LetsRun.com's 2012 NCAA Indoor Track And Field Women's Preview

by LetsRun.com
March 8, 2012

*LRC Men's Preview
*
2012 NCAA Indoor Track And Field Women's Accepted Entries *Heat Sheets
*Relive The 2011 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Champs Here
*Full Schedule Of Events
*Live Video Links

The 2012 NCAA Division 1 Indoor Track and Field Championships take place in Idaho on Friday and Saturday of this week. NCAA indoors may not get quite the attention as NCAA outdoors, but recently it has been the launching pad for a few distance stars. Last year's NCAA indoor meet was fantastic, as Jordan Hasay became a legend. In 2009,  Galen Rupp became a star. Will someone join them in legendary status in 2012? Perhaps Katie Flood in the DMR and 3k or maybe Georgetown's Emily Infeld? Will Hasay maintain her magic? Watch it and find out.

If you aren't in Idaho, ESPN3 will stream the meet live on March 9 from 7:30-11:45 p.m. ET and March 10 from 8-11:15 p.m. ET. NCAA.com and broncosports.com will stream what ESPN3 is not covering on Friday (Noon-7:30 p.m. ET) and Saturday (12:30-8 p.m. ET). A tape delay of the championship will air on TV Sunday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

But watching a meet without knowing what to expect is pretty boring. Don't worry. We are here to save you. Below, we break down the men's mid-d and distance events for you, as well as the team battle. We break things down in the order that they will occur.

Women's 5,000: A New NCAA Champ Will Arrive

While the men's 5,000 this year features some of the very best to every lace it up in the NCAA, the women's 5,000 (as is often the case) doesn't feature the very best talent, as many of the top women focus on shorter events indoors. Four of the top five from last year's NCAA outdoor 5,000 are running NCAA indoors this year in Emily Infeld, Abbey D'Agostino, Jordan Hasay and Kathy Kroeger, but none of them are in the 5,000 (basically everyone and their mothers are in a totally loaded 3,000 - more on that below). Similarly, of the top 10 finishers at the NCAA championships in cross-country last fall, only one of them is running the women's 5,000 - Iowa State's Betsy Saina.

Saina, who was 9th in cross-country, was 3rd in this race last year and she comes in with the second-best seed team at 15:36.09. The #1 seed time belongs to Cal's Deborah Maier (15:29.24). Of all the entrants in this field, Maier was the second-highest finisher at NCAA cross (11th).

So Maier and Saina have the top two seed times and were the best at NCAA cross so they are the ones to beat. At a similar talent level is the #3 seed at 15:36.53 in Wichita State's Aliphine Tuliamuk, who was 12th at NCAA cross in November and 8th in this race last year. Who has the best mile speed of those three? Probably Saina or Maier, as Saina has run 4:44.18 in the mile this year and Maier ran 4:23.98 for 1,500 last year (Tuliamuk is a 4:29 1,500-meter runner).

LRC Quick Take: With the cream of the crop in both speed and endurance - Hasay (2nd NCAA cross), D'Agostino (3rd NCAA cross), and Infeld (4th NCAA cross) - running other events, someone has a golden opportunity to become an NCAA champ. Maier or Saina will likely get the job done.

2012 Women's 5,000  - Accepted Entries
  1  Deborah Maier                 JR California         15:29.24D
  2  Betsy Saina                   JR Iowa State         15:36.09D
  3  Aliphine Tuliamuk             JR Wichita State      15:36.53D
  4  Kathy Kroeger                 SO Stanford           15:46.26D
  5  Alex Kosinski                 SR Oregon             15:47.81D
  6  Meaghan Nelson                JR Iowa State         15:51.89D
  7  Natosha Rogers                JR Texas A&M          15:52.40D
  8  Megan Goethals                SO Washington         15:54.89D
  9  Bronwyn Crossman              JR Oregon             15:56.35D
 10  Dani Stack                    JR Iowa State         15:57.20D
 11  Juli Accurso                  SO Ohio U.            15:58.69D
 12  Elvin Kibet                   SO Arizona            15:59.16D
 13  Sara Sutherland               SO Texas              15:59.75D
 14  Sarah Waldron                 SR New Mexico         15:59.93D
 15  Becky Wade                    SR Rice               16:03.13D
 16  Lydia Kosgei                  SR Eastern Kentucky   16:03.66D

