What to Watch For: D3 Conference Weekend Preview

Written by John Cusick & Garrett Zatlin

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There's no time to waste! A handful of D3 conference meets kick-off later today and will flow into the weekend. As a last second effort, John and myself wanted to try to get a quick "what to watch for" article out for some of our D3 friends and readers. Let's get started...

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American Rivers Conference (ARC)

Men's & Women's 5000 Meters

The women’s 5000 meters is set to kick-off later this evening. And in our eyes, it’s currently Shaelyn Hostager’s race to lose.

The Wartburg junior is the top seed in the event with a mark of 17:10 (5k) and is 31 seconds (!) better than her teammate, Natalie Paulson. While it’s worth noting that fellow teammate Lexi Brown isn’t contesting this event, that doesn’t mean that Hostager isn’t set up to run fast on her own.

Hostager has set personal bests in her last three outings, including a six-second improvement over 5000 meters and a 15-second jump over 3000 meters. There’s not much for Hostager to do in this race except to get to the front and lead. If she can do that, she should be walking away with her first conference title and a comfortable 10 points for Wartburg.

In the men's 5000 meters, we will see the conference’s top seed in Spencer Moon take on the rest of the field.

Moon is the favorite here because his seed time of 14:16 (5k) is 16 seconds better than the next competitor in the field. He’s also the clear-cut favorite because he won’t be lining up next to Chris Collet who would have proven to be Moon’s most difficult challenger in the event.

Instead, Moon will get to chase after his second conference title and look to defend his victory from the 2022 outdoor track season. He’s fresh off of running 14:07 over 5000 meters at the SDSU Indoor Classic and the added confidence boost should only make it easier for Moon to fend off this field.

If he can maneuver his way through the 5k without any trouble, he’ll be looking to do the same in the 3k the following day.

Men's DMR

The DMR races are set to be a two-team battle on both sides, but the one that should be the most captivating is the Loras men against the Wartburg men.

We all know that Loras set the D3 collegiate record in the DMR earlier this month, running 9:39 at Boston University. So from an outsider's point of view, their seed time of 9:47 suggests that they won’t be running their top squad on Friday.

We also know that Christopher Collet opted to not run the 5000 meters this weekend which could mean that he’s on Wartburg’s relay.

If Collete is on that relay, then things have become trickier for the Duhawks. Collet gives Wartburg a very quality piece that changes the dynamic of how they can go about their tactics. As long as Wartburg can maintain steady performances through their first three legs and not let Loras get out too far ahead, then Collet should give them a chance to take home the title.

That being said, the Knights will still have to go through the likes of Mike Jasa and/or Ryan Harvey -- two men who have proven to be quite difficult to take down this winter. It will take a concentrated effort from all four legs (not just Collet) if Wartburg does indeed want to take down the collegiate record holders.

Men's 800 Meters

The most interesting race of the weekend in the ARC very well could be the men’s 800 meters -- and it’s potentially the most interesting for a good reason.

Mike Jasa and Carter Oberfoell are the top-two seeds in the race as you would expect with their 800 meter seed times of 1:50 and 1:51, respectively. But it’s not just those two who we should be on the lookout for.

Garrett Lenners of Nebraska Wesleyan is also slated to toe the line and his seed time of 1:52 puts him in the conversation for at least a podium finish this weekend. And remember, Lenners was a two-time top-five All-American in this event last year.

These three athletes are currently sitting at NCAA #1, NCAA #3 and NCAA #6, respectively, coming into the weekend. So not only is this a battle for the ARC 800 meter title, but it’s also serving as a (small) preview for the national meet.

It’s hard to pick against the likes of the Loras duo given how fast they have run recently. Jasa appears to be at a whole new level this winter and Oberfoell has been slowly getting better each time out. The two of these men working together is going to make it incredibly hard for anyone to upset them -- and that includes Lenners.

How this race shakes out will give us some insight about what to expect in a couple of weeks. And if it goes the Loras’ duo way this weekend, then we’d expect to see the same strategy used at the national meet assuming they both run in the same prelim and/or both make it to the finals.

Men's & Women's 3000 Meters

The final distance races of the weekend always seem to be some of the most thrilling of conference championships -- and the ARC is no different.

