25. Dorcas Wasike, Rs. Sophomore, Louisville (0 / 25) Wasike showed off some better than expected finishing speed at ACC's by out-kicking NC State's Elly Henes for the conference title in the 3000 meters. However, Wasike did fall to Syracuse's Paige Stoner in the 5000 meters by less than a second which is why she maintains her position at the #25 spot. 24. Carina Viljoen, Junior, Arkansas (-5 / 19) It's been a quiet few weeks for Viljoen who cruised to a DMR victory and a runner-up mile finish at the SEC Championships this past weekend. There is no doubt that she is talented, but she hasn't necessarily had a notable performance since her 4:33 earlier in the season. Viljoen may come into Nationals way under the radar (which could work to her advantage). 23. Susan Ejore, Junior, Oregon (0 / 23) Ejore may not have taken home the win, but she did run a new personal best of 4:34 in the mile at the MPSF Championships. She has picked some steady momentum in terms of her performances heading into the national meet. Don't be surprised if the Oregon junior finds herself on the podium next weekend. 22. Hannah Meier, Senior, Michigan (Unranked) Meier has quietly posted strong performances all season, but her race at the BIG 10 Championships was what truly caught my eye. The Michigan veteran threw down an incredibly fast time of 4:32 to edge Ohio State rival Julia Rizk for the conference title. Meier has slowly improved throughout the season and has now reached a point where she is one of the elites. By the end of next weekend, she could very easily be a national champion. 21. Elly Henes, Junior, NC State (-3 / 18) It was an unexciting weekend at the ACC Championships for Henes, but it wasn't necessarily bad. Tactically, she had a great race in the 3000, but was hawked down by Wasike in the final 50 meters. She also anchored the Wolfpack DMR to a 4th place finish. There's not a whole lot to take away from this meet, but just know that Henes can still be an All-American threat at Nationals one week from now. 20. Katie Rainsberger, Rs. Sophomore, Washington (+2 / 22) Rainsberger had a quiet MPSF Championship meet as she ran the 800 leg on Washington's DMR and nothing more. However, she did post a strong time of 4:35 at the Last Chance meet two weeks ago. I like the performances that we've seen from Rainsberger over the past month. She has shown me that she is peaking at the right time. 19. Makena Morley, Junior, Colorado (+1 / 20) After she a national qualifying time of 9:02 in the 3000 meters, I had to give her a small bump up in the rankings. Morley has proven to be extremely consistent which is a major plus in my book and I think her experience at previous National Championships makes her a near lock for a podium finish. 18. Fiona O'Keeffe, Rs. Sophomore, Stanford (+3 / 21) After throwing down a 15:35 for 5000 meters at the Husky Classic, O'Keeffe continues to put herself in the All-American conversation for both distance events. She won the MPSF 3k title in a big time of 8:58 over New Mexico's Adva Cohen and Washington's Lilli Burdon. So far this season, the Stanford redshirt sophomore has proven that she can run fast and take down talented competitors in the process. 17. Sharon Lokedi, Senior, Kansas (0 / 17) It was expected, but Lokedi's double gold in the 3000 and 5000 meters at the BIG 12 Championships was an encouraging result. After anchoring her Kansas relay to a national qualifier in the DMR, Lokedi has begun to reestablish herself as a top contender in the country. 16. Karisa Nelson, Senior, Samford (0 / 16) It was a very strong double for Karisa Nelson at the Southern Conference Championships. She was expected to take home crowns in both the 800 and mile, but running 4:38 and 2:06 in a single meet may be one of the underrated performances of last weekend. 15. Sinclaire Johnson, Sophomore, Oklahoma State (-1 / 14) Another rankings update, another solid performance from Johnson. The Oklahoma State sophomore took home yet another win at the BIG 12 Championships, running 2:44 in the 1000 meters to hold off a young talent in Kassidy Johnson of Kansas State. Along with a DMR victory, Johnson also took home gold by anchoring the distance medley. She continues to bring immense value to the Pokes which is a big reason why she's in our Top 25. 14. Millie Paladino, Senior, Providence (+1 / 15) We knew that Paladino was a top-level talent, but the Providence senior has gone from being a fringe All-American to an expected All-American after running a huge time of 4:33 at Boston. This past weekend, she took home the win in the 3000 meters while also anchoring her DMR to a 3rd place finish. Between the 1000, mile, and 3000 meters, Paladino has multiple wins this season in each of those events, showing me that she has a rare strength of being consistent among multiple disciplines. 13. Taylor Werner, Junior, Arkansas (-2 / 11) It feels like the Arkansas women aren't capable of having bad performances. The Razorback junior took home wins in the 3000 and 5000 meters at the SEC Championships after winning the JDL DMR Invite on the anchor leg of Arkansas' relay. Up until two weeks ago, we had only seen Werner succeed in the longer distances. However, her mile leg of the distance medley was an encouraging result and shows us that she has some underrated speed. 12. Allie Wilson, Senior, Monmouth (+1 / 13) In a four race span, Wilson ran 2:06, 2:06, 2:05, and 2:02 in that order. She has slowly improved throughout the season and just showed off some impressive range after running a winning time of 4:41 in the mile at the Metro Atlantic Championships. It seems like Wilson doesn't have a weak spot and she has handled every challenge thrown her way this season with relative ease. She will be a major problem for her competitors come next weekend. 11. Martha Bissah, Junior, Norfolk State (+1 / 12) After running an NCAA #1 converted time in the 800 meters, Bissah has spent the rest of February focusing on improving her resume. She ran 4:43 at the JDL DMR Invite before dropping a pair of wins at the MAAC Championships in both the 800 and mile as part of her ridiculous 800/mile/DMR/4x400 quadruple. Clearly, the Norfolk State junior knows how to handle a heavy workload which is an encouraging sign for Nationals where she'll have to run a prelim and final. 10. Rachel Pocratsky, Senior, Virginia Tech (-1 / 9) Pocratsky cruised to a relatively easy win at the ACC Championships with a blistering fast time of 2:03. It pains me to drop her in the rankings after such a phenomenal performance, but I'm struggling to find a reason to put her ahead of others. Regardless, Pocratsky is a very legitimate threat to win the national title in the 800 next weekend, even if none of the top seeds scratched out of the event. 9. Erica Birk, Senior, BYU (+ 1 / 10) It is really hard to ignore just how good Birk has been in the second half of the season. Not only has she been an absolute beast in the longer distances, but she showed off some impressive range at MPSF Championships this past weekend. Her 4:34 mile time was a new personal best and helped give her the win over a respectable field that included Susan Ejore and teammate Whittni Orton. She will be a nightmare for her opponents at Nationals next weekend. 8. Ednah Kurgat, Senior, New Mexico (-2 / 6) Kurgat posted a DNF result in the 3000 meters at the Mountain West Championships while also getting dusted by Ostrander on the anchor of the DMR. Maybe it was just a bad weekend, but this is probably not the kind of conference championship Kurgat wanted to have going into the national meet. 7. Lauren Gregory, Rs. Freshman, Arkansas (+1 / 8) The Arkansas women took the top three spots in the mile at the SEC Championships with Gregory leading the way in a time of 4:39. The redshirt freshman was also able to guide Arkansas to a win and national qualifying performance at the JDL DMR Invite two weeks ago. Throughout this winter season, Gregory has not given us any reason to doubt her. She has consistently posted top times and has shown that she take home multiple wins. For that reason, she is in the top 10 of our rankings. 6. Nicole Hutchinson, Senior, Villanova (+1 / 7) Nothing too exciting here as Hutchinson crossed the line in a runner-up mile finish at the BIG East Championships surrounded by her teammates. She has done enough this season to validate her talent as an NCAA elite and I expect her to be a major contender in the 3000 come next Saturday. 5. Allie Ostrander, Junior, Boise State (0 / 5) Ostrander was unable to hang with Kelati in the mile at the Mountain West Championships, but she was able to pull away from her competition in the 3000 meters with an altitude conversion under 9 minutes. Not only that, but she was able to dominate New Mexico on the anchor of the DMR and bring home another win. Overall, it was a very successful weekend for Ostrander who showed the country that she was still one of the top talents in the nation and a legitimate title contender. 4. Weini Kelati, Sophomore, New Mexico (0 / 4) Kelati continues to separate herself in a year where the distance events are the best they have ever been. She ran a 4:31 altitude conversion at the Mountain West Championships to soundly defeat Allie Ostrander for the conference title. She may be focusing on the longer distances, but it's nice to see that she can be just as successful by dropping down in distance. 3. Alicia Monson, Junior, Wisconsin (0 / 3) Monson took double gold in the 3000 and 5000 meters at the BIG 10 Championships last weekend after securing the Badgers a national berth in the DMR a week prior. Yet, what has impressed me about Monson over the past two weeks is not necessarily the wins and national qualifiers, but it's how easy she makes her races look. The Wisconsin veteran was quite literally coaching her teammate Amy Davis through the final two laps of the BIG 10 5k en route to a 1-2 finish and a time of 16:18. Simply put, Monson is very fit. 2. Jessica Hull, Senior, Oregon (0 / 2) A massive 4:31 split from Hull at the MPSF Championships helped the Ducks qualify a distance medley relay for Nationals. If she's able to produce these kind of performances during outdoors, she could very possibly end up winning The Bowerman. 1. Danae Rivers, Junior, Penn State (0 / 1) Danae Rivers posted a winning time of 2:03 at the BIG 10 Championships to walk away with gold as expected. She continues to leave no doubt in my mind that she is the favorite to win the national title in the 800 meters. Rivers has the times and consistency that others simply haven't displayed this season which is why she is #1.

