The Weekend Review: Cheserek Runs NCAA Mile Record; VT Duo Run 1:46's; Wynne Fails to Qualify for NCAA's

By: Garrett Zatlin

With a business law exam tomorrow, I didn't have time to include any PA alumni sections. I will, however, have some PA alumni material next week in addition to a "NCAA Reaction to Entries" post in a few days.

SEC's
800
Florida's Andres Arroyo was at it again with another impressive victory. He threw down a 1:47.18 to best Blair Henderson (LSU) and Craig Engels (Ole Miss). Those two ended up running who 1:47.5.

Ryan Manahan (Ole Miss) and JaQwae Ellison (Texas Tech) rounded out the top five with times of 1:48.xx.

Clearly, Arroyo is in excellent shape. He currently sits at 10th in the NCAA and SHOULD be a favorite to mix it up at nationals for an All-American spot. At the same time, we must recognize that Arroyo has had A LOT of struggles in the post-season. Out of his five NCAA championship appearances, he's earned All-American only once (Outdoor 2015: 8th). He also failed to make it out of the regional meet last spring.

The big stage has not treated Arroyo well. Could this finally be the season where he steps up his game and makes an impact at the national level? It seems like we always ask this question during this time of the year...

Mile
Mississippi's Tobin, Gilley, and Domanic swept the event by running 1, 2, 3. Tobin and Gilley each ran 4:00.

3000
In what could be considered an upset, Arkansas' Jack Bruce out-ran Mississippi's MJ Erb to get the win. In MJ Erb's defense, he was on the double from the 5000. The two distance studs ended up running 7:58 and 7:59 respectively.

Alabama's Alfred Chelanga (also on the double) ran 8:02 for third.

5000
Despite not winning the 3k, Erb was able to secure a victory in the 5000 by running an impressive time of 13:52. He was followed by the Alabama duo of Alfred Chelanga and Antibahs Kosgei who ran 13:58 and 13:59 respectively.

DMR
Ole Miss barely held off Arkansas by running a time of 9:32 to the Razorback's 9:33. Both of these teams will be fielding a relay at NCAA's in hopes of earning an All-American spot.

ACC's
800
Event of the week? The argument could certainly be made when you consider that THREE guys went sub-1:47! In an exceptional display of dominance, the Virginia Tech duo of Patrick Joseph and Drew Piazza took the top two spots in school record times of 1:46.23 (NCAA #2) and 1:46.42 (NCAA#4) respectively. Joseph's time is now a new meet record.

Could one of these guys be a title contender for NCAA's? It sure seems like it. Both having been building up momentum all year and are now peaking at exactly the right time. Joseph and Piazza might be the two most dangerous guys in the 800 field right now.

Behind those two was a familiar name in Robert Heppenstall (Wake Forest) who earned a PR with a time of 1:46.71. With another year of experience and a slew of consistent performances, I feel very confident that Heppenstall will earn All-American once more.

How about Georgia Tech's Avery Bartlett? The sophomore just ran a THREE SECOND PR! That's truly incredible and a very clutch performance to put him at NCAA #11. That time also secured his spot to nationals. Can he do it again on the national stage? I suppose we'll have to wait and see...

Other notable performances included John Lewis (Clemson) placing 5th in 1:48 while another Georgia Tech athlete (Andres Littig) ran 1:49 for 6th.

Mile
In another huge upset, Virginia Tech's Vincent Ciattei upset the defending mile champion Henry Wynne (UVA) in a final kick to earn the title. Each ran 4:01.

With the last race before nationals now finished, Henry Wynne is (or will be) officially out of NCAA qualifying. It was a rough season for Wynne, but it could be explained by a rumored injury that he supposedly sustained during the cross country season.

3000
Justyn Knight secured 10 points for his Syracuse teammates with a winning time of 8:05. He was, however, trailed closely by Virginia Tech's Dan Jaskowak who also ran 8:05 and UVA's Henry Wynne who finished with an 8:06.

5000
Before winning the 3k, Knight was able to hold off the likes of George Parsons (NC State) and Zach Herriot (UVA) for a dub in the 5000. He finished with a time of 13:50 while Parsons and Herriot ran 13:52 and 13:54 respectively.

DMR
Imagine being on a team so good that you can qualify for nationals with two completely different DMR's. That's exactly what happened with Virginia Tech after this past weekend when they ran 9:31 (again) with a completely different group of guys than they had originally run earlier in the season.

The Hokies now hold spots 10th and 12th in the NCAA for the DMR, but will unfortunately not be able to run both relays due to NCAA rules. It's a flawed system, but VT should still take great pride in their accomplishment.

BIG 10's
800
Isaiah Harris (Penn State) ended the day with his 4th individual win of the season after clocking a strong 1:47.23. He was followed closely by Mitch Hechsel of Minnesota who was exactly one second behind in 1:48.23. Freshman Dom Perretta (PSU) and Carter Lilly (Iowa) placed 3rd and 4th, each with times of 1:48.

Mile
In a tactical race, we saw Minnesota's Drew Wiebke pull off the surprise win with a time of 4:01. He was followed by Indiana's Joseph Murphy and Kyle Mau. The IU duo finished the race in 4:02 and 4:03 respectively.

3000
Morgan McDonald locked down 10 points for the Badgers after running a tactical 8:12 to defeat Indiana's Jason Crist (8:13) and Michigan's Aaron Baumgarten (8:14).

5000
Before winning the 3000, McDonald was able to pull away from the field and clock a time of 14:04 while Minnesota's Obsa Ali finished in 14:05.

DMR
Indiana showed that their Alex Wilson performance was not a one-time thing. The Hoosiers placed first with a solid time of 9:34 while Minnestoa ran a respectable 9:38.

