Happy New Year from all of us here at FloTrack. To ring in 2019, the FloStaff have made their annual bold predictions for the upcoming calendar year in track and field.

KEVIN'S PICKS:

The U.S. men will sweep gold in the 100, 200 and 400 at the World Championships

2007 was the last time a country pulled off this triple when the United States won all three of the men’s sprints. The U.S. has the personnel to do it once again (not to mention the absence of Usain Bolt who kept the 100 and 200 off-limits for nearly a decade). In the 100m, Americans had the top four times in the world in 2017. Noah Lyles enters 2018 as a big favorite in the 200m. The 400m will be the toughest test, but the presence of Michael Norman puts the U.S. in the picture, especially if South African Wayde Van Niekerk isn’t back to his 2017 form.  

Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs repeat their stunning 1-2 steeple from 2017

Predicting something to happen that has already occurred shouldn’t be considered too bold, but Coburn and Frerichs’ 1-2 finish in London was a huge surprise at the time and the world record in the event has dropped eight seconds since the race. Given that, why do I think they can do it again in Doha?

Both are just as good, if not better, than they were in 2017. Frerichs lowered her personal best to 9:00.85 in 2018 and Coburn twice ran under 9:07. The long season and the rounds at the World Championships will keep the race at a realistic pace and both Americans can close quickly. 

There will be exactly 3 outdoor world records on the track 

For this, I’m only counting the championship distances and excluding the roads (sorry, distance medley relay). Both 400m hurdle records are vulnerable, and there are a handful of others with varying degrees of likelihood that could fall (men’s pole vault, women’s steeplechase, women’s 800m, men’s decathlon, women’s 100m hurdles, men’s triple jump, men’s long jump).

GORDON'S PICKS:

Edward Cheserek wins the Diamond League 5k final

This is the year King Ches will be seen on the world stage. After back-to-back outdoor seasons halted due to injuries, Cheserek will come out in 2019 on fire; he’ll earn a spot in the Diamond League 5k final and shock everyone by winning it. The question still remains, however: Will Cheserek receive his U.S. citizenship in time for Doha? Or will he opt to race for Kenya in 2019?

A top-three finisher in the U.S. men’s 1,500m final won’t qualify for Worlds

The men's 1,500m U.S. final is always a crapshoot where there are typically five to six men still in it with 200m to go and anyone can finish top-three based on positioning. This year, I believe one of the top-three finishers will be an up-and-coming athlete who will fail to time-trial the world standard of sub-3:36 and therefore miss the World Championships.

New Mexico women will score 48+ points at the NCAA Outdoor Championship

The New Mexico Lobos distance squad has a chance to do something special on the track. They arguably have at least two of the top three runners in the nation in three outdoor distance events: Ednah Kurgat (5k/10k), Weini Kelati (5k/10k), Charlotte Prouse (steeple) and Adva Cohen (steeple). Look for these four women to score 48+ points at NCAAs in 2019, a point total which would almost certainly earn the Lobos a spot on the NCAA podium.

LINCOLN'S PICKS:

Clayton Murphy will break Johnny Gray’s American record

Johnny Gray’s 1:42.60 800m American record celebrated its 33rd anniversary in August, but it won’t make it to 34 as a soon-to-be 24-year-old Clayton Murphy will finally upend the mark in 2019. 

Despite a slow start in his first season training under the Nike Oregon Project, Murphy ultimately enjoyed a great 2018 campaign -- the 1:43.12 he ran in London on July 22 was the second-best time of his career behind only his 1:42.93 from the 2016 Olympic final. With another year in the NOP system, plus the addition of fellow U.S. champ Donavan Brazier as a training partner, I expect Murphy to be better than ever this outdoor season.

Mo Farah will return to the track, win gold in Doha 10,000m

Farah may have “retired” from the track in 2017 to pursue the marathon full-time, but I’m taking his coach Gary Lough at his word, who said this to The Telegraph after Farah’s decisive Chicago Marathon win in October: “He wants to run the World Championships but what he runs at the World Championships hasn’t been decided.”

Translation: Farah is coming back to the track. No one in their right mind should believe that Farah will run the marathon in Doha, where the average temperatures in October resemble the Midwest in August, not to mention that the race literally starts at midnight. Come on. It’s the 10,000m that he’s targeting, and even though he will be 36 years old in 2019, the winner of five global golds at the distance will still have the wheels to beat everyone.

The Chicago Cubs will win the 2019 World Series

I made this play in our 2016 Bold Predictions, and guess what, the Cubs won the World Series that year. Let's run it back in 2019.