2011 Results
1 Jackie Areson SR Tennessee 15:39.81 16:04.16
2 Mia Behm JR Texas 15:58.34 16:08.56
3 Betsy Saina SO Iowa State 15:50.74 16:09.12
4 Anna Nosenko SR Wake Forest 16:09.64 16:10.56
5 Liz Costello SR Tennessee 15:48.50 16:11.06
6 Katie Matthews JR Boston U. 16:06.38 16:13.21
7 Risper Kimaiyo JR UTEP 15:59.56 16:13.55
8 Aliphine Tuliamuk SO Wichita State 15:53.74 16:14.38
9 Pasca Cheruiyot SR Florida State 16:05.36 16:18.11
10 Ruth Senior JR New Mexico 16:02.38 16:18.38
11 Corey Conner JR Maine 16:06.18 16:21.61
12 Holly Knight JR Auburn 16:04.86 16:22.14
13 Tonya Nero SR Wichita State 16:01.69 16:26.42
14 Natalie Gray JR New Mexico 15:54.29 16:44.36
-- Holly Van Dalen JR Stony Brook 15:56.82 DNF

Women's DMR: Washington, Oregon Or Georgetown?

Three teams - Washington, Oregon and Georgetown - come into Idaho having run 10:55 to qualify, which is pretty darn fast. Leading the way are the #1 seeds and the favorites in most people's minds - Washington. The Huskies are the favorites not because they have the #1 seed time but because the DMR comes down to the anchor and they have the best anchor in Katie Flood, who leads the 2012 indoor list in the mile by a ton. Flood has run 4:28.48 this year - second on the list is 4:31.92.

But we talked to one NCAA distance coach about this race and said, "So Washington is the team to beat, right?" His response. "No, Georgetown is going to take that race. The 2012 NCAA indoors are going to be Emily Infeld's coming out party. She's incredible on the track and a lot of people don't know about her really because she's been overshadowed by Villanova's Sheila Reid."

Infeld is indeed very good. The 4th placer at cross-country in the fall pulled off triple wins at Big East this year (DMR, mile and 3k).

The Oregon Ducks shouldn't be discounted if they end up running Jordan Hasay on the anchor. Last year at NCAAs, Hasay arrived as a star, as after losing out in the DMR to Sheila Reid, she ended up taking the mile and 3,000 titles and the 3,000 title included some sweet revenge on Reid. But the Ducks may not anchor Hasay, as Vin Lananna is trying to keep Hasay fresh for the Olympic Trials and what not. But if Hasay doesn't anchor, the Ducks still have a shot, however, since Anne Kesselring is no slouch. She's #3 on the mile list at 4:32.61.

LRC Quick Take: This is going to be a fun one to watch at the end as all of the big players should be there. Infeld is very race sharp - we're going with her on the advice of someone who knows more about women's running than we do.

