The Weekend Review: Buff's Put 3 Sub-Four (Converted); UVA Puts 3 Sub-14 in Boston

By: Garrett Zatlin

Colorado Open
Mile
The Colorado Buffaloes have been criticized the past few year for being a team "that can only excel in one season" (cross country). But those critics were silenced this past weekend as CU flexed their dominance and put THREE men under four minutes (after being converted from an altitude of 5500 ft). Ben Saarel led the way with a time of 4:01 which was converted to a 3:55! The same was done for redshirt freshman Joe Klecker and senior Zach Perrin as they had times converted to 3:55 and 3:56 respectively.

Some may argue that these conversions are too generous, but these adjusted times have historically been very accurate when compared with other performances later on in the season (see Cristian Soratos in 2015).

Regardless of the conversion debate, these three just threw down wicked fast times and now hold the top three spots in the NCAA. Now things are getting interesting. Will the Buffs pursue the 3000 and/or 5000 later on in the season? If so, then which event do they choose? Could we even see them go for the DMR (unlikely, but possible)?

Although the Buffalo trio got all the attention, we need to give some love to Colorado State's Cole Rockhold who put together another spectacular performance with a converted time of 3:57! That's good for #4 in the nation right now. This is a runner who has been overshadowed by Mock and Jefferson in the past, but now he's making a name for himself and doing quite well. I like to think he could be an All-American by the time March comes around.

3000
CSU's Jerrell Mock led the way and the win with a converted time of 7:59! Great run and win for Mock who should be able to take this as momentum and pursue a faster time for the NCAA's.

Grant Fischer (CSU) was second with a converted time of 8:04.

New Mexico Classic
800
Another meet at altitude led to some very fast times...mostly from UTEP. The freshman duo of Emmanuel Korir and Michael Saruni made sure the NCAA didn't forget about them as they took the top two spots with converted times of 1:46.15 and 1:46.30 (respectively). These two have been outstanding so far this season and don't show any sign of slowing down. They hold the top two spots in the nation ahead of guys like Isaiah Harris, Daniel Kuhn, and Andres Arroyo.

Mile
The top two spots went to UTEP...again. Jonah Koech easily separated himself from the field and won by over 10 seconds. His 4:02 was eventually converted to a big time of 3:57 which is good for #5 in the nation.

Antony Kosgei was runner-up with a converted time of 4:07.

Meyo Invitational
800
Indiana's Daniel Kuhn is back and an entirely different level than last year. The Hoosier junior took the victory with a huge time of 1:46 which puts him at #3 in the nation. I am a big fan of Kuhn and I like to believe that he could fight for the NCAA title. This is over a 1 second indoor PR for him so I like where he's at in terms of fitness.

Close behind Kuhn was Iowa's Carter Lilly who we saw breakout last spring. The junior was .01 seconds off his PR with a time of 1:47.33. He's someone I could realistically see him fighting for an All-American position. He has great experience against big names and has had very few poor races as of late.

Indiana's Jordan Huntoon rounded out the top three with a time of 1:49. He was trailed by Ohio State freshman Alex Lomong who ran 1:50 for fourth.

PA ALUMNI
Andrew Stone, Rs. Senior, Notre Dame: 1:53.64 (25th)

Mile
Indiana redshirt frosh Kyle Mau continues to roll this season with another excellent performance of 4:00.13. He's been flirting with that sub-four mark for a while now and I imagine he'll get it soon. He defeated a great field this weekend (including guys who have gone sub-four minutes before) and I think he'll get the mark within the next few weeks.

Indiana sophomore Joseph Murphy took 2nd with a time of 4:02.

PA ALUMNI
Matt McGoey, Sophomore, Pittsburgh: 4:16.15 (38th)
Nick Wolk, Freshman, Pittsburgh: 4:16.83 (40th)
James Hare, Junior, Pittsburgh: 4:21.66 (50th)
Nate Sloan, Rs. Sophomore, Pittsburgh: 4:33.19 (58th)

3000
Butler's Erik Peterson looks SCARY good. In his second 3K of the season, Peterson ran another PR and took the win with a time of 7:51. He is one of the most experienced runners in the NCAA who has the capability of winning any races he toes the line on. He's is a sure-fire All-American in my eyes and I believe he could be flirt with the top five at NCAA's.

