LetsRun.com NCAA 5,000m Preview - 2 Great Matchups

By LetsRun.com
June 6, 2010

Men's 5,000m - Chelanga Doubles Back With McNeill Waiting
*Saturday 11:21am (no prelims)

Look for Sam Chelanga to come back from a highly-likely 10,000m victory on Thursday night to face David McNeill as his toughest competition on Saturday. McNeill took the indoor 5,000m title from Chelanga and ran a PR 13:25 this season. Chelanga has a 27:08 10k to his name but has struggled to win NCAA track titles. We think the winner of this race is too close to call (but of course we'll make a pick).

For spots 3-6, the big names are Stanford's Elliot Heath and Chris Derrick, Georgetown's Andrew Bumbalough (he gave Chelanga a good run at regionals, so consider him a contender), Arizona State's Brandon Bethke. Look for Oregon's Jordan McNamara and Michael Maag to fight for valuable team points (McNamara made the 1,500 final last year but is coming back from injury, while Maag was 10th in the 5k final last year).

LRC Predictions:
1. McNeill w/ repeat of indoors
2. Chelanga
3. Heath

 

Women's 5,000 - Koll Doubles Back With Bizzarri Waiting
*Friday at 6:40 (no prelims)

Lisa Koll and Angela Bizzarri are the clear favorites in the women's 5k. Koll is the NCAA 10,000m record-holder and beat Bizzarri by 20 seconds at Stanford, where she ran 15:17 (advanage Koll). Bizzarri is very, very tough to beat at championship meets and won last year by almost 10 seconds. Bizzarri also won the 3,000m indoors and the cross-country title in the fall. Koll will be doubling back from the 10k while Bizzarri will be fresh (advantage Bizzarri).

The women's 5,000 is important in the team title race with Oregon runners Nicole Blood and Alex Kosinski going for team points. Blood was the runner-up last year and will also run the 10,000m (Wednesday). Kosinski will double in the 1,500 (Thursday/Saturday).

UNC's Brianna Felnagle is making her return to NCAAs and is a name that stands out as a potential threat to score big points along with Marie Louise-Asselin from West Virginia.

LRC Predictions:
1. Angela Bizzarri
2. Lisa Koll
3. Nicole Blood

---

NCAA Outdoor Championships At Hayward Field

The stage is set for an exciting NCAA Outdoor Championships weekend in Eugene, Oregon. We've worked together with our friends at TrackFocus.com to preview every event at the meet. In distance events, look for difficult double attempts from Andrew Wheating (800/1,500), Lisa Koll (10k/5k) and Sam Chelanga (10k/5k). In sprints, the men's 400 may be the fastest race in the world so far this year. In the team race, the Oregon men and women enter as slight underdogs to sprint powers Texas A&M and Florida, adding even more intrigue to the distance races. We'll see how much of a lift the Ducks get in front of home crowds at Hayward Field. The meet runs Wednesday-Saturday.

More:
*NCAA Schedule, Info
*LetsRun.com's Emory Mort will be in Eugene covering the event, so check back for daily updates.
*TV: CBS College will air the championship live on Friday from 8-10 p.m. (EASTERN) and CBS will air it live on Saturday from 1-3 p.m. (EASTERN). NCAA.com will stream the rest of the championship online.

 

---

 

 

In case you were wondering:

2009 NCAA 5,000m Finals                                                                       
  1 Galen Rupp                SR Oregon                14:04.12   10         
  2 David McNeill             JR Northern Arizona      14:05.79    8         
  3 Chris Derrick             FR Stanford              14:07.34    6         
  4 Brandon Bethke            JR Arizona State         14:08.00    5         
  5 Elliott Heath             SO Stanford              14:08.56    4         
  6 Hassan Mead               SO Minnesota             14:09.87    3         
  7 Tyson David               JR Alabama               14:10.75    2         
  8 Shadrack Biwott           SR Oregon                14:11.45    1         
  9 Ryan Vail                 SR Oklahoma State        14:11.78              
 10 Michael Maag              SR Princeton             14:14.67              
 11 Mark Steeds               SR Georgia State         14:20.23              
 12 Alfred Kipchumba          SO Portland              14:21.37              
 13 Ryan Sheridan             FR Iona                  14:21.60              
 14 Jean-Pierre Weerts        JR Auburn                14:22.98              
 15 Emmanuel Bor              JR Alabama               14:23.13              
 16 Matt Leeder               FR Florida State         14:23.19                

2009 NCAA 5,000m Finals                                                                          
  1 Angela Bizzarri           JR Illinois              16:17.94   10            
  2 Nicole Blood              JR Oregon                16:26.58    8            
  3 Frances Koons             SR Villanova             16:28.36    6            
  4 Lisa Senakiewich          SR Michigan State        16:28.88    5            
  5 Janet Jesang              JR Western Kentucky      16:32.59    4            
  6 Alex Becker               JR Tulsa                 16:34.63    3            
  7 Betsy Saina               FR Iowa State            16:40.87    2            
  8 Amanda Marino             SO Villanova             16:41.57    1            
  9 Emily Anderson            JR William & Mary        16:42.13                 
 10 Kellyn Johnson            SR Wichita State         16:45.34                 
 11 Denise Bargiachi          SR Arkansas              16:49.40                 
 12 Katie Follett             JR Washington            16:56.72                 
 13 Irine Lagat               SR Arizona               16:59.06                 
 14 Anna Nosenko              SO Wake Forest           16:59.96                 
 -- Marie-Louise Asselin      SO West Virginia              DNF                 
 -- Gwen Jorgensen            SR Wisconsin                  DNF            

 

	Tell a friend about this article (Dont worry we won't email your friend(s) again. We send them a 1 time email) Enter their email address(es), separated by a comma. Enter your name: Don't Worry: We Back to Main Front Page Questions, comments or suggestions?Please email the LetsRun.com staff at suggestions@LetsRun.com.