DII Outdoor National Preview-2009

May 19, 2009

The finale of the 2009 DII outdoor season will take place this weekend, May 21-23, at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. This is the fifth time that Angelo State has hosted the Outdoor Championships, which will be attended by over 600 athletes plus fans, coaches, and the media. I will highlight a few of the most highly competitive events. Let me know what your predictions are and fill in the events (e.g. field events) that I have missed. Please remember to be respectful towards the athletes since they have worked hard to get to Nationals.

Men’s 200 meters- Last year’s outdoor champion, St. Augustine senior Dennis Boone, is back, but he is coming in with the slowest seed time (21.28). His teammate, Josh Scott, who beat him by .01 seconds for the indoor title is also in the race. Scott holds the second fastest seed time of 20.55 and has a very good chance of upsetting Boone. J.C. Smith’s Leford Green has the fastest seed time of 20.41. However, both he and Scott are doubling in the 400 meters, which could add some fatigue to their legs and hinder their chances for the title.

Women’s 100 meters- This year’s 60 meter indoor champion and last year’s 100 meter outdoor champion, St. Augustine’s junior Barbara Pierre, is back and holds the third fastest seed time of 11.47. The duo of Lincoln runners, freshman Samoy Hackett (11.38) and senior Janika Martell (11.44), have the fastest two seed times entering into the race. All three are also running the 200 meters.

Men’s 1500 meters- The current indoor mile champion and last year’s 1500 meter champion, Adams State’s Aaron Braun is coming into this race as the favorite with a time of 3:39.45. Braun will also be running the 5k. His teammates, Ryan McNiff (3:42.57) and Andrew Graham (3:45.72) are not far behind. Chico State’s Michael Wickman will be doubling along with the 800 meter and has the seed time of 3:44.45. Queen’s Michael Crouch has the fifth fastest seed time of 3:46.59. This appears to be a tight race and might come down to who has the best kick and whose legs are the least fatigued.

Women’s 5k-With Seattle Pacific’s Jessica Pixler focusing on the 1500 meters, the stage is set for a new 5k champion. Millersville’s Priscilla Jennings has the fastest seed time of 16:29.09 but Adams State’s Lavenna Mullenbach is a close second with a 16:30.57. Shippensburg’s freshman phenom, Neely Spence, is entered with the third fastest seed time of 16:38.81. Seeds times, however, are not reliable for predicting the race since Mullenbach is doubling in the 10k. Other notable runners in the race include Abilene Christian’s Winrose Karunde, Edinboro’s Rachael Lanzel, and Adams State’s Heather Wood.

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#17	Anonymous Coward May 25 at 9:34pm I can't wait for indoor nationals at altitude so that all you guys complaining about altitude adjustment conversion times can come up and suck some air!!! reply
#16	DII Gets No Love May 25 at 11:43am Whats the deal with the DII track nationals only getting a small page to represent our national meet? Flotrack is based out of TX, and DII was in San Angelo, TX. They couldnt send someone to video or report the meet the same as DI in AR. Cara stand up for DII, get us some more love reply
#15	Aunt Susan May 24 at 8:17am My nephew won the 400 M hurdles last night...anyone out there know when a video of the race might be posted? reply
#14	La Negra May 22 at 12:10am VIVIAN Wadeck of Cal State LA will medal in the 5k!!! shout out to LORE who will come strong 4 next season! reply
#13	A Good Neighbor May 20 at 12:43pm Thank you, Cara, for your articles and the light you shine on Division II Track and Cross. You get a hard time in comments now and then for no real reason. Yikes! reply
#12	Matthew Schneider May 19 at 11:25pm they are altitiude adjusted thats how they go onto the performance list. so if they ran the time at altitude then it is altitude adjusted, which is warranted but in some events the adjustment seems a bit much such as the 1500 adjustment. reply
#11	Anonymous Coward May 19 at 9:08pm these are not altitude adjusted seed times... so yea there ya go the 1500 will be a good one reply
#10	Cara Hawkins May 19 at 8:05pm Well, the seed times do have the altitude conversion which I am not quite sure is not quite right.. reply
#9	Joshua Neyhart May 19 at 7:14pm The Adams guys have very inflated seed with their altitude conversions. I am sure Braun in in 3:43 shape.....but.....3:39? reply
#8	Cara Hawkins May 19 at 6:39pm @yaya-I figured it out, my computer corrects that way-I don't know why.. @Lame-o-I said I was going to highlight a few of the competitive races, I did not say they were the only ones.. reply
#7	Pumped May 19 at 5:48pm The Mens 5k is going to be siiiick reply
#6	Yaya May 19 at 5:32pm you continue to call Michael wickman as "wickham" even after the corrections from his interview.. Good Luck Michael reply
#5	Lame-o May 19 at 2:09pm i didn't know there were only 4 competitive events at nats... reply
#4	RMACdaddy May 19 at 2:07pm Will there be livestream online like xc and indoor had? reply
#3	Cara Hawkins May 19 at 9:07am I have looked but I have not found anything.. reply
#2	Adam Ward May 19 at 8:33am will there be race footage after the fact? reply
#1	Matthew Schneider May 19 at 7:22am Could not be more excited to watch the 1500m. Much respect to Crouch as he said in his interview on flotrack preseason he was going to focus on 1500 and challenging braun. Despite being a top contender in the 5k and 10k he shows he is committed to fulfilling his promise! Good luck Michael! reply