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PREDICTIONS: 2024 Arkansas Qualifier

  • Writer: Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
    Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
  • Feb 15, 2024
  • 4 min read

It's DMR week ladies and gentlemen, our favorite time of the year at The Stride Report!


The Notre Dame-hosted Alex Wilson Invite holds an established history of elite results and Boston University's Terrier DMR Challenge has also emerged this winter as a major player for this often-crazy weekend. But it's the Arkansas Qualifier that, once again, holds a very underrated DMR field...well, for the men that is.


In fact, there's no women's DMR even on the meet's schedule.


In addition to the predictions that we made for the Boston U. Terrier DMR Challenge, we felt like it was only necessary that we also throw in our predictions for the Arkansas Qualifier.


And don't worry, we still offered predictions for all of the other distance events below...

2024 Arkansas Qualifier (collegiates only)

*Denotes that a collegiate is also entered in another individual event. In these predictions, TSR is assuming that each runner is contesting an event fresh (i.e. not doubling back). At time of publishing, the entries for this meet were not split into heats yet.


Women’s 800 Meters

  1. Josefine Eriksen (Utah) - 2:04

  2. Jinah Mickens-Malik (Oklahoma State) - 2:07

  3. Analisse Batista (Arkansas) - 2:07

  4. Tamara Woodley (Oklahoma State) - 2:09

  5. Kate Dawson (Pittsburg State) - 2:10


Analysis: This may not be the craziest 800-meter field, but Josefin Eriksen is a really solid name with a 2:02 (800) PR. But given that she has only toed the line for one indoor track meet this season, it's hard to get a gauge of where her fitness is currently at.


Men’s 800 Meters

  1. Nathan Green (Washington) - 1:46

  2. Jason Gomez (Iowa State) - 1:46

  3. Finley McLear (Iowa State) - 1:47

  4. Elias Schreml (Arkansas) - 1:48

  5. Peter Smith (Iowa State) - 1:48


Analysis: With pro athletes like Charlie Hunter, Noah Kibet and John Lewis in this field, the men's 800-meter times should be very quick. Washington's Nathan Green, after running 2:18 for 1000 meters a couple of weeks ago, is primed to run 1:46 for the half-mile distance this winter and Iowa State's Jason Gomez is knocking on the door of that mark as well (despite repeated unsuccessful attempts this winter). McLear has already run 1:46-high for 800 meters this season, but he's not listed in the top heat which is why I don't see him running faster than 1:47. Of course, all of this analysis could be moot if these men end up scratching this event for the DMR.


Women’s Mile

  1. Tiana LoStracco (Arkansas) - 4:32

  2. Mia Cochran (Arkansas) - 4:36

  3. Anastacia Gonzales (Arkansas) - 4:36

  4. Laura Taborda (Arkansas) - 4:39

  5. Ainsley Erzen (Arkansas) - 4:45


Analysis: This will essentially be a time trial for the Arkansas women, but a lot of these Razorbacks have been running fairly well as of late, recently posting a large handful of personal bests in a variety of different events. I don't see this race becoming insanely fast, but it should be honest and lead to a few new PRs.


Men’s Mile

  1. Gary Martin (Virginia) - 3:53

  2. Ronan McMahon-Staggs (Washington) - 3:54

  3. Said Mechaal (Iowa State) - 3:54

  4. Conor Murphy (Virginia) - 3:56

  5. Hillary Cheruiyot (Alabama) - 3:57


Analysis: This could be an absolutely thrilling mile battle, although it feels like everyone except Cheruiyot will be contesting the DMR (making their status for this race unknown). Gary Martin is on fire right now after flexing elite range earlier this season and running a 3:54 mile PR last weekend. Ronan McMahon-Staggs feels underrated at times and Said Mechaal is always better than we think he'll be, so I was a bit more generous with his prediction. Conor Murphy is coming off of a tough weekend in Boston, but he may have been ill (unconfirmed), so it's hard to know how he'll bounce back from his recent efforts.


Women’s 3k

  1. Sydney Thorvaldson (Arkansas) - 9:04

  2. Mary Ellen Eudaly (Arkansas) - 9:12

  3. Gabby Hentemann (Oklahoma State) - 9:15

  4. Mackenzie Rogers (Arkansas) - 9:24

  5. Katie Armstrong (Oklahoma State) - 10:05


Analysis: I do think that Sydney Thorvaldson can run faster than 9:04 for 3000 meters, but I don't know if this is the field for that. A potential return from Gabby Hentemann would also be great to see.


Men’s 3k

  1. Abraham Chelangam (Oral Roberts) - 8:00

  2. Ben Calusinski (Oklahoma State) - 8:11

  3. Wyatt Landis (Oklahoma State) - 8:19

  4. David Boulanger (Oklahoma City) - 8:29

  5. Ayenew Devany (Oklahoma City)* - 8:30


Analysis: On paper, this should be the Abraham Chelangam show. He's run 4:03 (mile) and 8:03 (3k) this season, marks that are far faster than anything that the other collegians in this field have produced.


Men’s DMR

  1. Washington Huskies "A" - 9:19

  2. Oklahoma State Cowboys - 9:19

  3. Virginia Cavaliers - 9:20

  4. Iowa State Cyclones - 9:21

  5. Texas Longhorns - 9:23

  6. Arkansas Razorbacks - 9:24

  7. Washington Huskies "B" - 9:29


Analysis: On paper, the Washington men should be favored. They are simply better than most of their competitors at each respective leg of their lineup. The Oklahoma State men, meanwhile, boast numerous high-level options for their DMR (such as Yanouri, Kipkemboi, Stitt, Musau, Schoppe, Maier, etc.). However, we haven't seen Fouad Messaoudi finish a race this season and no Cowboy has run under 3:55 in the mile this winter. That's why I have them finishing runner-up...although I'm very scared to have doubted them again. The Virginia men have tons of lineup flexibility between Martin, Murphy and Sado while the Iowa State men have numerous top-tier half-milers to pair with a sneaky-strong ace in Said Mechaal.

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