WEEKEND PREVIEWS:
ACC | BIG12 | BIG EAST | BIG10 | IVY | MPSF | SEC | USATF
CONFERENCE RESULTS | USATF RESULTS

The Big East this year looks to be a dual meet between Georgetown and Villanova on both the men’s and women’s side. While other schools have depth in sprints/jumps, the Hoyas and Wildcats make up for the bias in mid-distance events with the addition of DMR, 4x8, 500 and 1k events. This weekend however will bring additional pressure to Georgetown and Villanova. While both teams look to win Big East team titles they also have many athletes on the NCAA bubble for qualifying to Nationals. Coaches are going to have to make tough decisions on who to run in order to maximize team points but also give the athletes one last legit shot of putting up a top 16 national mark.

Here’s a rundown of potential NCAA qualifiers who are SAFE or NOT SAFE in the 800-5k.

 

Men’s 800m

SAFE Ryan Manahan, Georgetown (1:47.34)

NOT SAFE Joseph White, Georgetown (1:48.05)

NOT SAFE Billy Ledder, Georgetown (1:48.20)

NOT SAFE Cole Williams, Georgetown (1:48.62)

 

This year due to the incredible depth of the men’s 800 on the national scene we can expect a fast paced Big East 800 final. Look for the Hoya foursome to attempt to run 4 sub 1:48s in one race leading to 29 team pts and 4 national qualifiers.

 

Men’s Mile

SAFE Julian Oakley, Providence (3:57.22)

NOT SAFE Robert Denault, Villanova (3:58.25)

NOT SAFE Amos Bartlesmeye, Georgetown (3:58.45)

NOT SAFE Ahmed Bile, Georgetown (3:58.54)

NOT SAFE Michael Lederhouse, Georgetown (3:59.54)

 

Same story in the men’s mile as the Hoyas look to challenge Providence’s Julian Oakley. Most championship races are sit and kick however a lot is on the line for Rob Denault and the Hoyas that a slow pace won’t be in the cards.

 

Men’s 3k

NOT SAFE Shane Quinn, Providence (8:00.34)

NOT SAFE Jordan Williamsz, Villanova (NT)

 

Jordan Williamsz is all in for the DMR at NCAAs (not running the mile) however, with the 3k being on the 2nd day of competition look for him to go for a low 7:50 performance to punch his ticket to NCAAs as Shane Quinn looks to dip under 8 minutes for the first time in his career.

 

Men’s 5k

NOT SAFE Erik Peterson, Butler (13:58.05)

NOT SAFE Patrick Tiernan, Villanova (NT)

 

Where is Patrick Tiernan? The 13:31 man looks to open his indoor season at the very last moment possible. Tiernan is a stud on the national scene as he aims for a 13:40 performance clinching his ticket to NCAAs. Erik Peterson looks to ride the fast pace that Tiernan sets to hopefully dip under 13:50 which would be a big indoor PR.

 

Women’s 800m

SAFE Sabrina Southerland, Georgetown (2:03.89)

SAFE Becca Deloache, Georgetown (2:04.86)

NOT SAFE Piper Donaghu, Georgetown (2:05.25)

 

The lady Hoyas look to secure 3 spots at NCAAs as Southerland and Deloache aim to pace fellow teammate Donaghu to a sub 2:05 performance, which should ultimately be a safe enough time to be in the top 16 after all is said and done.

 

Women’s Mile

SAFE Angel Piccirillo, Villanova (4:34.28)

SAFE Stephanie Schappert, Villanova (4:36.31)

NOT SAFE Samantha Nadel, Georgetown (4:39.78)

 

Assuming Coogan plans on forgoing the mile for the DMR at NCAAs this opens up a spot in the top 16 that fellow teammate Nadel looks to grab in the Big East mile final. The two Nova ladies are safe on the NCAA scene so the pressure will be on Nadel to keep the pace honest to secure an NCAA berth plus team pts for the Hoyas.

 

Women’s 3k

SAFE Emily Sisson, Providence (8:52.60)

SAFE Katrina Coogan, Georgetown (9:02.75)

NOT SAFE Stephanie Schappert, Villanova (9:15.73)

NOT SAFE Samantha Nadel, Georgetown (9:18.23)

 

The class of this field is clearly Emily Sisson, she will run away with the Big East title. However, Schappert and Nadel will have a nice battle for 3rd place which could ultimately be the deciding factor for the team score. Last year Villanova won the meet by just 2.5 pts a margin so close that one place can alter who comes home with the trophy.

 

Women’s 5k

SAFE Emily Sisson, Providence (15:21.84)

SAFE Mara Olson, Butler (15:55.76)

 

Again, Sisson is beyond the favorite, but look for Mara Olson who has broken 16 minutes already this season. While defeating Sisson might be an impossible task, she will use this Big East 5k final as a tune-up for NCAAs to hopefully become All-American this season.