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Battles Loom at NCAA Indoor ChampionshipsPublished by
These battles will help determine NCAA championshipsPublished by Adam Schneider/DyeStatCollege.com on March 5, 2016 This is a view of the main contenders in some great competitions among competitors currently on the all-time list or close to challenging the all-time list. A more thorough examination of some of these battles is upcoming: (Events with athletes and their seeding and season bests)
Men's 60m 1. Ronnie Baker, Sr Texas Christian 6.51 #6 all-time 2. Christian Coleman, So Tennessee 6.54 3. John Teeters, Jr Oklahoma State 6.54 4. Cameron Burrell, Jr 6.55 This race is for the short distance specialists. None of them have had great success outdoors. The best starter among these four will likely get the win.
Men's 800m 1. Donavan Brazier, Fr Texas A&M - 1:45.93 #5 all-time 2. Clayton Murphy, Jr Akron - 1:46.13 3. Andres Arroyo, Jr Florida - 1:46.20 7. Shaquille Walker, Jr BYU - 1:46.97 8. Brannon Kidder, Sr Penn State - 1:47.01 Veteran all-Americans Murphy, Arroyo, Walker and Kidder will battle with the freshman wunderkind (US junior record holder) Brazier.
Men's Mile 1. Blake Haney, So Oregon - 3:56.36 #7 US collegiatn all-time 3. David Elliot, Sr Boise State - 3:57.38 6. Sam Prakel, Jr Oregon - 3:57.95 7. Jonah Koech, Fr UTEP - 3:58.13 Without top seeded Izaic Yorks of Washington and Sean McGorty of Stanford this could easily go to the kickers. The strongest finish among Haney, Ellot, Prakel, and Koech will likely determine the winner.
Men's 3000m 1. Edward Cheserek, Jr Oregon 7:40.51, #2 all-time 2. Patrick Tiernan, Sr Villanova 7:48.55 3. Justyn Knight, Fr Syracuse 7:48.72 4. Sean McGorty, So Stanford 7:48.79 6. Izaic Yorks, Sr Washington 7:50.20 After a tough battle in the 5000m Edward Cheserek will try to win this title for the second time (2014). He will face a very strong group including fresh runners Tiernan and Knight and collegiate mile leaders Yorks and McGorty.
Women's 3000m 1. Allie Ostrander, Fr Boise State 8:54.27 2. Molly Seidel, Jr Notre Dame 8:57.13 3. Erin Finn, So Michigan 9:01.25 4. Calli Thackery, Jr New Mexico 9:03.59 This will be the second races for Ostrander, Seidel, and Finn so Thackery has a chance if she is close.
Women's 5000m 1. Molly Seidel, Sr Notre Dame 15:19.64, #4 all-time 2. Allie Ostrander, Fr Boise State 15:21.85, #7 all-time including oversized tracks They were 1-2 at the NCAA cross country championships and they will likely run very fast on day 1 of the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Women's 4x400m Relay 1. Texas 3:27.94, #4 all-time 2. USC 3:28.82, #9 all-time If both teams feel good and this race matters for both teams this could be a very fast race.
Women's 4000m Distance Medley Relay 1. Stanford 10:54.85 #8 all-time 2. Georgetown 10:54.77 #9 all-time 3. Michigan 10:58.25 All of the top teams will be racing in prelims early in the day but it is unlikely any other team is within two seconds of these three.
Men's 4000m Distance Medley Relay 1. Oklahoma State 9:26.60 #1 all-time on oversized track 2. Washington 9:27.19 #5 all-time on oversized track 3. Penn State 9:27.20, #4 all-time 4. Stanford 9:27.27, #5 all-time 5. Michigan 9:27.67 #6 all-time on oversized track 6. Oklahoma 9:27.70 #7 all-time on oversized track 12. Oregon 9:30.95 This tends to be a tactical race but four of the top five teams (Penn State has two in the 800m) will have fresh runners for the 800m, 1200m, and 1600m legs. This could be very fast and challenge the collegiate record.
Women's Pole Vault 1. Megan Clark, Sr Duke 15-1, #3 all-time 1. Lexi Weeks, Fr Arkansas 15-1, #3 all-time 3. Emily Grove, Sr South Dakota 14-9 1/2, #9 all-time 4. Alysha Newman, Jr Miami 14-9, #10 all-time Breakthroughs and mistakes happen in equal measure in the pole vault at big meets and even though Clark and Weeks are among just four collegians to clear 15 feet they are not safe to be the only two in the top two. Women's Heptathlon 1. Akela Jones, Sr Kansas State 4664 #2 all-time 2. Kendell Williams, Jr Georgia 4558 3. Taliyah Brooks, So, Arkansas 4457 4. Amalie Iuel, Jr USC 4444 Last year Akela Jones competed in individual events instead of the Pentathlon. Jones and Williams will battle and likely break Williams' collegiate record. In Iuel's Pentathlon debut she showed a lot of potential and Brooks is quickly developing.
Men's Heptathlon 1. Garret Scantling, Sr Georgia 6020 (6068 2015 #9 all-time) 2. Pau Tonneson, Sr Arizona 5972 4. Maicel Uibo, Sr Georgia 5854 (6044 2014 #10 all-time) 5. Zach Ziemek, Sr Wisconsin 5825 6. Luca Weland, So Minnesota 5814 (6070 2015, #8 all-time) Weland is the defending champion but that was the one time he wasn't batlling hamstring problems. Scantling looked like he might have won last year except he was hurt. Tonneson and Uibo had a great battle outdoors that Uibo won. Ziemek redshirted last year and made the world championship team.
Theirs to lose - Ryan Crouser, Sr Texas - He just tied the collegiate record (21.73m, 71-3 1/2) in the Shot Put and he is a big favorite Raven Saunders, So Ole Miss - She has set the collegiate record but at the same time she fouled five of her six attempts at the SEC championship and she can't win if she does that at the NCAA meet. Raevyn Rogers, Fr Oregon - Her one race at 800m was a near-collegiate record 2:00.90. She is an overwhelming favorite. Keturah Orji, So Georgia - She has been unbeatable by collegians since indoors last year and she has 1 1/2 feet on everyone else this year, 46-2 1/2, #6 all-time Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, Sr Purdue - He is more than three feet better than anyone else in the weight throw and he is not battling injuries this year. Felicia Brown, Sr Tennessee - She dominated defending champion Kyra Jefferson at the SEC championships but running the third fastest time of all-time, 22.45. Jefferson is the only challenger and she does not look 100%. Courtney Okolo, Sr Texas - Unfortunately she was injured before the outdoor NCAA meet. She is not likely to lose to a collegian this year and few in the U.S. can beat her. 51.06, #8 US collegian all-time Quanesha Burks, Jr Alabama - With co-collegiate leader Akela Jones of Kansas State not competing, defending outdoor long jump champion Burks has been unbeatable since outdoors last year with the exception of the Tyson Invitational. 6.75m, #8 all-time More news |