2013 NCAA D1 Indoor Track and Field Championships

Under the Radar at NCAA Indoors

Mar 7, 2013 by FloTrack Staff

Originally, I had some joke about sleeper picks that started with Alex taking his second nap of the day and me sitting here with my second cup of coffee. But our list of “dark horses” wasn’t really a correct label as everyone on there was still a favorite.

We wanted something more ridiculous, but weren’t sure where to start. Then someone said, “Well what happened last year that caught you guys off guard.” We answered, “A lot of races.”

The discussion continued.

Yesterday, we asked whether a number sixteen seed could win in any event. The picks varied from the inane to deadpan serious ones, but there was something brewing.

Who are the national finalists that no one is talking about?

They’re totally off the radar. We haven’t heard anyone even mention them in passing. They're the F-117 Nighthawk of Fayetteville, AR.

I dare you to name the winner of the 2012 men’s NCAA indoor 800m champion?

This is one of the best pictures we could find of him.

It’s ASU’s Mason McHenry. What about Illinois State’s Aisha Praught, who qualified for NCAAs last year at a last chance meet and then took second at nationals.

We couldn’t find any eponymous laws that pertained to predictions, so we’ll make our own. “In order to predict the unpredictable, you need some information, some ignorance, and a leap of faith.”

Or you could just aggregate all of the discussion and see whose name isn’t mentioned. Who is no one talking about?

Men’s 60m
D'Angelo Cherry

Watch out Marvin Bracy. While the FSU freshman is undefeated this year and going into nationals as the top seed, there’s someone lurking all the down in the eighth spot who could ruin the potential Seminole one-two.

It’s Mississippi State’s D’Angelo Cherry. Even though he’s seeded at 6.64 (Bracy is at 6.54), it’s what he ran at U.S. Indoor Championships that make him a serious threat. Even though it was at altitude, 6.49 is a near historic time as only eight Americans have run under 6.50 in the last ten years. The reason why he's not seeded higher is because the qualifying window closed on Saturday and U.S. Champs was on Sunday.

Oh well.

Men’s 200m
Akheem Gauntlett, Arkansas

Last spring, he was an NCAA 400m finalist. This season, he’s seeded fourth in the 200m. Gauntlett has run under 21-seconds five times this winter, but his best race came at Arkansas’ last chance meet.

Home track? Home crowd? Watch out.

Men’s 800m
Everyone who has run 1:47.x

Boru Guyota, Oregon
Edward Kemboi, Iowa State
Declan Murray, Loyola
Patrick Rono, Arkansas
Brandon McBride, Mississippi State
Sean Obinwa, Florida

The top four have had a lot of focus, but if any those six execute a perfect race (or get lucky), we may have this year’s McHenry.

If we had to pick one from the bunch, it would be Brandon McBride. Most of these guys are coming off tough last races and it's a gamble to say what's going to happen...

But we're willing to take the risk. McBride has run only one open 800m this year at Notre Dame and it was the unofficial Canadian junior record. At Alex Wilson, he once again torched the track to run a new personal best in the 400m of 46.57. Not to mention that in all five open 400m races, he’s dropped his seasonal bests.

We like a 400/800 guy indoors.

Women’s 800m
Natoya Goule

When Flotrack talked to LSU’s Charlene Lipsey back at the Texas A&M Triangular, we asked her if she was looking out for any potential rivals this indoor season.

She didn’t have to look far as she mentioned her new teammate, Natoya Goule. The South Plains College transfer is one of the most decorated middle distance runners in National Junior College history and is the other serious threat for LSU in the 800m.

NJCAA Outdoor Titles
2011 - 400m, 800m, 4x400m
2012 - 800m, 1500m, 4x400m, 4x800m

In her only two open 800s this winter, she ran 2:03.49 (beat Lipsey) and 2:03.08 (lost to Lipsey). Again, we really like 400/800 girls indoors (she’s run 54.05, too).

Men’s Mile
John Simons

There were a lot of good captions we couldn't use for this one.

There’s always a backstory. When Minnesota was preparing to leave for Alex Wilson, they had an extra ticket. John Simons wanted to run so hey, why not. Even though he doubled at Big 10 the week before (13:53.23 and 7:55.93), he wasn’t even sure what he was going to run. So hey, why not the mile?

Now he’s at nationals.

Prior to last Saturday, his mile PR was 4:12.58. Now, it's 3:59.52. February has been the month of his career, but could March be even better?

Women’s Mile
Vicky Fouhy

Another last chance weekender that stormed onto the national scene. This UVA senior has had some past 1500m championship experience as she won the English U20 national championship back in 2009.

