The Rest of The Meet: Molly Seidel Continues To Roll, Chaos In The Men’s 800 and Katrina Coogan Kicks Georgetown To Women’s DMR Title

by LetsRun.com
March 11, 2016

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Day 1 of the 2016 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships is in the books. We recapped Edward Cheserek‘s amazing day 1 separately here: LRC The Legend of King Cheserek Grows Even Bigger – Edward Cheserek Wins Two More NCAA Titles Thanks To 3:52 DMR Anchor Less than 35 Minutes After 5000 Win.

Below we recap the rest of the meet.

Women’s 5000: Molly Seidel Racks Up Her Third NCAA Title In A Near Collegiate Record

The women’s 5000 at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships was hyped as an epic rematch between NCAA XC champion Molly Seidel of Notre Dame and Boise State’s freshman phenom and NCAA XC runner-up, Allie Ostrander. However, that duel would never materialize as Ostrander dropped out just after two miles due to knee pain, which according to peninsulaclarion.com and ESPN3 said had knocked her out of training for two weeks.

Instead, we had a battle between Seidel and Michigan’s Erin Finn as well as near NCAA history with Seidel running 15:15.21, missing the 15:12.22 collegiate record by just under three seconds (note that Jenny Barringer ran 15:01.70 on an oversized track indoors). Quick takes, results and interviews below. Lap-by-lap splits here.

Place Athlete Affiliation Time
1 Molly Seidel JR Notre Dame 15:15.21
2 Erin Finn SO Michigan 15:23.16
3 Chelsea Blaase SR Tennessee 15:42.47
4 Anna Rohrer FR Notre Dame 15:54.53
5 Erika Kemp SO NC State 15:58.00
6 Sharon Lokedi SO Kansas 15:58.61
7 Hannah Everson SR Air Force 16:04.37
8 Courtney Smith SO Harvard 16:04.86
9 Ednah Kurgat SO Liberty 16:07.18
10 Liv Westphal SR Boston College 16:11.92
11 Tessa Barrett FR Penn State 16:25.94
12 Sarah Collins JR Providence 16:33.96
13 Tori Gerlach SR Penn State 16:45.56
14 Molly Grabill SR Oregon 16:51.25
Christina Melian JR Stony Brook DNF
Allie Ostrander FR Boise State DNF

Quick Take #1: A Super Impressive Run By Molly Seidel

Seidel, a former Foot Locker champion, has really made a name for herself in the NCAA history books over the last nine months. At this time last year she was a victim of the “Foot Locker curse” who had struggled to find great success in the college ranks, but now less than a year later she is a three-time NCAA champion and sits #3 on the all-time indoor 5,000 list.

Post-race she said that with the level of talent she thought her best chance to win was to “lead from the front and break people” and didn’t seem concerned about recovering from the effort for the 3,000 tomorrow. When we asked if the NCAA record was on her mind at all, she was actually completely unaware of it and said she was just focused on competing. Pushed further, she admitted that if she had known she was that close to the record she might have been able to find a few more seconds. Seidel unfortunately ended up missing two records tonight as she was 2.99 seconds off Emily Sisson‘s collegiate record and 1.03 seconds off Kim Smith‘s NCAA meet record. This was Seidel’s last collegiate indoor 5,000, so Sisson’s record will remain safe for now.

Quick Take #2: A Gutsy Run By Erin Finn

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Erin Finn definitely deserves some props for her runner-up finish today. Coming in, her best time this year was 18 seconds slower than Seidel’s, but she didn’t shy away from the fast early pace. She ran tough, sticking with Seidel up until the last 1000m and ended up breaking her indoor PR by 14 seconds (and her outdoor PR by three seconds). Post-race she said that she “wanted to ride the pain train and grind it out” and knew that sticking on Seidel could bring her to a PR and give her a shot at a win if she had something left at the end. She said “you always want to win,” but she couldn’t be disappointed with a big PR and second in the nation.

Quick Take #3: What Happened To Allie Ostrander?

The talk coming into the women’s NCAA 5,000 was about the great duel we would see between Seidel and Allie Ostrander. The only two collegians Seidel or Ostrander had lost to this year were each other in XC and they had run very similar performances coming in (Seidel’s 15:19 to Ostrander’s 15:21). However, unbeknownst to us and most of the running world, Ostrander has been dealing with a knee injury and hadn’t run for the two weeks leading up to this meet.

The first major blip in Ostrander's amazing freshman campaign The first major blip in Ostrander’s amazing freshman campaign

When she stepped off the track she was clearly distressed as she was crying and was holding her leg. We haven’t heard anything official and she still appears on the start lists, but we have to assume that she will scratch from tomorrow’s 3,000.

We hope that Ostrander won’t dwell too much on this disappointment. She’s had a phenomenal freshman campaign so far and will have plenty more NCAA championships to run.