On the women’s side we have Aubrie Fisher and Lexi Brown of Wartburg taking on Caroline McMartin of Central Connecticut. Fisher comes in as the top seed with her mark of 9:44 (3k) while Brown’s seed time is 9:51 and McMartin’s seed time is 9:52 for the same distance.

This is Fisher’s race to lose on paper, but given the recent momentum that we've seen from her conference rival, there is a small possibility of an upset from McMartin. While the Central Connecticut junior doesn’t have the same personal bests as her competitors, she has shown drastic improvement over the course of this indoor track season.

A confident runner is a dangerous runner and if the Wartburg duo isn’t careful, they could see see ARC gold fall out of reach. And yet, while that scenario is possible, it’s still going to require an incredible race from McMartin while Fisher or Brown have “off” days.

On the men’s side of the 3000 meters, we are going to see the battle that we thought we were going to get in the 5k.

It’ll be Christopher Collet against Spencer Moon, a matchup that should/could be a phenomenal showdown to cap-off the distance events at this meet. Collet’s seed time of 8:13 (3k) is just two seconds faster than Moon’s mark who sits at 8:15. The next-closest competitor is at 8:33, making this a true two-man race for the title.

Moon was 2nd in this event (at this same meet) during the 2022 indoor track season and he’ll be looking to avenge that loss while Collet looks to reclaim the title that he won back in 2021. But while Collet does have the faster seed time, we have to remember that Moon comfortably defeated his Wartburg rival earlier this season in the same event, 8:15 to 8:20 (unconverted).

Collet has rallied quite well since then, but the idea that Moon can secure gold at the end of this meet is plenty possible. And depending on who you ask, the Simpson star may be just as much of a 3k title favorite.

Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC)

Men's 5000 Meters

When we pulled up the entry list for the Ohio Athletic Conference this weekend, it almost came as a surprise to see Simon Heys as the top seed in the men’s 5k. Conference rival Alex Phillip is the D3 collegiate record holder in the event and he’d be the clear favorite.

Of course, it may be best not to run a competitive 5k this weekend if Phillip plans to attack that event at the indoor national meet a few weeks from now.

With Philip opting for the DMR (potentially) and the mile, Heys will be left with an opportunity to take home his first conference title. He’s the top seed by nearly 20 seconds and should have no problem navigating this field.

The added pressure of being able to win a conference title could cause an issue, but we’re not completely convinced that it will cause any hiccups for Heys this weekend. If he can stay toward the front and out of trouble, then we’ll be talking about a newly-crowned conference champion.

Men's & Women's Mile

This is where things become very interesting in the OAC.

Alex Phillip is slated to run the mile and he’s an overwhelming favorite for the conference title. In terms of seed times, he's five seconds clear of the next competitor with a 4:07 mark, but he's also run much faster than that this winter.

Phillip ran a 4:04 mile earlier this season on a 300 meter track...but we think that he could run even faster than that by himself this weekend. Does he need to do that? No, most likely not, but it would be interesting to see how close he could get to the 4:00 barrier.

Of course, that kind of effort is just a pipe dream right now.

The reality is that without Otterbein ace Cal Yackin in this field, there isn’t anyone else who can legitimately push Phillip to a crazy fast time. But as long as he wins gold, then that shouldn't really matter.

The women’s mile isn’t nearly as top-heavy, but we are mentioning it because we see that Hope Murphy of Baldwin Wallace has moved up in distance and will be attempting the mile/800 double.

Murphy enters the weekend with a seed time of 5:06 (mile) while Abby Schroff of John Carroll sits just two seconds back with a seed time of 5:08. That puts the two women six seconds clear of the next-best competitor, meaning that we should have another one-vs-one duel for the conference title.

We like this move from Murphy as moves up from the 800 meters. She's run very well in the 1500 meters on the track, although her mile efforts this year have left us wanting more. But after a promising half-mile result the other week, this race could show an added boost in strength for the national meet in a couple of weeks.

The Baldwin Wallace distance talent has run 4:26 for 1500 meters, a time which tells us that she’s capable of running faster than the 5:03 mark that she ran earlier this season.

If she races up to her potential, then Murphy should have no problem getting through this field while conserving energy for the 800 meters a couple of hours later.

Women's 800 Meters

Speaking of the 800 meters, it’s next on our list of events to talk about for OAC Indoor Championships this weekend.