This indoor season, her mile progression as been the following:
4:42.02 (20th at UW Husky Classic)
4:46.96 (2nd at ACC Championship Prelim)
4:43.52 (2nd at ACC Championships Final)
4:34.87 (2nd at Alex Wilson)

She took second to Rebecca Tracy, who was the first candidate for this nomination, but Alex thinks she’s a solid favorite. Watch out for Fouhy.

Men’s 3000m
Eric Jenkins

Northeastern’s star has had big performances in big races, but has still been overlooked. First, it was the mile at the BU Terrier Classic. Jenkins took fourth and set a new personal best (3:58.11), but no one really below Galen Rupp on the results sheet.

Then there was the UW Husky Classic 3000m. A lot of chatter centered around NC State’s Ryan Hill, NAU’s Diego Estrada, and the two separate but equal heats, but there wasn’t a lot of talk about the third place finisher (it was Jenkins).

He has the speed, the confidence, and the awareness to mix it up with the best. "I kind of go into every race trying to win."

Women’s 3000m
Hannah Kiser

We seriously have to write her name down somewhere. Every now and then, Kiser runs something that makes us remember her, then disappears for a bit, and then comes pops back onto the scene. Take this past fall, for example. Kiser was eighth at Pre-Nats, but then unfortunately finished 54th at the West Regional.

Then while identifying athletes during the 3000m at the UW Husky Classic, we saw her again. Had she rebounded from a disappointing end to the cross season? 9:04.74 sounded pretty convincing.

Since then, she’s taken it fairly easy at some home meets and the WAC Championships. If it’s any indicator, she won the mile (4:37.55) at the UW Final Qualifier.

Women’s 5000m
Emily Sisson

Another early season qualifier that has since stayed away from the big invitationals. Back in late January, Sisson out-dueled BU’s Katie Matthews to the the BU Terrier Classic 5000m in 15:44.40. That time stuck on the NCAA list for another full month and now she comes to Fayetteville with the number three seed.

She’s coming off a solid solo mile from the NEICAAA Championships, where her final time of 4:38.49 was good for a 7-second win.

Men’s 5000m
Girma Mecheso

He might’ve been outclassed in that invitational 5000m at the Columbia Last Chance, but we’ve heard some rumors that Mecheso has much more in him. It’s hard to quantify “more” as he's only run one other race this indoor season (13:57.06 for 2nd at Big 12s), but we still have faith.

In that 5k, Mecheso split 8:01.03 en route before the wheels started to come off. As a reference, 8:15.6 at 3000m would have been the split Mecheso would have been looking for if he wanted to run 13:46 evenly. We think he has more in him.

Also, we just can’t discount the fifth place finisher at NCAA cross country, especially if he’s the #16 seed.

Men’s DMR
Illinois

There’s a lot of chatter about the top four (PSU, Princeton, Stanford, and OSU) and then a big question mark for the number seven seed, Oklahoma. But about Illinois?

The Illini squad of Kyle Engnell, Stephon Pamilton, Ryan Lynn, and Graham Morris shattered an 18-year-old school record and looked darn fine at the finish. When we previewed the Alex Wilson DMR, we said that it took something along the line of having 2:55, 46, 1:48, and 3:57 legs to run the big time of 9:29.

What did this squad split?

2:56 (Engnell), 46.00 (Pamilton), 1:48 (Lynn), and Morris (3:58). Close enough.

The Orange and Blue are riding high heading into the relay and they finished right behind a fast finishing Princeton and Stanford squad. Another big kick might mean something even bigger for these guys.

Men’s HJ
James Harris

We love it when someone in the field events runs an open 400m. In the case of James Harris, he’s actually run more races on the track than jumps in the field.

On the track, he’s run 47.20 and 48.29 open and was a member of a 4x4 team that ran 3:06.55.

In his main event, the high jump, he’s jumped 2.23m and most recently, 2.26m. He's your #6 seed.

Women’s HJ
Jeannelle Scheper

The only reason most people aren’t talked about Scheper is because the Olympic silver medalist, Brigetta Barrett, is the top seed in the high jump. She may not be an Olympian, but she’s shaping up to be one.

A native of Saint Lucia, Scheper has already competed at the World Juniors (she took eighth) and the Central American & Caribbean Athletic Confederation (CACAC).

At her last two meets, she's jumped 1.91m (her season's best) and 1.87m. Could we see an international upset?

Women’s PV
Sandi Morris

Another Arkansas athlete who had her best performance at a final qualifier. Morris had vauled 4.31m earlier this season, but had been stuck in the low 4.2x zone for a while. Then, at the last meet of the season, she soared over the bar at 4.43.

Which meet? The Arkansas Final Qualifier. Where is nationals again?

It's easy to pick the favorites. Who else is going to surprise this weekend?