By Lincoln Shryack

NCAA superstars will be in abundance at the 2018 Mountain West Outdoor Championships this Wednesday through Saturday, May 9-13, in Clovis, California. Three-time NCAA champion Josh Kerr will run his first race since breaking the 1500m collegiate record on April 20, while a women’s 5,000m chock-full of All-Americans should provide plenty of fireworks as bragging rights and team points are fought for. The sprints—headlined by San Diego State’s Ashley Henderson—will be fantastic as well, with a forecast of warm temperatures promising fast times on the horizon.

FloTrack will have LIVE coverage of all four days of the 2018 Mountain West Outdoor Championships. Check out the top events to watch below.

Men’s 1500m

When: Saturday

Who: Josh Kerr, Dillon Maggard, Cole Rockhold

Analysis: Collegiate record holder and three-time NCAA champion Josh Kerr of New Mexico will be gunning for his third consecutive Mountain West 1500m title this weekend in Clovis, and after just breaking Sydney Maree’s 37-year-old NCAA mark on April 20, he will be heavily favored to do so. Between indoor and outdoor, the Brit has won seven career conference titles while losing just once—his last defeat coming in the outdoor 800 two years ago. Kerr is running like one of best 1500m runners in the world right now, so it’s nearly impossible to imagine him losing in his specialty here.

Despite the long odds facing a giant of the NCAA (and the world), Colorado State’s Cole Rockhold and Utah State’s Dillon Maggard represent the stiffest challenge in the face of Kerr. Rockhold is a sub-four miler and an All-American in that distance; Maggard is more of a distance guy—he just ran a 13:30 5K PR at Payton Jordan—but he’s shown he can drop down too by finishing runner-up to Kerr in last year’s Mountain West 1500m.

Kerr has the world-class finishing speed to win in any situation, but in a conference final that guarantees to be very tactical, surprises can happen. This one is worth the watch simply to catch a once-in-a-generation NCAA star like Kerr in action, and the added presence of two other All-Americans will make this race one of the best this conference weekend.

Women’s 5,000m

When: Saturday

Who: Ednah Kurgat, Allie Ostrander, Weini Kelati, Alice Wright, Claire O’Brien, Emily Venters, Gracie Tostenson

Analysis: The women of the Mountain West are second only to the mighty Pac-12 in their number of sub-16 performers in 2018 (seven), so the total depth and the presence of two NCAA champions will make this conference 5,000m an intriguing showdown.

New Mexico’s Ednah Kurgat just ran the collegiate leader and Mountain West record last Thursday at Payton Jordan (15:20.06), and in her time as a Lobo she has yet to lose to a conference rival in a distance 5,000m and above. The reigning NCAA cross country champion should have a little extra bounce in her step after beating Weini Kelati, Allie Ostrander, and Alice Wright last week at Stanford.

Perhaps the biggest threat to Kurgat is her own teammate, Kelati. The freshman was just over two seconds behind the NCAA champ at Payton Jordan in 15:22.71, and she beat her in March when they raced in the NCAA indoor 3,000m. It was just a narrow beat then and Kurgat had taken her down a day earlier in the 5K, but Kelati has rapidly improved as the season has progressed and she has the wheels to challenge for the win in a tactical race.

Boise State’s Allie Ostrander took a brutal fall at Payton Jordan that essentially jeopardized her chances of hanging with Kurgat and Kelati, but she’s no doubt at or near their level at the 5,000m distance. Ostrander has shown much-improved speed this outdoor season with new PRs in the 1500 (4:15.06) and steeplechase (9:38.57) which certainly bodes well in a championship-style race.

Men’s 800m

When: Friday (Prelims), Saturday (Final)

Who: Josh Kerr, Clay Lambourne, Michael Wilson

Analysis: This race came down to a photo finish last year between Josh Kerr and Utah State’s Clay Lambourne, and as he typically does, the NCAA champ Kerr got the win. We’ll expect another close finish this time around, as Kerr drops down into Lambourne’s specialty to battle the 1:47 performer.

Kerr is obviously coming off that incredible 3:35 collegiate record three weeks back, but Lambourne also will enter on a high after running his first sub-1:48 time of 2018 at Mt. SAC that same weekend. Kerr has never broken 1:48, so in a conference race this competitive and at sea level, this seems like a great opportunity for him to do so. It’s essentially a coin-flip as to who takes this race, but with both of these studs running well, fast times seem likely.

The sleeper here is New Mexico’s Michael Wilson, who just recently broke 1:49 for the first time at the Bryan Clay Invitational (1:48.35). The Brit had only cracked 1:50 once before 2018, but he’s enjoyed dramatic improvements in his first year in Albuquerque. Perhaps another breakout race is in order for Wilson as he battles Kerr and Lambourne this weekend.

Women’s 100m

When: Friday (Prelims), Saturday (Final)

Who: Ashley Henderson, Destiny Smith-Barnett

Analysis: San Diego State junior Ashley Henderson hasn’t lost a Mountain West conference final in over two years, and she enters these championships likely in the best shape of her life after running the ninth-fastest 100m in NCAA history (10.98) just two weeks ago in Tucson, Arizona. That time made Henderson the fastest athlete ever from a non-Power Five conference and served as a nice preview of the show she is likely to put on this weekend in Clovis. Henderson will look to sweep the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m for the third consecutive season at Mountain West.

Men’s 5,000m

When: Saturday

Who: Dillon Maggard, Cole Rockhold, Jacob Bilvado, Yusuke Uchikoshi, Jerrell Mock, Grant Fischer

Analysis: Five men with sub-14 PRs will battle in the men’s 5,000m. Dillon Maggard of Utah State would seem to have the edge with his 13:30 PR—fourth-best in the NCAA in 2018—but this race is likely to be very tactical with hot temperatures expected and most of the field doubling. Things can get wacky is such situations. The senior Maggard will be gunning for his first individual conference title.

Among the bevy of Maggard’s challengers will be Colorado State’s Cole Rockhold, who ran a 13:40 PR earlier this season, and Boise State’s Yusuke Uchikoshi, the current NCAA leader in the steeplechase (8:38.32). Uchikoshi has just a meager 14:13 5K PR, but his speed has taken a big jump forward this season and he recently lowered his 1500m down to 3:44.

Don't forget to tune into the 2018 Mountain West Outdoor Championships LIVE on FloTrack, May 9-13!