Take Aways From Nationals

By: Garrett Zatlin

It was certainly a crazy weekend of nationals with lots to talk about. Here are some of the biggest takeaways I had from the meet. You can find the full results here...NCAA D1 INDOOR RESULTS

800

• Rutto, Arroyo, and Joseph fail to make final
• When making my predictions, I kept Joseph out of the finals due to his history of struggling in the prelims. Sure enough, his prelim troubles happened again with this instance being a bit more unlucky than anything else. The final came down to a kick and I like to think that Joseph could've closed in that final like he did at ACC's.
• Rutto was a big surprise to not make it out of the prelim. Some people thought he could win and most of our writers had him finishing in the top three. But that's what happens when you have a loaded 800 field such as this.
• Another NCAA championship where Arroyo fails to make the final or become All-American. He's got so much talent, but just can't seem to figure out how to race in championships.

• UTEP Frosh Duo Are For Real
• Both of these freshmen were aggressive with their race strategies. In fact, we actually saw Saruni give Drew Piazza a nice little shove which resulted in Saruni being DQ'd. If he had not been DQ'd, Saruni finishes 6th. Korir, on the other hand, asserted himself to the front-pack, timed his move well, and ended up with a title. Could he be the next Edward Cheserek of the 800? 
• S/O to Alex Fox who was very high on this duo early on in the season. He was impressed with their racing ability and he turned out to be right.

• Robert Heppenstall quietly finishes 5th
• The Wake Forest sophomore now has three track seasons under his belt. In each of those seasons, he's qualified for nationals and been an All-American. Talk about clutch...

Mile

• First Thing's First: KERR UPSETS CHES
• What. A. Race. The race was incredibly slow for an NCAA final with the first 800 being 2:10. When people started to make their moves and push the pace, Ches seemed cool, calm, and relaxed. He probably didn't think that a redshirt freshman from New Mexico could out-kick him in a slow tactical race. But Josh Kerr proved him and the whole world wrong when he was able to break the King with a 53 second last 400. 
• Does Kerr still have that kick in a sub-four minute race? Maybe, maybe not. But Cheserek should've learned his lesson after getting out-kicked by Jordy Williamsz at Penn Relays in a scenario very similar to NCAA's.
• I must admit it, Caleb Gatchell was a big fan of Josh Kerr very early on and he's looking real smart right around now.

• Thompson and Maton Struggle
• If anyone was going to upset Cheserek I felt confident that it would be Thompson. Of course, that didn't happen and the 3:56 miler fell back to a disappointing 6th place finish after failing to have the kick that the opposition did. 
• I may look smart for keeping Maton out of my top eight predictions, but it still surprised me when I saw that he fell to 9th overall. Oregon usually performs extremely well at NCAA's and this was just not the weekend for Maton who also finished dead last in the 3000.

3000

• It Was Rather...Predictable
• This was where most of our writers (except Caleb) did very well in the predictions. Of the eight All-American spots, I predicted four of them exactly correct with a few other individuals a spot or two off. What was predicted by most of our writers ended up becoming true...
• Ches did his thing and got the win
• Knight was fresh and got runner-up
• Gilbert and Scott held their own
• Klecker and Barraza finished off their breakout seasons with All-American finishes

• Ben Saarel: What Happens If He Doesn't Double?
• After finishing an unexciting 8th place in a tactical mile, Saarel ended up placing a disappointing 15th in the 3000. If he opted out of the mile, does he place higher in the 3000? If he doesn't have the 3000 later on does he push the pace in the mile? I think there were a few different scenarios that could've benefitted Saarel.

5000

• Polar Opposite of the 3000...Plenty of Surprises
• Guys like Alfred Chelanga, Amon Terer, and Tyler Day really threw off a lot of our predictions. I don't think anyone doubted their talent level, but there wasn't a whole lot that indicated they could be All-Americans. 

• More Impressive Buffalo: Klecker 4th In 3000 vs Dressel 4th In 5000
• I just thought it was a good question to throw in. 

DMR

• Did Anyone Want To Win This Race?
• There were so many high quality DMR's that failed to race their best guys. Ole Miss was the only exception and it paid off with them winning the title. Here are some of the relays that left out some of their best talent...
• Oregon didn't run any of their sub-four milers (Cheserek, Maton, Gorman).
• Oklahoma State did not run 3:56 miler Josh Thompson or 3:58 miler Matthew Fayers.
• UTEP's Jonah Koech had such a poor lead-off leg that they weren't able to get back into it. They didn't run Michael Saruni either.
• Virginia Tech did not run either of their 1:46 guys (Piazza and Joseph) and did not run sub-four minute miler Neil Gourley.
• New Mexico did not run Josh Kerr
• Georgetown didn't run Joe White (1:46 800 PR)

• There Were Some Good Decisions...
• Virginia Tech still found a strong lead-off leg (Daniel Jaskowak) who ran 2:53 at ACC's and then 2:55 at nationals. Vincent Ciattei proved to be one of the most underrated milers in the NCAA after splitting a 3:58. The Hokies also had Gourley and Piazza become All-Americans in their individual events.
• Josh Kerr wound up defeating the King of collegiate track and field. 
• The other "no-runs" are up for debate.

Overall

• Erik Peterson and Colby Gilbert Underwhelmed
• In the 5000, we saw Peterson (NCAA #4) and Gilbert (NCAA #2) fail to hit expectations. Peterson held his own by placing 6th overall, but Gilbert fell to 15th overall.
• In the 3000, we saw a flip of performances with Peterson (NCAA #8) drop to 13th while Gilbert (NCAA #1) place 5th.
• Are these horrendous performances? No. Both of these guys left as All-Americans. Still, both of them had run so well all season and never had a bad race. I thought for sure that one of these guys would walk away with two All-American honors. I also thought that we would see at least one of these guys get a top three finish. Unfortunately, that just didn't happen.

• Marc Scott Impressed
• Before this weekend, Scott had never doubled on the national stage, had only one All-American performance on the track, and failed to make nationals last outdoor season. Of course, that all changed after he finished second in the 5000 and third in the 3000. Scott left College Station as the fourth highest individual scorer at the championships.

• Foreign Dominance
• 800
1. Emmanual Korir (Kenyan)
2. Drew Piazza (American)
3. Joe White (American)
4. Isaiah Harris (American)
5. Robert Heppenstall (Canadian)
6. Daniel Kuhn (American)
7. Blair Henderson (American)
• DQ: Michael Saruni (Kenyan)

• MILE
1. Josh Kerr (Scottish)
2. Edward Cheserek (Kenyan)
3. Sampson Laari (Ghanaian)
4. Neil Gourley (Scottish)
5. Adam Palamar (Canadian)
6. Josh Thompson (American)
7. Liam Dee (English)
8. Ben Saarel (American)

• 3000
1. Edward Cheserek (Kenyan)
2. Justyn Knight (Canadian)
3. Marc Scott (English)
4. Joe Klecker (American)
5. Colby Gilbert (American)
6. Cole Rockhold (American)
7. Brian Barraza (American)
8. John Dressel (American)

• 5000
1. Edward Cheserek (Kenyan)
2. Marc Scott (English)
3. Amon Terer (Kenyan)
4. John Dressel (American)
5. Alfred Chelanga (Kenyan)
6. Erik Peterson (American)
7. MJ Erb (American)
8. Tyler Day (American)