Barraza Opens Up Season With 3:58
Houston's Brian Barraza was MIA this past cross country season after most likely redshirting and preserving his eligibility. He certainly took advantage of that season to shift his focus to track where he must've developed some incredible speed work. The senior ran almost 6 seconds faster than his previous PR to win the Reveille Invitational mile with a time of 3:58.66.
That is a crazy fast time for December 10th and in some years (although not in 2015) that would make nationals. Let's also not forget that Barraza's 800 PR is 1:55. His speed training must have been substantial as he prepared for an opener like that. With this new-found speed and already impressive endurance, I'd like to see what he could do in a 3K.
Marc Scott Unleashes 13:38 5K, Leads Fast Field
Remember that time this past summer where I ranked Scott in our top 50 even though he didn't have eligibility for cross country? Well he didn't have eligibility for XC, but he does for indoor! Like Barraza, Scott was fine-tuning his speed work and developing a base in preparation for a killer winter track season. Sure enough, he made an absolute STATEMENT at the Hoosier Open by defeating unattached Louisville runner Edwin Kibichiy (13:38 to 13:42). Indiana frosh Bryce Millar was the only other under 14 minutes.
For perspective, Scott's 13:38.87 is the 25th fastest indoor 5k recorded on TFRRS (which goes back to 2009). It's also the fastest indoor 5k ever recorded in December (on TFRRS). Will we see Scott pursue a faster time in the future? Maybe at ISU? Or will he look at other events like the 3? Maybe we will even see him try for a fast mile...
Let's also make a few quick notes about others in that 5K...
- Edwin Kibichiy ran 13:42, but unattached...he's listed on the Louisville roster for the 2016-2017 season. He might only have eligibility for the spring.
- Redshirt freshman Bryce Millar ran 13:59 for 3rd. We'll talk about him later.
- Eastern Michigan was a pleasant surprise with three guys under 14:15...
- Willy Fink (14:01)
- Lahsene Bouchikhi (14:14)
- Hlyuner Andresson (14:14)
- Georgetown's Scott Carpenter ran 14:00 for 4th. After his breakout cross country season, I was hoping for a faster opener. That said, I think he would be better suited for the 10k during outdoor track.
Indiana Transitioning to the Future
As mentioned above, we saw freshman Bryce Millar barely run under 14 minutes in the 5K with a time of 13:59. He had a considerable lead on senior Matthew Schwartzer who ran 14:11 and senior Mark Chandler who ran 14:15.
Meanwhile, Kyle Mau (another Indian redshirt freshman) won the 3K with a time of 8:14 which was better than the next best Hoosier Carl Smith who ran 8:39.
Even in the 1K, we saw freshman Cooper Williams place 2nd overall with a respectable time of 2:27.
It certainly seems as if the Indiana youth are transitioning quite well to the collegiate competition. Hopefully we see this continue throughout the season with noticeable improvement.
Butler = Team to Watch(?)
For the past few years, the BIG East has been dominated by the likes of Villanova and Georgetown. However, Butler had a nice showing at Hoosier Open with a majority of their squad consisting of freshmen and sophomores. Sophomore Euan Makepeace caught my attention during the cross country season and he continued to do so earlier this month with a 4:08/8:25 double.
It's nothing mind-blowing and it's easy to over analyze December meets, but Makepeace could be the leader of a quality emerging program.
Other Notable Performances
- BYU's Chase Horrocks (senior) ran an altitude adjusted 8:05 3k at the BYU December Invite. It's nothing too exciting, but after the breakout season we saw Nico Montanez have I'll be keeping my eyes out for more BYU guys like Horrocks.
- Julian Oakley (Providence) actually ran faster at BU with an 8:03, but he ran unattached. Therefore, his time is not recorded by TFRRS.
- Middle Tennessee State's Kigen Chemadi has the next fastest 3K with a time of 8:09. He is only a freshman.
- Hugh Armstrong (Providence) ran 14:06 and was the top collegiate finisher in the BU Season Opener 5K.
- It looks like recent Penn State grad and PA alum, Matt Fischer, is now running for BAA. He was the overall winner with a time of 14:02.
- Northeastern's Paul Duffey ran 4:04 to win the mile at the Boston University Season Opener. Watch out for Duffey this year as he could be a sleeper to make nationals in the 800 this year.
- Myles Marshall of Harvard was a standout during his freshman year and started out his sophomore campaign by winning the 1K with a time of 2:24 at the Boston University Season Opener.
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