By: Garrett Zatlin
Now that cross country season is over, we can focus on distances other than just 8/10k's. Here are some of the notable indoor performances the past few weeks from around the nation.
BCS Panther Indoor Icebreaker
Mile
Sean Tobin (Mississippi) opened up his season with an impressive 4:02 mile to get the win at a small school meet. He won by roughly 18 seconds meaning he ran that completely on his own. He seems to be just another piece of the puzzle for a potential Mississippi DMR.
Reveille Invitational
1000
Efrain Hernandez (Texas A&M) starts off his season with a 1k and wins over a couple of his teammates with a 2:28. Nothing exciting, but him and his (assumed?) brother were very consistent at the 800 last spring and I think that he'll be a dark horse this winter.
Mile
The prized Aggie recruit, Donavan Brazier (Texas A&M), opened up his indoor season with a wicked 4:07 to get the win. That is an incredible time for a freshman this early in the season regardless of how good he was as a recruit. I'm looking for big things from Donavan Brazier. His sophomore teammate, Alex Riba also had a solid race finishing in 4:08 for second.
Cornell Greg Page Relays
3000
PA Alum Dominic Deluca (Cornell) wins the race with a solid time of 8:21. I think he's still a year away from qualifying for nationals, but this kid has guts and is a grind-it-out type of runner. I think he can get close to 8 minutes this season.
5000
Ben Rainero (Cornell) solo's a time of 14:13 to win by 58 seconds. It kind of makes you wonder what he could do with competition.
Boston University Opener
3000
Julian Oakley (Providence) runs 8:17 to defeat Mitchell Byrne (Amer. Int'l) by eight seconds. That's not a mind-blowing time, but you have to start wondering what he could do if he was in a faster race. Maybe under 8 minutes? I don't think that's unrealistic...
Vanderbilt Opener
800
The duo LaForrest Church and Alex Klatt of Memphis run a pair of 1:50's to finish 1-2. That's a pretty solid opener for this early in the season. It took about 1:48low to make NCAA's last winter so that time is within reach for them.
Mile
The mile was won with a time of 4:12 by a junior from Middle Tennessee State. Unexciting right? It is until you realize that the winner was Eliud Rutto. The MTS star stormed onto the national scene in 2014 by running 1:45 outdoors and establishing himself as a national contender. Unfortunately, we never saw him during either track season last year. Now, Rutto is back and could shake up the national title conversation.
5000
Louisville took a trip to Tennessee to capitalize on their XC fitness. The Cardinals swept the top four with a group that included Kibichiy (14:07), Kibet (14:21), Kipkoech (14:31), and Chemoiywo (14:31).
Hoosier Open
1000
Indiana's Jordan Huntoon opened up his season with a solid 2:27 to get the win. The Kentucky frosh Shane Dillon was close behind in 2:28.
Mile
It was a bit of a weird race with many of the top guys not even being on collegiate teams. The winner was Robbie Nierman of Team Indiana Elite in 4:06.40. Behind him was Indiana grad student and club runner, John Darmody in 4:06.91. Darmody recently won NIRCA XC nationals (for the third time) which adds to his already impressive resume (7 time NAIA All-American & Sub-4 Miler). In third was Daniel Garcia who attends a private school called Cardinal Stretch. He finished third in 4:07. The top D1 collegiate athlete was Kyle Duvall (Indiana) who was 4th in 4:11.
3000
The Indiana duo of Eric Claxton and Mark Chandler finish first and second with times of 8:19.53 and 8:19.79. I'm struggling to think of a team that has as much depth as Indiana. They remind me of last year's New Mexico squad.
5000
The reason why winter track is so great is because all of the names that we don't talk about during the fall finally get some love (especially the redshirts). This 5k was by far the most interesting and exciting event during the opening weeks of indoor. The field was stacked and included some of the best names in the nation. Here are just some of them...
David Elliot (Boise State)
Jason Crist (Indiana)
Rorey Hunter (Indiana)
Matthew Schwartzer (Indiana)
Futsum Zienasellassie (NAU)
George Parsons (NC State)
Luis Vargas (NC State)
Craig Nowak (OKST)
Reid Buchanan (Portland)
William Kincaid (Portland)
The race was quick with Luis Vargas leading at 2k after the pacer stepped off. Vargas grinded out a tough pace and created a solid gap within the field. The pack eventually began to separate and a pack of six remained (Vargas, Elliot, Buchanan, Hubers (Indiana Elite), Kincaid, and Futsum). With only 1000 meters left, Futsum made his move towards the front and put in a hard surge attempting to pull away from the field. At one point he seemed to have a 20 meter lead. Behind him, however, sat William Kincaid who was moving up to second and getting in position as his turnover grew faster and faster. When the bell lap hit things got intense as Kincaid threw down a blistering 25high/26low last 200 to hawk Futsum on the final straightaway and grab the win with a time of 13:44.34. Futsum was 13:44.89.
Does the name Kincaid ring a bell? You might remember him from NCAA's last spring where he pushed Cheserek and Jenkins on the final lap of the 5000. It seems like he's back to his old ways...only better. Watching the race video, he looked extremely sharp and very fit. He kept outstanding poise and ran a brilliant race. He looks extremely dangerous, especially in a tactical race. Watch for him. Aside from Kincaid, a lot of credit has to go to Futsum for a gutsy push late in the race. It's a nice way to open up his senior year. In third place was another Portland Pilot, Reid Buchanan who hung onto a fast pace and closed well to run 13:49.62. David Elliot and Luis Vargas hung on after pushing the pace and both settled for fourth and fifth running 13:49.82 and 13:49.86 (respectively) to close out the top collegiates under 14 minutes. Wanna know the best part about all of this? That entire top five had no eligibility/redshirted their 2015 cross country season.
Further down the results, Indiana seemed a bit sporadic. Hunter was 14:07 for 6th place which is a nice opener for him and should be used as momentum later on in the season. In 12th place with a time of 14:18 was Matthew Schwartzer who didn't run this past fall. It's unclear whether it was due to injury or coach's decision, but it looks like he's still slightly adjusting to the top-tier competition. Although, 14:18 this early is no slouch of a time. The last Hoosier was Jason Crist who simply couldn't hang with a fast pace and was 14th in 14:38. Other struggling stars included George Parsons and Craig Nowak who were 13th and 15th running 14:25 and 14:42 (respectively). Not the best day ever for a pair that is typically better on the grass.
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