Honorable Mentions Connor McMillan (BYU) Casey Comber (Villanova) Alex Ostberg (Stanford) Mick Stanvosek (Washington) Geordie Beamish (Northern Arizona) Yared Nuguse (Notre Dame) It was surprising to see Nuguse scratch the mile after his blistering 3:57 at ACC's. He would have been a favorite to score points in the mile, but Notre Dame is putting all their eggs into the DMR basket it seems. Charlie Hunter (Oregon) James West (Oregon) After a lot of talk about Oregon underperforming earlier this season, the Ducks have bounced back in a big way. Hunter and West have run well in the mile and teammates Blake Haney and Reed Brown have also put down some good times. West has posted strong times in both the mile and the 3k and should be a threat to score at Nationals. Also, look out for Hunter mix it up in a jumbled mile field next weekend. 25. Jonathan Davis, Rs. Sophomore, Illinois (-13 / 12) Just like Nuguse, it was surprising to see Johnathan Davis scratch from the mile after he started the season as one of the favorites for the event. After a pair of poor performances at BIG 10’s and Iowa State, it will be interesting to see if he bounces back in the DMR or is taking some time off to refocus on outdoors. 24. Andrew Jordan, Junior, Iowa State (-1 / 23) We haven't seen Andrew Jordan on the track since his 7:51 from earlier in the season. This past weekend, he ran at the the BIG 12 Championships where he finished 4th in the 3000 and 3rd in the 5000 behind Edwin Kurgat and Isai Rodriguez. I would have liked to see him run another fast time, but I am confident in his ability to run well at Nationals after he beat so many top collegiates at the UW Invitational. 23. Kasey Knevelbaard, Rs. Junior, Southern Utah (-6 / 17) Knevelbaard has had a quiet few weeks, only running at the BIG Sky Championships where he finished 3rd in the 800 and 2nd in the mile to Geordie Beamish. His last few races have not been great, but I am still bullish on Knevelbaard’s tactical ability to earn himself a spot in the mile final. Once he gets to the final, anything can happen. 22. Alex Rodgers, Senior, Texas (-2 / 20) Rodgers, like his teammate Sam Worley, has had an impressive indoor season which saw him run 3:58 and 7:51 while also helping Texas qualify for the DMR. Traditionally a miler, Rodgers will be dangerous in a sit-and-kick 3k. 21. Cooper Teare, Sophomore, Oregon (-6 / 15) Teare has been under the radar a bit this season, but has run well all season. Even so, he finished behind Connor Mantz and Robert Brandt in the 3k at the MPSF Championships which shows that he's still human in all-out races. Look for him to excel in a tactical 3k and help Oregon earn to a top spot in the DMR (if he runs). 20. Carlos Villarreal, Junior, Arizona (Unranked) Villarreal reasserted himself as a favorite in the mile with his performance two weekends ago at the Last Chance College Elite meet. Running 3:57 and kicking hard to win the race was a really good sign for Villarreal as he goes into Nationals. I also love that he ran 7:52 for 3000 meters. He has a scary good mix of speed and endurance. 19. Sam Worley, Sophomore, Texas (+6 / 25) Worley backed up his 3:57 performance by helping Texas earn an NCAA top five DMR time as well as winning the mile at BIG 12's. The young Longhorn will look to improve on his 15th place performance at last year’s indoor national meet 18. Tyler Day, Rs. Junior, Northern Arizona (0 / 18) Day hasn’t been trending in the right direction since he ran his converted 4:00 mile, but he still deserves consideration as one of the top 5k runners in the country. In a deep field, it is very possible that the pace will be quick from the gun which would benefit Day. He still owns the top 5k time in the country and has scored at Nationals before. Sleep on him at your own peril... 17. Robert Brandt, Rs. Junior, UCLA (Unranked) Robert Brandt has earned his first appearance in our power rankings after ripping a 13:40 and then following that up with wins in the 3k and 5k at the MPSF Championships. His 3k win of 7:50 was particularly impressive as it earned him another qualifying spot to Nationals. Look for the 2018 outdoor All-American to challenge for points in both events next weekend. 16. Waleed Suliman, Sophomore, Ole Miss (+6 / 22) Suliman had a solid conference weekend which saw him win the mile over Arkansas ace Cameron Griffith and guide Ole Miss to the win in the DMR as well. He also helped the Rebels qualify for Nationals in the DMR a few weeks earlier by anchoring the relay to a converted 9:26 (which is the #3 fastest time in the country). It will be interesting to see if he will opt out of the DMR, but history suggests that he will go for the double. 15. Isaiah Jewett, Junior, USC (+4 / 19) Jewett is another one who we haven’t heard much from after he ran 1:46 to finish behind Devin Dixon earlier this season. However, he showed that he is still in top form by winning the 800 at the MPSF Championships in 1:47. While most of the attention will be on the top five favorites in the 800, it is important to keep an eye on Jewett who could break up the party and earn a top three spot. 14. James Sugira, Freshman, Eastern Kentucky (-1 / 13) Sugira will only run in the 5k after he was bumped from the 3k in the final week of competition. The Colonel ace is another runner who would benefit from a fast pace in the 5k. With the #7 fastest time in the NCAA and experience in a championship races, Sugira could be one of the big surprises as he runs in his first NCAA track championship meet. 13. Clayton Young, Rs. Senior, BYU (-3 / 10) After winning the 5k at Iowa State in 13:34, Young responded with a 4th place finish at the MPSF Championships in the mile (running 4:00). Both times are PR's for Young who has also run 7:51 in the 3k. The four minute mile gives me more confidence that he will be able to hang when there is a big kick at the end of the 3k and 5k. Both longer distance events are deep, but if Young runs his race, then it wouldn’t surprise me to him score twice. 12. Robert Heppenstall, Senior, Wake Forest (+4 / 16) 11. Bryce Hoppel, Senior, Kansas (+3 / 14) These two runners were probably the biggest winners of conference weekend. Both ran 1:46 to win conference titles and will enter Nationals riding a nice wave of momentum. The talk for most of the season has been about Arop, Dixon, and White who have all run 1:46 or faster, but Heppenstall and Hoppel have reentered the conversation with their performances this past weekend. Hoppel gets the slight edge over Heppenstall after beating him at Iowa State, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see either of these guys earn a top three spot or even win the 800. Heppenstall knows how to run well at Nationals and Hoppel has been on fire since he had a slow start to the season. The 800 is certainly going to be a hotly contested race. 10. Edwin Kurgat, Junior, Iowa State (+1 / 11) Kurgat is another contender in the loaded 5k who has proven his ability to stay with any pace and still be able to close hard. After losing to Young in the 5k at Iowa State, the Cyclone won the 5k and 3k at BIG 12's. Even with McDonald, Klecker, and Kemboi in the field, I think Kurgat believes he has a shot at winning the 5k. This confidence, along with his strong finishing kick, gives Kurgat a great chance to do just that. 9. Kyle Mau, Junior, Indiana (0 / 9) Mau had a strong showing at BIG 10's finishing 2nd in both the mile (behind Hoare) and the 3k where he was edged out by teammate Ben Veatch. The Hoosier has been one of the most versatile runners all year with season bests of 3:57, 7:50, and 13:58. He will attempt the difficult mile/3k double with the possibility for a triple if he runs in Indiana’s DMR. In a mile that has a lot of unproven guys on the national level, Mau could be the favorite behind Hoare. It will be fascinating to see how well he runs in the 3k after possibly competing in the prelims and final of the mile along with the distance medley. 8. Marco Arop, Sophomore, Mississippi State (-2 / 6) 7. Devin Dixon, Junior, Texas A&M (+1 / 8) 6. Joe White, Rs. Senior, Georgetown (+1 / 7) Boy oh boy, is the 800 going to be thrilling this year. As I already mentioned, Heppenstall and Hoppel had great weekends to vault themselves into the discussion. Besides these two, we have Arop, Dixon, and White who have been the favorites all year long. Dixon earned a huge win over Arop at SEC’s, running 1:47 and proving that his 1:44 was no fluke. While Dixon’s win was impressive, it wasn’t an especially fast time. If Nationals is run in a similar way, then I think White must be the favorite. White has the top 800 spot because of his experience at Nationals. He knows how to position himself and when to strike. My only worry with White is that the race will go out too fast and he will fade from Arop and Dixon (who have both posted much faster times than him this season). The pace of the first 400 and who leads it will be two of the many interesting subplots to watch throughout the race. 5. Joe Klecker, Rs. Junior, Colorado (0 / 5) Klecker continues to impress as he ran 3:58 in the mile at the MPSF Championships to show off his underrated middle distance speed. Entered in both the 3k and 5k, it will be fascinating to watch Klecker go up against the rest of the top five in Kemboi, McDonald, Fisher, and Hoare. 4. Amon Kemboi, Junior, Campbell (0 / 4) Kemboi pulled off the wildly impressive quartet of wins at the BIG South Conference Championships. The Campbell Camel won the mile, 3k, 5k, and helped his team win the DMR. While none of the times were especially fast, it is remarkable that he was able to get through all four races undefeated. Kemboi has the #2 fastest time in the country in the 5k and the #3 fastest in the 3k. Because of this, I believe that Kemboi will be the biggest threat to take down McDonald in the 5k. 3. Morgan McDonald, Rs. Senior, Wisconsin (0 / 3) 2. Grant Fisher, Rs. Junior, Stanford (0 / 2) 1. Oliver Hoare, Junior, Wisconsin (0 / 1) The top three kept their same order from last time mostly because we haven’t had any surprising results. McDonald ran a great 5k time of 13:37 at BIG 10's to earn himself another qualifying spot at Nationals, but I think we all expected him to be able to do that. As for Fisher, he helped Stanford take home the crown in the DMR, running 9:31 at the MPSF Championships. Across the country, Hoare won the mile at BIG 10's over Kyle Mau and helped Wisconsin win the DMR. From a point perspective, the top three debate is starting to look very interesting. With McDonald doing both the 5k and 3k, he will have two opportunities to rack up plenty of points. Fisher only competing in one individual event along with DMR may not be able to earn as many points. The DMR is loaded, but it will hard to bet against Stanford if they have Fisher anchoring. Finally, the biggest question I’ve had for most of the indoor season is about to be answered. Will Oliver Hoare run the mile/3k/DMR triple? The Wisconsin junior is entered in the mile and the 3k, so all eyes will be on the Wisconsin DMR team to see if he attempts the triple. These three athletes are the favorites in the mile (Hoare), 3000 (Fisher), and 5000 (McDonald). We have waited all winter for this and now we are almost ready to watch the best in the NCAA compete for the indoor title.