2012 Women's DMR  - Accepted Entries
  1  Washington                                          10:55.01D
     1) Chelsea Orr SO                  2) Jordan Carlson SR              
     3) Baylee Mires FR                 4) Katie Flood SO                 
  2  Oregon                                              10:55.78D
     1) Becca Friday JR                 2) Chizoba Okodogbe SO            
     3) Claudia Francis FR              4) Anne Kesselring JR             
  3  Georgetown                                          10:55.95D
     1) Rachel Schneider JR             2) London Finley SR               
     3) Chelsea Cox SO                  4) Emily Infeld JR                
  4  California                                          10:56.29D
     1) Chelsea Reilly SR               2) Angelica Weaver JR             
     3) Sofia Oberg SO                  4) Deborah Maier JR               
  5  Nebraska                                            10:58.74D
     1) Jessica Furlan JR               2) Mara Weekes SO                 
     3) Ellie Grooters SO               4) Ashley Miller SR               
  6  Florida                                             10:58.77D
     1) Agata Strausa SO                2) Ebony Eutsey SO                
     3) Shelby Hayes SO                 4) Cory McGee SO                  
  7  Dartmouth                                           11:00.62D
     1) Alexi Pappas SR                 2) Megan Krumpoch SO              
     3) Christina Supino SR             4) Abbey D'Agostino SO            
  8  Arkansas                                            11:01.01D
     1) Samantha Learch SR              2) Gwendolyn Flowers JR           
     3) Stephanie Brown JR              4) Kristen Gillespie SR           
  9  BYU                                                 11:01.35D
     1) Lacey Bleazard SR               2) Sarah Edwards SR               
     3) Nachelle Mackie JR              4) Katie Palmer SR                
 10  Connecticut                                         11:01.40D
     1) Heather Wilson SR               2) Celina Emerson SO              
     3) Brigitte Mania JR               4) Lindsay Crevoiserat FR         
 11  Tennessee                                           11:02.74D
     1) Chanelle Price SR               2) Ellen Wortham SR               
     3) Nijgia Snapp JR                 4) Brittany Sheffey SR            
 12  Michigan                                            11:04.30D
     1) Shannon Osika FR                2) Brittani Williams SR           
     3) Jillian Smith JR                4) Rebecca Addison JR             
 13  Stanford                                            11:04.31D
     1) Justine Fedronic JR             2) Kellie Schueler SO             
     3) Joy O'Hare JR                   4) Kathy Kroeger SO                              

2011 Results
1 Villanova 10:56.12 10:52.52 1) Emily Lipari FR 2) Christie Verdier JR 3) Ariann Neutts SO 4) Sheila Reid SR
2 Oregon 11:02.15 10:52.90 1) Anne Kesselring SO 2) Chizoba Okodogbe FR 3) Becca Friday SO 4) Jordan Hasay SO
3 Virginia 10:59.33 10:59.79 1) Morgane Gay SO 2) Ayla Smith SR 3) Lyndsay Harper SR 4) Stephanie Garcia SR
4 Texas Tech 11:07.18 11:01.04 1) Caroline Jepleting JR 2) Erica Alexander JR 3) Purity Biwott SR 4) Caroline Karunde SR
5 Oklahoma State 11:09.67 11:04.59 1) Natalja Piliusina FR 2) Mihaela Bobos FR 3) Caileigh Glenn FR 4) Mihaela Susa SR
6 Michigan 11:04.26 11:07.38 1) Danielle Tauro SR 2) Alisha Cole SR 3) Rebecca Addison SO 4) Jillian Smith SO
7 Georgetown 11:00.67 11:07.84 1) Rachel Schneider SO 2) Deidra Sanders SR 3) Chelsea Cox FR 4) Katie McCafferty SO
8 Tennessee 11:05.37 11:07.86 1) Chanelle Price JR 2) Ellen Wortham JR 3) Nijgia Snapp SO 4) Brittany Sheffey JR
9 Arkansas 11:02.45 11:13.92 1) Kristen Gillespie JR 2) Whitney Jones JR 3) Samantha Learch JR 4) Stephanie Brown SO
10 BYU 11:03.70 11:17.83 1) Nicole Clark SR 2) Natalie Stewart JR 3) Lacey Bleazard JR 4) Katie Palmer JR
11 Duke 11:06.85 11:23.27 1) Rebecca Craigie FR 2) Cydney Ross JR 3) Devotia Moore SR 4) Juliet Bottorff SO
12 Connecticut 10:59.99 11:28.43 1) Leah Andrianos SR 2) Celina Emerson FR 3) Brigitte Mania SO 4) Heather Wilson JR

Women's 800: With Bleazard Sadly Absent,  Pilusina Is The Favorite

People who think that track and field is all about times are so dumb that it drives us nuts. This race is the perfect example of it.