Quick Take #4: 25 Laps On An Indoor Track Can Be Mind-Numbing

There was a bit of an embarrassing moment at the end of the race for Liberty’s Ednah Kurgat and Penn State’s Tessa Barrett, the 2013 Foot Locker champ. The two were in 5th and 6th going into their final lap, but stopped there only having run 4,800m. Coaches and spectators just off the track were screaming at them to get back into the race and Kurgat did, taking 46.73 seconds to finish her final 200m. Barrett on the other hand was on the ground and took a while before she realized her blunder, so took over a minute (1:04.42) for her final lap including the stopped time.

Much more seasoned athletes than an NCAA sophomore and freshman have miscounted laps indoors, so hopefully these two will laugh it off and use it as a learning experience. Still, they finished 9th and 11th when they could have been top-8 — first team All-Americans — so it’s a shame to see them miss that over a silly mistake.

Women’s DMR: Katrina Coogan Kicks Georgetown To Title

Coming into the women’s DMR, we expected it to be a battle between Georgetown and Stanford and that’s exactly what we got. In the regular season, Stanford edged Georgetown but tonight Georgetown was the winner thanks to the 4:33.94 anchor leg from Katrina Coogan – daughter of Olympians Mark and Gwynneth Coogan.

GUHoyas.com has more on the race here. Results and our post-race interview with the Hoyas appear below.

Section  1  
  1 Georgetown                                       10:54.77   10:57.21F  10   
     1) Andrea Keklak SR                2) Heather Martin SR              
     3) Emma Keenan SO                  4) Katrina Coogan SR              
       3:24.103 (3:24.103)          4:18.142 (54.040)        6:23.267 (2:05.125)
      10:57.209 (4:33.943)
  2 Washington                                       11:04.14   10:58.52F   8   
     1) Baylee Mires SR                 2) Krista Armstead SR             
     3) Eleanor Fulton SR               4) Maddie Meyers SR               
       3:23.456 (3:23.456)          4:18.758 (55.303)        6:24.290 (2:05.533)
      10:58.517 (4:34.228)
  3 Stanford                                         10:54.58   10:58.94F   6   
     1) Elise Cranny SO                 2) Kristyn Williams SR            
     3) Malika Waschmann JR             4) Rebecca Mehra JR               
       3:24.037 (3:24.037)          4:16.811 (52.774)        6:23.057 (2:06.247)
      10:58.936 (4:35.880)
  4 Michigan                                         10:58.25   10:59.05F   5   
     1) Jaimie Phelan SO                2) Maya Long SR                   
     3) Danielle Pfeifer SR             4) Shannon Osika SR               
       3:23.789 (3:23.789)          4:17.965 (54.177)        6:24.423 (2:06.458)
      10:59.046 (4:34.624)
  5 Arkansas                                         11:05.19   10:59.22F   4   
     1) Nikki Hiltz SO                  2) Daina Harper JR                
     3) Therese Haiss JR                4) Jessica Kamilos SR             
       3:23.773 (3:23.773)          4:16.938 (53.165)        6:23.296 (2:06.358)
      10:59.211 (4:35.915)
  6 Notre Dame                                       11:00.73   11:01.86F   3   
     1) Jessica Harris SO               2) Parker English SO              
     3) Jamie Marvil JR                 4) Danielle Aragon SR             
       3:24.732 (3:24.732)          4:19.514 (54.783)        6:27.197 (2:07.683)
      11:01.859 (4:34.662)
  7 Oregon                                           11:03.61   11:05.96F   2   
     1) Lilli Burdon FR                 2) Ashante Horsley JR             
     3) Annie Leblanc SR                4) Ashley Maton SR                
       3:26.983 (3:26.983)          4:21.871 (54.888)        6:25.230 (2:03.360)
      11:05.953 (4:40.723)
  8 Clemson                                          11:00.44   11:12.68F   1   
     1) Kaley Ciluffo FR                2) Deja Parrish SO                
     3) Ersula Farrow FR                4) Grace Barnett SO               
       3:27.140 (3:27.140)          4:20.521 (53.382)        6:27.766 (2:07.245)
      11:12.673 (4:44.907)
  9 Oklahoma State                                   11:01.15   11:13.08F 
     1) Molly Sughroue FR               2) Danielle Coleman SO            
     3) Clara Nichols SR                4) Anna Boyert                    
       3:28.115 (3:28.115)          4:24.507 (56.393)        6:29.321 (2:04.814)
      11:13.077 (4:43.757)
 10 LSU                                              11:05.34   11:23.22F 
     1) Hollie Parker FR                2) Travia Jones JR                
     3) Hannah Deworth SO               4) Morgan Schuetz JR              
       3:28.539 (3:28.539)          4:22.749 (54.210)        6:32.944 (2:10.196)
      11:23.219 (4:50.275)
 11 Duke                                             11:04.27   11:24.47F 
     1) Kim Hallowes FR                 2) Madeline Price SO              
     3) Madeline Kopp JR                4) Olivia Anderson SR             
       3:29.297 (3:29.297)          4:23.077 (53.780)        6:34.362 (2:11.285)
      11:24.462 (4:50.100)
 12 New Mexico                                       11:01.86   11:30.67F 
     1) Emily Hosker-Thornhill SR       2) Holly VanGrinsven SR           
     3) Zoe Howell SR                   4) Calli Thackery JR              
       3:29.911 (3:29.911)          4:26.507 (56.596)        6:41.467 (2:14.960)
      11:30.669 (4:49.202)

Kendell Williams Wins Pentathlon In An NCAA Record For 2nd Straight Year

The pentathlon showdown between Kendell Williams of Georgia and Akela Jones of Kansas State certainly was entertaining. On the first event, Jones tripped on the final hurdle and basically was eliminated from 1st place consideration after her 540-point, 10.98-second clocking.