Elliott Portillo (Men) Quenten Lasseter (Women) MEN RMAC Championships 800 Western Colorado’s Juman Randall took full advantage of a Staines-less field to win the men’s 800 meters by nearly two seconds. His altitude and track converted mark of 1:48.95 currently ranks him #2 in the nation behind his opponent from CSU-Pueblo, who is slated to run the same events as Randall: the 800 and the DMR, at next weekend’s National Championships. Watch out for what could potentially be a monster match-up in either event between the two. Behind Randall, MSU Denver freshman Nick Nowlen also punched his ticket to Pittsburg State. His 2nd place time of 1:50.89 is good enough to seed him at #12 in the 800 prelims for NCAA’s. He is one of three freshmen in the field. While Randall and Nowlen were the only two to qualify to Nationals out of this meet, there were plenty of other efforts good enough to make the national leaderboard. Gage Mayo of Western Colorado finished 3rd in 1:51.73. He is slated to run the DMR for the Mountaineers next weekend. Andrew Ferris of South Dakota Mines (1:51.75), Michael Fera of Colorado Mesa (1:52.2), Miller Kettle of Colorado Mines (1:52.42/current DMR leg for next weekend), and Levi Fried of Black Hills State (1:52.58) all hit altitude converted provisional marks, which bodes well going forward into the outdoor season. Mile The top three men in this race all ran fast enough to qualify for the national meet. Luke Julian of Colorado Mines took down the Western Colorado pair of Ross Husch and Woodrow Murray-Wood by five seconds to take a convincing victory. Julian’s time converts to a 4:01.97, good enough for the #3 fastest time in Division II this season. However, he has decided to opt out of the mile. Instead, Julian is slated to run the 3000 meters, as well as anchor Colorado Mines’ DMR squad. Husch and Murray-Wood’s times of 4:06.76 and 4:07.1 currently seed them at #8 and #10, respectively. While Husch is entered only in the mile, Murray-Wood appears to be entered in as the opening leg for a high-powered Mountaineers distance medley team. If this remains the same, he will have a busy weekend ahead of him. Behind the podium finishers, six other racers in the mile also hit provisional qualifying standards. Jordan Theisen of Black Hills State finished 4th in 4:08.32 and is currently entered as part of their DMR. Jackson Roberts and Austin Speer of Adams State (4:09.32, 4:10.18), Vincent Workman of Colorado Mines (4:10.38), and Isaac Russo and Nicholas Skinner of Colorado Christian (4:10.6, 4:10.92) all saw their indoor campaigns come to an end with impressive showings. 3000 Adams State’s Elias Gedyon edged out an individual conference title over Western Colorado’s Charlie Sweeney. Taylor Stack of Western Colorado held on for bronze. All three are currently entered in the 3000. Gedyon is also slated to run the mile while Sweeney and Stack are also entered in the 5000. On top of all that, Gedyon and Sweeney are both entered as legs for their respective DMR teams. While not quite fast enough to qualify for next weekend, Dalton Graham of Adams (8:16.07) and Dylan Ko of Mines (8:20.25) both ran fast conversions to hit provisional standings. 5000 Taylor Stack took top honors in the 5k. Behind him, Adams State’s Jackson Sayler (14:25.32) and Colorado Mines Ben Schneiderman (14:26.24) rounded out the podium and posted provisional times on a very deep national leaderboard. DMR CSU-Pueblo made a big statement in leaving Thomas Staines out of the 800 to pursue a DMR title. The move paid off, as they took the win over Adams State by nearly seven seconds with a converted time of 9:47.94, good enough to be ranked #6 going into next weekend. Granted, Adams’ DMR squad here is slightly different from the one they currently have entered for NCAA’s, but the Grizzlies’ conference squad still ran an altitude/track converted time of 9:53.87. Western Colorado, who also has a slightly different team entered at the National Championships, took 3rd with a time of 9:54.72. MSU-Denver (9:55.1), UC-Colorado Springs (10:02.34), and Colorado Mines (10:03.52) also hit provisional times, once again showcasing the distance depth throughout the RMAC. BU Last Chance 800 Overall, three men earned trips to Nationals with their performances this past weekend. Shaquille Dill of St. Augustine’s headlined the qualifiers, finishing 2nd behind District TC professional Edose Ibadin with a time of 1:49.69. Hugo Arlabosse of Franklin Pierce also snuck under 1:50, finishing 3rd with his time of 1:49.76. American International’s Nick Fenton was the last one to hit a qualifying mark. The sophomore posted a time of 1:51.1 to finish 9th overall. He is currently seeded #13 going into prelim heats. Max Michaud of Assumption (1:51.95) and Nicolai Hartling of West Texas A&M (1:52.2), while not quite making the cut for Nationals, ran fast enough times to make the provisional leaderboard. Mile Calahan Warren of Embry-Riddle posted a 4:05.74 this weekend, which currently seeds the junior #4 going into Nationals. Look for him to make some noise in Pittsburg next weekend. DMR Stonehill ran away from a small field to take a convincing victory and clinch a National Championship berth with their time of 9:47.24. This currently seeds them #4 behind the Colorado powerhouses. Academy of Art came away with a solid 2nd place time of 10:02.55, setting them up for a quality outdoor season, especially as one of the few California schools that participates indoors. Northern Sun 800 Mason Phillips took the victory over Josh Barrows of Augustana by .2 seconds, with a track converted time of 1:51.65. Although he missed qualifying for the 800 field by about a quarter of a second, he will still travel to Pittsburg as the anchor leg for Sioux Falls’ DMR squad. 3000 Zach Lundberg of Sioux Falls and Austin Pasch of Minnesota State both punched individual tickets to Pittsburg in the men’s 3k. Lundberg took the victory with a converted time of 8:13.71, edging out Pasch’s time of 8:13.99, which was the last time in for the event. Both qualifiers will have busy schedules, as each is slated to run the DMR as well. Beyond these two, Minnesota-Duluth’s Luke Lahr (8:21.29) and Augustana’s Aaron Runge (8:21.36) ran provisional marks. 5000 Derek Myers of U-Mary took the individual victory in the 5k while Steven Brown of Sioux Falls, coming off a solid effort in the 3k, took 2nd place. Brown’s effort of 14:34.78 converted moves him up the provisional list. DMR Sioux Falls’ alternate squad took a two second victory with a converted mark of 9:58.38. Behind them, U-Mary and Minnesota State rounded out the podium with times of 10:00.02 and 10:00.4, respectively. MIAA 800 Lindenwood’s Samuel Yaro qualified for the national meet with his 1:51.34, converted for track size. He was followed by Will O’Keefe of Southwest Baptist (1:51.92) and Noah Larsen of Central Missouri (1:52.97) who both barely missed the 17-man field. Mile Brett Meyer of Fort Hays State edged out Washburn’s Jacob Klemz to win the MIAA indoor mile title. Meyer is entered as the third seed for the mile while Klems is entered in both the 3k and 5k races next weekend. DMR Fort Hays State (9:52.8) and Lindenwood (9:58.38) both ran converted times that dipped under the 10 minute barrier to finish 1st and 2nd. For Fort Hays, their time just barely misses the final cut for Nationals. GLIAC 800 Grand Valley State used their conference meet as another excuse to flex their mid-distance might, as the Laker duo of Dennis Mbuta (1:51.85) and Jonathon Groendyk (1:52.98) took the first two spots in the 800. Both are entered in this event for next weekend. Although not quite making the final cut, Northwood (Mich.) freshman Netunji Paige finished 3rd in 1:52.99, only .01 behind Groendyk. This bodes well for the outdoor season, and the future looks bright for the young freshman. Mile Zach Panning took the individual victory over Mbuta with a 4:08.37. While this time does qualify him in the mile, Panning has opted to drop the event in favor of the 3k, 5k, and DMR. The senior has a busy weekend ahead of him, with a legitimate shot to win in everything that he is entered in. 3000 Panning came back from the mile to take a comfortable three second victory in the 3k. Saginaw Valley’s Tom Goforth finished 2nd with an 8:22.15. 5000 Ryan Talbott of Saginaw Valley won the 5k with a provisional time of 14:40.84. DMR Grand Valley State employed an altered DMR squad this past weekend. Despite this, the Lakers had no problem dispatching the rest of the conference, taking a quality victory with a time of 9:57.45. Behind them, Ashland and Northwood (Mich.) filled the remaining podium spots with times of 10:02.6 and 10:03.45, respectively. Seattle Pacific Final Qualifier DMR The highlight of this meet definitely lied with the relay event. Simon Fraser, Alaska Anchorage and Western Oregon, all coming off their conference meet the weekend prior, took advantage of a conference rematch and ran with it. All three punched their tickets to the national meet with impressive times of 9:49.47, 9:50.19, and 9:50.69, respectively. Watch the Great Northwest to muck things up as best they can in Kansas. Western Washington finished 4th, and while they didn’t qualify, they still dipped under 10 with a solid 9:57.56. Overall, the top four teams all came from the GNAC. G-MAC DMR Cedarville and Malone hit provisional marks with track converted times of 10:03.16 and 10:04.56. GLVC 800 John Partee of Lewis and Logan Shearer of Missouri S&T duked it out over 800 meters, with Partee coming out on top in 1:53.53. Shearer’s track converted time of 1:52.42 places him on the provisional list for the first and last time this season. WOMEN Boston University Last Chance Qualifier 800 Kristen Metcalfe of Embry-Riddle was the star performer of the meet, running the nation’s fastest time of 2:03.59. She overthrows Skylyn Webb (UC-Colorado Springs) for the top spot by just .28 of a second. Expect NCAA’s to be showdown between those two women. Behind Metcalfe was Yasmine Graziani of American Int’l and Yajara Salinas of Stanisluas State. The two women respectfully ran NCAA provisional times of 2:11.92 and 2:12.24. Mile Metcalfe comfortably doubled back from the 800 to win the mile with a time of 4:47.82. Metcalfe currently sits at #3 on the national qualifying list with a time of 4:45.00. Her 800 speed and mile strength will make her a serious problem for her opponents at Nationals. RMAC Indoor Track & Field Championships 800 Skylyn Webb from UC-Colorado Springs won the women’s 800 with a time of 2:11.46. Webb is sitting at the #2 spot in the NCAA with a time of 2:03.87. Behind Webb in 2nd place was Bailey Sharon from Western Colorado University, she ran a time of 2:13.82. In 3rd place was Western Colorado University teammate Jessica Cusick with a time of 2:14.04, which converts to 2:10.74 giving her the #16 fastest time in the NCAA and a berth at the DII Indoor National Championships. Rounding out the top finishers and NCAA provisional times was Elinor Enderle of Adams State, her time of 2:16.29 set her up with a 4th place finish at the conference meet. Mile With the nation’s leading time of 4:39.34 on the NCAA qualifying list, Roisin Flanagan of Adams State won the women’s mile in 5:01.16. Adams State teammate Stefanie Cotter was behind Flanagan in second place running a time of 5:03.67. Kara Burton from Colorado Mines was the 3rd place finisher crossing the line in 5:08.90. Cotter (Adams State) and Burton (Colorado Mines) are #5 & #17 on the NCAA qualifying list, respectfully. 