From Thursday through Saturday, the NCAA East Preliminary Round hosted by the University of Kentucky will contest the first stage of competition on the way to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Check out the top storylines heading into the women's distance and sprint competition in Lexington, KY.

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Anna Rohrer's first attempt at 5K, 10K double

The sophomore from Notre Dame is emerging as one of the best distance runners in collegiate history and could potentially rack up two NCAA crowns during this championship, starting with the NCAA East Preliminary.

Rohrer made her debut in the 10K at the Stanford Invitational, where she blasted a victory over a stacked pro field in 31:58. The mark is the seventh-fastest 10K on the NCAA all-time list. She also ran an outdoor 5K personal best of 15:43 to qualify in the shorter distance as well. For the first time in her career, Rohrer will be contesting both at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. After a third-place finish in the 5K at the NCAA Indoor Championships and a historic 10K run, Rohrer has the potential to complete a distance sweep in her first attempt at both events.

Watch Rohrer's 10K performance at Stanford:

How fast will Aleia Hobbs run?

The junior from LSU shocked the track world when she blasted a world lead of 10.85 in the 100m at the SEC Relays in April. The mark is No. 2 on the NCAA all-time list behind Dawn Sowell's 10.78 run at altitude in 1989. Two hours before running the 100m, Hobbs anchored LSU's 4x100m that tied Oregon's collegiate record. Hobbs' 100m breakthrough beat her previous personal best of 11.06 and catapulted her into the conversation with some of the best sprint talents in history. It's especially exciting considering the talent level in the NCAA sprints this year. Destiny Barnett-Smith just broke 11 seconds at altitude. Olympic finalist Deajah Stevens just ran a 100m personal best of 11.00, and NCAA champions Ariana Washington and Hannah Cunliffe will look to claim more sprint titles.



It's been two years since Hobbs has competed in an NCAA final (she was sixth in the 100m at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships). This year, she has a chance to win, but it all starts with the NCAA East Preliminary.

Molly Seidel's college farewell

Four-time NCAA champion Molly Seidel has scratched from the 10K in what would have been her final NCAA Outdoor Championship. The Notre Dame standout emerged as a force in the NCAA distance running scene two years ago. She captured her first NCAA crown in the outdoor 10K and followed the victory a few months later with a cross country title and later two indoor track titles. Following the indoor season, she suffered from ongoing injuries and was unable to compete in the spring when she would have surely competed at the 2016 Olympic Trials.

Last year, Seidel contemplated ending her NCAA run to pursue a professional career. But she made the decision to complete her final two seasons of college eligibility, believing that she had unfinished business at the collegiate level. Unfortunately, Seidel was plagued by injury once again and has only raced twice in 2017, a 4:44 indoor mile and a victory in the 10K at the Stanford Invitational. Her time of 33:19 was just one second shy of her personal best set while winning the 2015 NCAA crown. Seidel initially declared her status to compete in the NCAA East Preliminary but scratched from the meet this week. Hopefully she can return to competition healthy this year, ideally as a professional.

NCAA champion Rhianwedd Price is back

After suffering from a bout of pneumonia last year, Mississippi State's Rhianwedd Price made a triumphant return to the top of the women's 1500m ranks. It's been a much-anticipated comeback as Price won the 1500m at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships against now-Olympian Shelby Houlihan. But following the breakthrough season, Price only raced four times in 2016 due to the illness and was unable to defend her 1500m crown. She has been steadily coming back to fitness in 2017, highlighted by a 4:13 season's best at the Florida Relays.



At this year's championship, Price will face stiff competition in the East with NCAA indoor mile champion Karisa Nelson but should easily qualify to the next round where she will pursue a second NCAA title.