Two-time NCAA indoor champ Lacey Bleazard isn't in this race because her 2:05.55 last chance victory last weekend wasn't fast enough to get her into the field. Ironically, 2:05.55 is exactly the same time that Bleazard had qualified with last year and guess what - she ran 2:04.09 and won by a ton. We really wish the NCAA could make an exception for a former double champ like Bleazard, but the idea of involving politics with college track coaches is a horrible one.

As a result, one of the great NCAA indoor careers in history will come to an end with Bleazard running a leg on BYU's DMR. Such a shame. Bleazard is a master tactician who never really got her due in the press. Last year, the ESPN announcers had no idea who she was since she has a new married name. No one else gives her any love - so we will.

Since Bleazard isn't in the field, she can't win. Who will? Well, last year's NCAA outdoor runner-up Natalja Pilusina of Oklahoma State seems to be the one to beat, as she achieved the #1 qualifying time last week at 2:03.46.

Four others have also run in the 2:03s, incuding two of Bleazard's teammates in Katie Palmer and Nachelle Mackie. Mackie beat Palmer at the New Balance collegiate, so she's the one to watch out for here. The other two 2:03 women come from the SEC - one is Arkansas' Stephanie Brown and the other is LSU's Charlene Lipsey, who dominated the SEC championship by .90, so she has to be taken seriously. Brown only ran the DMR there, so we're not sure if she's hurt or what.  Last year's runner-up Jillian Smith was trounced by her teammate Rebecca Addison at Big 10s.

LRC Quick Take: 4 years ago, no one would have dreamed that we'd be breaking down the NCAA women's 800 final without mentioning Tennessee's Chanelle Price. Price, who ran 2:01.61 in HS, is likely to see her NCAA indoor career come to an end with zero individual titles. Price was the one who was beaten by .90 at SECs by Lipsey.

 Women's 800 Meter Run - 2011 Results

  1 Lacey Bleazard            JR BYU                  2:06.78    2:0ဴ.09  
  2 Jillian Smith             SO Michigan             2:06.80    2:04.78  
  3 Sofie Persson             JR Mississippi          2:04.96    2:04.89  
  4 Heather Wilson            JR Connecticut          2:05.76    2:05.18  
  5 Christina Rodgers         SR Arizona              2:06.65    2:05.27  
  6 Chanelle Price            JR Tennessee            2:04.17    2:05.42  
  7 Bethany Praska            SR Iowa                 2:05.01    2:07.24  
  8 Rebecca Addison           SO Michigan             2:05.02    2:07.68 

Women's 800 - 2012 Heats
Heat 1 Of 2 Prelims

1 49 Sofia Oberg SO California 2:05.32
2 219 Laura Roesler SO Oregon 2:05.07
3 196 Tasha Stanley SR North Carolina 2:04.70
4 206 Natalja Piliusina SO Oklahoma State 2:03.46
5 53 Kathy Klump SR Cincinnati 2:04.39
6 157 Charlene Lipsey JR LSU 2:03.79
7 140 Boglarka Bozzay SR Kansas State 2:05.11
8 15 Stephanie Brown JR Arkansas 2:03.93

Heat 2 Of 2 Prelims
1 33 Brittany Ogunmokun JR Baylor 2:05.30
2 299 Frances Dowd SO Virginia Tech 2:05.18
3 168 Jillian Smith JR Michigan 2:05.01
4 43 Nachelle Mackie JR BYU 2:03.56
5 165 Rebecca Addison JR Michigan 2:04.87
6 70 Heather Wilson SR Connecticut 2:04.34
7 44 Katie Palmer SR BYU 2:03.79
8 256 Chanelle Price SR Tennessee 2:04.25

Women's Mile: Hasay Will Have A Tough Time Repeating

Last year, Oregon's Jordan Hasay earned her first NCAA title in this race. She's back in it this year and can't be discounted. Her seed time of 4:37.29 is only 7th, but she won that race and is purposely trying to stay fresh for outdoors.