3000 Eilish Flanagan and Roisin Flanagan from Adams State went 1-2 in the women’s 3000 running times of 10:01.23 & 10:13.08. The Adams State sisters currently sit at #2 (Roisin) and #4 (Eilish) on the national qualifying list with times of 9:18.24 & 9:26.08. Grabbing the bronze medal from Colorado Mines was Chole Cook. Cook ran the nation's #10 fastest time with a converted 9:40.72. Also running a converted provisional time of 9:44.36 (#18 in NCAA) was Kennedy Rufener from Western Colorado University who finished 4th. 5000 Malena Grover, Kianna Darioosh-Bonnet, and Kaylee Bogina of Adams State swept the podium running times of 18:06.86, 18:12.89, and 18:17.11. Malena Grover currently owns a PR of 16:38.88 in the event and is sitting at #6 on the national qualifying list. On a team that is stacked with distance talent, she may be the most underrated of all of them. Darioosh-Bonnet has run the #22 fastest time in the nation (17:08.50) while Bogina already has the #8 fastest time in the nation (16:40.74). GLIAC Indoor Track & Field Championship 800 Rachael Walters of Grand Valley State ran the NCAA’s #3 fastest time of 2:05.93 for the win. In 2nd place was Shayla Huebner from Northern Michigan running a time of 2:10.17 (#12 in NCAA). The 3rd place finisher was Allie Ludge of Grand Valley St. with a time of 2:10.45. Ludge has the NCAA’s #5 fastest time of 2:08.91 in the event. Mile The bronze medalist in the 800 (Allie Ludge) doubled back and won the mile crossing the finish line in a time of 4:51.11. Ludge currently has a PR of 4:48.31 which puts her at #6 in the NCAA. Like Metcalf, she has a great combination of speed and strength from the 800 and mile. Finishing close behind was Jenna Keiser of Saginaw Valley (4:58.00) and Jacqueline Feist of Wayne St. (4:58.71). Both times were NCAA provisional marks. 3000 Grand Valley St. scored major points in this event coming in 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place. The winner from GVSU was Gina Patterson in 9:38.64. Patterson has run the #6 fastest time in the nation this season with a time of 9:29.44 and appears to be a very legitimate All-American threat at Nationals. Breaking up the Grand Valley St. sweep was Allision Dorr from Saginaw Valley, she ran a PR of 9:47.38 which put her at #24 on the national qualifying list. Grand Valley St. teammates Madison Geon, Stacey Metzger, and Hanna Groeber ran NCAA provisional times of 9:48.22, 9:49.81, and 9:52.36, respectively to take the next three spots. 5000 Teammates of Grand Valley St. Jessica Gockley, Malea Teerman, and Hanna Groeber completed the podium sweep in the women’s 5000. Gockley paced the event with the NCAA’s #11 fastest time of 16:43.63. Teerman impressively ran a time of 16:45.17 (#13 in NCAA) right behind her teammate. Finishing off the GVSU sweep was Groeber with a time of 17:23.98. Don’t count Groeber out at the national meet as she has previously run a time of 16:25.99, the #4 fastest time in the country this year. 2019 NSIC Track & Field Indoor Championship 800 Monique McPherson from U-Mary ran a converted time of 2:09.62 (#10 in NCAA) for the win. Right behind McPherson in 2nd place was Haleigh Reind of Minnesota-Duluth with the nation's #22 fastest time of 2:11.60 (converted). Breaking into the NCAA’s top 25 fastest times was Bobbi Patrick who claimed the bronze medal running a converted time of 2:12.11. Mile Three women broke the five minute barrier in this race. The leader from U-Mary was Bree Erickson who earned a converted time of 4:54.89 (NCAA #20). Claiming the silver medal was Anna Rogahn of Winona State, she crossed the line in a converted 4:54.91 (#21 in NCAA). Rounding out the top three spots and placing her name in the top 25 of the NCAA was Jaryn Ceglowski of Sioux Falls who ran a converted time of 4:56.54. 3000 The U-Mary duo of Jaiden Schuette and Ida Narbuvoll took the top two spots in the event running the #16 & #20 times of 9:43.23 and 9:44.90, both were converted. Also breaking 10 minutes and running provisional times were 3rd and 4th place finishers Mackenzie Kelly (Augustana (S.D.)) in 9:51.65 and Emily Roberts (U-Mary) in 9:55.70. These two times were not converted. 5000 Bouncing back from the 3000, Emily Roberts of U-Mary took home the win crossing the tape in 16:58.65. Roberts currently has the NCAA’s #5 fastest time this year of 16:37.74 and is consistently a top challenger every race she toes the line for. Expect her to have a good day at Nationals. Following Roberts was teammate Ida Narbuvoll with a finishing time of 17:08.51 to give her the silver medal. MIAA Indoor Track & Field Championships 800 Elysia Burgos from Southwest Baptist was the story of the meet running the NCAA’s #13 fastest time in prelims (yes, prelims). Burgos ran a time of 2:10.50 in the preliminaries and finished off the final with a time of 2:12.38 to win the conference championship. Running a PR and an NCAA provisional time of 2:14.04 was Danielle James from Lincoln (MO.). Mile Doubling from the 800 was champion Elysia Burgos (Southwest Baptist), she claimed her second gold medal of the meet winning the mile in 4:58.15. Burgos also has the #12 time on the national qualifying list with a 4:50.74 previously set this year. 3000 + 5000 Cynthia Togom from Central Missouri took home both gold medals in the two events. Togom ran a provisional time of 9:53.29 in the 3000, while later running 17:28.53 in the 5000. Seattle Pacific Final Qualifier 2019 800 Running the #15 fastest time in the NCAA was Danielle McCormick from Alaska Anchorage, she had the winning time of 2:10.63. Just .36 of a second behind McCormick and grabbing 2nd place was Sophie Dodd of Simon Fraser with a mark of 2:10.99 (#18 in NCAA). Getting her name on the national qualifying list (#29) was Ruth Cvancara of Alaska Anchorage, she crossed the line was in 2:12.92. Mile Running a pair of impressive times (4:51.09 and 4:52.21) was Nancy Jeptoo of Alaska Anchorage and Kate Lilly of Seattle Pacific. These two women battled to the top spots in this race and also ran the #13 and #15 fastest times in the country. Breaking five minutes for 3rd place was Kaylee Mitchell from Seattle Pacific in a time of 4:57.78. 3000 Alexa Shindruk from Central Washington got the win running a time of 9:52.57. Shindruk owns the nation's #15 time with a PR of 9:42.19. 2019 G-MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships Mile Andra Lehotay of Walsh broke into the top 10 on the national qualifying list with the #9 time of 4:49.67 for the win. In 2nd was Allysen Eads of Hillsdale who dipped under five minutes with a time of 4:57.77. Eads is also #14 in the NCAA with a mile PR of 4:52.10 this season. Hannah Thompson of Malone rounded out the top finishers in the 3rd place running 4:58.31, which is #23 in the NCAA and a provisional time. 3000 Returning from a bronze place finish in the mile was Hannah Thompson. Thompson would not be denied in the 3000, winning the event with a time of 9:58.85. It was no surprise to see the Malone veteran come out on top, especially when you consider that she ran the NCAA #9 time of 9:40.06 earlier this season.

KEY (Unranked): Was not ranked the week before (#/#): First number indicates the change in a runner's ranking from week prior Second number indicates where the runner was ranked last week 15. Shaquille Dill, St. Augustines (Unranked) Dill makes his way back into the rankings after he went to Boston and took home a 2nd place finish in the 800. Finishing runner-up is great, but what’s even better is that he ran 1:49.69 which qualified him for the national meet. He currently has the #5 fastest time in the country. 14. Victor Moreau, Academy of Art (+1 / 15) Moreau traveled to Boston this past weekend for what was essentially a tune-up. He helped the Academy of Art to a 2nd place finish in the DMR with a time of 10:02. He then ran the 1000 which was definitely a tune-up for the mile, an event he’ll run at Nationals in two weeks. His time was 2:28 and some change. 13. Daniel Wallis, Queens (N.C.) (+1 / 14) Wallis ran at this conference meet this past weekend where he was entered in the mile and the 800. He was able to take home the mile title in a time of 4:19.60 and eventually finished 2nd in the 800 with a time of 1:57.25. It wasn't a hard effort from Wallis, but Queens didn't necessarily need him to race hard as the Royals walked away with the team title. 12. Devundrick Walker, CSU-Pueblo (+1 / 13) CSU-Pueblo elected for relay events this weekend at their conference meet and Walker found himself on two of them. Walker helped his DMR and 4x400 relays to a pair of victories. It was a seven second victory in the DMR and a three second victory in the 4x400. 11. Benoit Campion, American International (-1 / 10) It was an interesting move for Campion as he went to Boston and ran another mile. It was likely an attempt to improve his time as they were either worried he wouldn’t make the cut or felt he needed a tune-up before March 8th. He ended the day with a relatively underwhelming time of 4:16. 10. Felix Wammetsberger, Queens (N.C). (+2 / 12) Just like Walllis, we saw Wammetsberger focus on placement rather than times. Luckily for him, there was a slew of Queens athletes that made it for an easier effort. He finished 2nd in the mile behind Wallis and then3rd in the 800. He ran marks of 4:19.67 and 1:57.26. 9. Rowan Doherty, Simon Fraser (+2 / 11) The Simon Fraser boys headed to Seattle to sneak in one last attempt at qualifying for the national meet in the DMR. They did so successfully as Doherty served as the anchor leg that helped send Simon Fraser (and two other GNAC schools) to the national meet. They ran 9:49.47 and have the #8 fastest time heading into next weekend (Nationals). 8. Josh Hoskinson, Colorado Mines (0 / 8) Hoskinson only ran one race at conference this weekend and it wasn’t the greatest showing as he finished 11th in a time of 9:08.58. There’s no real reason for concern in my opinion as he’s been strong all season. I think this was just a fluke and that he will be much better at Nationals. 7. Taylor Stack (Western Colorado) (+2 / 9) Stack had an awesome conference meet as he was crowned the 5000 meter champion in a time of 15:15.53. He followed that up with a 3rd place finish in the 3000 as he ran 8:47.18. Stack has really come into his own this year and is a dark horse entering next weekend’s national meet. 6. Dennis Mbuta, Grand Valley State (+1 / 7) Mbuta took home two 1st place finishes as well as a runner-up placement at the GLIAC Championships. He first helped his DMR team run 9:57 en route to a conference victory. He came back with a 2nd place finish to his teammate Zach Panning in the mile as he ran 4:10. He then ran 1:51 in the 800 meters for another gold medal. Simply put, he looks ready for Nationals. 5. Brett Meyer, Fort Hays State (+1 / 6) Meyer helped Fort Hays State to a six second victory in the DMR and a time of 9:52.80. They were the second team out of the national meet after that performance. He came back to win the mile in a time of 4:09.98, holding off Jacob Klemz of Washburn by a slim margin. His 4x400 team also finished 9th. Overall, it was a very productive and encouraging weekend for Meyer who doesn't seem capable of having a bad race. 4. Elias Gedyon, Adams State (0 / 4) Gedyon was the anchor leg on the Adams State DMR team that finished 2nd behind CSU-Pueblo. He came back the next day and won the 3000 meters in a time of 8:40.53 and it came down to the wire as he was able to hold off Western Colorado’s Charlie Sweeney by a second to claim the victory. 3. Zach Panning, Grand Valley State (0 / 3) We saw two (unsurprising) 1st place finishes for Panning this past weekend. One victory came way of the 3000 meters which was expected from a national contender. The second win came in the mile where he edged his teammate Mbuta by two seconds. He must’ve read my prediction saying I wasn’t sure he had the leg speed to close it out (looks I was wrong). He ran times of 8:19 and 4:08, respectively. 2. Sydney Gidabuday, Adams State (0 / 2) Gidabuday didn’t finish the only race he was entered in this weekend, which was the 5000. He likely helped pace his Adams State teammates in order to score points...but don’t quote me on that. 1. Thomas Staines, CSU-Pueblo (0 / 1) Just like Walker, Staines didn’t race individually. Instead, he anchored the DMR team to a seven second win and then came back the next day to anchor the 4x400 to a three second victory. Not a whole lot to be said for Staines and the rest of the Thunderwolves except that it was seemingly slight work. 800 1. Thomas Staines (CSU-Pueblo) 2. Dennis Mbuta (Grand Valley State) 3. Devundrick Walker (CSU-Pueblo) 4. Shaquille Dill (St. Augustines) 5. Juman Randall (Western State) Mile 1. Elias Gedyon (Adams State) 2. Brett Meyer (Fort Hays State) 3. Felix Wammetsberger (Queens (N.C.)) 4. Benoit Campion (American International) 5. Lucas Taxter (Stonehill) 3000 1. Sydney Gidabuday (Adams State) 2. Zach Panning (Grand Valley State) 3. Elias Gedyon (Adams State) 4. Rowan Doherty (Simon Fraser) 5. Daniel Wallis (Queens (N.C.)) 5000 1. Sydney Gidabuday (Adams State) 2. Zach Panning (Grand Valley State) 3. Josh Hoskinson (Colorado Mines) 4. Taylor Stack (Western Colorado) 5. Tom Goforth (Saginaw Valley State)

