2012 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship Mile and 800 Recaps

By LetsRun.com
March 9, 2012

The 2012 NCAA Track and Field Championships came to an end in Boise, Idaho and the Oregon women and Florida men both three-peated with the team titles.

We recap the mid distance events below, the men's and women's miles and 800ms. To read about the 3000ms click here.

Men's Mile: Chris O'Hare Puts on an Exhibition

Tulsa's Chris O'Hare ran like a pro here leading wire to wire to get his first NCAA title.

The pace was slow at 809 meters (2:05.86) and gradually from there O'Hare tightened the screws all the way to the finish. 30.99, then 29.67, then 28.24 with a lap to go. O'Hare still had 8 guys right behind him at the bell (within 5 meters) including NCAA record holder in the mile, Miles Batty in second. O'Hare wasn't done yet as he had masterfully left something in reserve and ran 26.91 the final lap for the win. Richard Peters of BU closed a little bit faster the last lap (26.70), but O'Hare was able to hold him off.

Quick Thoughts: Wire to Wire is impressive. O'Hare is a great front runner and knows how to squeeze down the pace. This race was very similar to last year's where O'Hare led from 600m to the final straight away where Miles Batty overtook him. Here O'Hare had just a little more in reserve to hold off Peters.

Front running in the mile is easier indoors than out because the short straight aways make passing harder.

Batty got two NCAA titles last year (mile and DMR). This year he has the NCAA indoor mile record but no NCAA titles. We bet he'd trade the record for a title.

 1 Chris O'Hare JR Tulsa 4:01.66   10       
 2 Rich Peters SO Boston U. 4:01.78        
 3 Miles Batty SR BYU 4:01.86        
 4 Sam McEntee SO Villanova 4:01.91          
 5 Andrew Bayer JR Indiana 4:02.13          
 6 Peter Callahan JR Princeton 4:02.66          
 7 Erik van Ingen SR Binghamton 4:02.70          
 8 Raul Botezan JR Oklahoma State 4:02.90          
 9 David McCarthy SR Providence 4:04.05            
 10 Kirubel Erassa SO Oklahoma State 4:04.36            
 11 Robby Creese FR Penn State 4:11.45            

*Splits

Women's Mile: Lucy Van Dalen Gets NCAA Title #1 as Jordan Hasay Leads All But the Final Stretch

Last year's NCAA indoor meet was Jordan Hasay's coming out party as she won the 3000m and the mile and got 2nd in the DMR.

This year being an Olympic year, Hasay skipped the DMR so she was fresh for the mile final.

Hasay took the lead on the first lap and would maintain it until the final straight. At the bell 5 women were still in contention. Coming off the final turn there were three, Hasay, Lucy Van Dalen of Stony Brook and Aisha Praught of Illinois State.

Hasay was leading but starting to run out of steam as Van Dalen was trying to come up on the outside of Hasay. Hasay started drifting out and that left an opening for Praught on the inside. Praught snuck by and on the inside as their was contact with Hasay, but Van Dalen was too good on the outside and she was able to beat Praught to the line. Hasay settled for third as her teammate Becca Friday moved up to fourth.

Quick Thoughts: Lucy Van Dalen had the top seed of the entrants and got the victory which is easier said than done.

Aisha who? Last year Praught was a steeplechase who was running 4:31 for 1500m, not the mile. Now she's nearly winning NCAAs. She didn't even qualify for the meet until she won last week's last chance meet at Notre Dame. Well done.


Passing on the Inside

Becca Friday had the best final 200m by 1.5 seconds as she blasted a 31.11.  She must be wondering "What if I had just stayed a bit closer?"

1 Lucy Van Dalen SR Stony Brook 4:39.76   10       
 2 Aisha Praught SR Illinois State 4:39.85        
 3 Jordan Hasay JR Oregon 4:40.09        
 4 Becca Friday JR Oregon 4:40.24          
 5 Morgane Gay JR Virginia 4:40.62          
 6 Hannah Brooks SR Florida State 4:40.96          
 7 Agata Strausa SO Florida 4:41.74          
 8 Kristen Gillespie SR Arkansas 4:42.62          
 9 Shannon Osika FR Michigan 4:45.53            
 10 Anne Kesselring JR Oregon 4:47.66            

*Splits

Men's 800m: Mason McHenry Runs His Best When it Matters

Mason McHenry of Arizona State brought his "A" game to NCAAs and he left with an unexpected NCAA title.

In the prelims yesterday he ran 1:47.87, just .01 off of his pr to win his heat. In the final he stalked front runner Michael Preble of Texas A&M, passed Preble with 100m to go and held Preble off to get the title in 1:47.96.