Jones didn’t wallow in self-pity however as in the very next event, she put up the highest high jump in NCAA history, 6’6” (1.98 m). Yes, the highest jump ever – not just the highest jump in pentathlon history. Then in the third event, she leapt 22’3.75” (6.80m) in the long jump to move herself into the top 10 all-time in NCAA indoor history.

And in the end, Jones scored zero points as she decided her body had had enough and dropped out in the 800.

Williams certainly didn’t let up once it was clear Jones wasn’t winning. Williams became the first collegian to break the 4700 barrier as she broke her 4678 mark from last year. Full multi results are here.

Post-Race interview with Williams.

Post-Race interview with Jones.

If you thought Jones would be despondent after dropping out of the multi, think again. She thinks she proved herself to be a champion by battling back from her hurdles mishap to record spectacular high and long jumps.

https://soundcloud.com/letsrun-com/akela-jones-talks-after-2016-ncaa-indoor-meet

A New NCAA Meet Record of 6.50 In The Men’s 60 For Cameron Burrell

Cameron Burrell, a University of Houston junior who is the son of former 100m world record holder Leroy Burrell (9.90), set a new NCAA meet record of 6.50m in the men’s 60 prelims.

That mark is a .05 pb for Burrell and it bettered Richard Thompson’s 6.51 meet record by .01. Thompson ran 6.51 in 2008 – the year he won the Olympic silver at 100m.

We caught up with Burrell after the race.

Men’s Mile: No Big Names Go Out As Jonah Koech And Blake Haney Win Their Heats

There weren’t any major casualties in the heats of the men’s mile as all the big names we mentioned in our preview advanced to Saturday’s final. There was a waiting game however for Oregon’s #6 seed, Sam Prakel who finished 5th in the first heat in 4:07.76 after that race went out in a pedestrian 2:12 for the first 800, but he still managed to make it to the final as the second heat went even slower, proving once again that every single miler thinks he can kick.

Heat 1: After a very tactical first 800m (65 at 400, 2:12 at 800), UTEP’s Jonah Koech came through with the win in 4:07.50 closing in a quick 54.38 final 400. Just .01 behind him was Penn’s Thomas Awad, who came back from 5th in the final lap, and Virginia’s Henry Wynne. Boise State’s David Elliott took the final auto qualifying spot with 4:07.59 leaving Sam Prakel and Providence’s Julian Oakley to wait for the second heat.

Heat  1 Preliminaries
  1 Jonah Koech               FR UTEP                 3:58.13    4:07.50Q 
        31.311 (31.311)  1:06.021 (34.711)  1:39.867 (33.846)  2:12.545 (32.678)
      2:42.845 (30.300)  3:13.127 (30.283)  3:40.309 (27.182)  4:07.497 (27.189)
  2 Thomas Awad               SR Penn                 3:57.03    4:07.51Q  4:07.501
        31.469 (31.469)  1:05.865 (34.396)  1:40.055 (34.190)  2:12.950 (32.895)
      2:43.233 (30.284)  3:13.614 (30.381)  3:40.745 (27.131)  4:07.501 (26.757)
  3 Henry Wynne               JR Virginia             3:58.74    4:07.51Q  4:07.504
        31.564 (31.564)  1:05.666 (34.102)  1:39.891 (34.225)  2:12.321 (32.430)
      2:42.964 (30.644)  3:13.353 (30.390)  3:40.461 (27.109)  4:07.504 (27.043)
  4 David Elliott             SR Boise State          3:57.38    4:07.59Q 
        31.516 (31.516)  1:05.916 (34.401)  1:39.683 (33.767)  2:12.626 (32.943)
      2:43.067 (30.442)  3:13.061 (29.995)  3:40.351 (27.290)  4:07.586 (27.236)
  5 Sam Prakel                JR Oregon               3:57.95    4:07.76q 
        31.764 (31.764)  1:05.815 (34.051)  1:39.860 (34.045)  2:12.671 (32.811)
      2:43.176 (30.506)  3:13.230 (30.054)  3:40.502 (27.273)  4:07.752 (27.250)
  6 Julian Oakley             SR Providence           3:58.34    4:08.32q 
        31.357 (31.357)  1:05.591 (34.234)  1:39.619 (34.029)  2:12.491 (32.872)
      2:43.302 (30.812)  3:13.558 (30.256)  3:41.094 (27.536)  4:08.311 (27.218)
  7 Anass Zouhry              SR CSU Northridge       3:58.87    4:10.60  
        31.177 (31.177)  1:05.581 (34.404)  1:39.569 (33.989)  2:12.356 (32.788)
      2:42.931 (30.575)  3:13.323 (30.393)  3:40.783 (27.460)  4:10.591 (29.809)
  8 Joel Hubbard              JR Syracuse             3:58.43    4:11.91  
        31.681 (31.681)  1:06.186 (34.505)  1:40.028 (33.843)  2:12.776 (32.749)
      2:43.452 (30.676)  3:13.698 (30.246)  3:42.416 (28.718)  4:11.903 (29.488)