The performances lists for the men's and women's National Championships have been unveiled (which you can find on our ENTRIES page by clicking here) and there is plenty to talk about. Below, we break down some of the more interesting scratches (or non-scratches) that are on the list of declarations... MEN Nuguse, Davis scratch the mile to...be fresh for the DMR? Ryan and Ritz have their prayers answered After watching Yared Nuguse cruise to an ACC mile title in a time of 3:57, it seemed like a no-brainer that he would run the mile/DMR double at Nationals. However, that doesn't appear to be the case as Nuguse has scratched from the event. After finishing runner-up last year in the distance medley, the Notre Dame men must feel exceptionally confident that they can contend for a national title if everyone is fresh. And honestly, they should feel confident. They did, after all, run the second fastest DMR ever just two weeks ago. It is a similar scenario for Illinois' Jonathan Davis who is scratching the mile for the DMR. After an ugly mile prelim at the BIG 10 Championships where he failed to make the finals, the Fighting Illini' may feel like they can be serious All-American contenders with Davis completely fresh on the anchor. Outside of those two, the rest of the scratches are relatively unsurprising. James West and Joe Klecker both scratched out of this event, leaving Stanovsek and Haney in qualifying position. Rogers, Grijalva, Teare, and Ostberg also opted out of the mile (which we anticipated), leaving Washington State's Paul Ryan and Columbia's Sam Ritz to round out the top 16 in the field. If you're not already doing the math, it took eight scratches for Sam Ritz to qualify for Nationals. Hoare and Mau to attempt mile/3k double, a DMR attempt remains unclear The somewhat ridiculous, but realistic theory of both Hoare and Mau attempting the mile/3k/DMR triple is still alive, although we recently suggested in our Scratch Tracker projections that Hoare (along with McDonald) will scratch from the DMR. We will find out if that is the case 10 days from now. Regardless, Hoare and Mau running both of their open events indicates that the Badgers and Hoosiers are looking to score as many team points as possible at the National Championships. If Hoare and/or Mau end up scratching the DMR, then they will be just as fresh as the rest of the men in the mile finals. Festus Lagat scratches 800 I didn't expect anyone to scratch out of the 800, but Iowa State had different plans. The Cyclones must feel relatively confident about their chances in the DMR after deciding that Festus Lagat would be better off if he scratched from his open event. In return, Penn State's Domenic Perretta will qualify for the second national meet of his career. No one scratches out of the top 16 in the 3k or 5k With no scratches in the 3000, we are set to witness what might possibly be the most loaded 3k field in recent history. McDonald, Fisher, Kemboi, Klecker, and Hoare have all produced times under the 7:50 barrier and could realistically walk away with the national title. As for the 5000, our crazy idea of BYU scratching two men (who were already qualified in the 3000) in order to get Linkletter into the national meet never came to fruition. It was a novel idea, but it required far too much to sacrifice. Stunning absences Outside of the names we already mentioned, here are some of the top runners on our radar who we expected to qualify for Nationals when the season began, but did not... - Avery Bartlett (Georgia Tech) - John Lewis (Clemson) - Aidan Tooker (Syracuse) - Cameron Griffith (Arkansas) (but will run the DMR) - Isai Rodriguez (Oklahoma State) - Peter Seufer (Virginia Tech) - Rory Linkletter (BYU) - Nahom Solomon (Georgia Tech) WOMEN Rivers and Pocratsky opt out of mile for the 800 We preached a common message about the women's 800 and mile fields throughout the entire second half of the season. The 800 lacked the depth that the mile has, but it may have more firepower. Well, after the top three women in the mile ended up scratching, that certainly seems to be the case. The Power Five titans of Rivers and Pocratsky will attempt to knock down Norfolk State's Martha Bissah and Monmouth's Allie Wilson at Nationals in a little under two weeks. This could be a race that results in a near (or new) collegiate record. Jessica Hull drops mile in favor of 3k It felt like a near impossible task to figure out which event (if any) Hull was going to scratch from. Scratching the DMR significantly lowered Oregon's chances of earning a top All-American finish and likely led to lesser team points. Scratching the 3k forced her to race the mile prelim only a couple hours before the DMR. Scratching the mile took her out of the event that would end up being the most wide-open for an individual national title. In other words, there was no perfect choice for Hull. Still, having the luxury to choose between three events is nice to have. 11 of the top 30 women scratch the mile We have already spoken about the top names who aren't running the mile at Nationals, but what about everyone else? Five of the top 10 women in this event (six of the top 16) are racing something other than the mile at Nationals. It wasn't until the #25 seed (Sarah Feeny, Utah) that the NCAA selection committee was able to completely fill the field. We also saw Whittni Orton (BYU), Taryn Rawlings (Portland), Alexis Fuller (Boise State), Makenzie Andrews (Akron), and Annie Fuller (Michigan State) all qualify thanks to scratches. Gregory and Rainsberger to attempt mile/3k double Arkansas' Lauren Gregory and Washington's Katie Rainsberger will be the only women to attempt the mile/3k double. Other top names in the NCAA like Hull, Hutchinson, Kelati, and Birk all had the chance to attempt the difficult double, but chose the 3k instead, an event that they were all clearly better off racing. Although Rainsberger hasn't been exceptionally better in one race over the other, it feels like Gregory was clearly the better 3k runner with a season best of 8:55 (compared to her 4:32.92 mile). Of course, with so many top names scratching out of the mile, the Arkansas freshman has suddenly stumbled into the #3 seed for Nationals and has a legitimate chance of winning the national title. As for Rainsberger, her double signifies more than just two races. With teammate Allie Schadler listed as a scratch deep into the performance list for the mile, it seems relatively safe to say that the Huskies are preparing for a relay without Rainsberger. Instead, we could see some combination of Schadler and Burdon racing in the distance medley on Friday night. Ostrander & Lokedi in the 5k likely means no DMR Ostrander's 3k/DMR experiment from last year's indoor national meet seems to be over. The Boise State superstar has decided to attempt the 5k/3k double instead, meaning that a DMR appearance is extremely improbable. Not only that, but it seems like other Bronco teammates such as Alexis Fuller and Kristie Schoffield are putting an emphasis on individual events as well. In this situation, it is possible that we will see some combination of Clare O'Brien and Emily Venters on the Boise State relay. The same goes for Sharon Lokedi who did not scratch out of the 5k. As a result, she will likely not race the DMR unless the Kansas coaching staff believes that they have nothing to lose. She was unable to qualify in the 3k, so Lokedi will have nothing else to race after her 5k. Who knows? Maybe she does attempt two races within a 40 minute span...

Click the picture to view Scratch Tracker projections...

ACC Championships 800 Virginia Tech's Rachel Pocratsky continues to establish herself as one of the most dynamic mid-distance runners in the nation. She took over the race at the halfway mark and never looked back, which led to her winning the ACC title in a time of 2:03 (NCAA #4). Miami's Kayla Johnson had a nice race of her own, finishing runner-up with a time of 2:05 while VT's Shannon Quinn's 2:06.58 was enough for 3rd place. She was able to hold off Clemson's Kamryn McIntosh who ran 2:06.87 for 4th. Mile In one of the best mile fields of the season, we got to see distance stars such as Dominique Clairmont, Morgan Ilse, Sarah Edwards, Logan Morris, Maudie Skyring and many more toe the line to fight for a conference title. In the end, it was Virginia Tech's Sarah Edwards slowly pulling away from the field in the final few moments of the race to take the win in a time of 4:41. She was followed by UNC's Morgan Ilse (4:43.05) and Wake Forest's Johanna Schulz (4:43.50) who finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively. 3000 Louisville's Dorcas Wasike threw down a kick in the final lap of the race to edge NC State's Elly Henes for the win, 9:24.05 to 9:24.38. Close behind was Florida State's Militsa Mircheva who finished 3rd in a time of 9:24.94. 5000 Wasike may have won a close race in the 3000, but she was unable to edge the winner in the 5000. Instead it was Paige Stoner of Syracuse running a time of 16:06.48 to take home the title. Wasike was a close 2nd in 16:06.99. DMR Virginia Tech was the winner in 11:08, defeating Florida State who finished 2nd in 11:13. SEC Championships 800 Despite losing her training partner Sammy Watson to a future pro contract, Texas A&M's Jazmine Fray was the winner in 2:05.42 while LSU's Ersula Farrow was runner-up in 2:05.51. Georgia's Amber Tanner was a pleasant surprise in 3rd place with a personal best time of 2:05.59. Mile The Arkansas trio of Lauren Gregory, Carina Viljoen, and Maddy Reed swept the top three spots in this race, running 4:39, 4:41, and 4:43, respectively. 3000 + 5000 It was the same top two in both races. Arkansas' Tayler Werner earned a pair of wins in 9:15 and 16:18 while Auburn freshman Joyce Kimeli ran 9:24 and 16:28 for two silver medals. BIG 12 Championships 800 Marleena Eubanks of Kansas had one of the best performances of her career, running 2:03.99 to secure the conference title. With an altitude conversion, Eubanks now has the #5 time in the NCAA. Texas senior Gabby Crank continues her string of strong performances with a runner-up time in 2:04.92. Baylor's Aaliyah Miller was 3rd in 2:06.73. 