Indiana's Jason Crist was runner-up with a time of 8:02.

PA ALUMNI
Billy Caldwell, Junior, Pittsburgh: 8:37.35 (41st)

5000
Nicholas Raymond (E. Michigan) battled hard with Nate Jones (McNeese State). Both ended with times of 14:21 with Raymond getting the win.

PA ALUMNI
Brent Kennedy, Junior, Notre Dame: 14:46.23 (27th)
Aaron Lauer, Junior, Pittsburgh: 15:01.27 (37th)
Sebastian Curtin, Sophomore, Pittsburgh: 15:06.92 (38th)

DMR
PA ALUMNI
Nick Wolk, Freshman, Pittsburgh: 4:08 (2nd overall) <--split

Boston University Scarlett & White
800
Myles Marshall (Harvard) and Ethan Homan (Boston U) went head-to-head in an exciting finish that led to both runners earning times of 1:48. Marshall earned the 4th individual win of his career while Homan came up short of the second win of his season.

Mile
In a surprise upset, Syracuse's Joel Hubbard took down defending indoor mile champion Henry Wynne (Virginia) with a time of 3:59. Wynne settled for second with a time of 4:00.80. Hubbard is now Syracuse's third man under four minutes so far this season. They have to be thinking DMR...right? They could definitely contend for the title if Cheserek isn't on the Oregon relay (although many could argue that he will run it).

Michael Clevenger (Georgetown) and Matti Groll (Boston U) settled for third and fourth with times of 4:03 and 4:04 respectively.

PA ALUMNI
Liam O'Connell, Junior, Boston U: 4:17.46 (24th)
Henry Sappey, Freshman, Monmouth: 4:25.90 (26th)

5000
Virginia displayed absolute supremacy over the rest of the field as they took the top four spots with three of them going sub-14 minutes! Zach Herriot led the way with a time of 13:45. That time puts him at #2 in the NCAA and should be fast enough to get him qualified for the championships.

Chase Weaverling and Brent Demarest followed Herriot with times of 13:54 and 13:56. Those times are good enough for #3 and #4 in the nation at the moment, but I'd be surprised to see those performances be fast enough to qualify for the NCAA championships. Still, this is a great sign at the unofficial halfway point in the season for the Virginia Cavaliers. They still have time to go faster and secure their spots to the big-dance in Texas.

Alex Corbett was the fourth and final Virginia Cavalier to cross the line with a time of 14:12.

DMR
Paul Duffey anchored Northeastern home to a 9:39 win. They defeated Boston U. who ran a time of 9:41.

Armory Track Invitational
800
Arizona's Collins Kibet got an easy win over Sacred Heart's Trevor Guerrera 1:48 to 1:50.

PA ALUMNI
Ryan Paradise, Freshman, Lehigh: 1:57.91 (22nd)
Joe Espinal, Freshman, Lehigh: 2:00.66 (32nd)
David Fletcher, Freshman, Lehigh: 2:07.98 (46th)

Mile-Hot Heat
Chris Hatler (Penn) puts together another impressive performance to finish as the top collegiate finishes with a time of 4:00.50 for the full mile. Carlos Villareal of Arizona was the next collegiate in with a time of 4:03.

Mile-College Oklahoma's David Blankenbaker took the win with a 4:03.81.

PA ALUMNI
Sam Ritz, Sophomore, Columbia: 4:07.61 (4th)
Ryan Grace, Junior, Lehigh: 4:24.03 (24th)

3000-Hot Heat In the fastest heat of meet, Morgan McDonald (Wisconsin) battled with former Colorado Buffalo Morgan Pearson. In the end, McDonald fell just short of the win and settled for second with an excellent time of 7:51. He defeated Drew Hunter in the process. That time should be good enough to make NCAA's. I would like to see McDonald pursue the mile as well, but I think he could thrive at either distance at nationals.

