2003 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Thursday - Day 2 - Evening Session - 1500 Heats
Sacramento, CA -

The 1500 meter heats produced excitement in contrasting ways this evening.  For the women, it was the speed in their first prelim that raised eyebrows.  For the men, it was a quick burst of speed in heat 2 that drew attention.

Women's Heats

Heat 1- Racing neophyte Tiffany McWilliams ran the only way she apparently knows - from the front, and man did she run.  The first 400 looked like a men's heat as the first 300 was done in 47 flat and 600 was reached in 63.2.  McWilliams, followed by last year's champion, Lena Nilsson of UCLA, were clear of the field at 800 in 2:11.2.  A field of seven followed tightly bunched in 2:12.9.  At 1200, McWilliams and Nilsson were still clear of the field in 3:20.3, with a group following in 3:21.3.  The fast pace continued to the finish as McWilliams ran 4:10.60 - the third fastest time in the history of the NCAA meet and the fastest prelim time ever.  Nilson (4:11.27), Wisconsin senior Bethany Brewster (4:11.92) and Washington's Courtney Inman (4:13.45) would get the other auto qualifiers and Stanford's Malindi Elmore (4:12.66) and Villanova freshman Marina Muncan (4:13.45) would get much deserved time qualifiers as those six were clearly the class of this heat.

Heat 2 was run at an honest pace but nothing crazy like the first heat. 400 was reached in 66.0 with Arkansas' Christin Wurth leading Notre Dame's Lauren King and Georgetown's Treniere Clement.  With two laps remaining, indoor mile champion Johanna Nilsson of Northern Arizona moved up to third to solidify her position.  At 800 (2:15.4) it was Wurth, Nilson, King and Kansas State senior Amy Mortimer in the coveted top four spots.  North Carolina sophomore Erin Donohue would moved up to join the top 6 with 400 to go but she would be shortly left behind as the field made its move over the final 400.  1200 was reached in 3:22.7 with the top 3 of Wurth, Mortimer and Nilsson having left the others to battle it out for the final auto qualifying spot as those three would finish 1-2-3 respectively in 4:13.18, 4:13.22 and 4:13.46. Brigham Young senior Jamie Cottle would earn that spot with a 5 second p.r. of 4:13.62 - putting her .5 within the school record at BYU.  West Virginia's Megan Mettcalfe also advanced on time in 4:13.97 as did Georgetown's Clement in 4:15.00.

Men's 1500 Semifinal
Heat 1 got off to a strange start as the first 100 was fast but then once they hit the turn Iona's Richard Kiplagat seemed to put the brakes on things and the field quickly bunched up.  It thus wasn't a surprise that someone shortly thereafter hit the deck.  And while you never want to see anyone fall, justice was somewhat served when the one victim of the fall was Colorado State's Paul Michel who had worked the regional system to perfection and got into NCAAs with a 3:48.00 qualifying performance.  He wasn't going to do anything in finals anyway so if anyone had to fall, better him than one of the favorites (although we're sure he would disagree).

The pace was lagging too much for the likes of NCAA cross country champion Jorge Torres who really is a 5k runner.  Knowing he had little chance if it came down to a kick, Torres took the lead at 300 (46.8) and sped things up. 400 was reached in 62.3 and then the real running began as Torres would lead the field through the next two laps. He passed 800 in 2:01.9 followed by Kiplagat and Said Ahmed and Mike Taylor of Arkansas and BYU's Nathan Robison.  Torres reached 1200 in 2:59.9 and then Ahmed took the lead with 200 to go.  Ahmed (3:42.26) , Kiplagat (3:42.48), Taylor (3:42.97) and Torres (3:43.02) clearly had the 4 auto spots locked up coming down the home-stretch.  Nebraska's James Bowler (3:43.84), Minnesota's Martin Robeck (3:43.95) and American's Sean O'Brien (3:44.29) all owe Mr. Torres a big "thank you" as they'd all eventually advance to the final on time thanks to Jorge's pace-setting duties.

Heat 2 - Alan Who?

Heat 2 was the one that raised eyebrow's for the men.  Unlike women's heat 1, however, it wasn't the fast pace that was impressive but rather a quick and incredible burst of speed.  Those track and field aficionados who were looking for the freshman miling phenom in the maize and gold of Michigan evidently were looking one year to early as Michigan freshman Nick Willis IS IN OUR MINDS the miling sensation that everyone was so desperately looking for last year.

