdoor success even partially translates to the indoor oval.