Next weekend, March 14-15, the 2008 indoor track and field season will come to a close. This year’s indoor meet will be hosted by Minnesota State University-Mankato at Myers Field House. More than 500 participants are expected (student-athletes, coaches and administrators). This will be the first time that MSU has held an indoor track and field championship, and the first time in eight years that the meet has occurred outside the city of Boston. Perhaps, what is most exciting is that the meet will be streamed live, free of charge, on msumavericks.com. In keeping with the idea of March Madness, I am going to make my predictions for individual champions. In the spirit Flotrack’s interactive community, I want you, the reader, to make predictions as well. These athletes have worked hard to make it to the national meet, so let’s focus on the positive and avoid name calling and put downs. Pick your meet favorites without demeaning the accomplishments of other athletes. 60 meters Women’s Lincoln’s Janika Martell and St. Augustine’s Barbara Pierre come in with the seed time of 7.42. Pierre was last year’s champion with a time of 7.41 and holds the meet record. Despite this, Martell is my pick since she ran 7.42 on the 29th of February and appears to be peaking at the right time. Men’s St. Augustine’s Sherif Nash has the best seed with a time of 6.67, the only seed time under 6.70. He has also already run against and beat the second seed, his teammate Ramon Gittens, perhaps giving Nash the psychological advantage. So my pick is Sherif Nash. 200 meters Women’s Neb.-Omaha’s Pinar Saka comes in with the fastest seed time of 24.49, followed by Minnesota State’s Brittany Henderson (24.58) and Adam State’s Indira Spence (24.59). Last year’s 200m champion, Davita Prendergast, will be absent. My pick is Minnesota State’s Brittany Henderson because Saka is also the top seed in the 400 meters; running prelims and finals for both events may affect Saka’s performance in the finals of 200 meters. Men’s St. Augustine’s Ramon Gittens has the fastest seed time of 21.60, followed J.C. Smith’s Leford Green with 21.70, Cyrus Wesley with 21.72, and Dennis Boone with a 21.74. I pick Ramon Gittens because he is the fastest seed (Admittedly, I do not know much about the 200 meters.) 400 meters Women’sPinar Saka has the fastest seed time of 53.91, the only sub-54 qualifying time. St. Augustine’s Erica Young comes in with the seed time of 54.49 and Abilene Christian’s Azraa Rounds comes in with a seed time of 55.45.My pick is Pinar Saka based purely on her times. Men’s J.C. Smith’s Freshman, Leford Green has the fastest time seed time of 47.41, followed by St. Augustine’s Randy Curry (47.62) and Kyle Rose (47.65.) I am going with Curry since he has past indoor national experience (he ran 47.40 at last year’s meet). Also, this looks to be his only race of the meet, unlike Green who also is running the 200 meters. 800 meters Women’s Seattle Pacific’s Jessica Pixler has fastest seed time of 2:07.87, followed by South Dakota’s Emma Erickson with 2:09.60 and Wisconsin Parkside’s Jessica Lamp with a 2:10.99. I really believe the winner of the race will depend on what type of race is run. A few seconds can seem like a huge gap in the 800 meters but if any runner runs worse than their seed time it can be anybody’s race. My pick is Pixler since it would be exciting to see her take titles in both the 800 and mile. Men’s Our favorite tuba player, Indiana U-PA’s Sean Strauman, comes in with the fastest seed time of 1:51.09 but is injured and not running, followed by Metro State’s Anthony Luna with 1:51.27, Minnesota State’s Denise Mokaya with 1:51.41, and Adam State’s Nick Lara with 1:51.59. Any one of these four runners could take the race. I pick Nick Lara since he is the defending champion and ran a 1:49.73 last year. Furthermore, he ran his qualifying time on March 1st, which suggests that he is peaking at the right time. 1 mile Women’s Seattle Pacific’s Jessica Pixler has the fastest seed time of 4:38.33, followed by Adam State’s Tanya Gaurmer with 4:54.51,Wisconsin Parkside’s Naomi Fulton with 4:55.04, and Fulton’s teammate Jessica Lamp with 4:55.57. The obvious pick is Jessica Pixler since she comes in with a time that is 17 seconds faster than the next runner. Men’s Stonehill’s Keith Gill has the fastest seed time of 4:04.23, followed by Harding’s Daniel Kirwa with 4:07.05, and UMass-Lowell’s Steve Dewitt 4:07.33. My pick is Keith Gill; he is a senior and has a lot on the line. 5000 meters Women’s Emporia State’s Jonel Rossbach comes in with the fastest seed time of 16:54.12, followed by Abilene Christian’s Winrose Karunde with 16:58.99, and Southern Indiana’s Heather Cooksey with 17:05.05. I am going with Karunde over Rossbach. Karunde had a great outdoor cross country season, placing 2nd overall in the DII National Cross Country Championship. I believe this race is going to be close until the last two laps, when Karunde will surge ahead to take the race. Men’s Queen’s Daniel Kanyaruhuru has the fastest seed time of 13:57.47, followed by California U-PA’s Chris Clark with a time of 14:02, Harding’s Daniel Kirwa with 14:05, and Valley’s Nate Peck with 14:09. Kanyaruhuru is the only runner who has ran under 14, making him the heavy favorite. The possible dark horse is Peck, who is the highest returning finisher from last year’s indoor championships. Just to be safe, I’m going with Kanyaruhuru. Other picks: 60 meter hurdles: Women-Findlay’s Kirby Blackley, Men-West Chester’s Jarret Eaton 4X400 meters : Women-St. Augustine’s, Men-St. Augustine’s DMR : Women-South Dakota, Men- Stonehill or Grand Valley State High Jump Women-Slippery Rock’s Whitney Hendershot, Men- Emporia State’s Craig Saalfield Pole Vault Women-Minnesota State’s Katelin Rains, Men-Grand Valley’s Bryant Wilson Long Jump Women-Ferris State’s Amy Woodman, Men-Lincoln’s Wilbert Walker Triple Jump Women-CS LA’s Omonike Kotey, Men-Lincoln’s Wilbert Walker Shot PutWomen-Missouri Southern’s Jessica Selby-Tallman, Men-Ashland’s Bryan Vickers Weight Throw Women- Ashland’s Tara Cooper, Men-Ashland’s Robert Klenk