Quick Thoughts: We miss you Robby Andrews.


Run Your Best When It Counts

 1 Mason McHenry SR Arizona State 1:47.96     10       
 2 Michael Preble SR Texas A&M 1:48.11          
 3 Erik Sowinski SR Iowa 1:48.93          
 4 Aaron Evans SR Georgia 1:48.95          
 5 Patrick Schoenball FR Baylor 1:49.25          
 6 David Pachuta SR Minnesota 1:49.47          
 7 Sean Obinwa SO Florida 1:49.52          
 8 Ricky West JR Missouri 1:49.75          

Women's 800m: BYU's Nachelle Mackie Keeps It in the Family

Two time NCAA champion and BYU senior Lacey Bleazard did not qualify for the meet but her teammate Nachele Mackie did a good job of imitating Bleazard as Mackie like Bleazard last year went wire to wire for the win.

Mackie was clearly best in this one as she won by over a second. For most of the race she was followed by her teammate Katie Palmer. Palmer rigged up the final straight and Natalja Piliusina of Oklahoma State moved up well from fourth to second on the final straight.

Quick Thoughts: BYU has 3 of the last 4 800m titles. Impressive.

1 Nachelle Mackie JR BYU 2:03.30   10       
 2 Natalja Piliusina SO Oklahoma State 2:04.48          
 3 Katie Palmer SR BYU 2:04.56          
 4 Kathy Klump SR Cincinnati 2:04.70          
 5 Heather Wilson SR Connecticut 2:05.19          
 6 Boglarka Bozzay SR Kansas State 2:06.00          
 7 Charlene Lipsey JR LSU 2:06.44          
 8 Rebecca Addison JR Michigan 2:08.62          

Team Title: Oregon Women Dominate for Three Peat

Oregon crushed the competition. English Gardner (60m) and Brianne Theisen (pentathlon) got individual wins. Jordan Hasay with an off meet still scored the most points 11.

*More from GoDucks.com

1 Oregon 49.00
 2 Kansas 30.00
 3 LSU 27.00
 4 Texas 25.00
 5 Arkansas 24.00
 5 Texas A&M 24.00
 5 Clemson 24.00
 8 UCF 23.00
 9 Florida 22.00
 10 Iowa State 21.00

Men's Team Title: Florida ThreePeats

Jeff Demps three peated in the 60 and so did the Florida team as Tony McQuay won the 400 in 45.77 and Omar Craddock won the triple jump. Florida won despite Gray Horn, who was supposed to win the heptathlon, getting injured in pole vault warm ups. Arkansas won the 4x400 to make it close.
*More from Gatorzone.com

1 Florida 52.00
 2 Arkansas 47.00
 3 Arizona 41.00
 4 Arizona State 31.00
 5 LSU 27.00
 6 Indiana 25.00
 7 Texas 22.50
 8 Texas A&M 22.00
 8 Virginia Tech 22.00
 8 Florida State 22.00

More NCAAs:

LRC 3ks Chris Derrick Pushes Lawi Lalang to the Line, Emily Infeld Wins Her First Title Friday night, Chris Derrick won accolades for coming within 1.7 seconds of beatin Lawi Lalang. Derrick did even better on Saturday night coming within .17 seconds. In the end, Derrick's efforts weren't enough as Lalang completed the double. In the women's 3000m Emily Infeld won a four sprint around the final bend over among others Jordan Hasay. Hasay's Ducks were so good they would have won the team title if she had stayed in Oregon. (More coming)

 More From
 Saturday: Beach Wins Hep with 6138 points and 2:23.63 1000!
*Brits go 1 & 2 in NCAA men's mile

Friday:
LRC 5,000s: Chris Derrick Puts Up A Brave Fight In 5,000m As Lawi Lalang Wins The Title, Betsy Saina Holds Off Deborah Maier Chris Derrick may not have won the men's 5,000m on Friday night but he earned a lot of people's respect with the way he challenged the fastest-ever 5,000m runner in the NCAAs, Lawi Lalang. In the end, Lalang had too much the final 200. On the women's side, Betsy Saina got her first NCAA title despite a tough challenge from Deborah Maier.
O
TB: Chris Derrick... WHAT A RUN!!!!!! *CMON DERICK, DO IT FOR AMERICA!!! *Debbie Maier is Rockin it!

LRC DMRs: Notre Dame Surprises And Katie Flood Lives Up To The Hype To Get Washington The Title Notre Dame's Jeremy Rae holds off IU's Andy Bayer and BYU's Miles Batty to get the win. Katie Flood runs fastest women's mile of the day to get Washington the win over Oregon, Dartmouth, and Georgetown.

Note: All Photos from ESPN3.com broadcast


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