Hope Murphy comes into this race as the top seed and is four seconds clear of the next-best athlete. Murphy was a winner of three conference titles during the 2022 indoor track season and won two more during the 2022 outdoor track season.

If she wins the mile and then comes back to win the 800 meters, then that would equal seven OAC titles in the span of one full year.

That’s pretty impressive no matter the conference.

Murphy is on track to have another really strong conference championship showing. If she is able to complete the mile/800 double with ease, then that will be a huge confidence boost. A pair of strong results would only build on her newfound momentum from last week, something that she hasn't been able to establish until recently.

Men's 3000 Meters

Remember when we said that the final distance event of conference championship meets usually end in a thrilling battle? Well, that could be what we are getting this weekend as Alex Phillip takes on Cal Yackin and Simon Heys in the 3000 meters.

Despite all of the top names in this event, it’s going to be difficult for us to pick anyone over arguably the greatest distance athlete in Division Three. But it’s going to be even harder for the likes of Yackin and Heys to knock-off Phillip this weekend.

If Phillip is part of John Carroll’s DMR, then that would make the 3000 meters his third race of the weekend. Fatigue will come into play at some point, but we’re not certain that tired legs for Phillip would cause him to lose this race.

It would take a tremendous effort from the field to keep Phillip at bay long enough for anyone’s kicks to play an integral part in a race strategy. And to be honest, we don’t think that Phillip will let someone else dictate how the race will unfold. He may bide his time early-on, but if anyone can hang on when he does strike, then it’s going to be a painful ride.

University Athletic Association (UAA)

Women's 800 Meters

In the preliminary rounds for the women's 800 meters, we see that Aoife Dunne (Washington U.) has earned the top seed with her mark of 2:12. She sits clear of the field by two seconds.

After Dunne there are five women who have run between 2:14 and 2:16 for the half-mile distance. In our eyes, that means that Dunne can't exactly cruise to victory even if she's the clear-cut favorite.

Still, as long as Dunne can get through to Sunday’s final, then we believe that she will take home the 800 meter title as well. Doing so would set her up for a promising national meet after a year where she has been nearly flawless.

Dunne is looking for back-to-back conference titles in the half-mile after winning the event at this meet during the 2022 indoor track season. We have every reason to believe that she will do so again in 2023.

Women's 5000 Meters

In the women’s 5000 meters, we're going to see Annika Urban take on what feels like the entirety of U. Chicago’s distance team.

No, not quite literally their entire distance team, but Anna Kenig-Ziesler, Frances Schaeffler and Katarine Birimac are the three athletes listed after Urban.

Urban’s seed time is nearly 30 seconds better than that of Kenig-Ziesler and that should be the biggest indicator of what to expect in this race. If the Maroons' distance trio can’t disrupt Urban early-on, then it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see the Emory ace push the pace and see if anyone can keep up.

And if she does do that, then we don’t think anyone else will be able to hang.

Urban’s in her own territory at this point of the indoor track season when you compare her to the rest of her conference competition. There’s nothing bad about Kenig-Ziesler’s time of 17:02 (5k), but it doesn’t really stand up to Urban’s raw time of 16:29 that she ran earlier this season.

This feels like a tune-up race for Urban as she’ll enter the indoor national meet as one of the top distance athletes with a chance to win a national title.

Women's DMR

The women’s DMR is going to be a fun race to watch this weekend.

It appears that Washington U. and U. of Chicago have entered their best lineups and with that, we could see fireworks at the end of Saturday.

Emily Konkus and Emma Kelley have both opted for the DMR for Washington U. while Maddie Kelly and Claudia Harnett have done the same for U. of Chicago. Those four women have combined for five top-10 marks on the D3 national leaderboard this season.

We haven't even mentioned that Washington U. has the fastest mark this season in the DMR after receiving a converted 11:33 time back in early February.

Sure, the Bears aren't running the same lineup that produced that time, but it’s going to be incredibly difficult for U. of Chicago to take down this Washington U. team. That’s why they’ve called upon their top-two runners in Kelly and Harnett.

We have four of the top athletes in the country squaring-off in one of the most exciting events. If this is even remotely close when both anchors get the baton, then we’re going to be in for an epic finish.

Women's Mile

The women’s mile this weekend is also going to be an event that’s incredibly fun to watch.