1000 Oklahoma State's Sinclaire Johnson continues to keep her momentum high from the regular season as she took home the win in a time of 2:44. Kansas State freshman Kassidy Johnson kept things close with a time of 2:45. Mile The Oklahoma State duo of Molly Sughroue and Ariane Ballner ran times of 4:48 and 4:49 to take the top spots in the mile. 3000 + 5000 Just like the SEC Championships, we saw the same top two finishers in both events. Kansas veteran Sharon Lokedi took home double gold with times of 9:20 and 16:11. Oklahoma freshman Haley Herberg showed that she may be the future of BIG 12 distance running with runner-up times of 9:28 and 16:22. MPSF Championships 800 BYU's Lauren Ellsworth had the best race of her season, running 2:06.48 to edge Utah's Sarah Newton (2:06.62) and Stanford's Caitlin Collier (2:06.64) for the win. A total of six women ran under 2:07 at this meet. Mile In a tight race to the finish, BYU's Erica Birk pulled out the win over Oregon's Susan Ejore, 4:34.59 to 4:34.83. For someone who we deemed as a true long distance runner, this performance from Birk is wildly impressive. I like that she is showing off some mid-distance speed heading into Nationals. As for Ejore, she may not have won, but it's yet another personal best for her this season. This is likely a confidence booster for her heading into the national meet where she'll be an All-American contender. Portland's Taryn Rawlings and Utah's Sarah Feeny were the final women under the 4:40 barrier with times of 4:36.00 and 4:36.67, respectively. 3000 It was one of the best performances of the weekend as Stanford's Fiona O'Keeffe dropped a time of 8:58 to win the MPSF title and secure herself a spot to Nationals. After such an impressive performance to match a slew of other strong results from earlier this season, O'Keeffe has to be in the All-American conversation for Nationals now. Behind O'Keeffe was Makena Morley who finished 2nd in a time of 9:02. She was followed by Washington's Lilli Burdon who posted a respectable mark of 9:03. Both O'Keeffe and Morley are in guaranteed qualifying spots for Nationals while Burdon just needs one scratch to qualify. 5000 Colorado's Taylor Tuttle was the winner in a time of 16:29. UCLA's Christina Rice was 2nd in 16:31. DMR It was a "do or die" situation for Oregon's DMR who had only one opportunity left to run an NCAA qualifier. Luckily for them, they had Jessica Hull drop a 4:31 split on the anchor leg, giving them a time of 10:57 and an eventual NCAA qualifier (as well as the MPSF title). In the process of qualifying, the Ducks kicked Ohio State out of the final spot to Nationals. The Stanford women ran hard, but came up short of a qualifier, running 11:02 for 2nd place. This means that we will see Fiona O'Keeffe running the 5k/3k double without the concern of running on a relay. BIG 10 Championships 800 Danae Rivers (Penn State) cruised to the victory in a time of 2:03.45 which was clear of 2nd place by over two seconds. Right now, we have Rivers scratching the 800 in favor of the mile, but that could very easily change. Dillon McClintock (Michigan State) and Haley Harris (Indiana) rounded out the top three with times of 2:05.68 and 2:05.88, respectively. Mile In what may have been the best matchup of the weekend, we got to see rivals Hannah Meier (Michigan) and Julia Rizk (Ohio State) push each other to a pair of fast times. The end result would be Meier taking home the crown in a time of 4:32.46 while Rizk settled for 2nd in 4:32.79. This is a huge result for both women, especially Meier who continues to drastically improve her fitness in the latter portion of the season. She could very easily be a top three finisher at Nationals. Although she may not have won, Rizk can take solace in the idea that Meier will likely attempt the mile/DMR double at Nationals. If both women make the mile final at Nationals, Rizk will have the fresher legs. In 3rd place was Michigan State sophomore Annie Fuller who continues to quietly piece together one of the more impressive seasons of anyone in the BIG 10. Her time of 4:35.63 is a new personal best and may be enough to qualify for NCAA's if there are enough scratches (she is currently tied for #19 in the country). 3000 Wisconsin's Alicia Monson cruised to the win in a time of 9:16 while the Indiana duo of Margaret Allen and Katherine Receveur took the next two spots with times of 9:23 and 9:25, respectively. 5000 Wisconsin teammates Alicia Monson and Amy Davis worked together to run a pair of 16:18's to take the top two spots in this race. They were able to fend off Indiana's Katherine Receveur who was 3rd, also in a time of 16:18. DMR Michigan State posted a time of 11:05 (with Annie Fuller on the anchor) to take gold over Michigan who ran 11:11 (who had Hannah Meier on the anchor). Mountain West Championships 800 Avi' Tal Wilson-Perteete from UNLV was the conference champion in a time of 2:08.05. She was able to upset heavy favorite Kristie Shoffield (Boise State) who ran 2:09.20 for 2nd. Mile In one of the most stacked fields of the weekend, we got to see New Mexico's Weini Kelati toe the line against the Boise State duo of Allie Ostrander and Alexis Fuller. In the end, it was Kelati emerging on top with a time of 4:37.75 which eventually converted to an NCAA #3 time of 4:31.03. Although it is likely that she will run the 3k/5k double, she has made a strong case for potentially running the mile. As for Ostrander and Fuller, they rounded out the top three with times of 4:41 and 4:42, respectively. Those times convert (roughly) to 4:35 and 4:36. 3000 Although she was unable to win the mile, Ostrander did take home gold in the 3000 with a time of 9:11. She was able to hold off New Mexico's Adva Cohen and Air Force's Jaci Smith who ran 9:13 and 9:14, respectively. After conversions, Cohen and Smith earned times of 9:00 and 9:01 which were enough to earn a spot to Nationals in this event. DMR The Boise State lineup of Fuller, Moodry, Shoffield, and Ostrander took home the win in a time of 11:10 which converts to 11:00. They comfortably took care of a New Mexico team that had Kelati on the leadoff and Kurgat on the anchor. BIG East Championships 800 Villanova's McKenna Keegan was the winner in a time of 2:07.08. She held off Marquette's Emma Moravec who ran 2:09.60 for 2nd. Mile Villanova flexed their mid-distance dominance by taking the top four spots in this event. Rachel McArthur (4:38), Nicole Hutchinson (4:38), Taryn O'Neill (4:45), and Ann Campbell (4:50) were the top finishers in that order. 3000 The Providence duo of Millie Paladino and Briana Ilarda took the top two spots in this race with times of 9:24 and 9:26, respectively. Villanova's Carolina Alcorta finished 3rd, also in 9:26. 5000 Ilarda not only beat Alocorta in the 3000, but she also came out on top in the 5k. Ilarda ran a time of 16:47 to take home the BIG East title while Alcorta settled for 2nd in 16:48. Ivy League Championships 800 With Penn's Nia Akins running the 1000 meters, it was teammate Melissa Tanka who took individual glory in the 800 with a winning time of 2:07.87. Claire Dougherty (Dartmouth) ran 2:08.79 for 2nd. 1000 Penn's Nia Akins opted to focus on the 1000 meters this past weekend and was rewarded with a conference title. Her strong winning time of 2:43 was enough to defeat Kathryn Gillespie (Harvard) who ran 2:45 for 2nd. Anna Jurew (Princeton) and Jocelyn Chau (Yale) also ran under the 2:50 barrier. Mile Columbia's Katie Wasserman was the title winner in a time of 4:43.93. 3000 Columbia's Erin Gregoire was the first woman to cross the line in a time of 9:25. 5000 Lisa Tertsch (Harvard) controlled the race and took home the win in a time of 16:18.

ACC Championships 800 The ACC Championships were absolutely electric as both teams and spectators made Rector Field House one of the most exciting places to be this weekend. The 800 meter final was paced by Clemson's John Lewis who took the field through 400 meters in approximately 52 seconds. However, it was Wake Forest's Robert Heppenstall who would take control on the final lap. The Deacon veteran ran a winning time of 1:46.88 to comfortably secure a national qualifying time and put his name back into the national title conversation. Georgia Tech's Avery Barlett closed with a massive kick to earn runner-up honors in a time of 1:48.39 while Duke's Matt Wisner and Virginia Tech's Bashir Mosavel-Lo also dipped under 1:49 running 1:48.57 and 1:48.74, respectively. Unfortunately for Bartlett, that time puts him at #19 in the NCAA, a spot that will likely not qualify him for Nationals. Mile In one of the most impressive performances of the weekend, Notre Dame's Yared Nuguse quietly separated himself from the rest of the field and soloed a 3:57 mile to put himself at #8 in the NCAA. He was followed by Virginia Tech's Diego Zarate (4:03) and NC State's Philip Hall (4:04). 3000 The 3k was the distance event that put the entire crowd on it's feet as Virginia Tech's Peter Seufer held off Syracuse's Iliass Aouani in a thrilling final lap. Seufer's time of 7:59 was enough to take home gold while Aouani ran 8:00.99 for 2nd. 5000 NC State freshman Ian Shanklin pulled off the upset, defeating Peter Seufer by a little over a second with a time of 14:03.53 (Seufer ran 14:04.65). Iliass Aouani was 3rd in 14:07. DMR As expected, the Notre Dame men cruised to the win in a time of 9:38. Virginia Tech settled for 2nd in 9:45. SEC Championships 800 SEC's was likely a potential preview for what we could see in the finals at Nationals. Sure enough, the matchup was incredibly close as expected. Devin Dixon (Texas A&M) was the conference champion in a time of 1:47.47 which was enough to hold off Marco Arop (Mississippi State) who ran 1:47.86 for 2nd. Texas A&M's Carlton Orange ran 1:48.76 for 3rd. Mile Mississippi's Waleed Suliman barely edged Arkansas' Cameron Griffith, 4:02.47 to 4:02.50. Missouri's Kieran Wood rounded out the top three in 4:04. 3000 Arkansas' Cameron Griffith took the win in his second event of the weekend in a time of 8:02. Alabama's Gilbert Kigen and Tennessee's Zach Long ran a pair of 8:03's for 2nd and 3rd, respectively. 5000 Arkansas's Gilbert Boit was able to barely defeat Alabama's Gilbert Kigen, 14:09.84 to 14:09.87. Alabama's Vincent Kiprop ran 14:12 for 3rd. BIG 12 Championships 800 He had been a consistent winner all season, but Bryce Hoppel's 1:46.84 this past weekend reestablished him as one of the best in the NCAA. The Kansas senior took home the win over Iowa State's Festus Lagat who ran 1:48.35 to earn the final guaranteed qualifying spot to Nationals. 1000 Texas Tech's Jonah Koech ran 2:23 to take the win over Oklahoma's Ackeen Colley who ran 2:25 for runner-up. Mile The Texas duo of Worley and Rogers went 1-2 in times of 4:05 and 4:06, respectively. 3000 + 5000 Iowa State's Edwin Kurgat and Oklahoma State's Isai Rodriguez reignited their rivalry this past weekend. Yet again, Kurgat took home a pair of wins in 8:16 and 14:10. Rodriguez was a close 2nd in both races. MPSF Championships 800 It had been a while since we last saw USC's Isaiah Jewett in an 800, but he didn't seem rusty. The junior Trojan was the winner in a time of 1:47.20 which was well clear of 2nd place (Conner Morello) who ran 1:49.08. Mile Depending on who you ask, this may have been the race of the weekend. Arizona State's Williams Paulson, who transferred from Princeton last year, took home the crown in a blazing fast time of 3:58.07 to strengthen his national qualifying position. Behind him, we saw two pleasantly surprising results. Colorado's Joe Klecker was runner-up in a time of 3:58.51 in yet another display of elite-level fitness. Klecker has shown us middle distance speed that most long distance runners dream of having. It would be surprising to see him run anything other than the 3k and 5k at Nationals, but at least we know that he has enough leg-speed to compete in tactical races. 3rd place went to Washington State's Paul Ryan who had a monster breakout performance with a time of 3:58.79. The WSU Cougars have had a few men floating around the four minute barrier for quite some time now, so they were due for a result like this. As of right now, Ryan is currently tied for the #19 spot in the NCAA. However, if enough runners scratch, he could find himself securing a trip to Nationals (which is very possible). 