The Weekend Review: Oregon's Dilemma; Alex Wilson DMR's; Millrose Miles

By: Garrett Zatlin

It's another long week for me thanks to three exams in three days. Like last week, I don't have the time to do a full in-depth weekend review. That said, once Wednesday at 2pm rolls around, I should be able to devote plenty of effort and time to the championship portion of the season as well as our PA alumni.

Here are the quick headlines you need to know...

Oregon
At the Millrose Games, Cheserek ran 7:40 in the 3k which is #2 All-Time in the NCAA. Teammate Blake Haney ran an NCAA lead 3:56.36 in the mile. 

DMR's @ Alex Wilson
I've been making the argument that the 800 is the best field in the nation right now. However, some could make an argument that that is simply not true. There are now nine squads under 9:30 with four more at the 9:30.xx mark. Although the third, fourth, and fifth fastest DMR's ever have been run this season, the field is very wide open as to who will win. At Alex Wilson here's what was run...

  1. OKST- 9:26.60
  2. Washington- 9:27.19
  3. Michigan- 9:27.67
  4. Oklahoma- 9:27.70
  5. UCLA- 9:29.61
  6. Notre Dame- 9:31.20
The Irony and Conflict
Good news for the Ducks? They look unstoppable. Bad news for the Ducks? They are currently the 13th fastest DMR in the nation. Only 12 DMR squads make it to nationals. 

It seems highly unlikely that any of those DMR's in the top 12 will not run at nationals. That means Oregon is left with two options. They can either run a loaded DMR this week and try to make the cut, or they can let it go and focus solely on individual events. Does Coach Powell really want to push his top guys to the max a week before nationals? Or will he dismiss that possibility? It will be one of the biggest things to watch this weekend.

The uncertainty of whether or not Oregon will run a DMR puts pressure on Villanova who is currently the 12th best DMR in the nation. Does this mean that Villanova should run a fast DMR this weekend? That could very well happen especially since Jordy Williamsz bombed* his mile this past weekend running 4:03

*Don't get me wrong, 4:03 is awesome for pretty much 99.9% of runners. Just not Jordy Williamsz...

More DMR's
Virginia and Virginia Tech went 1-2 at the UCS Invitational running 9:35 and 9:38 respectively. Luckily, the flat track conversion gives them times of 9.27.89 and 9:30.65. Both are in qualifying positions to make nationals (UVA-7th in the nation, VT-11th in the nation).

Other News
Thomas Awad ran 3:57.03 at Millrose. That time puts him at 4th in the nation for the mile. Julian Oakley ran 3:58.34 at Millrose and sits at the dreaded 17th spot nationally. Luckily, I think at least one person will scratch and he will make the NCAA mile field. Unfortunately, Robert Denault will not be so lucky as he ran 3:58.48 which puts him at 21st in the nation. 

No comments:

Post a Comment