NCAA D1 Indoor ChampionshipsMar 8, 2015 by Meg Bellino
NCAA Preview: Men's/Women's DMR
NCAA Preview: Men's/Women's DMR
Arkansas Women
There’s nothing like going for a back-to-back NCAA championship, especially on your home turf. The Razorbacks lost two key members of the 2014 winning squad to graduation, but what they have replaced them with could lead to another title. Diane Robison, their 1200m leg on their 11:02.80 seed time, is entered in the 5k, but 4:36.31 miler Therese Haiss, a transfer from Oregon, should fill this position. 800m runner Chrishuna Williams is having great success in her first season in the distance, running 2:02 to win the SEC Championship. And, of course, with superstar Dominique Scott on the mile running for their home crowd, can the Hogs be beat?
Oregon Men
Here’s the thing. Nobody really knows who is going to run on their squad. Well, everyone thinks they do. But Coach Andy Powell is good at leaving an air of mystery around the Oregon Ducks and their plans. There’s no way Eric Jenkins will anchor, like he did at the MPSF Championships en route to a 9:27.02 NCAA leader. He’s got the 5k minutes before the relay. Edward Cheserek and John Gregorek seem like the best candidates, but then who else? 400m man Marcus Chambers is a lock, but whether they use frosh Niki Franzmair or Ches/Gregorek is whichever positions will be revealed come Friday evening. One thing is certain, if Ches is the anchor, other teams better not play around with a sit-and-kick.
There’s nothing like going for a back-to-back NCAA championship, especially on your home turf. The Razorbacks lost two key members of the 2014 winning squad to graduation, but what they have replaced them with could lead to another title. Diane Robison, their 1200m leg on their 11:02.80 seed time, is entered in the 5k, but 4:36.31 miler Therese Haiss, a transfer from Oregon, should fill this position. 800m runner Chrishuna Williams is having great success in her first season in the distance, running 2:02 to win the SEC Championship. And, of course, with superstar Dominique Scott on the mile running for their home crowd, can the Hogs be beat?
Oregon Men
Here’s the thing. Nobody really knows who is going to run on their squad. Well, everyone thinks they do. But Coach Andy Powell is good at leaving an air of mystery around the Oregon Ducks and their plans. There’s no way Eric Jenkins will anchor, like he did at the MPSF Championships en route to a 9:27.02 NCAA leader. He’s got the 5k minutes before the relay. Edward Cheserek and John Gregorek seem like the best candidates, but then who else? 400m man Marcus Chambers is a lock, but whether they use frosh Niki Franzmair or Ches/Gregorek is whichever positions will be revealed come Friday evening. One thing is certain, if Ches is the anchor, other teams better not play around with a sit-and-kick.
Georgetown Women
Last year, the Hoyas were favorites, but a 2:10.65 split on the 800m may have cost them. They come in with the fastest seed time, and Katrina Coogan is a solid anchor leg with 4:33 wheels. If they don’t lose contact with the pack, they’ll be in the medal hunt.
Villanova Women
Perhaps overlooked with their No. 10 seed time, they ran their time early on and have progressively gotten better all season. Lead-off leg Angel Piccirillo has run 2:04/4:34 and is in perfect shape to lead this team off. Stephanie Schappert has run 4:36/9:15 and will be key on the mile leg. Their 800m leg Kelsey Margey will need to run tough. Her 2:05 pb hasn’t been touched this season, but that’s the kind of time she’ll need to run if they want a chance at medaling.
Stanford Women
This is somewhat of a dream team for Stanford after losing Amy Weissenbach and Justine Fedronic on their 1200m and mile legs from 2014. Freshman newcomers Olivia Baker and Elise Cranny, combined with veterans Claudia Saunders and 10k runner-turned-mile star Jessica Tonn, have brought this team back up and are poised to prove they can compete with the best.
Villanova Men
The boys from ‘Nova are looking to end this Oregon Duck madness. After they ran then-NCAA leading No. 1 9:27.04 at the BU Valentine Invite, it became clear that these guys were good. And Jordan Williamsz, one of the top milers in the NCAA, doesn’t have a mile prelim slowing him down before the main event. With fresh legs, this could be the team to take down the field.