3000 After winning the 5k Brandt went on to win the 3k in a wicked fast time of 7:50.27. He was able to edge BYU's Conner Mantz who ran 7:50.90 was a close 2nd. The Oregon duo of James West and Cooper Teare ran a pair of 7:51's for 3rd and 4th, respectively. West also secured a national qualifying time in the 3000. It will be interesting to see what event he choses to race at NCAA's. A total of 10 men went under the 8 minute barrier in this race including Carlos Villarreal who ran 7:52.90 for 5th overall. Villarreal is now someone who own's personal bests of 1:46, 3:57, and 7:52. Oh, and he was a national qualifier in cross country. Talk about range... One of the more encouraging results was seeing Stanford's Thomas Ratcliffe healthy again. The Cardinal youngster threw down a time of 7:54 for 6th overall after being absent for an extended period of time. If he is able to maintain that fitness in late March, then Ratcliffe could drop another big time at the Stanford Invite. BYU's Rory Linkletter finished 8th in 7:56. Unfortunately, that time will not put him in qualifying position for the 3k. Additionally, Linkletter was kicked out of a guaranteed qualifying position in the 5000 thanks to Morgan McDonald and Luis Grijalva. The only way Linkletter will be able to qualify for Nationals is if two runners scratch. While that may seem improbable, keep in mind that he has three teammates ranked ahead of him in the 5k (Young, Mantz, and McMillan). All three of those men are also qualified in the 3k. If two of them were to scratch so that they were fresh for the 3k, then Linkletter could find himself on the line at Nationals. For a program that is as team-oriented as BYU, this could be a very real possibility. 5000 UCLA's Robert Brandt was the winner in a strong time of 13:57. As you can tell by his 3k performance, it was his least impressive race of the weekend. BIG 10 Championships 800 Penn State's Domenic Perretta pulled off the upset, running 1:48.24 to hold off Indiana's Cooper Williams who ran 1:48.76 for 2nd. Unlike Williams, Perretta is not in a guaranteed qualifying position for Nationals and is currently sitting as the First Man Out for Nationals (NCAA #17). Unless someone scratches, which is unlikely, Perretta will not be making the trip to Birmingham this year. Mile Wisconsin's Oliver Hoare earned yet another win over Indiana's Kyle Mau this past weekend, running 4:02 to Mau's 4:03. Hoare continues to prove that he can win fast races as well as tactical affairs. 5000 Morgan McDonald only needed one 5k race to make him a national title contender. The Wisconsin superstar popped off a 13:37 to cruise to the BIG 10 title. Indiana's Ben Veatch earned silver with a 13:53. Minnesota's Obsa Ali was 3rd in 13:57. Mountain West Championships 800 The 800 was the highlight of the meet as we saw three men dip under 1:50 at altitude. Air Force junior Michael Rhoads posted a clutch time of 1:47.82 (1:47.22 converted) to win the title and secure a berth to Nationals. The New Mexico duo of Michael Wilson and Kristian Hanson ran 1:48.27 and 1:49.56, respectively. Those times convert to 1:47.66 and 1:48.95. For Wilson, that time is good enough to qualify him for Nationals (NCAA #12). Mile The top two finishers symbolized the past and the future for Colorado State. Senior Cole Rockhold and freshman Michael Mooney went 1-2 in the mile finals running 4:11 and 4:12, respectively. For Rockhold, it's an encouraging win as he continues to come off injury. For Mooney, it's a result that shows us how exciting his future with the Rams could be. BIG East Championships 800 Georgetown sophomore Ruach Padhal was the winner in a time of 1:49.08. Butler's Johnny Leverenz was runner-up in 1:50.23. Mile After running 3:57 in Boston, Villanova's Casey Comber added some consistency to his resume with a time of 4:00. He took home the title over Georgetown's Nicholas Wareham who ran 4:02 for 2nd. 3000 Butler's Euan Makepeace ran 8:09 for the win. He was followed by the Villanova duo of Martin Barr and Andrew Marston who ran a pair of 8:12's for 2nd and 3rd, respectively. 5000 Villanova's Andrew Marston and Casey Comber each ran 14:18 to take the top two spots in this race. Ivy League Championships 800 Harvard's Myles Marshall was the Ivy League champion in a time of 1:49.32 while Dartmouth's Tim Zepf ran 1:50.61 for 2nd. 1000 Columbia's Alek Sauer was the winner in a sneaky-good time of 2:21.96. Brown's Zach Lanigan was runner-up in 2:22.67. Mile It was the matchup to watch at this meet and the outcome was as exciting as we thought it would be. Columbia's Sam Ritz ran 4:06.70 to take home the title over Penn's Colin Daly who ran 4:06.82 for 2nd. Yale's Nick Dahl ran 4:07 for 3rd. 3000 + 5000 It was the same result in both races as Harvard's Kieran Tunitvate earned double gold with times of 8:12 and 14:25. Columbia's Brian Zabilski was runner-up in both races with times of 8:13 and 14:27.

MEN 800 The top four times all hail from Grand Valley State. Dennis Mbuta leads the list with his 1:49.24 and has a two-second gap between him and his teammates. Mbuta also holds the only other automatic qualifying time in the country (he’s the NCAA #2 right now), legitimizing him being an overwhelming favorite here. Nick Salomon, Jonathon Groendyk, and David Jones are all sitting at a 1:51 mark and sit in descending order at #11, #12 and #13 in the NCAA. Jordan Walters from Saginaw Valley State and Tyler Walters from Grand Valley State (shout out to family rivalries?) are both under the 1:53 mark and with good races this weekend they could see themselves catapulted into the top 18 and a bid for Nationals. Mile Dennis Mbuta and Zach Panning both have run sub-4:10 and are clear of the field by five seconds. Mbuta is sitting at #13 in the country and should be safe for Nationals while Panning will likely opt for longer distances. That being said, I don’t think this race is all Mbuta. Despite him running 4:07, Jacob Petri of Wisconsin-Parkside, Chase Clark from Northwood, and Trestin Mancillas-Finnerty from Northwood, have all set personal bests at the GVSU Big Meet two weeks ago and will likely be in this race at the end. After all, it is championship racing season and all three are in the DMR on Saturday meaning their legs should be some kind of heavy. Does Mbuta have enough strength/speed to hold them off? Jonathon Groendyk (GVSU), Parker Eisengruber (SVSU), and Ian Johnson (Ashland) have all run 4:15 and are the the last athletes under 4:20. Along with Panning, it should be a mile race likely leaving it up to the kickers. 3000 This is the race that Zach Panning is the heavy favorite. He has run 8:01 this season and is #2 in the NCAA and is 19 seconds ahead of his teammate Tanner Chada. Panning has had a tremendous season and likely has his sights set on greater things than just a conference title. He’ll likely help his teammates stay near the front as they’re looking for team points. Chada, Brian Patrick of Northwood, and the Saginaw Valley State duo of Tom Goforth and Ryan Talbott have all run under 8:30 putting them in the second tier here. I think Goforth from SVSU is a dark horse here as he has run 8:12 before and given his 14:10 performance before Christmas, he should be able to run better than at least his seed time and maybe give Panning a run for his money. 5000 It’s odd that Panning opted not to run this race, but seeing as he is not on the list, we’ll talk about some of his teammates. There are seven athletes that are under 15:00. Five of them belong to Grand Valley. Josh Steible has run 14:26, Colin Herrman has run 14:34, Jacob Domagalski has run 14:36, Ben Zaremba has run 14:36, and Connor Schwartz has run 14:39. This race is on Saturday and is the first big event for team points meaning that you’ll see these five stick towards the front and work together in order to grab as many points as possible. Dylan Rocha of Northwood (14:39) and Clyde Anderson of Saginaw Valley (14:40) will also be mixed in with this group. They’re going to have their chance in this race, how they take advantage of this is the question at hand. DMR Grand Valley and Northwood have the top two times and are separated by six seconds. Grand Valley has changed up its lineup for the meet as has Northwood. However, GVSU has changed around their 1200 and mile legs while Northwood has only changed their 400 leg. Mbuta will be anchoring this time instead of running the 1200 and Groendyk will be running the 1200. Northwood has dropped Mason Phillips (NCAA #2 in the 60, NCAA #4 in the 200, and NCAA #16 in the 400) for Stephen Barker who has run 1:53 this year. I think this race is going to be close due to the changeup in distance legs for GVSU and the fact that Northwood likely believes they are a national caliber team (NCAA #11) and might need a slightly quicker time to sneak into Nationals. I’ll go with Northwood just to switch things up. WOMEN 800 Rachael Walters and Allie Ludge from Grand Valley State are the only competitors who have cracked 2:10 in the event on the year. Waters has hit the automatic standard with her 2:06.93. Walters also holds the #3 fastest time in the country. Ludge has run 2:08.91 and the two Lakers seemingly are the favorites for this event on Sunday. The other athlete who has hit the provisional standard is Northern Michigan’s Shayla Huebner. She has run 2:11.06 and she is three seconds ahead of the next athlete on the list. With both Lakers listed for the DMR team, expect this to be a tactical race for the maximum amount of points. Mile Allie Ludge is the clear favorite heading into the mile. She is six seconds clear of her own teammate Abby Crouch as Ludge has run 4:48.31 on the year which is also good for the #5 fastest time in the country. Crouch has run 4:54.39 and with her ends the athletes who have run sub-five. This is another event that should be dominated by the Lakers from GVSU. Jenna Keiser from Saginaw Valley State (5:00.48), Rachel Webb from Grand Valley State (5:01.06), and Morgan Fuerst (5:01.16) are other athletes who could play a pivotal role in the team race if there is one. 3000 This is likely where the team race will be won, as Grand Valley State has the five fastest times on the performance list. This includes Gina Patterson (9:29.44, #6 in the NCAA), Hanna Groeber (9:41.11, #11 in the NCAA), Jessica Gockley (9:41.40, #13 in the NCAA), Stacey Metzger (9:45.02), and Madison Goen (9:55.41). Alison Dorr of Saginaw Valley State and Kathryn Etemalki from Ferris State are the other two athletes to dip under the 10:00 mark in the conference. Depending on how things shape out in earlier events, this 3000 could be very inconsequential and we may not even see some of these athletes. 5000 Another GVSU athlete leads the rankings heading into conference. This time it is Hanna Groeber who is 36 seconds better than the rest of the conference. She has run 16:25.99 and is the #4 fastest woman in the country so far. Groeber will likely keep this close for her teammates Jessica Gockley (17:01.43) and Malea Teerman (17:07.05) so they can try and sweep the podium. Kathryn Etemalki of Ferris State is also in this race and has run 17:17.50 and despite being ten seconds back, she should be in the mix at the end if the race goes out slow. DMR Grand Valley State is 30 seconds better than Saginaw Valley State and their roster of Gina Patterson, Allie Ludge, and Rachael Walters is arguably the best in the country (currently #2 in the NCAA after Alaska Anchorage ran the #1 time at their conference meet). Again, we’re talking about points for the team race so look for GVSU to put this away early. Saginaw Valley State is #18 on the NCAA list with the same team and needs to improve by 13-15 seconds to have a chance at Nationals. Maybe chasing the GVSU team will get them there.

