The distance races on the 300-meter oval at Iowa State this weekend are loaded. Here are a few of the best ones; you can catch the whole thing live on FloTrack, beginning Friday and Saturday at noon central on both days.

Women's 5K

Who: Allie Buchalski, Sarah Disanza, Sharon Lokedi, Jordann McDermitt
When: 6:30 PM CT Friday
Why: When they're at their best, Buchalski (of Furman), Lokedi (Kansas), and Disanza (Wisconsin) are three of the best women's distance runners in the NCAA. Buchalski was seventh at cross country nationals in 2015, Disanza has run 15:20 and been top-three at NCAAs twice, and Lokedi has been in the top six at each of the last three NCAA championships she's run in--indoors, outdoors, and cross country. 

Lokedi was at her best the most recently out of those three, taking fifth in Terre Haute in November. But her 5K PR is 15:57, just 0.23 seconds faster than McDermitt's. And Buchalski has never broken 16:00. All three of those women should have a chance at running a very large PR on Friday night.

Men's 5K

Who: Matthew Baxter, Colin Bennie, MJ Erb, Benard Keter, Cory Glines, Frankline Tonui, Amon Terer, Malachy Schrobilgen, Nicolas Montanez, Jake Leingang, Ian LaMere, Tyler Day
When: 6:55 PM CT Friday
Why: Northern Arizona has only raced at the 7000-foot elevation of its home track since winning cross country national in November. Many of their top guys are entered in the 3K and 5K at Iowa State, making this their first major test under the coach Michael Smith administration. Baxter, Glines, and Day will face off against Big 12 XC champ Keter (of Texas Tech) and a slew of other big names listed above. 

Jake Leingang picked up two wins in his first two races for North Dakota State since transferring there from Oregon.

Two men with relatively modest PRs could make noise on Friday night. BYU's Nicolas Montanez has only run 14:38.99, but he was ninth at cross country nationals. And Wisconsin-Plattville's Ian LaMere (14:19 PR) ran 28:38--closing in 14:06--to break a 22-year-old Division III 10K record last year. The 22-year-old DIII indoor 5K record, also set by North Central's Dan Mayer, is 13:53.

Women's 3K

Who: Bethanie Brown, Ryen Frazier, Erin Hooker, Emma Hurley, Rochelle Kanuho, Maggie Montoya, Karissa Schweizer
When: 7:45 PM CT Friday
Why: This is the first race longer than a mile for Missouri's Schweizer since she ran 15:37 two weeks after winning cross country nationals. In that race, she lowered her 5K PR from 15:58 to 15:37; expect similar damage to her 3K PR on Friday night. Her career best is 9:17.

Most performance calculators put a 15:37 5K on par with roughly a 9:00 3K; anecdotally, I'd say Schweizer can run at least 9:05. The current NCAA leader is 9:02.

Men's 3K

Who: Grant Fisher, Justyn Knight, Dan Curts, Olin Hacker, Jack Bruce, Geordie Beamish, Martin Hehir, Jack Keelan, Peter Lomong, Adam Palamar, Marc Scott, Sean Tobin
When: 8:00 PM CT
Why: The Knight-Fisher race is the absolute best matchup of the meet. At cross country nationals, Knight and Fisher were second and fifth; in the 5K outdoors, they were sixth and tenth with the places reversed. Fisher, a Stanford redshirt freshman, ran 7:50 and 13:30 last year, while Knight, a Syracuse junior, ran 7:48 and 13:26 last year. Knight's 7:48 is from this meet last February, which is the facility record:

Women's 800m

Who: Shea Collinsworth, Aaliyah Miller, Ruby Stauber
When: 3:30 PM CT Saturday
Why: Miller (Baylor), Collinsworth (BYU), and Stauber (LSU) are ranked Nos. 4, 7, and 9 on the TFRRS descending order list this year, and Miller and Stauber are just freshmen. Behind Raevyn Rogers, these three are as good as anyone in the NCAA.
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Men's 800m

Who: Andres Arroyo, Craig Engels, Eliud Rutto, Joseph White
When: 4:05 PM CT Saturday
Why: Andres Arroyo sighting! Craig Engels sighting!!! Arroyo ran 1:45 last year and has raced at two meets since competing for Puerto Rico at the Rio Olympics. And Engels, who finished in the top five in the 800m and 1500m at the Olympic Trials last summer, was slow to start his track season after an injury. He made his debut with a DMR leg at Arkansas two weeks ago. 

Eliud Rutto of Middle Tennessee State has run 1:45 a bunch of times, and was second at indoor NCAAs behind Clayton Murphy last March.



Rutto and Arroyo are definitely sharp, as both are in the top seven in the NCAA in the 800m this winter. But Georgetown's Joseph White could be primed to pull off an upset, as he outkicked Penn State's Isaiah Harris in the 1000m at Penn State in January. As we learned a few weeks later, Harris was in good enough shape to break the NCAA record in the 600 meters. The transitive property obviously isn't really a thing in this sport, but White is fit.

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