Recap Of Mile Heats From Day 1 Of 2011 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships

By: Letsrun.com
March 11, 2011

Discuss On LRC Message Board: *Mile prelims NOW *4:00 mile at altitude doesn't translate to anything at sea level

Women's Mile Heats: No Surprises

Heat 1 of the women's mile run went largely according to form.

The opening 800 (actually 809+ meters since it's a mile - throughout this piece when we refer to split times, assume we're giving the split time from the finish line. Flashresults has a great results site with splits for every lap for every distance competitor) was in a relatively slow 2:26.2 with everyone still in contention. At the conclusion of 6 laps, pre race favorite Jordan Hasay of Oregon had had enough and she took the lead (3:33.32). Caroline King of BC and Cory McGee of Florida gave chase. At the bell, those three had a little separation on Keri Bland of West Virginia. Hasay would keep the lead until the finish with King nearly alongside, McGee a couple of steps back and Keri Bland right with her. Those were the 4 automatic qualifiers.

 1 Jordan Hasay SO Oregon 4:39.41
 2 Caroline King JR Boston College 4:39.51
 3 Cory McGee FR Florida 4:40.11
 4 Keri Bland SR West Virginia 4:40.15
 5 Natalja Piliusina FR Oklahoma State 4:40.97  
 6 Katrina Drennen SR Montana 4:41.27  
 7 Kate Grace SR Yale 4:43.07  
 8 Caitlin Lane JR Penn State 4:46.18
  Splits      

The women in heat 2 were smart and started faster than heat 1 hoping to pick up the 2 time qualifiers (top 4 from each heat plus the next two times qualified for the final).

McKenzie Melander of Iowa and Zoe Buckman did the early leading and 800m was reached in 2:21.0 (5 seconds faster than heat 1) with Buckman still in the lead. Buckman picked up the pace a little bit and was still leading at the conclusion of 6 laps (1,209m) 3:29.58 with Emma Coburn of Colorado right with her. McKenzie Melander and former high school star Danielle Tauro were off the back but everyone else was in contention. At the bell, Oregon was 1 and 2 with Buckman (4:03.2) ahead of teammate Anne Kesselring.

Buckman held the lead the last lap and would finish ahead of Duke's Kate Van Buskirk (collegiate 1,000m record holder), who had the fastest last lap (31.89) and looked like a threat for tomorrow's final. Kesselring and Ashley Verplank got the last 2 automatic spots, but Emma Coburn was rewarded for helping with the early pace, as was Amanda Winslow, as they both made the final on time, since the first 6 in this heat were all faster than heat 1 winner Hasay.

1 Zoe Buckman SR Oregon 4:35.47
 2 Kate Van Buskirk SR Duke 4:35.52
 3 Anne Kesselring SO Oregon 4:36.41
 4 Ashley Verplank SO North Carolina 4:36.87
 5 Emma Coburn JR Colorado 4:36.99
 6 Amanda Winslow SO Florida State 4:38.30
 7 McKenzie Melander JR Iowa 4:49.21  
 8 Danielle Tauro SR Michigan 4:49.59  
  Splits        

 Men's Mile Prelims: Patrick Casey Misses Out On Final

This is the deepest year ever in the men's mile at NCAAs, as for the first time that we can remember (and probably in history), a sub-4 miler didn't even qualify for the meet. The depth certainly showed in the prelims, as they were incredibly bunched together - in heat 1, just .41 separated 1st and 6th. Heat 2 was even more ridiculous as .34 separated first from seventh and numbers five, six and seven were left out of the final. The biggest casualty was Montana State's Patrick Casey (3:54+ equivalent mile at altitude earlier this year), who did not make the final despite leading 1,500m of the last heat.

Heat 1:
Iowa's Jeff Thode kept things honest with an opening 2+ laps in 61.8 (for 209 meters).

After 4 laps (2:03.05), the UK's Chris O'Hare took over and he'd lead all the way to the finish. 6+ laps was in 3:03.3 with O'Hare still leading and he was still in front at the bell (3:32.8), but there was no letting up as the entire field was within 3/4 of a second of him. O'Hare led down the finishing stretch and looked over his shoulder, but a lot of guys were still close behind him, with 3:55 miler Miles Batty of BYU closing the fastest. O'Hare and Batty both finished in 4:00.87 with O'Hare getting the meaningless win. Ryan Foster of Penn State, who was third in the 800 final last year, ended up third to qualify automatically, as Michael Hammond of Virginia Tech actually had the fastest last lap to finish 4th and get the last automatic spot. Jeff Thode and Duncan Phillips of Arkansas closed fast as well trying to get that fourth spot. In the end, the first six would all make the final.

1 Chris O'Hare SO Tulsa 4:00.87
 2 Miles Batty JR BYU 4:00.87
 3 Ryan Foster SR Penn State 4:01.10
 4 Michael Hammond JR Virginia Tech 4:01.11
 5 Jeff Thode SO Iowa 4:01.15
 6 Duncan Phillips JR Arkansas 4:01.28
 7 Matthew Gibney SR Villanova 4:02.25  
 8 Cory Leslie JR Ohio State 4:03.12
  Splits        

Heat 2:

If you want to feel some sympathy for someone, feel it for Montana's State Patrick Casey. Casey is used to running alone (he soloed his 3:59 mile at altitude in a dual meet this year), so he went to the front to keep the pace honest and faster than the first heat. 2+ laps was in 61.1 and 4+ in 2:01.9. At 1,209m, Casey was still in front, followed by Maine legend Riley Masters and Florida's Dumisane Hlaselo. At the bell, Casey was still leading, but 5 guys were within .76 of him. He led with 100m to go, but now a mad dash was on for the automatic qualifying spots. The finish was a mess with people falling, but in the end, Hlaselo got the win, James Cameron of Washington was 2nd, Riley Masters third, and Erik Van Ingen 4th in 4:01.39. Rich Peters of BU was fifth, only .03 back of Van Ingen, but he'd miss the final. Casey finished sixth, .just 15 from 4th and .33 from first, but also not fast enough for the final. Julian Matthews of Providence actually had the fastest final lap of the field but could only finish 7th. The NCAA men's mile field is super-deep this year and this heat showed it. Last year's mile runner-up, Mac Fleet of Oregon, who was the last man to qualify for the event as he's coming back from injury, finished last in the heat and didn't advance.

1 Dumisane Hlaselo JR Florida 4:01.21
 2 James Cameron SO Washington 4:01.33
 3 Riley Masters JR Maine 4:01.36
 4 Erik van Ingen SR Binghamton 4:01.39
 5 Rich Peters FR Boston U. 4:01.42  
 6 Patrick Casey SO Montana State 4:01.54  
 7 Julian Matthews JR Providence 4:01.55  
 8 Mac Fleet SO Oregon 4:08.16
  Splits      

More: Discuss On LRC Message Board: *Mile prelims NOW *4:00 mile at altitude doesn't translate to anything at sea level

*LRC Day 1 NCAA Coverage: *5,000m Recaps: Unheralded Leonard Korir Storms To NCAA Meet Record, Jackie Areson Impresses, Mia Behm Surprises Everyone
*NCAA Day 1: DMR: Villanova's Reid Outkicks Oregon's Hasay, BYU's Miles Batty Holds Off Incredible 3:53 Anchor From Andy Bayer (video of last laps)
*Recap Of Mile Heats From Day 1 Of 2011 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
*Recap Of 800 Heats From Day 1 Of 2011 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships

*Day 1 Photos

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