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Three Sentences Or Less: 2024 D3 NCAA Outdoor Championship Women's 800 Meters Preview
- TSR Collaboration
- May 23, 2024
- 6 min read
Written by Kevin Fischer, edits and additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve
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 alphabetically to match the start list
1. Megan Bell (Rochester)
A national qualifier over 400 meters in 2023, Megan Bell’s strength has come a long way in the past year. In fact, she's come so far to the point where this (the 800 meters) is her preferred event. She qualified for the 400 meters once again with a 55.81 mark, but scratched in favor of the half-mile which appears to be a wise decision given what she has accomplished of late as a reigning All-American from the indoor track season.
2. Alexa Estes (Connecticut College)
After winning the NESCAC 800-meter title with a narrow head-to-head victory over Zoe Marcus, Alexa Estes ran another PR two weeks later to earn herself a spot at her second track national meet. The 14th place half-mile finisher at this year’s indoor national meet, Estes will be looking to once again hold her own against the country’s best.
3. Izzy Gorton (Washington U.)
The St. Louis-based Bears getting four women into this field when no other team has more than two is an incredible team feat that might steal the spotlight from Gorton’s individual accomplishments. But that doesn’t mean that we should overlook her in any way. Gorton had never run under 2:16 in the half-mile prior to this outdoor track season, but in the last two months, she has done so in eight of her nine attempts at this distance.
4. Maddie Hannan (UW-La Crosse)
The runner-up in this event from last year's outdoor national meet, Maddie Hannan is in a great position to potentially do something similar this weekend. Her seasonal best of 2:09.02 (800) that she recorded at Augustana last week is less than a half second off of her PR. That indicates that she is at, or at least very near, her best form entering the NCAA Championships.
5. Michaela Jones (Pomona-Pitzer)
Among women in Division Three who had not previously competed at a national meet on the track, Michaela Jones was the only one to run under 2:10 in the half-mile this spring. Her jump from 2:14 to 2:09 is impressive enough on its own but even more so when you consider that the latter mark came at a last chance meet in her 10th 800-meter race since the beginning of March. Jones has displayed the right combination of recent fitness and clutch factor to be a force to be reckoned with this weekend.
6. Julia Howarth (MIT)
A 2:08 half-mile mark to finish 3rd in a predominantly Division One field at the Friar Invitational was enough to give Julia Howarth the second seed in this event. She has also displayed some serious 400-meter speed this season with a best of 56.4 seconds. This weekend will be her sixth consecutive track national meet appearance (either on a relay or as an individual) dating back to 2022, so she should have plenty of composure to back up her regular season results.
7. Annie Huang (Johns Hopkins)
After taking care of business early on and running a mark that would ultimately earn her a national bid, Annie Huang hasn’t finished an individual race since April 20th. Given her quiet last month, it's difficult to project where she will finish here, but in the best-case scenario, she could take advantage of her body not having as much recent racing load as some other competitors.
8. Annessa Ihde (Bethel (Minn.))
After she recorded All-American honors for the first time with a 7th-place 800-meter finish at this year’s indoor national meet, we have every reason to believe in Annessa Ihde's capability of replicating that feat. Her two 2:09 (800) marks this spring are certainly a positive development indicating consistency at an elite level which should give her some confidence going into this weekend.
9. Kayla Kass (Stockton)
Following a tough opener at home in March, Kayla Kass has been much more consistent, running either 2:09 or 2:10 in three of her last four 800-meter efforts. That consistency, combined with her All-American finish at the 2024 indoor national meet, gives us a lot of confidence in her ability to compete well in this field.
10. Emma Kelley (Washington U.)
Nothing in sports is ever guaranteed, but Emma Kelley winning the D3 women's 800-meter title this weekend is about as close to a guarantee as you can get. She’ll contest the final just 40 minutes after running the 400-meter final, but the gap between her and the rest of the field is so large that a quick turnaround shouldn’t really matter.