Heat 2: After the first heat’s tactical start, we thought for sure that the second would capitalize on that by running faster and guaranteeing the time qualifiers came from their race. However, the second heat was only marginally faster through 800 in 2:11 (thanks to a couple 33-second laps) and then didn’t close as fast with pre-meet favorite Blake Haney of Oregon winning it in 4:09.33.

Behind him, Syracuse’s Adam Palamar was 2nd (4:09.40), Oklahoma’s Jacob Burcham 3rd (4:09.46) and Cornell’s James Gowans nabbed the final auto spot in 4th (4:09.50). This meant that the two time qualifiers were Prakel and Oakley from the first heat. Georgetown’s Cole Williams was the top seed (#5) not to advance to the final as he finished last in the second heat (4:12.84). Results, quick takes and an interview with Awad below.

Heat  2 Preliminaries
  1 Blake Haney               SO Oregon               3:56.36    4:09.33Q 
        31.568 (31.568)  1:04.792 (33.225)  1:38.635 (33.844)  2:11.731 (33.096)
      2:42.973 (31.242)  3:14.006 (31.034)  3:42.245 (28.240)  4:09.328 (27.083)
  2 Adam Palamar              JR Syracuse             3:58.55    4:09.40Q 
        31.644 (31.644)  1:04.760 (33.117)  1:38.778 (34.018)  2:11.816 (33.039)
      2:42.909 (31.093)  3:14.136 (31.228)  3:42.292 (28.156)  4:09.398 (27.106)
  3 Jacob Burcham             JR Oklahoma             3:57.46    4:09.46Q 
        31.464 (31.464)  1:04.695 (33.231)  1:38.508 (33.813)  2:11.651 (33.144)
      2:42.818 (31.167)  3:13.953 (31.135)  3:42.445 (28.493)  4:09.457 (27.012)
  4 James Gowans              JR Cornell              3:58.24    4:09.50Q 
        31.904 (31.904)  1:05.004 (33.100)  1:38.792 (33.788)  2:11.714 (32.922)
      2:43.160 (31.447)  3:14.439 (31.280)  3:42.895 (28.456)  4:09.493 (26.598)
  5 Amos Bartelsmeyer         JR Georgetown           3:58.22    4:09.56  
        31.584 (31.584)  1:04.934 (33.351)  1:38.847 (33.913)  2:11.933 (33.086)
      2:43.088 (31.155)  3:14.220 (31.133)  3:42.646 (28.426)  4:09.557 (26.911)
  6 Dillon Maggard            SO Utah State           3:58.45    4:10.13  
        32.073 (32.073)  1:04.989 (32.916)  1:38.668 (33.680)  2:11.620 (32.953)
      2:42.699 (31.079)  3:13.929 (31.231)  3:42.534 (28.605)  4:10.121 (27.587)
  7 Rob Napolitano            JR Columbia             3:58.98    4:11.78  
        31.848 (31.848)  1:05.179 (33.331)  1:38.901 (33.723)  2:11.849 (32.948)
      2:42.926 (31.078)  3:14.171 (31.245)  3:43.166 (28.995)  4:11.778 (28.612)
  8 Cole Williams             SR Georgetown           3:57.88    4:12.84  
        31.720 (31.720)  1:05.220 (33.500)  1:39.069 (33.849)  2:12.118 (33.050)
      2:42.838 (30.720)  3:14.185 (31.348)  3:42.970 (28.785)  4:12.835 (29.865)

Quick Take #1: It’s worth noting that no one who made the mile final ran a leg on the DMR later in the evening so there are no excuses for tomorrow’s final. Pre-race we said Blake Haney was the favorite and winning his heat certainly didn’t do anything to convince us otherwise. Of course, he was just .23 from going home early as well as the heats were tight.

The other heat winner – UTEP’s Jonah Koech, also was impressive. Koech and Haney are both huge young talents. We imagine one of them is your champion tomorrow.

Quick Take #2: We have a brief interview with Penn’s Thomas Awad below. Awad said that his heat today didn’t go as he thought it would, but was happy with how he ran. Awad is really more of a 5000 runner so we asked him why he was in the mile here and he told us that his focus is training for the 5,000 at Outdoor NCAAs and ultimately the Olympic Trials, so running the mile indoors is about working on his speed and not getting burned out too early. Talking about the significant number of top pre-meet scratches in the mile (Edward Cheserek, Izaic Yorks, Justyn Knight, Sean McGorty) he said he wasn’t complaining and was happy to have a shot to win an NCAA title.

