New Post?

Well I'm sure a lot of you are saying about time and frankly I kind of am too. This one is going to be about the upcoming NCAA Championships, for which the heat sheets have just recently been revealed. I finished separating the heats for the dream 4x8s as well. May be appropriate to start releasing those when the dream mile is all said and done? Also one more thing before I get into the NCAA stuff, girls running shorts are quite the deal. I got three for the same I pay for one pair of guys short shorts. They are much more colorful and they breath so well. I love them. My advice to you is, if you like short shorts (and c'mon boys, if you are real runners you gotta love the short shorts) you should consider getting a pair of girls one's. Don't judge.

So anyway onto the NCAA. Now I will not pretend to be an expert on this but I'll give you my two sense about the distance races and what to watch out for. In the 800m there is no Robby Andrews anymore to really grab my attention, but the field is still filled with names, and should once again be one of the most exciting races of the weekend. In the first heat of prelims stud Freshman Austin Mudd has his work cut out for him. Cas Loxsom, Charles Jock, Ryan Martin and Lance Roller are all in this stacked heat. From this heat Jock and Loxsom I think will take the auto bids to the finals with Ryan Martin and Austid Mudd taking the only two non auto bids to get into the finals. In the middle heat, Curtis Beach, normally a decathlete, has committed to mid distance and will duel with Aaron Evans and PA's own Sam Ellison. Also in the mix is Columbia's Harry McFann who is been running solid times in the shadow of teammate Kyle Merber and Felix Kitur from VMI. I hope that Sam can represent PA well, but I think Aaron Evans and Curtis Beach will take the two spots into the finals. The final heat is headlined by Elijah Greer, an all-american from Oregon who just missed Andrews and Jock in the 800m final last year. He should get through, but he will have to duel with two of the top time qualifiers in Eric Sowinski and Ricky West. One of those two should get in to the finals, I'll bet on Sowinski.

In the 800m finals, I see Jock taking out the pace hard as always and Loxsom and Martin trying to hang tough with him. As the race continues with Jock out front, Loxsom will make a move on the backstretch to challenge, but ultimately with 200m to go Elijah Greer will come on with a furious kick and look to control of the race and edge out Jock, who will have done all the work out front. Beach also has a killer kick and if he can hang tough he will be a factor in the finish. If Ryan Martin can hang tough from a tough prelim, he has a 1:44 800m PR and will be dangerous. He has raced Jock plenty of times before and has beaten him before as well.

In the 1500m, from the first heat Kyle Merber headlines the group after his big 3:35 mark at Swarthmore which I had the privilege of witnessing in person. Also in his heat, and expected to make the finals, is indoor national champions Chris O'Hara from Tulsa and Miles Batty from BYU. Batty is the indoor collegiate mile record holder who ran 3:54 in the winter. Andy Bayer from Indiana has consistently been one of the top runners for Indiana's DMR and now is looking to establish himself as an idividual title contender. Ryan Hill from NC State is my pick to take the last auto spot to the finals. Also worth noting in the heat is German Fernandez, who won the NCAA 1500m championships a long time ago in his freshman campaign. When healthy he was a 3:55 indoor miler with 13:20s 5k strength. In the 2nd heat, Lawi Lalang, indoor 5000m collegiate record holder and 3:55 indoor miler, headlines the group looking to go through to finals. With him I expect Erik Van Ingen, Rob Finnerty and Sam McEntee to qualify. Patrick Casey and Patrick McGregor are guys I expect to get the at large qualifying times. In the heat also is PA alumn Trevor Van Ackeren from Princeton and Liberty High School who boasts a sub 3:40 1500m PR.

In the 1500m final, you have to imagine a tactical race, which favors a guy with a kick like Merber, but leaves this race open enough that anything can happen. O'Hare knows how to win a kickers race as well, he did it indoors. Ultimately, I think I'll pass on the Merber hype and go with Andy Bayer to pull out the victory. I think he is due for a break out race. I see O'Hare taking second, Merber for 3rd and Van Ingen for 4th. Lalang and McEntee are both very dangerous and of course so is Miles Batty from BYU. The last 800m should be very fast, don't be surprised if it's around 1:51 or so.

In the Steeplechase, stud Don Cabral headlines the field. We might see Cabral wearing a US uniform in London in the upcoming months. Craig Forys seems to be one of Cabral's biggest rivals for the title as he has run some impressive steeples this spring. Henry Lelei from Texas A and M and Cory Leslie are two other runners with potential to surprise in the Steeple race. Ben Torotich from Eastern Kentucky comes in with the fastest time from the Regional meets and could be a sleeper. I've got Cabral to take the win and Forys to fight hard for Silver with Leslie the Bronze.

The 5000m field will feature Cam Levins, the super mileage man, outfront doubling back from the 10k. He has a furious kick and has bested the likes of Lalang and Derrick already this outdoor season with his finish. Lalang is in 5k as well, doubling up with the 1500m. He is the indoor 3000m and 5000m champion. Lalang's Arizona teammate Steven Sambu will certainly run out front as well for as long as he can. The two of them could make a challenging pace for the field. Paul Chelimo from UNC-Greensboro has a low 13:20s 5k PR as well. Wisconsin stud Mo Ahmed should represent well in the 5k and be a sleeper pick for a top finish. He has great 10k strength and was clutch at XC nationals this year. Oregon's boys Trevor Dunbar and Parker Stintson can't be overlooked either. Girma Mecheso from OK State is a factor as is Dan Lowry, from Brown, graduated from LaSalle High School in 2008 and has a 13:30s 5k PR. I've got Lalang getting some revenge on Levins as the two take the top 2 spots. I think Ahmed will surprise for 3rd and Chelimo and Dunbar will round out the top 5.

In the 10,000m, Chris Derrick, one of my favorite runners from Stanford, will have a rematch with Cam Levins who beat him at the Payton Jordan 10k at Stanford on Derrick's home track. Derrick has been second fiddle for the whole year, sporting 3 silver medals all to Lawi Lalang in XC and indoor track. A lot of names overlap with the 5k here like Sambu, Levins and Mecheso, but the 10k is first. That's why, unfortunately, I have to pick Levins to beat out Derrick using his kick. But I'll be rooting hard for CD. After those two there is a lot of talent. I think Sambu takes down third place, and Puskedra takes 4th, capping off quite a comeback effort. It's hard to say after that for me, but amongst the contenders is Princeton's Brian Leung, Michael Fout, the former foot locker champion over Derrick, Puskedra, Fernandez, Finnerty, Leung, and Dennin who are all contenders at this NCAA meet. Dennin, the PA alum from Georgetown, is in the 10k and will look to surprise his way to an All-American certificate in the 10k.