11. Ellie Kitsmiller (John Carroll)
Despite a PR at a final qualifier meet on May 13th, Ellie Kitsmiller didn’t feel she was safely in and took another go at a last chance meet three days after that. While that didn’t go as planned, scratches from Grace Hadley and Ellie Rising were enough to give her a spot at the outdoor national meet. Kitsmiller has had a heavy recent racing load with five hard 800-meter efforts since the start of May, but she will be hoping she has enough left for one more big performance.
12. Greta Koehler (UW-La Crosse)
A nominee for our "Most Improved Award' in 2023, Greta Koehler didn't find breakthroughs coming as easily this year. Even so, she kept fighting and as a result, took advantage of her last chance to earn her way back to the outdoor national meet. No, her 2:10 (800) mark at Augustana wasn’t a PR, but it was as close as she’s come since last spring and served as a truly positive sign that she is back to where she knows she can be.
13. Cyna Madigan (UW-Oshkosh)
Cyna Madigan was having a solid season with multiple 2:11 (800) marks, but her 2:09 posting to finish 4th in a loaded Augustana field last week was enough to show that she is as fit now as she’s ever been. And that sentence is pretty scary considering her status as a multi-time All-American.
14. Zoe Marcus (Amherst)
In each of her four 800-meter efforts this spring, Zoe Marcus took a small step forward and those steps compounded into major progress. After coming into Amherst as one of the more high-profile recruits in Division Three, Marcus is starting to show why that was the case. Count on this being the first of many national meet appearances for her.
15. Mary Mason (Mount Union)
She’s been in multiple national finals for the 4X400-meter relay, but Mary Mason’s only individual national meet appearance came this past winter when she finished last in the 800 meters at the indoor national meet. Coming into this weekend, she has now experienced this level as an individual and it’s likely that she will make a significant improvement on that finish.
16. Emily Moehringer (Catholic)
Emily Moehringer is rolling at the right time after recording personal bests in both of her last two races. Some of the women in this field will be difficult for her to compete with, but her momentum suggests that she is in a position to handle the challenge.
17. Hope Murphy (Baldwin Wallace)
Judging purely by seeding, Hope Murphy is sitting just outside of the All-American spots right now. Nonetheless, we know that she has enough of a background at this stage of the postseason to have strong odds of making the final. And while doubling back over 1500 meters will make it difficult for her to replicate her national runner-up half-mile finish from this winter, she'll have to just cross that bridge when she comes to it.
18. Kelty Oaster (Elizabethtown)
After missing the entire indoor track season, Kelty Oaster took a little bit of time to get going on the outdoor oval. The highlight of her spring campaign came in her most recent race at the Landmark Conference Championship where she not only recorded a lifetime best in the 800 meters, but beat All-American Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw head-to-head to take the conference title. She’ll need a similar effort in order to get into Saturday’s final.
19. Alessia Sarussi (Washington U.)
If Alessia Sarussi makes the final both here and in the 1500 meters, something she is more than capable of, then she will have a tough Saturday double ahead of her. Even so, she is one of the most talented athletes in this field, and she will know to take it one race at a time while navigating through rounds to put herself in a strong position to succeed.
20. Danielle Schultz (Washington U.)
Entering this season, Danielle Schultz had an 800-meter personal best of 2:12. This spring, she ran faster than that on five separate occasions. It's a scary thing when somebody who's already a multi-time national qualifier has a breakthrough like that.
21. Hailey Shreffler (Eastern)
Before the Widener Final Qualifier, there didn’t appear to be much of a chance for Hailey Shreffler to earn a bid to the outdoor national meet. However, she blew away expectations with a five-second personal best to sneak in. She will need another big day in order to compete well in this field of established and experienced stars.
22. Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw (Goucher)
When she first burst onto the scene last year as a freshman, Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw had some trouble translating her excellent regular season marks to the postseason. After her 5th place finish in the 800 meters at this year’s indoor national meet, it would seem that those growing pains are behind her. There are very few women in this field with better momentum than Thornton-Fillyaw as her last two races in this event have been lifetime bests.
