Official 2025 NCAA Regionals Discussion Thread - Any surprises?

C/M Runner wrote:

C/M Runner wrote:

NCAA 10km finalists (in order of NCAA rank):

Evan KURUI (Wash State [SO]), NCAA Rank 1; W region, finish 5

Habtom SAMUEL (New Mexico [SO]), NCAA Rank 2; W region, finish 2
Ishmael KIPKURUI (New Mexico [FR]), NCAA Rank 3; W region, finish 1
Dylan SCHUBERT (Furman [SR]), NCAA Rank 4; E region, finish 1
Ernest CHERUIYOT (TX Tech [SO]), NCAA Rank 5; W region, finish 3
Dismus LOKIRA (Alabama [FR]), NCAA Rank 6; E region, finish 6
David MULLARKEY (No. Arizona [SR]), NCAA Rank 9; W region, finish 7
Rodgers KIPLIMO (IA State [JR]), NCAA Rank 10; W region, finish 8
Drew BOSLEY (No. Arizona [SR]), NCAA Rank 12; W region, finish 6
Timothy CHESONDIN (Arkansas [SO]), NCAA Rank 14; W region, finish 12
Dennis KIPRUTO (Alabama [SO]), NCAA Rank 17; E region, finish 3
Denis KIPNGETICH (OK State [SO]), NCAA Rank 20; W region, finish 4
Joey NOKES (BYU [SR]), NCAA Rank 22; W region, finish 10
Creed THOMPSON (BYU [JR]), NCAA Rank 27; W region, finish 11
Ethan COLEMAN (Notre Dame [JR]), NCAA Rank 33; E region, finish 7
Shane BROSNAN (Harvard [SO]), NCAA Rank 39; E region, finish 12
Sam LAWLER (Syracuse [SR]), NCAA Rank 45; E region, finish 8
Cole SPROUT (Stanford [SR]), NCAA Rank 50; W region, finish 9
Murphy SMITH (Navy [SR]), NCAA Rank 61; E region, finish 9
Victor KIPROP (Alabama [SR]), NCAA Rank 68; E region, finish 2
Dylan THROOP (Penn [SR]), NCAA Rank 74; E region, finish 10
Bernard CHERUIYOT (Tulane [FR]), NCAA Rank 82; E region, finish 4
Ben ROSA (Harvard [SR]), NCAA Rank 86; E region, finish 5
William ZEGARSKI (Butler [SO]), NCAA Rank 106; E region, finish 11

And now, for the women:
NCAA 10km finalists (in order of NCAA ranking)

Pamela KOSGEI, (New Mexico [FR]), NCAA Rank 1; W Region, finish 1
Grace HARTMAN, (NC State [JR]), NCAA Rank 2; E Region, finish 1
Diana CHEROTICH, (Oregon [FR]), NCAA Rank 3; W Region, finish 2
Paityn NOE, (Arkansas [SO]), NCAA Rank 4; W Region, finish 4
Jadyn KEELER, (North Dakota [JR]), NCAA Rank 6; W Region, finish 5
Chloe SCRIMGEOUR, (Georgetown [SR]), NCAA Rank 7; E Region, finish 4
Joy NAUKOT, (West Virginia [FR]), NCAA Rank 8; E Region, finish 8
Edna CHELULEI, (E. Kentucky [FR]), NCAA Rank 10; E Region, finish 7
Florence CARON, (Penn State [JR]), NCAA Rank 13; E Region, finish 2
Rosina MACHU, (Gonzaga [JR]), NCAA Rank 14; W Region, finish 3
Morgan JENSEN, (Utah [SR]), NCAA Rank 16; W Region, finish 8
Sadie SIGFSTEAD, (Villanova [JR]), NCAA Rank 17; E Region, finish 10
Brenda JEPCHIRCHIR, (Auburn [FR]), NCAA Rank 18; E Region, finish 12
Ruth WHITE, (New Hampshire [FR]), NCAA Rank 25; E Region, finish 6
Sydney THORVALDSON, (Arkansas [SR]), NCAA Rank 27; W Region, finish 9
Ruth KIMELI, (Baylor [SO]), NCAA Rank 28; W Region, finish 10
Ali WEIMER, (Minnesota [SO]), NCAA Rank 30; W Region, finish 6
Mckaylie CAESAR, (Utah [SR]), NCAA Rank 31; W Region, finish 7
Brenda TUWEI, (Alabama [JR]), NCAA Rank 35; E Region, finish 5
Hilda OLEMOMOI, (Florida [JR]), NCAA Rank 36; E Region, finish 3
Jenny SCHILLING, (Virginia [SR]), NCAA Rank 37; E Region, finish 9
Logan HOFSTEE, (Gonzaga [FR]), NCAA Rank 38; W Region, finish 11
Edna CHEPKEMOI, (LSU [FR]), NCAA Rank 83; E Region, finish 11
Josphine MWAURA, (OK State [SO]), NCAA Rank 98; W Region, finish 12

I feel like not as many surprises for the women compared to the men, as the men had more qualifiers who were ranked 50th or above (7 out of 24) compared with the women (2 out of 24)

Negativeballknowledge wrote:

G049 wrote:

A few distance related notes as of Friday morning:

EAST

- I'm looking forward to seeing how Michigan Sophomore Trent McFarland fares in the East Semifinals. He has been battling the big dogs in the BIG 10 all Winter and Spring and has shown he has a great kick in addition to some well-rounded 800m-10k XC range. We'll see how he fares against top guys in Gary Martin, Ethan Strand, Abel Teffra, Liam Murphy, etc.

- Dylan Schubert has a genuine chance of breaking up the East African tirade in the Men's 10000m at Nationals. He had a solid close against the three Kenyans from Alabama and the Kenyan Bernard Cheruiyot Tulane. The West Region is 100% more stacked in this event but I believe that Schubert might produce some Nationals magic once again.

- Some of the guys who qualified for the East 800m Semifinal ran PRs, including True Freshman Camerin Williams from High Point, Sophomore Andrew Magnum from Indiana, and Senior Joseph Patterson from Louisiana. I'd expect the final heats to either be from the gun fast or fast but tactical enough to prevent those guys from making anything special happen.

WEST

- A lot of interesting names missed out on the 1500m West Semifinal, including some quick milers in Iowa State Junior Emmanuel Galindo, Colorado Junior Isaiah Givens, and Washington Junior Ronan McMahon-Staggs. Most of the favorites are still in, but there is a good chance we will see some possible surprises. If I had two dark horses to qualify, they'd be Bradley Senior Jack Crull and California Senior Garrett MacQuiddy (who is mainly just an unknown name)

- The 800m West First Round was about what was to be expected. The top dogs hit their times and places and most of them cruised in well enough. The semifinals are going to shape up to be interesting and highly likely to be unpredictable, especially depending on who ends up in the last heat.

- The West Regional 10k was practically a Pre-Nationals meet for all of those guys, especially considering the top five finishers were prominent in the Indoor 5000m. I'd expect the New Mexico duo to come back and run a solid double. Freshman Kenyan phenom Ishamel Kipkurui did win but I'm not sure if Habtom Samuel let that happen or not, I still haven't seen the race video.

Macquiddy is not an unknown name he was ACC silver medalist and has already made NCAAs before