The Palo Alto promise is simple--go there, run fast. With guaranteed perfect conditions complementing an embarrassment of top competition, there's no excuse to do otherwise. And once again, FloTrack is bringing you full coverage of the Stanford Invitational, the event that kicks off the 2017 Stanford home meet schedule. Watch it live on Friday, March 31, and Saturday, April 1. As always, the distance races will be the premier events, with a combination of NCAA stars and several quality pros duking it out.

Here are the four best track events on the men's side, with all start times listed in Pacific Time.

​Note: ​Justyn Knight is out of the men's 1500 now. Our original preview appears below.

3,000m Steeplechase

Who: Troy Reeder (Furman), Jakob Abrahamsen (Eastern Kentucky), Michael Jordan (American Distance Project)

When: 6:38 PM PT, Friday

Why: Both Reeder and Abrahamsen were NCAA steeple finalists last year. Reeder (of Furman) in particular has shown excellent form so far in 2017, with PRs in the 1500m, mile, and 3K all within the last two months. Eastern Kentucky's Abrahamsen owns the fastest steeple PR (8:34.04) but hasn't been nearly as sharp of late.

1500m

Who: Joshua Thompson (Oklahoma St.), Adam Palamar (Syracuse), Tim Gorman (Oregon), Luis Grijalva (unattached), Matthew Maton (Oregon), Craig Nowak (Oklahoma St.), Julian Oakley (Providence), Sam Prakel (Oregon)

When: 7:24 PM PT, Friday

Why: By my count there are 14 sub-4:00 milers in this field, including three men from the NCAA indoor mile final--Adam Palamar, Joshua Thompson, and Matthew Maton. Palamar's Syracuse teammate Justyn Knight will also be here, fresh off his runner-up finish in the NCAA 3K. He's a 5K runner with elite miler's speed (3:39/3:56 PRs), but a matchup with the speedy Thompson from Oklahoma State will be a stiff test. Surprisingly, this will be the first track race between the 3:56 milers. (​Update: ​we'll have to wait for the first one. Knight is not on the heat sheets.)

Of course, outdoor season is just underway so it wouldn't be tremendously shocking to see someone other than Knight or Thompson win here. One to watch might be Palamar, who beat Thompson by a place at NCAAs three weeks ago.

5,000m

Who: Parker Stinson (Saucony), German Fernandez (Nike), Jefferson Abbey (Colorado St.), Dylan Blankenbaker (Oklahoma), Matthew Maton (Oregon), Thomas Joyce (California), Cole Rockhold (Colorado St.), Chartt Miller (Iona), Malachy Schrobilgen (Wisconsin)

When: 9:08 PM PT, Friday

Why: Woo boy, this one seems completely up for grabs. Stinson and Fernandez are the biggest names on the start list, but neither man has raced on the track in quite awhile. And they both ran the U.S. 15K Championships three weeks ago with modest results. Stinson's 5K and 10K PRs have both gone down in Palo Alto, and despite not having raced a 5,000m in over two years, he's my pick to win because of his 13:31/27:54 resume. Fernandez--now training in Stillwater, OK, again--is a perpetual wildcard, and it's tough to know what to expect from him once again. He did run a solid 28:06 10K last year here under similar circumstances and won the fast heat of the men's 1500m a year before that, so there's reason for optimism.

A sea of solid if not proven collegians should produce several times under 13:40 and/or challenge the pros for the win. Thomas Joyce, a 13:34 man, is here, as is breakout candidate Cole Rockhold of Colorado State. The latter was sixth in the NCAA 3K and should destroy his 13:53 best. (Matthew Maton of Oregon is entered in this event as well as the 1500m.)

And one last thing, don't sleep on two names from Japan you've probably never heard of--Hayato Seki and Shota Onizuka. The 19-year-old Seki has already run 13:41 and was the top non-African-born finisher in last summer's World Junior 10K. Onizuka, also 19, just beat him in a tune-up 3K to add a little intrigue.

10,000m

Who: Edward Cheserek (Oregon), Martin Hehir (NAZ Elite), Aaron Braun (NAZ Elite), Alfred Chelanga (Alabama), Colin Bennie (Syracuse), Erik Peterson (Butler), Malachy Schrobilgen (Wisconsin), Abbabiya Simbassa (unattached), Craig Lutz (NAZ Elite), Hassan Abdi (Oklahoma St.), Kemoy Campbell (New Balance)

When: 10:02 PM PT, Friday

Why: Over one-fourth (11 to be exact) of last November's NCAA XC All-Americans will be in this field. Among those is Cheserek, who isn't so much interested in catching up with familiar faces as he is locking down his NCAA qualifier. Twenty days after a exhausting triple in College Station, Texas, Cheserek will likely do only what's necessary--probably in racing flats like he did in 2015--with an additional goal of helping out a quartet of his Oregon teammates make NCAAs. Cheserek didn't run the Stanford Invite last year as he was dealing with injury, but he ran 28:51 for 21st in his freshman year and 29:04 for 26th in his sophomore year. The No. 48 time on the West Region qualifying list the past three years has been 29:36, 29:45, and 29:33, so it's likely that Cheserek will just cruise to a qualifying time.

But the race up front between those top collegians and pros should be a good one anyway. NAZ Elite will have five athletes competing, all of them with 28:33 PRs or better. Former Oklahoma Sooner Abbabiya Simbassa has run well of late and, like several others, will be after the 28:30 USATF standard--that's the time to watch for the pros. The specific collegians challenging those men are a little less predictable, but I would expect Butler's Erik Peterson, Alabama's Alfred Chelanga, Arkansas' Andrew Ronoh, and NAU's Matthew Baxter, and Tyler Day to be the primary contenders.

Chelanga, Peterson, and Day were fifth, sixth, and eighth, respectively, in the NCAA 5K three weeks ago, while Baxter was 14th after losing his shoe.

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