Georgetown Men
We made such a hype about the Penn State National Invite DMR and we were not disappointed. The Hoyas come in with the No. 1 seed time of 9:28.22 and a team of underclassman looking to make a statement. They put four men under 4:00 at the BU Valentine, and had four men under 1:48.62 this season in the 800m. They’re listed with Joseph White and Ryan Manahan, who are also entered in the 800m. However, their team could swap in fresh legs and go all in. Either way, the east coast is fast.
Penn State Men
The team known for always having a great DMR seed-time and then not delivering, will this be PSU’s year? Robby Creese will be fresh on the anchor leg, as he is not in the mile, but the 3000m on Saturday evening. This is the same guy who cruised through the mile prelims before winning the Big 10 3k, and followed with a Big 10 mile title on day two. He’s got the wheels and experience to do some damage.
Last year, the Hoyas were favorites, but a 2:10.65 split on the 800m may have cost them. They come in with the fastest seed time, and Katrina Coogan is a solid anchor leg with 4:33 wheels. If they don’t lose contact with the pack, they’ll be in the medal hunt.
Villanova Women
Perhaps overlooked with their No. 10 seed time, they ran their time early on and have progressively gotten better all season. Lead-off leg Angel Piccirillo has run 2:04/4:34 and is in perfect shape to lead this team off. Stephanie Schappert has run 4:36/9:15 and will be key on the mile leg. Their 800m leg Kelsey Margey will need to run tough. Her 2:05 pb hasn’t been touched this season, but that’s the kind of time she’ll need to run if they want a chance at medaling.
Stanford Women
This is somewhat of a dream team for Stanford after losing Amy Weissenbach and Justine Fedronic on their 1200m and mile legs from 2014. Freshman newcomers Olivia Baker and Elise Cranny, combined with veterans Claudia Saunders and 10k runner-turned-mile star Jessica Tonn, have brought this team back up and are poised to prove they can compete with the best.
Villanova Men
The boys from ‘Nova are looking to end this Oregon Duck madness. After they ran then-NCAA leading No. 1 9:27.04 at the BU Valentine Invite, it became clear that these guys were good. And Jordan Williamsz, one of the top milers in the NCAA, doesn’t have a mile prelim slowing him down before the main event. With fresh legs, this could be the team to take down the field.
Georgetown Men
We made such a hype about the Penn State National Invite DMR and we were not disappointed. The Hoyas come in with the No. 1 seed time of 9:28.22 and a team of underclassman looking to make a statement. They put four men under 4:00 at the BU Valentine, and had four men under 1:48.62 this season in the 800m. They’re listed with Joseph White and Ryan Manahan, who are also entered in the 800m. However, their team could swap in fresh legs and go all in. Either way, the east coast is fast.
Penn State Men
The team known for always having a great DMR seed-time and then not delivering, will this be PSU’s year? Robby Creese will be fresh on the anchor leg, as he is not in the mile, but the 3000m on Saturday evening. This is the same guy who cruised through the mile prelims before winning the Big 10 3k, and followed with a Big 10 mile title on day two. He’s got the wheels and experience to do some damage.
Michigan Women
The Wolverines saw their 11 year streak of Big Ten DMR Championships end when they ran a season-best 11:02.57 at the conference championship, losing to No. 2 Michigan State. Because of this, they come in with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder. They were champions in 2013 and fifth-place in 2014. They have the cards to compete in Shannon Osika (4:37 miler), Maya Long (54-second 400m leg), Danielle Pfieffer (2:04 800m leg) and Brook Handler (4:37 miler/4:15 1500m).
Alabama Men
A team that surprised everyone at the Alex Wilson DMR festival was the team from down south. The Alabama men, consisting of Robbie Farnham-Rose, Steven Gayle, Jacopo Lahbi, and Matt Airola finished right behind Arkansas’ to run 9:29.93. Anchor leg Airola was chasing Kemoy Campbell, one of the top NCAA runners. They weren’t afraid to stick their noses in the race, and that could take them far in Fayetteville.