Awad had the fastest last 400 of anyone in the field tonight. He was the only guy under 54 (53.90). Another Ivy Leaguer, James Gowans of Cornell, had the fastest last 200 (26.60).

Women’s Mile: Elinor Purrier Shows Why She’s The Favorite Coming Away With The Fastest Time Of The Day

Like the men’s mile, the women’s mile didn’t have any major drama as the pre-race favorites all made the final. UNH’s Elinor Purrier was the top woman coming in and she remains our strong pick to win after she ran the fastest time today winning heat 2 in 4:36.15.

Heat 1: The race went out at a steady pace as Virginia Tech’s Shannon Morton (seeded 5th coming in) took the field through 68.82 at 409m and 2:19.74 at 809m. Morton would hold the lead until less than three laps to go, at which point the field started to go by. New Mexico’s Sophie Connor ended up getting the heat win in 4:37.67 with Clemson’s Grace Barnett, Oklahoma State’s Kaela Edwards and Georgetown’s Andrea Keklak taking the rest of the auto qualifying spots. Purdue’s Katie Hoevet was 5th and first out of the final while Morton ended up 6th.

Heat  1 Preliminaries
  1 Sophie Connor             SR New Mexico           4:36.37  F 4:37.67Q 
        34.160 (34.160)  1:09.215 (35.055)  1:44.899 (35.685)  2:20.286 (35.387)
      2:55.389 (35.104)  3:30.633 (35.245)  4:05.368 (34.735)  4:37.661 (32.294)
  2 Grace Barnett             SO Clemson              4:37.32  F 4:37.72Q 
        34.519 (34.519)  1:09.483 (34.965)  1:45.197 (35.715)  2:20.581 (35.385)
      2:55.770 (35.189)  3:31.419 (35.650)  4:05.707 (34.289)  4:37.720 (32.013)
  3 Kaela Edwards             JR Okla State           4:32.14  F 4:37.79Q 
        33.638 (33.638)  1:09.046 (35.409)  1:44.686 (35.640)  2:20.086 (35.400)
      2:55.427 (35.342)  3:30.919 (35.492)  4:05.511 (34.592)  4:37.784 (32.274)
  4 Andrea Keklak             SR Georgetown           4:33.24  F 4:37.87Q 
        33.526 (33.526)  1:08.911 (35.386)  1:44.496 (35.585)  2:19.861 (35.365)
      2:55.036 (35.175)  3:30.561 (35.525)  4:05.331 (34.771)  4:37.863 (32.532)
  5 Katie Hoevet              SR Purdue               4:36.53  F 4:38.41  
        33.831 (33.831)  1:09.086 (35.255)  1:44.739 (35.654)  2:20.051 (35.313)
      2:55.189 (35.138)  3:30.616 (35.427)  4:05.563 (34.948)  4:38.405 (32.842)
  6 Shannon Morton            SR Virginia Tech        4:35.74  F 4:38.60  
        33.376 (33.376)  1:08.812 (35.436)  1:44.396 (35.585)  2:19.736 (35.340)
      2:54.950 (35.214)  3:30.775 (35.825)  4:05.734 (34.960)  4:38.596 (32.863)
  7 Frances Schmiede          JR Yale                 4:37.77  F 4:40.71  
        33.991 (33.991)  1:09.421 (35.430)  1:45.358 (35.937)  2:21.119 (35.761)
      2:57.080 (35.961)  3:33.069 (35.990)  4:08.099 (35.030)  4:40.705 (32.606)
  8 Jamie Stokes              SR Weber State          4:35.83    4:51.92  
        34.422 (34.422)  1:09.644 (35.222)  1:45.654 (36.010)  2:21.523 (35.870)
      2:58.006 (36.484)  3:35.473 (37.467)  4:13.678 (38.205)  4:51.916 (38.238)

Heat 2: The second heat was the Elinor Purier show as the #1 seed lead wire-to-wire, winning the heat in 4:36.15. Behind her, recent collegiate 1000m record setter Angel Piccirillo was 2nd in 4:36.25 and UMass Amherst’s Heather MacLean (who was the last woman into the meet) PR’d by over a second to take 3rd (4:36.55). The final auto spot went to Megan Moye of NC State, while Purrier’s rabbitting helped ND State’s Erin Teschuk and Washington’s Eleanor Fulton get the two time qualifying spots. Michigan senior Shannon Osika was the top woman not to advance to Saturday as she was seeded 5th coming in, but finished 7th here.

