.png)
Three Sentences Or Less: 2024 D1 NCAA Outdoor Championship Women's 800-Meter Preview
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Jun 2, 2024
- 7 min read
Editor's Note: Our TSR writers were asked to produce three sentences or less of analysis on every entrant in every distance event for every division.
The below athletes are ordered to match the start list
Predictions coming soon!
1. Michaela Rose (LSU)
An aggressive front-runner who is simply the most fit woman in this field, Michaela Rose will enter the national meet as the clear 800-meter national title favorite. It is almost a certainty that the LSU star will try to out-pace the field like she usually does, but as we saw during the winter months, that tactic inherently carries risk if an opponent is able to stick around for long enough.
2. Gladys Chepngetich (Clemson)
After running 2:00 (800) earlier this season and then securing a pair or top-two finishes between the 1500 meters and the 800 meters at the ACC Championships, Clemson's Gladys Chepngetich went on to post a jaw-dropping 1:59 (800) mark at the East Regional Championships. The Tiger rookie is still new to the NCAA and she showed during the winter months that she needs to further refine her championship tactics. Even so, Chepngetich is more than talented enough to be an All-American and she will not be easy to shake should the finals turn into a time trial setting.
3. Sophia Gorriaran (Harvard)
Given her pedigree coming out of the high school ranks, the expectations for freshman Sophia Gorriaran have been very high this year -- maybe unfairly so. There have been multiple times throughout this year that she hasn't looked comfortable, but a recent 2:00 (800) performance at the East Regional Championships was a good reminder that she is at least talented enough to be a contender to make the finals.
4. Makayla Paige (North Carolina)
Makayla Paige has had a fantastic breakout season, consistently improving upon her 800-meter personal bests until reaching a new PR of 2:00.97 (which she has run twice this spring). The North Carolina ace has validated her newfound fitness and while there are still questions about how she'll handle her toughest challenge yet, she did seemingly draw a favorable preliminary heat for the national meet.
5. Roisin Willis (Stanford)
After a largely unexciting indoor track season, Roisin Willis returned to competition on the outdoor oval and, for the most part, has looked fairly strong. This spring, she has won the 800-meter title at both the Payton Jordan Invite, the PAC-12 Championships and the West Regional Championships, running no slower than 2:02 in each of those finals. Willis may not be in the same form that we saw from her during the winter of 2023, but she certainly looks strong enough to be considered an All-American favorite right now.
6. Juliette Whittaker (Stanford)
It's been a fine outdoor track season for Juliette Whittaker who hasn't truly stood out in any major way, but she also hasn't hurt her stock over 800 meters, either. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, none of those performances matter much as Whittaker is a much better runner in the postseason than she is during any other time. After taking down Michaela Rose at the indoor national meet by simply sitting on her shoulder, look for Whittaker to follow the same approach in Eugene, Oregon.
7. Gabija Galvydyte (Oklahoma State)
Gabija Galvydyte peaked beautifully last spring, running 2:00 to grab silver in the 800-meter finals at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. And after running yet another 2:00 (800) mark this spring to win the BIG 12 title, the Oklahoma State veteran looks like a distant sleeper pick to win NCAA gold. And at the very least, she's likely favored to emerge as an upper-half All-American next weekend.
8. Hayley Kitching (Penn State)
There's admittedly not a whole lot to talk about when it comes to Hayley Kitching. The Aussie middle distance ace has simply kept her top-tier form and has remained as a national-caliber threat over 800 meters. She will enter the national meet as a fairly clear All-American favorite, although where among that top-eight she finishes is still unclear.
9. Aniya Mosley (Ohio State)
The second-half of this outdoor track season has been plenty kind to Aniya Mosley who ran 4:12 (1500) to earn silver at the Penn Relays before securing a pair of top-four finishes at the BIG 10 Championships and recently running a 2:01 (800) PR at the East Regional Championships to qualify for the national meet. Momentum is very clearly in Mosley's favor right now, but there are other women who are simply more proven than her over 800 meters. For that reason, she'll be an underdog to make the finals, although not by as much as some people may think.
10. Sylvia Chelangat (South Carolina)
We haven't ever questioned Sylvia Chelangat's raw fitness, especially after she ran a pair of 2:01 (800) marks this spring. However, her lack of consistency has made it challenging for our writers to place her highly in our predictions. Thankfully, the Gamecock runner has looked very strong in the latter-half of the spring months, a good sign for her as she enters the national meet.