But in our minds, the #1 seed in Stony Brook's Lucy Van Dalen is the one to beat. She's race sharp and hungry as this is her last chance to win an individual NCAA title. Hasay won big here last year and may not be as motivated as her Oregon teammate Anne Kesselring is the only other person who has run under 4:34 this year and she could make some noise as well.

LRC Quick Take: Van Dalen is the favorite. It's worth noting that the #1 miler in the NCAA in 2011 at 4:28.48, Katie Flood, is skipping this race for the 3,000.

2012 Women's Mile  - Accepted Entries
  1  Lucy Van Dalen                SR Stony Brook         4:31.92D
  2  Anne Kesselring               JR Oregon              4:32.61D
  3  Cory McGee                    SO Florida             4:34.06D
  4  Morgane Gay                   JR Virginia            4:34.38D
  5  Kristen Gillespie             SR Arkansas            4:34.49D
  6  Agata Strausa                 SO Florida             4:36.39D
  7  Jordan Hasay                  JR Oregon              4:37.29D
  8  Emily Lipari                  SO Villanova           4:37.43D
  9  Becca Friday                  JR Oregon              4:37.53D
 10  Laura Carlyle                 SR Oregon State        4:37.57D
 11  Aisha Praught                 SR Illinois State      4:37.77D
 12  Hannah Brooks                 SR Florida State       4:37.87D
 13  Shannon Osika                 FR Michigan            4:38.42D
 14  Jess Palacio                  SR Navy                4:38.43D
 15  Heidi Gregson                 SR Iona                4:38.85D
 16  Josephine Moultrie            JR New Mexico          4:38.87D

2011 Results
1 Jordan Hasay SO Oregon 4:39.41 4:33.01
2 Kate Van Buskirk SR Duke 4:35.52 4:33.71
3 Zoe Buckman SR Oregon 4:35.47 4:33.76
4 Anne Kesselring SO Oregon 4:36.41 4:34.96
5 Amanda Winslow SO Florida State 4:38.30 4:35.16
6 Keri Bland SR West Virginia 4:40.15 4:35.24
7 Caroline King JR Boston College 4:39.51 4:36.00
8 Emma Coburn JR Colorado 4:36.99 4:36.08
9 Ashley Verplank SO North Carolina 4:36.87 4:36.17
10 Cory McGee FR Florida 4:40.11 4:41.52

Women's 3,000: A Truly Great Field Full Of Big Names

This field is totally loaded and proves the famous "Law of Averages" - everything averages out to be ... well, average.

If you started off by reading our women's 5,000 preview, you learned that that field is a bit weak. But that's resulted in this race being full of big names.

With Sheila Reid out of indoor eligibility, all of the major players are here.

Last year, Jordan Hasay became an NCAA legend in this race by turning the tables on Sheila Reid and revenging her DMR loss to get the win in shocking fashion. Hasay, who was the runner-up at NCAA cross in the fall, is back to defend her title. She'll be challenged by the third and fourth placers at NCAA cross in Abbey D'Agostino of Dartmouth and Emily Infeld of Georgetown. Those aren't the only three that could win it.

Washington's Katie Flood, who was 7th at NCAA cross some 6.1 seconds behind Hasay, has been on fire this winter and leads the NCAA list in the mile and 3,000. She's skipped the mile to be ready for this race, although she'll anchor the DMR the night before.

Since this race comes near the end of the meet, by the time the gun actually goes off, it will be full of many interesting subplots. Stony Brook's Lucy Van Dalen very well may come into this race after having won the NCAA mile title. If this race starts slow, she can't be discounted. One of these competitors - Infeld or Flood or perhaps Hasay- similarly may have already led their team to DMR glory.

