So College

Maybe it is the fact that I just watched Animal House at my friend's house, but I feel like we could use some NCAA preview action. First off I want to give a quick shout out to Matt Gillette, Sam Ellison, Dan Lowry, Brandon Bennett-Green, Alex Monroe, Ivo Milic, Dan Dreeman and Joel Flott who will be representing PA at the national meets this weekend. Also props to anybody else from PA who I missed that will be toeing the line for us.

And of course a special shout out to the girls from Muhlenberg competing at nationals. Their 1200 lead off leg is ... um ... a good friend of mine and I wish her the best.

But you guys don't want to hear about my love life. Let's get down to business.

How about an NCAA D1 Distance Preview?

Let's start at 800m. Arkansas, the favorite for the team title, has an astounding 4 representatives in the 800m including the 1 and 3 seeds coming. Those top two seeds essentially time trialed 1:46s on their home track with Momoh from Arkansas leading the way with a 1:46.07. However, I'm not sure either of these Arkansas guys can match these astounding performances in a prelim-final tactical environment.

The other big names in the 800m include Cas Loxsom from Penn State, who set an American Record for 600m (although because it is an oversized track it will not officially be a record) in 1:15 and has run 1:46 himself this year indoors. Elijah Greer from Oregon is another favorite having made a slew of USA and NCAA finals and competed valiantly in those events. If he can get through to the final he will be dangerous going for his first national title. Loxsom is another one who has struggled in the past with the prelims, but if he makes the finals he has 1:45 PR speed like Greer and is very dangerous for the title.

Other names to keep in mind are Edward Kemboi from Iowa State (1:47.43), Harun Abda from Minnesota (1:48.14) and Sean Obinowa from Florida (1:47.90). Obinowa had a big breakthrough last weekend at Notre Dame while Abda is one of the best 600m men in the world. Sam Ellison is the 15th seed and is a UD alumn and an All-American last year outdoors.

In the mile, Chris O'Hare of Tulsa is the defending NCAA champion and now the college mile record holder after a blazing fast 3:52.98 mile at the Millrose Games. He is an easy favorite in this race to repeat as champion. Chasing O'Hare will be two of the same guys who chased him at Millrose: Lawi Lalang and Ryan Hill, both boast 3:54 mile credentials from this season and are sub 7:50 for 3k. They are both more of strength milers who would benefit from a fast pace. It is unlikely we will see this fast pace in what is normally a tactical final. Lawi and Hill will both be doubling mile-3k.

Also in the race are Robby Creese of PSU (3:57.11) and Mike Atchoo of Standford (3:57.14) who are both top milers in the nation as well as two of the best anchors on DMRs this year. Both will pull double duty in this meet and that may catch up to them in the difficult NCAA competition. Austin Mudd from Wisconsin is a name to watch as well. He had a big 3:58 win over Mac Fleet of Oregon who is also in this NCAA field. Fleet was 2nd as a true freshman but has struggled with injuries for the last 3 years. He is just now starting to round back into form. His teammate Brett Johnson (3:58) and Joe Stillin from Texas (3:58) will be in the mix as well after their DMRs missed out of making NCAAs. They will be very hungry and much fresher.

In the 3k Lawi Lalang comes in with the top seed of 7:42 and also a 3:54 mile mark. However, it remains to be seen how he will handle the double. One of his main competitors Ryan Hill is trying the same double. Behind Lalang are 5k types Diego Estrada and Kennedy Kithuka, the reigning national champion in cross country. Both of these men will be doubling from the previous day's 5000m and will have a serious test of closing speed in the 3k. Lawi is the defending champion in this event coming off double gold last year in the 5k and 3k. Looking to break up the repeat will be runners like Henry Lelei from Texas A&M (7:47) who is one of the best steeplechasers in the nation. Eric Jenkins from Northeastern passed on the mile to focus on the 3k, he is a sleeper with a 7:50 PR. Andy Bayer (7:51) is the reigning outdoor champion in the 1500m and will try to double back to the 3k after the DMR finals the previous day. He has the speed to compete with this field and is looking to continue the roll he ended on last spring where he was 4th at the USA championships at Hayward Field.

Over 5000m we will see a lot of the same names. Kennedy Kithuka comes in as the top seed in this event with his 13:26 mark which he ran completely uncontested, lapping the field. Kithuka will be challenged by Olympic 10k man Diego Estrada from NAU as well as Shadrick Kipchirchir from Ok State. Both men are under 13:40. Jeremy Elkiam from Oregon and Mo Ahmed from Wisco have impressive credentials in varying distances. Elkiam is a sub 4 miler and Ahmed is an Olympic 10k man as well and a top XC talent. PA's own Dan Lowry will mix it up with this group in a Michigan uniform. He comes in with a 13:42 seed and has an outdoor PR down around 13:30.

Lastly we come to the DMR. This DMR is one of the deepest fields the NCAA has ever seen. An amazing 7 teams come in with times under 9:30. The other 5 teams are at 9:31.23 or faster. And to top it off, all these teams ran those blazing fast marks last weekend at the same meet! (spread among 3 seperate heats). Now all the heats are united and that should make for a different dynamic. Villanova dominated their heat and has the most room to drop out of all teams in the race. With the exception of Ellison in the 4, the distance men will be all fresh. Chris Fitzsimons is starting to round back into 1:47 shape which he ran in HS. Jordy Williamsz is about a 2:52 12 leg and McEntee boasts Prs around 3:57. Nova is my pick to pull out the win.

However, Nova is far from the favorite. The boys at PSU are at 9:26 and have a killer pair of freshman on the 12 and 8 legs. Creese will be on the double from the mile prelims and that may make his anchor carry a little dicey. Princeton is another team to watch. I think this is many expert's pick to win the DM behind the awesome kick of anchor Peter Callahan. OK State will use some of their 5 sub 4 milers to challenge teams in the DMR as well. Stanford has a great team with a lot of proven winners including the doubling Atchoo on the anchor. Oklahoma's Patrick Casey sacrificed all his individual goals in hopes of anchoring his team to victory. He is a 3:56 miler this year.

Plenty of exciting races so I suggest you watch it.

Also in D3 news, the Haverford 5k guys are sick. There is a shot at sub 14 indoors from this group in a true race. Represent the Centennial Conference well, D3 is no joke.

Word.