LetsRun.com's Preview Of Day 4 Of The 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

 *Live Results *Watch On CBS From 1-3 PM EST

By LetsRun.com
June 10, 2011

The 2011 edition of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa concludes on Saturday with the 1,500 finals as well as the women's steeple final and men's 5,000 final. Below we preview all of the mid-d and distance action.

(Editor's update: Please note that all times listed here are for people not in Des Moines and are EST times).

1:18 PM: Women's 1,500 Final: Hasay Vs. Reid Round 2

Final Participants
Heat 1 Preliminaries
1 159 Renee Tomlin SR Georgetown 4:18.34Q
2 430 Lucy Van Dalen JR Stony Brook 4:18.50Q
3 136 Cory McGee FR Florida 4:18.52Q
4 121 Kate Van Buskirk SR Duke 4:18.71Q
5 144 Hannah Brooks SR Florida State 4:18.94Q
Heat 2 Preliminaries
1 530 Morgane Gay JR Virginia 4:14.72Q
2 350 Becca Friday SO Oregon 4:15.17Q
3 354 Jordan Hasay SO Oregon 4:15.86Q
4 527 Sheila Reid JR Villanova 4:16.69Q
5 44 Kristen Gillespie JR Arkansas 4:17.00Q
6 393 Lea Wallace SR Sacramento St. 4:17.65q
7 158 Rachel Schneider SO Georgetown 4:18.52q
8 293 Ashley Miller JR Nebraska 4:18.53q

Reid clearly got the best of Hasay (who faded to 4th) in the women's 5,000 on Friday night. Will it happen again on Saturday?

Quick Thought #1 - In terms of Hasay versus Reid round 2, a reversal of fortunes isn't impossible. Indoors, Reid got the best of Hasay on the DMR anchor leg, but then on Day 2, Hasay turned the tables on Reid in the 3,000 final after Hasay had already won the mile.

Quick Thought #2 - Lea Wallace may have looked terrible in the 1,500 semi, but that was because she twisted her ankle. 6th in the 800 final wasn't what she was looking for, but it was probably a better result than how she looked in the 1,500 prelim.

1:30 PM: Men's 1,500 Final: Can Dorian Ulrey End His Career In Style?

Final Participants
Heat 1 Preliminaries
1 948 Matthew Centrowitz JR Oregon 3:48.67Q
2 880 Patrick Casey SO Montana State 3:49.05Q
3 656 Erik van Ingen JR Binghamton 3:49.07Q
4 976 Julian Matthews JR Providence 3:49.24Q
5 711 Dumisane Hlaselo JR Florida 3:49.26Q
Heat 2 Preliminaries
1 639 Dorian Ulrey SR Arkansas 3:42.44Q
2 665 Miles Batty JR BYU 3:42.84Q
3 1077 Chris O'Hare SO Tulsa 3:43.03Q
4 1119 Matthew Gibney SR Villanova 3:43.06Q
5 931 Jeremy Rae SO Notre Dame 3:43.35Q
6 625 Darius Terry JR Arizona State 3:44.46q
7 932 Johnathan Shawel JR Notre Dame 3:44.82q
9 803 Don Wasinger JR Kansas 3:57.85 - advanced
--- 616 Abdi Hassan JR Arizona DNF - advanced
 

Quick Thought About Saturday's Final: Coming into NCAAs, we really thought Dorian Ulrey or Matt Centrowitz would win and we still think it will come down to those two. Of course Miles Batty, who was the indoor champ as well as the outdoor seasonal leader, and maybe a few others can't be 100% ruled out, but the semifinals did nothing to alter what we thought about this race before NCAAs began.

The edge still belongs to Ulrey in our minds. His PR is faster; he's already an NCAA champion (indoor 3,000 in 2010), and he's a senior, whereas Centrowitz is a junior.

1:54 PM: Women's Steeplechase Final: Emma Coburn Should Arrive As An NCAA Champion

Final Participants
Heat 1 Preliminaries
1 529 Stephanie Garcia SR Virginia 10:00.27Q
2 106 Shalaya Kipp SO Colorado 10:02.09Q
3 135 Genevieve LaCaze JR Florida 10:04.68Q
4 356 Claire Michel SR Oregon 10:06.63Q
5 209 Rebeka Stowe JR Kansas 10:07.90Q
6 431 Katie Hursey JR Syracuse 10:09.30Q
Heat 2 Preliminaries
1 105 Emma Coburn JR Colorado 10:00.43Q
2 391 Nicol Traynor JR Richmond 10:02.94Q
3 98 Alyssa Kulik JR Clemson 10:03.23Q
4 215 Martina Tresch SO Kansas State 10:03.50Q
5 384 Ashley Higginson SR Princeton 10:03.63Q
6 362 Melanie Thompson FR Oregon 10:03.74Q
7 175 Chantelle SR Illinois 10:04.00q
8 186 Sarah Pease SR Indiana 10:05.89q
                            

Quick Thought About Saturday's Final: Considering hers seasonal best is 12.61 seconds better than anyone else in the field, the final should be a coronation for Emma Coburn. That being said, the prelims were eerily similar as in both the winners ran 10:00, whereas second was 10:02. UVA's Stephanie Garcia can't be 100% ruled out, but it would be the upset of the meet on the distance side if Coburn doesn't win.