MEN 800 Texas Tech has gone after the 800 this season with the addition of Jonah Koech to the squad. Their top three of Vincent Crisp, Jonah Koech, and Sven Cepus sit 1-2-4 in the conference standings with Crisp and Koech at #6 and #7 in the NCAA. Cepus sits right outside NCAA qualifying at #18. They’ve decided to leave Cepus as the only Texas Tech athlete in the field as Crisp moved down to 600 yards and Koech is going to contest the 1000 meters. Cepus' biggest competition comes from Bryce Hoppel of Kansas who sits #13 in the NCAA with a 1:48.10 from early February. Hoppel won this race in 2018 and will certainly want to repeat. Festus Lagat enters as the #3 highest ranked individual in the seven-person field with his 1:48.80, a time that is good for #20 in the nation. All three will want to improve their times to guarantee themselves a path to Birmingham in two weeks and should want a quick pace, especially since there will only be a final (not enough athletes for a prelim). 1000 Dan Curts of Iowa State enters with the best time of 2019 with his 2:25.03 clocking, but will face tough competition in his preliminary heat from Sam Worley of Texas who has run 3:57.98 for the mile. Cebastian Gentil will also be in the first prelim with a 2:27 result from earlier in the year, but comes with the benefit of not running the mile like Curts and Worley are. The second section includes Jonah Koech of Texas Tech who is a NCAA #7 at the 800, but has yet to tackle five laps in a race this season. He will be met by Alex Rogers of Texas who has run sub four twice this season, the first Longhorn to do that since Leo Manzano. Rogers will also be doubling in the mile, while Koech will not be. Ethan Donley of Kansas and Ackeen Colley of Oklahoma are both focusing on the 1000 and have PR's of sub-2:27 which should speed up the second section. Coming into the final, the Longhorn duo should be on their final bursts of energy which will benefit Koech of Texas Tech. Koech should try to head to the front and blast away from the gun and continue to show why he’s a great power at the middle distance events. Curts will join the Longhorn duo in a battle for the next spots, but it will be interesting to see which of the other athletes try to use their fresher legs to earn them a spot on the podium. Mile Sam Worley highlights the first section of the mile with an eight second lead over the next best time in the field. That would be Milo Greder of Iowa State with his 4:05. Both should feel very secure with their skill in being able to navigate well to the final. The Oklahoma State duo of Ryan Smeeton and Isaiah Priddey have both run 4:07/4:08 and will be fighting hard with Brendan Hebert of Texas who has also run 4:08. Hebert is also entered in the 1000. The heat should not aim to run so fast, but with the uncertainty of time qualifiers, one should expect those three to push the pace toward 4:07 with hopes of earning security into the final. Dan Curts of Iowa State and Alex Rogers headline the second section and have a huge gap over the rest of the field. Both should be able to sit and kick at whatever speed the heat decides to run. Charles Mills of Texas, Dylan Hodgson of Kansas, and Heath Warren of Oklahoma will be the next three across the line via PR with their 4:08, 4:08, and 4:09 seasons best. They will know exactly what time they need to beat to earn a slot in the final and should also be aiming at the 4:07 mark in order to earn some of the time qualifiers. Curts and Rogers will probably not play a factor until the final laps unless their teammates from the previous section might be affected by running a slower pace. In the final, one should expect Curts, Rogers, and Worley to be head and shoulders above the rest of the field. All three will have run the mile prelim and 1000 prelim from the day before and will be on tired legs. This opens the door for Milo Greder, but even that should not be enough for anyone other than the first three to challenge for the win. Worley probably has the most strength and speed, but Rogers has been the most consistent over the year. Regardless, expect this battle to happen again in the 1000 meters an hour or two after the mile final. 3000 The seeded section of the 3k is stacked with Alex Rogers and Dan Curts who will be on their third events of Saturday if they appear. It also features the Iowa State pack of Edwin Kurgat, Andrew Jordan, Thomas Pollard, David Too, John Nownes, and Chad Johnson. Kurgat and Jordan are two of the top 3k runners in the nation. Their greatest competition could also come from Isai Rodriguez who shocked the NCAA with his 4th place in at the cross country national meet this past fall. Rodriguez has not yet shown that form in track, but has posted an impressive 7:54 and is within a second of Edwin Kurgat. The intrigue in the seeded section will come from what happens in the unseeded section. Sam Worley of Texas and Milo Greder of Iowa State are both entered without a seed time and could play spoiler if they can push they pace here and the seeded section gets tactical. Sukhi Khosla of Oklahoma State is also entered without a seed time and could spoil the spoilers. The seeded section should be able to gauge their effort and even with a level of tactical racing, overtake the times of the first heat. Regardless, it will be on the shoulders of the Iowa State group to take the legs out of Alex Rogers and Isai Rodriguez. Depending on who shows the best finishing speed in the 5k the night before, it will be interesting in who tries to push the pace the next day. Kurgat should be the favorite. 5000 Edwin Kurgat leads the field as only five athletes come in with a seed time. Kurgat has cemented his spot in the NCAA Championships with his 13:34 for NCAA #4 and is the clear favorite. His biggest challenge will be from Rodriguez of Oklahoma State as will be true in the 3k. Rodriguez has yet to run the event and will be looking to qualify for nationals, so look for him to push the pace, especially since there’s a large group of OK State Cowboys in the field. Thomas Pollard of Iowa State has the best 3k time and is also yet to complete a 5k, so he may be looking for a 5k qualifier of his own for NCAAs, unless Iowa State envisions him anchoring the DMR at NCAAs. Pollard should be confident in his kick as should Kurgat. Both should wait for Rodriguez to take the pace and make the biggest moves of the event. Expect a close finish, but Iowa State to stay in control, even as Rodriguez and Oklahoma State dictate pace. DMR Who will end up in the DMR is a huge question as the top legs for Texas and Iowa State are all doubling and tripling in the individual events. Both teams have run 9:27 already. Iowa State has the most replacement legs with Festus Lagat and Roshon Roomes being able to take control of the mile and 800 legs while Texas does not nearly have the strength without both Worley and Rogers. Texas Tech has only run 10:15 so far in 2019, but the trio of Vincent Crisp, Sven Cepus and Jonah Koech is very dangerous if they decide to line up together. That group could certainly contend for an NCAA qualifying spot, especially with the altitude conversion they receive in Lubbock. Oklahoma State has also run 9:33 and while their team does not look ready to aim for an NCAA qualifying time, they should still contend if the race becomes tactical. The meet record of 9:37 should be rewritten without a doubt. WOMEN 800 Gabby Crank of the Texas leads all entrants in the 800 with her early season time of 2:04.50. She leads the first heat by over two seconds over Kaylee Dodd of Oklahoma State. Aaliyah Miller of Baylor is the clear 3rd place choice in the heat with her 2:07.85. The second heat is lead by Marleena Eubanks of Kansas and Erinn Stenman-Fahey of Iowa State both have 2:06 clockings on the year. Leticia De Souza of Baylor and Rilee Rigdon of Oklahoma State also have 2:06 results in 2019 and all four should advance based on the relative weak field. Eubanks, Stenman-Fahey, Dodd, and Miller all have the potential to enter the NCAA qualifying picture as the current cutoff is 2:05.90 should no one scratch or improve. They will all want to push the pace in order to utilize the Lubbock altitude conversion to push their times into the top 16. Eubanks will probably be the first person to make a move to overthrow Crank for the title, with Dodd and Stenman-Fahey challenging later in the race. As long as the first lap does not dawdle, someone should be able to impact the NCAA top 16. 1000 Sinclaire Johnson is opting to skip the mile to take on the 1000 in which she ran 2:43.37 in January. That time was a world top five when it was completed. Johnson is a key piece on the NCAA #1 DMR for Oklahoma State and is a contender for the NCAA mile title in two weeks and should be the clear favorite in this event. Alex Cruz of Texas comes in without a seed time, but should also be a factor. Kassidy Johnson of Kansas State will lead the second prelim and should compete for 2nd behind Sinclaire Johnson in the final. Mile Haley Jackson of West Virginia enters at the fastest seed since Sinclaire Johnson has opted for the shorter event. Jackson has run 4:40 already this season and enters the weekend with a four second lead over Alex Cruz (section two) and a seven second lead over those in her prelim. Molly Sughroue of Oklahoma State is the 2nd fastest in that first prelim and has had good results at 3k, but not as much in the mile in 2019. The second section also has Ariane Ballner of Oklahoma State who has run 4:45. Those four athletes are by far the class of the field and should compete for the top spots without much difficulty. 3000 The BIG 12 might set a record for largest heat as the unseeded section has 38 entrants. While a number of these are 800 runners (Kaylee Dodd and Gabby Crank for example) who might drop out later in the race, trying to put this many athletes on the track will be an absolute nightmare. Luckily, the women do not have any major contenders in this section unlike the men. The seeded section is led by Sharon Lokedi of Kansas who has a 9:06.65 from the Iowa State Classic. This time is a borderline NCAA qualifier, but should be secure since all conferences run the 3k as one of the final events and most athletes are doubling or tripling. Lokedi is known more for her strength than her speed and will be challenged by Callie Logue of Iowa State and Sinclaire Johnson of Oklahoma State. Johnson has the most sprint speed of anyone in the race and should certainly be the favorite if the three are together with a lap to go. Molly Sughroue of Oklahoma State and Destiny Collins of Texas will be the duo looking to pick up the pieces if the top three falter. 5000 Sharon Lokedi will take a bigger favorite’s lead into the longest event of the indoor season after her spectacular result at the BU meet in early December. While she has only continued to impress, one should not expect anything close to the 15:15 finish from that race. Callie Logue and Amanda Vestri of Iowa State will be some of the toughest competition as they can work together and set the right tempo. They also have a number of other teammates in the race including Anne Frisbie who can control the action early on. Haley Herberg of Oklahoma could also be a factor with her sub 16 result from 2019 as will Destiny Collins who will be trying to earn points for the Texas Longhorns. The race should be Lokedi’s to lose and Iowa State’s to control for the rest of the placings. It will be interesting to see if anyone else tries to make a big move to shake up that status quo. DMR Oklahoma State should be considered the favorite with their firepower behind Kaylee Dodd, Molly Sughroue, Abbie Hetherington and most importantly, Sinclaire Johnson. Not all of them will end up running the relay here, but they should have enough strength to hold onto the win regardless. Iowa State could challenge of course with Callie Logue and company, but they are better suited for the longer distance events and would have to come back immediately from the 5k to make that attempt. Sharon Lokedi and the Kansas squad would face the same challenge since Lokedi will have run the 5k right before. Lokedi should have enough energy since she will not be majorly challenged, but it may not be worth it to run the extra event before NCAA's since the Jayhawks have already qualified for the NCAA meet in the DMR. Texas is maybe the most interesting squad since their 11:03.45 is one of the fastest times to not make the NCAA meet at this moment. They might want to give the event one more try to qualify their squad to Birmingham. Definitely don’t overlook that factor as they should be a better contender than Kansas, even though the Jayhawks have a five second lead over them by season best.