Post 3 Distance Runners
The pandemic has really put a damper on the 2020 season. A
storyline that we will not get to see play out is if Northern Arizona’s
distance dominance could have propelled them to a national title. Also, Colorado’s
Joe Klecker was having a great indoor season running the mile. Thankfully there
a few athletes who are now redshirt seniors and many top ranked athletes
returned with plenty of eligibility left.
In the 800 Isaiah Jewett now a redshirt senior for USC will
return as the top man. As the only athlete in the country who ran a sub 1:47
performance last season, he is the clear favorite to claim the 2021 crown.
Jewett is the school indoor record holder and has been a reliable scorer for
the Trojans. USC has legitimate team title hopes and Jewett will be a big part
of that.
With Joe Klecker out of indoor eligibility the mile will be interesting.
It would have been nice to see what type of performance we could have delivered
but we must move on. Charlie Hunter of Oregon is joined by his teammate Cooper
Teare to form quite the 1-2 punch for the Oregon Ducks. However, you cannot
forget the man who was overshadowed last season and this Yared Nuguse of Notre Dame.
Yes, all three names mentioned before ran better times during the season but
Nuguse claimed the NCAA 1,500-meter title for Notre Dame in 2019. Teare and
Hunter will have their hands full with Nuguse if he chooses to participate in
the mile.
Luis Grijalva of Northern Arizona is a name we will likely
hear quite a bit this indoor season. He was the ranked runner in the 3,000 last
season and is one of the top ranked runners returning this indoor season in the
5,000. The current graduate student had quite a few impressive performances
last season including running national leading time of 7:43.73 in the 3K at the
Valentine Invitational at Boston University. He will face off with Edwin Kurgat
of Iowa State who was ranked number two in the 5k last season. It will be interesting
to see which distance power, Northern Arizona, Iowa State or Oregon will be
deep enough to threaten for a team title. Both these athletes will be relied
upon by their schools and should have an impressive season.
Carly Thomas of Washington will take over as the favorite in
the women’s 800. Nia Akins of Pennsylvania had exhausted here eligibility and
joined a professional running team. Thomas had the number two ranked mark of 2:02.75.
Although it was at a last chance meet when she ran that time, it was still
impressive. Even with the pandemic she will have notched a season under her
belt and will be a strong front runner to win the 800.
Dani Jones of Colorado is another athlete that turned professional
due to the pandemic. The impressive star dazzled last season running a sub 4:30
mile. The top returnee is Weini Kelati of New Mexico. The talented long-distance
runner has been a mainstay on the national stage since she arrived a freshman
after a highly touted high school career. She has been a national champion multiple
times and in different long-distance events. She is primarily a long-distance
runner and the mile maybe too short for her. It remains to be seen if she will
compete in the event at the national level but with her performance last season,
she certainly has the time as the top returnee. She is also the top returnee in
the 3,000 and the number two returnee in the 5,000.
The number one returnee in the 5,000 is Katie Izzo of
Arkansas. The Razorbacks have become a juggernaut in women’s track and field.
Their championship meet performances are reminiscent of the great Arkansas
teams under John McDonnell who is the winningest men’s coach of all time.
Izzo leads the way here with a time of 15:03.09 that was ran
at the beginning of last indoor season, December 2019! Izzo is a big meet
performer and from a school that generally performs well at major
championships. Expect for Izzo to be a big piece of their championship aspirations.
Our next post we will look at what should be a excellent year for field event athletes, especially jumpers.
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