The reasoning behind that is because Annika Urban is stepping down in distance to run the mile while Aoife Dunne is stepping up in distance to contest the event. Both women have top-five marks on the D3 national leaderboard in the event, making this showdown even more tantalizing.

If this race is tactical, then Dunne has just as much of a shot of securing gold as Urban does. Yes, it's true, Urban is the more established and experienced miler, but she doesn't (knowingly) have the same leg speed that Dunne has shown.

Even so, the Emory star is probably still the favorite. If she dictates this race how she wants to, then there's a good chance she'll be able to take down a Washington U. runner who has limited mile experience at this level of competition.

Women's 3000 Meters

The structure of the women's UAA 3000 meter field is very similar to that of the women's 5000 meter field -- and the personnel are almost identical.

Instead of Annika Urban being the favorite, it's Washington U. star Emily Konkus who comes in with the top seed time of 9:36 (3k). The Bear ace has been on absolute fire this winter, emerging as legitimate national-caliber threat in essentially every distance event.

But the U. Chicago trio of Maddie Kelly, Anna Kenig-Ziesler and Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel collectively pose as a legitimate threat to Konkus much like they did in the 5k.

However, Urban is the clear-cut favorite in the women's 3k while Konkus has a real chance of falling to Maddie Kelly who has been so. darn. good. this winter.

While Konkus probably has the edge over her conference rival, her resume is basically the exact same as Kelly's this season. And with an entire U. Chicago team working to disrupt Konkus, it feels like Kelly could have a legitimate shot at securing gold.

Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC)

Men's DMR

The WIAC recently headlined the national leaderboard after two conference members, UW-La Crosse and UW-Oshkosh, both ran converted 9:46 marks in the DMR. Both of those teams now sit in the top-six of the national leaderboard.

However, neither of those programs are fielding their best DMR lineups this weekend. In fact, nearly none of those same athletes from last week will be toeing the line for this event.

This, in turn, leaves the door wide-open for the UW-Whitewater men.

The Warhawks are fielding a lineup which features Christian Patzka on the anchor and Gunner Schlender on the lead-off leg. In other words, they're going all-in.

This DMR race is UW-Whitewater's to lose. But more importantly, they'll be going after a national qualifying time in what could be a largely solo effort.

Of course, even if the Warhawks do produce a nationally competitive time, it's unlikely that their national qualification will change Patzka's plans for the national meet. He is, after all, viewed as one of the 5k national title favorites this year.

Women's 800 Meters

The women's 800 meter field at the WIAC Indoor Championships is quietly really solid.

The race is going to be headlined by UW-La Crosse ace Maddie Hannan who has been flat-out awesome this winter. She just ran 2:12 for the half-mile distance earlier this month which ultimately converted to 2:10. However, more impressively, she's also run 4:55 in the mile and has earned a 9:45 (3k) conversion.

Having the most complete resume in this field is what makes Hannan the conference title favorite in this event -- not just the fact that she has the fastest seed time.

But conference rival Cyna Madigan (UW-Oshkosh) is a legitimate threat to Hannan. She was in that same 800 meter race as Hannan earlier this month which gave her a 2:12 conversion for the distance. And while her resume isn't quite as well-rounded, she does boast solid 400 meter speed which could come in handy on Saturday.

Men's 3000 Meters

Could this be the best men's D3 distance race of the weekend?

I like to think that it could be.

The UW-Whitewater duo of Christian Patzka and Gunner Schlender will be battling against the UW-La Crosse duo of Ethan Gregg and Isaac Wegner. And when you consider that most of these guys like to be aggressive with their pacing, we could see some monster times this weekend.

Over 3000 meters, Patzka has run a conversion 8:04, Gregg has run a conversion of 8:04 and Wegner has run a conversion of 8:09 -- all at different meets. However, Schlender has run a 3k conversion of 8:12 which currently places him at NCAA #15.

One has to think that Schlender will probably still make it into the indoor national meet even if he doesn't improve his time this weekend...but that's not a guarantee. If necessary, he could be the aggressor in a race that is likely focused on placement rather than time.

Patzka is probably the favorite in this race, but Gregg is more than capable of taking him down. The same could be said for Wegner, although that would likely be viewed as more of an upset.

Either way, this is probably the race that you want to monitor the most this weekend.