11. Lauren Tolbert (Duke)
You could argue that Lauren Tolbert is just as good over 400 meters as she is over 800 meters. She did, after all, run 52.00 seconds to win the ACC title over 400 meters before running a 2:01 PR for 800 meters at the East Regional Championships. It's clear that Tolbert is peaking beautifully and if her preliminary heat is slow enough, then she may have enough turnover to put herself in the finals of the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
12. Victoria Bossong (Harvard)
Ever since running a fantastic time of 2:00.92 for 800 meters back in late March, Victoria Bossong has been working on her refining her speed with a handful of 200-meter and 400-meter efforts. She's clearly in the best shape of her life, but Bossong hardly looked invincible at the East Regional Championships, grabbing one of three time qualifiers to get to this stage. We don't know which version of her we'll see come Thursday, but she feels a bit like a wild card as we head into the NCAA season finale.
13. Smilla Kolbe (North Florida)
When Smilla Kolbe ran 2:01 to win the ASUN title over 800 meters, we were impressed, but also skeptical. That was a great time, but the rest of her resume did not match the caliber of that mark. But then Kolbe ran 2:02 (800) to advance out of the East Regional Championships and while she isn't favored to make it out of the prelims of the national meet, she at least has a realistic shot of doing so come Thursday.
14. Kate Jendrezak (UCLA)
Throughout this year, Kate Jendrezak has been incredibly consistent, metronomically dropping 2:02 and 2:03 marks over 800 meters. With prior national meet experience, the UCLA product seems to have a high floor going into the national meet. However, she'll likely need to run a PR if she wants to get into the finals.
15. Aaliyah Moore (Kansas)
It's been a solid spring campaign for Aaliyah Moore who has posted a handful of 2:03 and 2:04 marks for 800 meters before dropping a 2:02 effort at the West Regional Championships. She's a steady and somewhat reliable name, but the overall talent in this women's 800-meter field makes her a significant underdog to qualify for the finals.
16. Josefine Eriksen (Utah)
This Utah veteran is a true middle distance specialist who has run 2:02 (800) multiple times and has been on this stage before (albeit, not since 2022). Josefine Eriksen isn't a name to take lightly and she knows what to expect at the national meet, but she's going to have to run a PR to make the finals -- and even that's not guaranteed.
17. Nora Haugen (St. John's)
Simply qualifying for the national meet is a massive accomplishment for Nora Haugen who has built up tons of momentum as of late. Even so, she is a massive underdog and she's also relatively new to this event. The St. John's talent will need everything to break her way if she wants to make it to the finals, but she's also running with nothing to lose.
18. Sydney Steely (Kentucky)
Sydney Steely is a long-time 800-meter veteran who had never cracked the 2:03 barrier until this postseason where she has since run 2:02 twice. Momentum and experience are two key aspects that we consider when making our predictions and in a first heat that is littered with inexperienced underclassmen, Steely may have an advantage.
19. Wilma Nielsen (Washington)
After a great indoor track season where she became an All-American, Wilma Nielsen hasn't been quite as exciting this spring. Her last few races, including a 2:03 (800) effort overseas on Sunday, have been fine, but those performances have also left us wanting more. Nielsen is strong enough to advance to the finals, but it's hard to know which version of her we'll see in Eugene, Oregon.
20. Joanna Archer (Grand Canyon)
The second-half of this season has been excellent for Joanna Archer who is seemingly a different (and better) runner than she was prior to mid-April. She has also secured a handful of solid wins as of late which show tactical promise, but the women who she will face on the national stage are leaps and bounds stronger than the women who Archer has battled at the WAC Championships, the Mesa Invitational and the Desert Heat Classic.
21. Sanu Jallow (Arkansas)
Sanu Jallow blew us away when she threw down a monumental 1:59.29 (800) PR at the SEC Championships, narrowly falling to Michaela Rose and settling for silver. The only catch, however, is that she hasn't run faster than 2:03 for 800 meters this season other than that lone conference meet result. Knowing that Jallow has that kind of talent is huge for a national meet final that will surely be fast, but replicating that conference meet effort isn't necessarily a given, either.
22. Kelsey Schweizer (Missouri)
While her times may not stand out in any dramatic way, Kelsey Schweizer has produced a handful of underrated results. Some of her best performances have come in her last few meets and she has often been able to score in the always competitive SEC. That last part is important as Schweizer will be facing three conference rivals in her prelim heat on Thursday.
23. Kelly-Ann Beckford (Houston)
Kelly-Ann Beckford has proven to be an ultra aggressive front-runner who has a ton of raw talent as proven by her 2:00.70 (800) PR. In theory, she should thrive in her prelim heat which features Michaela Rose, another hard-from-the-gun half-miler. And as long as Beckford is a bit more conservative than she was at the BIG 12 Championships, there are seemingly more favorable outcomes than negative outcomes that we can envision for her this weekend.
24. Makayla Clark (Iowa State)
Makayla Clark is a bit better than her resume and seeding would suggest. She ran a 2:02 PR over 800 meters at the BIG 12 Championships to place 4th overall and she has a few other underrated marks on her resume, including a 2:44 (1k) PR. She's still an underdog to qualify for the finals, but she's not someone who you should take lightly, either.