Heat  2 Preliminaries
  1 Elinor Purrier            SO New Hampshire        4:29.71  F 4:36.15Q 
        34.512 (34.512)  1:09.259 (34.748)  1:44.512 (35.254)  2:20.234 (35.722)
      2:55.116 (34.882)  3:30.308 (35.193)  4:03.713 (33.405)  4:36.150 (32.437)
  2 Angel Piccirillo          SR Villanova            4:36.00  F 4:36.25Q 
        34.577 (34.577)  1:09.396 (34.820)  1:44.631 (35.235)  2:20.342 (35.711)
      2:55.257 (34.916)  3:30.402 (35.145)  4:03.763 (33.362)  4:36.244 (32.481)
  3 Heather MacLean           JR UMass Amherst        4:37.80  F 4:36.55Q 
        34.820 (34.820)  1:09.654 (34.835)  1:44.784 (35.130)  2:20.592 (35.809)
      2:55.437 (34.845)  3:30.570 (35.133)  4:04.091 (33.521)  4:36.547 (32.457)
  4 Megan Moye                JR NC State             4:37.04  F 4:37.40Q 
        34.922 (34.922)  1:10.133 (35.211)  1:45.374 (35.241)  2:20.916 (35.542)
      2:56.062 (35.147)  3:31.131 (35.069)  4:05.157 (34.027)  4:37.398 (32.241)
  5 Erin Teschuk              SR ND State             4:34.00  F 4:37.47q 
        34.759 (34.759)  1:09.782 (35.023)  1:44.957 (35.176)  2:20.717 (35.760)
      2:55.559 (34.842)  3:30.333 (34.775)  4:04.589 (34.256)  4:37.469 (32.880)
  6 Eleanor Fulton            SR Washington           4:37.26  F 4:38.37q 
        34.597 (34.597)  1:09.922 (35.325)  1:45.106 (35.184)  2:20.855 (35.750)
      2:55.713 (34.859)  3:30.633 (34.920)  4:04.916 (34.283)  4:38.365 (33.450)
  7 Shannon Osika             SR Michigan             4:34.34  F 4:42.59  
        34.523 (34.523)  1:09.552 (35.030)  1:44.807 (35.255)  2:20.548 (35.742)
      2:55.791 (35.243)  3:30.882 (35.091)  4:05.322 (34.441)  4:42.587 (37.265)
  8 Iona Lake                 SR Virginia             4:36.11    4:48.11  
        35.082 (35.082)  1:09.969 (34.888)  1:45.288 (35.320)  2:21.307 (36.019)
      2:57.085 (35.779)  3:33.627 (36.542)  4:10.682 (37.055)  4:48.103 (37.422)

Quick Thought #1: No major updates from what we knew pre-race. Purrier entered the meet with a time two seconds faster than anyone else and backed that up by controlling her heat today. If the final is super tactical,which rarely happens in women’s races at the collegiate level, we’re not sure if her closing speed would get her the win. But she showed today that she’s not afraid to lead, so that might be her best bet for tomorrow.

We have an interview with Purrier below.

Men’s 800: Studs Donavan Brazier, Andres Arroyo And Isaiah Harris All Go Home Early

There might not have been any drama in the heats of the men’s and women’s miles, but the men’s 800 had more than enough to spare. Three of the top four seeds coming into the meet ended up going out as Florida’s Andres Arroyo (#3 seed) finished last in the first heat, Penn State’s freshman phenom Isaiah Harris (#4 seed) was the second man out on time and the NCAA leader and American junior record holder Donavan Brazier was a DNF.

Heat 1: BYU’s Shaquille Walker went to the front and lead the field through splits of 25.72, 52.58 and 1:19.75. But it was world semifinalist Clayton Murphy who had the best wheels at the end closing in 26.95 to take the heat in 1:46.92. Behind Murphy, Eliud Rutto was 2nd (1:47.27) and Walker 3rd (1:47.36). Both time qualifiers would also come from this heat with Monmouth’s Dylan Capwell and Wake Forest freshman Robert Heppenstall getting in on time. Behind the qualifiers, the third-ranked runner in the NCAA this year, Andres Arroyo finished last in 1:50.66.

Heat  1 Preliminaries
  1 Clayton Murphy            JR Akron                1:46.13  F 1:46.92Q 
        25.879 (25.879)    52.736 (26.857)  1:19.976 (27.240)  1:46.917 (26.941)
  2 Eliud Rutto               JR Mid. Tenn. State     1:46.87  F 1:47.27Q 
        26.448 (26.448)    52.897 (26.450)  1:20.221 (27.324)  1:47.262 (27.041)
  3 Shaquille Walker          JR BYU                  1:46.97  F 1:47.36Q 
        25.715 (25.715)    52.573 (26.858)  1:19.742 (27.170)  1:47.354 (27.613)
  4 Dylan Capwell             JR Monmouth             1:47.70  F 1:47.69q 
        25.967 (25.967)    52.977 (27.011)  1:20.571 (27.594)  1:47.686 (27.115)
  5 Robert Heppenstall        FR Wake Forest          1:47.35  F 1:47.91q 
        26.378 (26.378)    53.300 (26.923)  1:20.705 (27.405)  1:47.906 (27.201)
  6 Drew Piazza               JR New Hampshire        1:47.28  F 1:47.97q 
        26.148 (26.148)    53.170 (27.023)  1:20.577 (27.407)  1:47.969 (27.393)
  7 Jake Burton               JR Florida State        1:47.72    1:49.81  
        26.124 (26.124)    53.092 (26.968)  1:21.047 (27.956)  1:49.802 (28.755)
  8 Andres Arroyo             JR Florida              1:46.20    1:50.66  
        26.251 (26.251)    53.204 (26.954)  1:21.252 (28.048)  1:50.657 (29.406)

