Here we are with Part 2 of my preview series. In this post I
will primarily focus on the distance events. We have seen some incredible performances
by our distance athletes this year and I expect for the Championship meet to be
no different.
DISTANCE
Women
800- The outdoor season has been different than the indoor
season. Indoors Stanford’s freshman duo (Roisin Willis, Juliette Whittaker) dominated
the season. Outdoors we have not seem them dominate the same way and instead it
has been LSU star Michaela Rose. Her sub 2 minute time of 1:59:08 is the only
sub 2 minute time all season. I also would not be surprised if she ran 1:58.
Rose is having an impressive season and it cannot go ignored.
Challenging her will be in the indoor champion Roisin Willis
of Stanford and Claire Seymour of BYU. Seymour is also having quite the season
and will look to mix things up while challenging for a title. Willis is clearly
capable but I believe Rose has too much going for her right now and will find a
way to win.
1,500/5,000- Katelyn Touhy of NC State is looking to
complete an impressive double by winning the 1,500 and 5,000. Touhy is having a
remarkable year to add to her young NCAA career. She is the national leader in
the 1,500 and the defending NCAA Champion in the 5,000. She will have her hands
full in both races with athletes who will pick one race to compete in and will
take advantage of the lack of rest. Touhy will deal with Izzy Thornton-Bott of
Oregon and Margot Appleton of Virginia in the 1,500. In the 5,000 she will receive
challenges from National leader Everlyn Kemboi of Utah Valley and rival Parker
Valby of Florida. Touhy is certainly capable of winning both races, but the
challenge is certainly there.
10,000- Everlyn Kemboi is also attempting a grueling double
by competing not only in the 5,000 but in the 10,000 as well. She is not the
top dog in the 10k however it is Emily Venters of Utah and Mercy Chelangat of
Alabama. Chelangat is the defending champion and a senior. Chelangat has proven
to be better at the longer distances and this race should be no different. Venters
of Utah has been beaten already by Kemboi and like Kemboi will be competing in
both the 5k and 10k. With her two biggest challengers competing in two events Chelangat
is in prime position to defend her national title.
3,000 Steeplechase- Greta Karinauskaite of California
Baptist University is competing in her first NCAA Championship and is doing so
as the favorite to win the Steeplechase. She has the top time nationally and has
been a consistent top performer all season long. The top returnee from last
year in the field Cieli McCabe of West Virginia who finished third here last
season and had quite the impressive time. McCabe is a real threat to win the
national title with her championship background. Elise Thorner of New Mexico is
also a returning All-American finishing fifth here last year. She is ranked
third overall nationally and will be ready to perform.
Finally, there is the number two ranked national performer
and that is Grace Fetherstonhaugh of Oregon State. The Pac-12 champion did not score
last year but did finish 10th overall. Although she does not have the
awards that McCabe and Thorner she does have the experience and a great time.
This perhaps the most interesting of all the distance races because of all four
names mentioned each one is capable. I however am convinced that Greta
Karinauskaite is the best in the field and the winner.
Men
800- Yusuf Bizimana of Texas enters the meet as the heavy favorite
to win the title. As the indoor champion and the current ranked number one athlete
in the nation in the 800 it is clear why he is the favorite. Having a personal
best of 1:45.82 does not hurt either. Bizimana has been performing at a high
level since his arrival at Texas last season so he will certainly be ready to
earn the praise he has received. Tarees Rhoden of Clemson and his teammate
Crayton Carrozza will be his main challengers. Rhoden is a gamer and an 800
runner with great speed. Indoors Texas finished 1-2 and with the meet being on
their home track I would not be surprised if they did it again.
1,500- Fouad Messaoudi of Oklahoma State already has one
NCAA title winning the 3,000 indoors. He just missed qualifying last year and stepped
his game up in a major way by earning the top spot in the nation. Joe Waksom of
Washington is the leader of their incredible mile group. Waksom also is the
defending champion in this event and will enter as the favorite. Messaoudi has
the top time and an NCAA title, but Waksom is the defending champion in the
1,500 and has had an impressive outdoor season as well. Anass Essayi of South
Carolina ran an impressive mile indoors and is looking to avenge his 2022 performance.
Essayi is a big-time talent and capable of winning the title. I think Messaoudi
is the best man for the job and will claim the title.
5,000- Brian Fay is another clog in the Washington engine.
With Joe Waksom in the 1,500, Brian Fay is their hope in the 5,000. He is the
national leader with a time of 13:21.99. The top returnee based on performance
is Nico Young of Northern Arizona, he finished third last year. Also in the field
is Graham Blanks of Harvard who is ranked number two. The field here is strong
but Fay and Blanks are having quite the year. Young is still searching for that
NCAA title and normally finishes near the top could this potentially be the
meet where he finally cashes in? I say no, Fay has been rock solid all year
long and I do not see this meet being any different.
10,000- Dylan Jacobs of Tennessee is the defending champion.
He ran for Notre Dame last season and now at Tennessee he has been doing more
of the same. He is attempting to complete a grueling double by also competing
in the 5,000. The 10,000 however is where he is strongest and will have an equally
quality field to compete against. The number one ranked performer is a
returning All-American in Charles Hicks of Stanford, and the number two
performer is Victor Kiprop of Alabama.
Kiprop has the SEC title and is having a great outdoor
season but so is Hicks and Hicks has All-American pedigree. I expect for Jacobs
to find a way to defend his title, but I would not be shocked to see either
Hicks or Kiprop win it.
3,000 Steeplechase- We hear all the time of how open this
race is, and I am becoming a little skeptical. The top entrant in the event Duncan
Hamilton of Montana St. The senior finished second her last season, but it is performing
well not just in the steeplechase but in the 1,500 also where he is number
three nationally. He has shown his versatility and with impressive times to me
he is a step above the field. He still should find challenge in Matthew Wilkinson
of Minnesota and Ed Trippas of Washington. The field will have two athletes
from Eastern Kentucky and neither are defending champion Ahmed Jaziri but he is
not in the field and I believe Hamilton is just the person to win the title and
fill the void.
NEXT: My next post will be about the field events, both throwers
and jumpers.
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