LRC Quick Take: In her last track season (outdoors last year), Katie Flood failed to score at PAC-12s in the 1,500. But don't let that fool you. She is used to winning and this could be her coming out party on the national collegiate scene. In high school, she won the Nike Cross Nationals in 2009 and also "cemented her track legacy by winning four Iowa 4A State titles as a senior, sweeping the 800m, 1,500m, and 3,000m individual titles, and anchoring the winning 4 x 800-meter relay." *Bio Here

2012 Women's 3,000  - Accepted Entries
  1  Katie Flood                   SO Washington          8:55.31D
  2  Emily Infeld                  JR Georgetown          9:00.13D
  3  Chelsea Reilly                SR California          9:00.86D
  4  Abbey D'Agostino              SO Dartmouth           9:02.15D
  5  Deborah Maier                 JR California          9:02.35D
  6  Jordan Hasay                  JR Oregon              9:03.95D
  7  Emily Sisson                  FR Providence          9:06.04D
  8  Betsy Saina                   JR Iowa State          9:06.61D
  9  Hannah Kiser                  SO Idaho               9:07.23D
 10  Lucy Van Dalen                SR Stony Brook         9:07.48D
 11  Aisling Cuffe                 FR Stanford            9:07.79D
 12  Dani Stack                    JR Iowa State          9:08.00D
 13  Megan Goethals                SO Washington          9:08.42D
 14  Waverly Neer                  FR Columbia            9:08.72D
 15  Tara Erdmann                  SR Loyola Marymount    9:08.85D
 16  Kathy Kroeger                 SO Stanford            9:09.44D
 17  Amanda Winslow                JR Florida State       9:09.83D
 18  Aliphine Tuliamuk             JR Wichita State       9:11.49D

2011 Results
1 Jordan Hasay SO Oregon 9:05.42 9:13.71
2 Sheila Reid SR Villanova 8:56.92 9:13.86
3 Lucy Van Dalen JR Stony Brook 8:56.77 9:14.12
4 Jackie Areson SR Tennessee 9:01.91 9:17.88
5 Ashley Higginson SR Princeton 9:14.47 9:19.04
6 Anna Nosenko SR Wake Forest 9:12.02 9:19.84
7 Stephanie Marcy SR Stanford 9:13.00 9:21.20
8 Tara Erdmann JR Loyola Marymount 9:12.25 9:22.14
9 Shelby Greany SO Providence 9:14.06 9:22.51
10 Katie Flood FR Washington 9:09.85 9:22.59
11 Bogdana Mimic SO Villanova 9:10.64 9:22.73
12 Liz Costello SR Tennessee 9:15.39 9:23.36
13 Megan Goethals FR Washington 9:11.56 9:23.48
14 Hannah Davidson SO Providence 9:12.53 9:27.53
15 Pasca Cheruiyot SR Florida State 9:13.51 9:33.23
16 Jessica O'Connell JR West Virginia 9:14.12 9:53.76

Women's Team Battle: A Three-Peat For Oregon?

The two-time defending champion Oregon Ducks seem to be the team to beat once again. Thanks to the DMR, they are a much better indoor team than outdoor team, whereas the three-time defending outdoor champs Texas A&M really benefit from the absence of a DMR outdoors and the addition of a 4 x 100.

If the Ducks falter, a couple of teams could be in the hunt for their first indoor title, as the #2 team in the land, Arkansas, has never won before. Similarly, #4 Clemson, which we project to get 3rd, has also never won. It's worth noting that Texas A&M also has never won an indoor title.

LSU, which has won an NCAA record 11 titles, also could be in the mix for it's first since 2004.

Projected Point Totals For Top 5 Ranked Teams According To Descending Order List Of Accepted Entries

#1 Oregon - 45 Points
60 - 8
Mile - 8, 2
3k - 3
5k - 4
4 x 400 - 2
DMR - 8
Pent - 10
Total - 45

#2 Arkansas - 41 points
400 - 5
800 - 4
Mile - 4
60h - 2
4 x 400 - 4
DMR - 1
PV - 10, 6
Pent - 5
Total - 41

#3 LSU - 33 points
60h - 5
200 - 8
400 - 6
800 - 5
4 x 400 - 6
WT - 3
Total - 33

#4 Clemson - 37 points
60 - 5, 2
60h - 8, 6
200 - 1
400 - 10
TJ - 5
Total -37

#5 Texas A&M -  29 Points
60 - 1
200 - 10, 5, 3
5000 - 2
4 x 400 - 8
Total - 29

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