Heat 2: Texas A&M’s Hector Hernandez is known for taking every race out hard and running from the front and in that respect it was business as usual in the second heat of the men’s 800. Hernandez lead the field through splits of 25.11 for 200, 51.40 at 400 and 1:19.34 for 600. However, this is where things didn’t go according to form as the typical intrasquad battle with Donavan Brazier never happened and Hernandez won the the heat in 1:47.64. Brazier meanwhile dropped out on the third lap and could be seen grabbing his back indicating some kind of injury. Brazier didn’t speak to the media after the race but 12thman.com reported that “a sore back for Donavan Brazier prevented him from finishing the 800m prelim.”

So instead of a battle with Brazier, it was collegiate 1K record holder Brannon Kidder who finished second behind Hernandez in 1:47.76 and then Minnesota’s Goaner Deng took the last auto spot in 1:47.98.

Heat  2 Preliminaries
  1 Hector Hernandez          SR Texas A&M            1:46.32  F 1:47.64Q 
        25.106 (25.106)    51.396 (26.290)  1:19.334 (27.938)  1:47.631 (28.298)
  2 Brannon Kidder            SR Penn State           1:47.01  F 1:47.76Q 
        25.561 (25.561)    52.001 (26.441)  1:19.725 (27.724)  1:47.753 (28.028)
  3 Goaner Deng               SR Minnesota            1:47.13  F 1:47.98Q 
        25.272 (25.272)    52.103 (26.831)  1:20.054 (27.951)  1:47.973 (27.920)
  4 Joseph White              SO Georgetown           1:47.44    1:48.37  
        25.698 (25.698)    52.361 (26.664)  1:20.309 (27.948)  1:48.364 (28.055)
  5 Carlton Orange            FR Arkansas             1:47.38    1:49.04   q
        25.172 (25.172)    51.804 (26.633)  1:19.895 (28.091)  1:49.034 (29.139)
  6 Isaiah Harris             FR Penn State           1:46.24    1:49.08  
        25.205 (25.205)    52.084 (26.880)  1:20.142 (28.058)  1:49.072 (28.930)
  7 Will Teubel               SR Iowa                 1:47.74    1:49.73  
        25.876 (25.876)    52.682 (26.806)  1:21.075 (28.393)  1:49.724 (28.650)
 -- Donavan Brazier           FR Texas A&M            1:45.93        DNF  
        25.341 (25.341)    51.587 (26.247)

Quick Take #1: In our men’s 800 preview we said, “Forget winning the thing. Even making it to the final is a massive accomplishment against this field.” That statement ended up being truer than we could have ever predicted as three of the top names will be absent in Saturday’s final. However, it truly shows the depth of the men’s 800 in the NCAA that three of the top-4 ranked runners are out and there is still a good race on tap for tomorrow. The battle between Murphy, Rutto, Walker, Hernandez and Kidder should still be plenty to get track fans excited.

Quick Take #2: With Brazier out, Clayton Murphy is definitely our pick to win. He’s a world semifinalist, has had a solid season and looked smooth in qualifying today.

Post-race, Murphy said that he hasn’t raced in a while so felt like this was a good way to get the rust off for the final tomorrow. Talking about Hernandez’s tendency to take it out really fast, Murphy said, “If they want to go out faster than 51.5, then go ahead. I’m just going to hang around that 51.5-52.” We also asked Murphy if he had thought about doing the mile at NCAAs given his 3:57 earlier in the year. However, he said it wasn’t something he really ever considered as he has the most experience in the 800.

Quick Take #3: Interview with Hector Hernandez, who was surprised to hear that Brazier pulled up. He said he wasn’t aware of any issues with Brazier coming into the race.

Quick Take #4:  Interview with Andres Arroyo who was pleased with the progress he’s made this year but thinks he just had a bad race today.

Women’s 800: You Can Give Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers The Title Now

Oregon sophomore Raevyn Rogers sealed her place as the dominant favorite for the NCAA women’s indoor 800 title as she made it look ridiculously easy, winning her heat by more than a second in 2:03.13. Behind her most of the top women we expected to be in the fight for second place actually didn’t advance. Georgetown’s #2 ranked Sabrina Southerland, top returner from 2015 Olicia Williams of Baylor (3rd last year), and Stanford’s Claudia Saunders (second-fastest PB in the field) all failed to make to Saturday’s final.