BIG 12's
800
Despite the not making nationals, Livingston can still take solace in the fact that he's a BIG 12 champion after running 1:48.40 to edge out Baylor's Zacharias Curran who ran 1:48.43.

Others such as Charles Jones, Bryce Hoppel, and Vincent Crisp all went under 1:49 in this race as well.

1000
Oklahoma State's Josh Thompson got in some speed work before nationals by running a very quick 2:24 to win by four seconds.

Mile
Oklahoma State did their job by having Jacob Thompson and Craig Nowak run 4:13 and 4:14 respectively to earn the top two spots.

3000
Similar to the mile, Oklahoma State had Craig Nowak and Hassan Abdi take the top two spots with times of 8:03 and 8:04.

5000
In what may have been the most exciting kick of the week, Oklahoma's Dylan Blankenbaker barely edged out Hassan Abdi at the line with each runner finishing in a time of 14:22.

DMR
Oklahoma State cruised to an easy DMR win in a time of 9:44.

Heps (Ivy League)
800
Myles Marshall (Harvard) dominated the field and took the win by nearly two seconds after running 1:48.

1000
Columbia sophomore Alek Sauer crossed the line in first with a time of 2:24. It was his second win of the season. He was followed by four others who finished with times of 2:25.

Mile
A slow pace and a hard kick made Penn's Chris Hatler an Ivy League champion after running 4:10 to out run Columbia Rob Napolitano who ran 4:12.

3000
Yale's James Randon shut down the field by placing first with a time of 8:04. He was approximately six seconds of ahead teammate and silver medalist Andre Ivankovic.

5000
Princeton's Conor Lundy may be the future of Ivy League distance running, but experience will typically have the edge in races like this. Senior Nick Tuck (Penn) ran smart and made moves at the right time to gain 10 points for his team in a time of 14:16. He was three seconds ahead of Lundy who ran 14:19.

4x800
Columbia out-dueled Princeton 7:32 to 7:33 for the win.

DMR
A 3:59 mile anchor from Yale's James Randon was enough to get his relay the win and make Cornell settle for second.

MPSF Championships
800
USC's Robert Ford took the title with a 1:49 after defeating BYU's Connor Ross who also ran 1:49.

Mile
In a tactical battle between distance powerhouses, we saw Ben Saarel edge out Oregon's Tim Gorman and Austin Tamagno to get the win with a time of 4:02. Gorman also settled for a 4:02 while Tamagno was at 4:03.

3000
Colorado's John Dressel crossed the line in first with a very strong time of 7:51 to give himself a spot at nationals (he currently ranks 10th in the nation). However, California's Garrett Corcoran did not make life easy for Dressel as he finished right behind him with a time of 7:52.

This is a huge breakout race for Corcoran who has shown glimpses of potential throughout the season. Don't be surprised to see the sophomore mix it up at nationals.

Rounding out the top three was Oregon's Matthew Maton who also dropped a time of 7:52 (good for 13th in the nation). Maton now has spots in the mile and 3k for nationals.

5000
Joe Klecker continues to be one the biggest breakout stars of the season. He earned his second straight win after running 13:56 to defeat BYU's Rory Linkletter who ran 13:59. Unfortunately, neither time is good enough to qualify for NCAA's (although Linkletter is already qualified).

DMR
In a last-chance effort to qualify for nationals, California stacked their relay and took to the track trying to run a fast time. Despite getting the win, they ended up running 9:34 which is roughly three seconds off the last national qualifying mark.

BIG East's
800
Johnny Leverenz (Butler) threw down a 1:49 to get the win.

Mile
Georgetown's Scott Carpenter got in some nice speed work before nationals by running a 4:03 to win his first BIG East title. He was followed by teammate Darren Fahy who ran 4:06.

3000
Erik Peterson (Butler) doubled back after the 5000 to get a win in 8:05. Second place was Georgetown's Jonathan Green who ran 8:09.

5000
After this past weekend, Erik Peterson now has four wins on the season. This was one of them after he ran 14:14 to defeat Villanova's Andrew Marston who was second in 14:17.

4x800
Villanova runs 7:32 to get the win. Georgetown was runner-up in 7:35

DMR
Just like the 4x800, Villanova got the win with a 10:00 while Georgetown was three seconds behind.

BU Last Chance
Mile
In one of the most highly anticipated events of the year, Cheserek teamed up with the Hoka One One milers to pursue the collegiate mile record. Thanks to great work by the rabbit and a huge push by Merber, Cheserek leaned at the line to officially earn the first collegiate record of his career. His time read 3:52.01.

In his final indoor track season, Cheserek will be pursuing the legendary 5000, mile, 3000 triple at nationals. But here's a quick reminder...

• In 2014, Lawi Lalang was considered one of the best collegiate distance runners ever
• He set the collegiate indoor mile record his senior year
• He attempted the 5000-mile-3000 triple in that same season
• He walked away from nationals with ZERO gold medals (silver in both the 5000 and mile. Did not run the 3000). 

See the resemblance?

While Cheserek's performance is impressive, we can't overlook Iona's Liam Dee who ran the first sub-four mile of his career with a 3:58.19. That is the 12th fastest time in the NCAA which qualifies him for nationals. Talk about clutch.

In addition to Liam Dee, Middle Tennessee State's Sampson Laari was also able to qualify for nationals with a time of 3:58.75.

Laari better send Houston's Brian Barraza and Colorado's Joe Klecker a thank you note. If neither of those two scratch the mile, then Laari is watching nationals at home.

5000
In a field that was a bit over his head, MTSU freshman Jacob Choge struggled to hang with the pace of the elites. He did, however, run a respectable 14:04.