2:21 PM: Men's 5,000 Final: Can Leonard Korir Complete The Double?

2010 NCAA Results
1 David McNeill JR N. Arizona 13:44.81 10
2 Sam Chelanga JR Liberty 13:45.35 8
3 Andrew Bumbalough SR Georgetown 13:46.17 6
4 Chris Derrick SO Stanford 13:49.11 5
5 William Mulherin SO VA Tech 13:50.76 4
6 Donn Cabral SO Princeton 13:53.33 3
7 Ryan Hill FR NC State 13:53.99 2
8 Jordan McNamara SR Oregon 13:54.30 1

2011 Indoor Results
1 Leonard Korir JR Iona 13:26.01
2 Sam Chelanga SR Liberty 13:27.34
3 Stephen Sambu JR Arizona 13:28.48
4 Diego Estrada SO Northern Arizona 13:29.01
5 Elliott Heath JR Stanford 13:34.54 4
6 Kevin Schwab SO Oklahoma 13:36.14
7 Maverick Darling SO Wisconsin 13:36.65
8 Chris Derrick SO Stanford 13:36.87

(Note: 2011 NCAA Outdoor Top Times are shown at the bottom of this preview)

The final mid-d or distance final of the 2011 NCAA championships will be the men's 5,000. Many of the top entrants will be doubling back from the 10,000 and thanks to the lightning delay, they will have a lot less recovery time. The top two placers from indoors in Korir and Chelanga will be doubling back, as will Elliott Heath and Chris Derrick.

Chelanga isn't reallly a 5,000 guy, so we don't think he'll win. There is no logical reason why someone who got blown away by Korir in the 10,000 would win the 5,000 a day later. The same logic applies to Chris Derrick and anyone else coming back from the 10,000. Given the fact that a lot of the top guys will be tired, it seems that the pace might dawdle a bit and that would play into the hands of the kickers, so the prospects of Elliott Heath could go way, way up. Except Heath himself is also coming back from the 10,000. If Heath were fresh for this, we'd probably pick him to win. In hindsight since he only ended up 11th in the 10,000, wondering why he ran the 10,000 on Friday is beyond us except for career development, as in the long term, we think him training for the 10,000 is great.

As a result, the prospects of Diego Estrada look a lot brighter. He's one of two sub-13:30 guys from this year that will be fresh for this race. In addition to Estrada, Thomas Farrell of Oklahoma State, who has run 13:26.59 and sits at #2 on the NCAA descending order list, is also racing. Pac 10 runner-up Lawi Lalang can't be discounted either but after watching Korir shine in the 10,000, it's hard to see him losing on Saturday but it's also hard to know how he'll feel doubling back.

LRC Prediction: Korir completes the double. We have no guess as to who will be 2nd. Lalang then Estrada?

1 Heath, Elliott SR-4 Stanford 13:26.14 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational 05/01/11 05/02/11
2 Farrell, Thomas SO-2 Oklahoma State 13:26.59 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational 05/01/11 05/02/11
3 Estrada, Diego JR-3 Northern Arizona 13:26.94 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational 05/01/11 05/02/11
4 Derrick, Chris JR-3 Stanford 13:29.74 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational 05/01/11 05/02/11
5 Hill, Ryan SO-2 North Carolina St. 13:31.67 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational 05/01/11 05/02/11
6 Sambu, Stephen JR-3 Arizona 13:34.19 53rd Annual Mt. SAC Relays 04/14/11 04/17/11
7 Bosshard, Joe SO-2 Colorado 13:34.57 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational 05/01/11 05/02/11
8 Lalang, Lawi FR-1 Arizona 13:34.62 53rd Annual Mt. SAC Relays 04/14/11 04/17/11
9 Fraser, Rory SR-4 New Mexico 13:39.37 53rd Annual Mt. SAC Relays 04/14/11 04/17/11
10 Riley, Jake SR-4 Stanford 13:39.49 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational 05/01/11 05/02/11



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