Heat 1: Stanford’s Olivia Baker and Sabrina Southerland traded off the lead for the first 400 of 61.35, but were surpassed by Princeton’s Cecilia Barowski and Hampton’s Ce’aira Brown who finished 1-2 in 2:04.44 and 2:04.72. Baker held on for the final auto qualifying spot in 3rd (2:04.73), but Southerland faded to 6th. Top returner Olicia Williams also finished out of the qualifyings spots in 5th.

=========================================================================
Heat  1 Preliminaries
  1 Cecilia Barowski          SR Princeton            2:03.24  F 2:04.44Q 
        29.172 (29.172)  1:01.584 (32.413)  1:33.744 (32.160)  2:04.435 (30.692)
  2 Ce'aira Brown             SR Hampton              2:03.77  F 2:04.72Q 
        29.115 (29.115)  1:01.469 (32.354)  1:33.448 (31.980)  2:04.711 (31.263)
  3 Olivia Baker              SO Stanford             2:04.10  F 2:04.73Q 
        28.868 (28.868)  1:01.343 (32.475)  1:33.462 (32.120)  2:04.729 (31.268)
  4 Siofra Cleirigh Buttner   SO Villanova            2:03.74  F 2:04.77  
        29.504 (29.504)  1:02.019 (32.515)  1:33.974 (31.955)  2:04.761 (30.788)
  5 Olicia Williams           SR Baylor               2:04.50  F 2:04.81  
        29.342 (29.342)  1:01.830 (32.488)  1:33.885 (32.055)  2:04.801 (30.917)
  6 Sabrina Southerland       JR Georgetown           2:03.10  F 2:05.41  
        28.944 (28.944)  1:01.311 (32.368)  1:33.612 (32.301)  2:05.404 (31.793)
  7 Morgan Schuetz            JR LSU                  2:04.05  F 2:05.84  
        29.368 (29.368)  1:01.614 (32.247)  1:33.709 (32.095)  2:05.839 (32.130)
  8 Chelsea Jarvis            SO Florida State        2:04.45    2:08.29  
        29.684 (29.684)  1:01.854 (32.170)  1:34.362 (32.508)  2:08.284 (33.923)

Heat 2: In heat two, Rogers was content to sit back and let BYU’s Shea Collinsworth do the leading, taking the field through a quick 28.91 first 200 and 60.30 400m. They slowed a bit as they went through 600 in 1:32 and that was when Rogers made her move, putting more than a second on Collinsoworth in the final 200m to take the heat in 2:03.13. Collinsworth finished second (2:04.38) and the last auto spot went to OSU’s Savannah Camacho (2:04.50). The two time qualifiers also came from this heat as VA Tech’s Hanna Green and Duke’s Anima Banks were 4th and 5th.

Heat  2 Preliminaries
  1 Raevyn Rogers             SO Oregon               2:00.90  F 2:03.13Q 
        28.909 (28.909)  1:00.294 (31.386)  1:32.394 (32.100)  2:03.129 (30.735)
  2 Shea Collinsworth         JR BYU                  2:04.52  F 2:04.38Q 
        28.839 (28.839)  1:00.143 (31.305)  1:32.287 (32.145)  2:04.373 (32.086)
  3 Savannah Camacho          JR Okla State           2:03.48  F 2:04.50Q 
        29.027 (29.027)  1:00.443 (31.416)  1:32.686 (32.243)  2:04.499 (31.813)
  4 Hanna Green               JR Virginia Tech        2:04.15  F 2:04.54q 
        29.103 (29.103)  1:00.549 (31.446)  1:32.893 (32.345)  2:04.532 (31.639)
  5 Anima Banks               SR Duke                 2:03.41  F 2:04.67q 
        29.154 (29.154)  1:00.359 (31.205)  1:32.606 (32.248)  2:04.669 (32.063)
  6 Annie Leblanc             SR Oregon               2:03.84  F 2:04.79  
        29.212 (29.212)  1:00.610 (31.399)  1:32.964 (32.355)  2:04.782 (31.818)
  7 Brooke Feldmeier          SO Oregon               2:03.99    2:06.49  
        29.309 (29.309)  1:01.007 (31.699)  1:33.681 (32.674)  2:06.487 (32.807)
  8 Claudia Saunders          SR Stanford             2:04.43    2:08.45  
        29.403 (29.403)  1:00.842 (31.439)  1:34.043 (33.202)  2:08.442 (34.399)

Quick Thought #1:  The questions for tomorrow are: 1) How fast does Rogers go? 2) Who gets second? Will Rogers be content to sit back and kick to victory or will she try and break the 2:01.64 meet record or even the 2:00.75 NCAA record? She didn’t run the DMR for Oregon so won’t have extra fatigue in her legs.

As far as the race for second, your guess is as good as ours. Barowski won her heat today and has the second fastest SB of anyone in the final. Green has the best PR behind Rogers with a 2:01.17 to her name. And Collinsworth took her heat out hard and finished with the second fastest time of the day in a new PR. The margins are small and it should make for an exciting race tomorrow.

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