Heat two got off to an honest start as BYU's Kip Kangogo lead through 300 in 45.6 and 400 ain 61.4.  However, in contrast to heat 1, things slowed after 400, and the field tightened up.  Kangogo still led a tightly bunched group at 800 in 2:03.3.  Throughout the first 800, Willis of Michigan was content to run in last.  With about 450 to go, Willis was still in last and everyone was getting antsy as the entire field was still in contention and people were preparing to kick for home.  Just when it looked like Willis was content to wait until the backstretch to try to move up, he moved all the way to the outside of lane three to move up and at the bell he already was in the lead at 2:47.6.  Half-way around the turn, the crowd was "oohing and awing" as they were stunned by Willis' sudden burst of speed as he was 10-15 meters clear of the field before they even finished the turn. Willis ran that 100 in 12.8 to separate himself from the field at 1200 (3:00.4). We wonder if Willis was surprised when he looked over his shoulder to see that the field was no where close to him.  The ease with which he decimated the field was simply stunning.  He reached 200 to go in approximately 3:13.6 (13.22 100 meters) and then "coasted" on in 28.19 for a final lap 55.2 (we know the splits won't add up to his finish time but you've got to remember the intermediate splits are hand times) and overall time of 3:42.15.

Stanford's Grant Robison (3:43.49), Weber's Joel Atwater (3:44.59) and Arkansas' Chris Mulvaney (3:44.68) would get the other auto qualifiers in this heat and Georgetown freshman Chris Lukezic would advance on time with his 3:44.78.
 
LetsRun.com caught up with a still-winded Nick Willis before he was greeted by his coach Ron Warhurst and teammate Nate Brannen.
LRC: How did you feel out there? You looked great.
Willis: I felt pretty good. I actually tied up a little in the homestraight. So maybe I have to save some for the next time but we'll see. It's good to get a race under my belt because when you haven't raced in two weeks, you never know how you're going to feel.

LRC: Are you really confident going into the final? I mean the crowd was honestly ****ing amazed with your performance today. You were dead last with 450 to go and you moved up to lane three and took the lead and were 20 meters clear. The people were next to me were like, "Oh my god."
Willis: I don't know. Maybe it's new tactics from New Zealand and I'm not sure of it and the crowd's not sure of it (Editor's note: We had a bit of a tough time understanding this sentence so it may not be totally accurate).

I'm having fun doing it, anyway. Stick to the plan that coach gives you and it seems to work so I'm happy with how things are going.  
LRC: What was your plan going in?
Stick right at the back for the first three laps and then take the lead at the bell and see what I had.

LRC (Speaking to Ron Warhust): Alan Who? Your guys are sick.

(Editor's Note: Before jumping on the Nick Willis bandwagon perhaps read this Washington Post recap of Dan Wilson's 1500m heat at last year's NCAA where he was the talk of the town. He went on to finish 9th it he final.)

1500m Heat Results:
Heat 1-1, q-Said Ahmed, Arkansas, 3 minutes, 42.26 seconds. 2, q-Richard Kiplagat, Iona, 3:42.48. 3, q-Mike Taylor, Arkansas, 3:42.97. 4, q-Jorge Torres, Colorado, 3:43.02. 5, q-James Bowler, Nebraska, 3:43.84. 6, q-Martin Robeck, Minnesota, 3:43.95. 7, q-Sean O'Brian, American, 3:44.29. 8, Nathan Robison, BYU, 3:46.50. 9, Eric Garner, Washington, 3:47.80. 10, David Freeman, Kentucky, 3:49.25. 11, James Hatch, Arkansas, 3:49.76. 12, John Jefferson, Indiana, 3:52.88. 13, Paul Michel, Colorado St., 4:01.39.

Heat 2-1, q-Nick Willis, Michigan, 3:42.15. 2, q-Grant Robison, Stanford, 3:43.49. 3, q-Joel Atwater, Weber St., 3:44.59. 4, q-Chris Mulvaney, Arkansas, 3:44.68. 5, q-Chris Lukezic, Georgetown, 3:44.78. 6, Brent Wilberts, Drake, 3:44.91. 7, Tom Parlapiano, Villanova, 3:45.32. 8, Brendon Mahoney, Georgia Tech, 3:45.49. 9, Hunter Spencer, Kentucky, 3:45.76. 10, Kip Kangogo, BYU, 3:46.95. 11, Blake Boldon, SW Missouri St., 3:47.65. 12, John Russell, Washington. 3:47.92. 13, Ryan Posonby, Texas, 4:04.57.