3000-College
PA ALUMNI
Matt Kravitz, Freshman, Lehigh: 8:25.57 (13th)
Patrick Reilly, Junior, Lehigh: 8:26.16 (15th)

Charlie Thomas Invite
800 Freshman Devin Dixon (Texas A&M) took down PA alum John Lewis (Clemson). Dixon ran 1:48 while Lewis ran 1:49. Two other Texas A&M Aggies, JaQwae Ellison and Efrain Hernandez, went under 1:50 as well (each running 1:49).

Interesting to note that Brian Barraza (Houston) got some speed work in and ended up with a time of 1:52.

3000
PA ALUMNI Seamus Collins, Junior, Cincinnati: 8:27.38 (2nd)

Camel City Elite
800
In his first 800 of the season, Eliud Rutto (Middle Tennessee State) unleashed a flat-track conversion of 1:47.41 to get the win and place himself at 7th in the nation. Rutto is an established name among 800 runners and I feel like he should be almost guaranteed All-American. I'm not sure I'd put him in the national title conversation yet, but I believe he could get there.

Behind Rutto was New Hampshire transfer and Virginia Tech senior Drew Piazza who also recorded a flat-track conversion of 1:47.87. That should be good enough to get into nationals assuming we don't have another record-breaking year in the 800 again. He's currently 10th in the NCAA.

The next few in were Sampson Laari of MTSU (1:48.68) and Patrick Joseph of Virginia Tech (1:48.78). Those times probably won't be fast enough to get into nationals, but you have to think that these two will each be excellent pieces for their respective programs should they choose to pursue the DMR.

Mile
In the fastest section of the day, we saw Virginia Tech's Neil Gourley finish as the top collegiate in the race and earn a flat-track conversion of 3:58.11. That puts Gourley at 8th in the nation which will most likely be good enough to qualify for nationals.

With Gourley now under four minutes and two others under 1:50, Virginia Tech could put together a very dangerous DMR squad and contend for an All-American spot. I'm sure that last year is fresh in their minds after being the kicked out of the final qualifying spot in the last weekend of competition before nationals.

We can also put Vincent Ciattei into Virginia Tech's DMR conversation as he was the next best collegiate in with a converted time of 4:03. I may be biased, but the Hokies are looking very deep across the board.

PA ALUMNI
Todd Gunzenhauser, Freshman, UNC Charlotte: 4:18.93 (16th) <--unconverted...ran unattached Aaron Gebhart, Rs. Sophomore, UNC Charlotte: 4:19.83 (18th) <--unconverted

3000
In a very deep of 3k runners, Campbell's Amon Terer emerged as the top collegiate. Terer ended up with an outstanding time of 7:54 which puts him at 7th in the nation! Behind Terer, we saw freshman Kigen Chemadi (MTSU) finish with a converted time of 7:56.41 (NCAA #8). However, he was pushed to the line by a new Campbell star not named Terer or Kipkoech. Instead, it was freshman Amon Kemboi was finished with a time of 7:56.50 (NCAA #9). These freshmen are not messing around this year.

The next man in was George "Sam" Parsons of NC State who finished a time of 7:58 (NCAA #14). He helped pace Furman's Troy Reeder to be the last man under 8 minutes with a time of 7:59 (NCAA #17).

Parsons joins a slew of experienced talent in the 7:57-58 range that is itching to breakout for a faster time. The 3000 cutoff time for nationals will be very competitive once the season gets closer to an end.

PA ALUMNI
Daniel Jaskowak, Senior, Virginia Tech: 8:12.61 (11th)

MSU, ISU, WSU Dual Meet
Mile
First came Cristian Soratos, now we have Diego Leon. Montana State has another sub-four minute runner in their books after Leon ran an unconverted 4:07 to get the win. An altitude AND flat track conversion gave Leon the sub-four minute mark of 3:59. His time currently ranks 11th in the NCAA right now.

NAU Mountain T's Invitational
Mile
The NAU men went out seeking fast times. Andy Trouard earned an altitude converted time of 4:01 while Tyler Day ran 4:02 and Matthew Baxter ran 4:04.