MEN'S MID-DISTANCE PREVIEW:

Men’s 1500 Meter Run:
Division III fans will unfortunately never get to see one of the most anticipated match-ups of this season. Defending mile champion Coby Horowitz has opted out of the national meet in favor of Bowdoin’s graduation, leaving freshman sensation McKena Ramos of UW-Oshkosh with a wide-open path to his second individual crown. The young Titan was dominant in the indoor 800 against a strong field, and you can expect his blistering speed to produce the same result in the 1500.

The next two seeds, Charlie Marquardt of Haverford and Chris Garrity of Widener, both ran fast at Swarthmore, but being able to run in the middle of a fast pack in the 1500 does not necessarily translate into competitive success. I would be surprised if either finished in the top three.

Though Ramos has the advantage over that duo in the speed department, he does not have the fastest 800 seasonal best in the field. That honor belongs to conference rival David Stilin of UW-La Crosse. However, Stilin was a well-beaten fourth in a tactical affair at the WIAC championships, behind the victorious Ramos, fellow Eagle Jacob Peterson, and Matt Scott of UW-Eau Claire. Peterson was the final qualifier for the meet, but he has proved himself a threat in championship style races. Though a longshot to challenge for the win, Scott finished fourth in the mile indoors and should once again be in the mix heading into the bell lap.

Both Grant Wintheiser of St. Olaf and Ryan Steinbock of Dickinson are bucking the trend and stepping down in distance at the championship meet. They may expect to fare better in a race without John Crain, but sub-14:20 5k personal bests won’t be enough in a final sprint. That said, Wintheiser came the closest of anyone to beating Ramos outdoors, losing by only one tenth of a second at the Phil Esten Challenge.

The best shot to challenge Ramos for the victory would have been Ryan Widzgowski of Keene State, a top three finisher in the last three mile or metric mile national finals. However, Widzgowski appears to have hurt himself at the DIII New England meet and has not raced since.

Predictions: Ramos, Wintheiser, Stilin

Full Field Below:

Men’s 800 Meter Run:
Assuming McKena Ramos remains unbeaten through the 1500 finals earlier Saturday afternoon, this race could set the stage for years to come. The fifteen-eight combination is an unforgiving double, and if he could pull it off as a freshman, he would put himself in historic company—the only freshman in recent memory to pull off such a feat was Nick Symmonds.

Standing in the way of history are NESCAC sophomores Jacob Ellis of Bowdoin and Mitchell Black of Tufts. Though Ramos handily defeated both indoors, the duo will be hoping to make him think twice before trying this double again. The top seeded Ellis is the only DIII runner to have broken 1:50 this outdoor season, when he finally got the better of rival Black at NEICAAA’s. Ellis was fifth last year and fifth indoors, but he is a near lock to crack the top three this time around. Black came into indoor nationals as the top seed, but he was mowed down in the final straightaway by Ramos and veteran Andrew Carey of Johns Hopkins.

Carey comes in as the second seed and the favorite in my mind to take home the title. The senior would have been the sixth seed in the 1500 but scratched in an attempt to stay fresh and bring home his first national title. Carey is undefeated against DIII competition this outdoor season and has gotten some great competitive experience at the Stanford and Larry Ellis invitational.

Should the race get out slowly, look out for Thomas Vandenburg of Carnegie Mellon and Matthew Wagenhauser of Oswego State. Vandenburg finished in fourth place indoors, but his 48.61 open 400 time should scare the top seeds. Even more frightening is Wagenhauser’s 48.16 personal best. A novice 800 runner, he qualified for the open 400 last outdoor season.

Predictions: Carey, Ellis, Vandenburg

Full Field Below: