Payton Jordan Invite

Already everybody, I'm writing two posts today. This one will be about the up coming Payton Jordan Invite at Stanford and will basically just be a list of entries in the key distance events. You can get a full list of entries at this link: http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/251506-Payton-Jordan-Invitational-2014/article/26361-ENTRIES-Payton-Jordan-Invitational-2014#.U2EGcIFdXTo.

My other post below this one is about some trends I noticed in the outdoor track and field state championship history (over the etrain era of the past 7 years). Hope you enjoy that as well.

Payton Jordan Key Entries:
800m
Harun Abda, OTC
Ahmed Bile, Georgetown
Ryan Brennan, PSU
Travis Burkstrand
Peter Callahan, New MExico
Aaron Evans, OTC
Brendan Fish, Columbia
Edward Kemboi, Iowa State
Brandon Kidder, PSU
Billy Ledder, Georgetown
Luke Lefebure, Stanford
Casimir Loxsom, Brooks
Harry McFann, Columbia
Patrick Rono, Arkansas
Mike Rutt, NJ-NY
Eliud Rutto, Middle Tennessee St.
Tomas Squella, Arkansas
Za'von Watkins, PSU
Mark Weiczorek, Brooks

Obviously this race is stacked, 48 entries in all which likely indicates 6 heats. It's unclear exactly what the fast heat will look like but it will likely include Abda, Evans, Loxsom, Kemboi, Rutt and Loxsom among others as those guys have the fastest PRs. Kidder may find a way in there as well because I believe he has run in the low 1:47s or high 1:46s before in his career. Wizzo is a 1:45 low guy so he probably is fast heat material as well.

I think that this race should set up nicely for PA's own Luke Lefebure. He is coming off a huge race at Penn and always has had a great kick. If he is in the second fastest heat, that race is likely being won in 1:47 or faster which means Luke can drop his open time substantially. The guy who I think is a sleeper pick to win the whole thing is Peter Callahan if he is in shape. That guy is super dangerous on the kick and is a force to be reckoned with on the NCAA scene.

1500m Key Entries
Mike Atchoo, Stanford
Colby Alexander, Oregon
Marco Bertolotti, Stanford
Ahmed Bile, Georgetown
Travis Burkstrand
Peter Callahan, New Mexico
Tom Coyle
Lee Emanuel
Darren Fahy, Georgetown
John Gregorek, Columbia
Alex Hatz, Wisconsin
Martin Hehir, Syracuse
Henrik Ingebrigtsen, Norway
Brett Johnson, Oregon
Brandon Kidder, PSU
Billy Ledder, GTown
Cory Leslie, Nike
Riley Masters, Brooks
Patrick MacGregor, NJ-NY
Julian Matthews, NZL
Austin Mudd, Wisconsin
Chad Noelle, OK St
Isaac Presson, UNC
Jeremy Rae
John Simons, Minnesota
Tyler Stutzman, Stanford

As you can tell there is a decent chunk of overlap between this race and the 800 which may hurt the quality of both fields, but this group is still pretty loaded.

I'm excited to see Jeremy Rae run as I think he has always been an incredibly dangerous kicker and strong miler out of Canada and Notre Dame. Cory Leslie may steal this race if all breaks right, he is a steepler at heart but has fantastic 1500 ability. Austin Mudd has a big kick and some impressive times to his name as well dating back to high school. Henrik Ingebrigtsen is an excellent tactician who has made multiple world championship finals and was in the top 5 at the Olympics in 2012. Chad Noelle is coming off a big win a couple weeks back at 15 so he might be able to ride that momentum to something big here. Mike Atchoo had a tough anchor leg at Penn and may be hungry to bounce back as well. Lastly, Alex Hatz was a winner here a year ago and may gain momentum at this meet. Lee Emmanuel is dangerous too if this isn't just a rust buster.

3k Steeple Key Entries
Don Cabral, Nike
Darren Fahy, Georgetown
Dan Huling, Nike
Anthony Rotich, UTEP

A bit of a smaller field big name wise but we do have two olympians heading the field with Huling and Cabral. Should be interesting to see how Cabral bounces back after last year. Rotich was the indoor NCAA champ in the mile this year in a bit of a surprise upset and is at his best in the steeple. I think he is going to take down this race against some other strong runners.

5000m Key Entries
Mo Ahmed, Wisconsin
Adam Bitchell, New Mexico
Joe Bosshard, Colorado
Andrew Bumbalough, Nike
Don Cabral, Nike
Matt Centrowitz, Nike
Andrew Colley, NC St
Maverick Darling
Chris Derrick, Nike
Kirubel Erassa, OK ST
Diego Estrada, Asics
Matt Fischer, PSU
Craig Forys, NJ-NY
Mitch Goose
Garret Heath, Brooks
Martin Hehir
Ryan Hill, Nike
Jake Hurysz, Colorado
Evan Jager, Nike
Shadrack Kipchirchir, OK State
Leonard Korir
Lopez Lomong, Nike
Dan Lowry
Travis Mahoney, NJ-NY
Sean McGorty
Hassan Mead, OTC
Ammar Moussa, Colorado
Erik Olson, Stanford
Morgan Pearson, Colorado
Dan Quigley, OTC
Sean Quigley
Joe Rosa, Stanford
Ben Saarel, Colorado
Pat Schellberg, UNC
Brian Shrader, UNA
John Simons, Minnesota
Andrew Springer, Georgetown
Joe Stilin
Parker Stinson, Oregon
Ben True, Saucony
Futsum Zienasellassie, UNA

Holy moly this field is stacked! You have all the Nike guys like Cabral and Jager and Derrick and Lomong and Hill looking to make strong debuts plus you have Ben True thrown in there who won this race a year ago. Ben Saarel is one of my personal favorite young up and comers and if he can find a way into the fast heat he might drop a massive PR. McGorty too has great potential in this field. I'm not sure how the heats will be split but there should be a solid couple of heats with really fast times. I'm most excited to see how Centrowitz does. If he is healthy this could be really cool. I always felt like Centro's best event would ultimately be the 5k. He proved me wrong with his success at 15, but I'd love to see how he handles this 5k.

10k Entries
Juan Luis Barrios, Nike
Luke Caldwell, New Mexico
Bobby Curtis, Brooks Hanson
Solomon Haile, Arkansas
Kennedy Kithuka, Texas Tech
Cam Levins, Nike
Sean Quigley, Saucony
Jake Riley, Brooks Hanson
Jake Robertson
Jim Rosa, Stanford
Ben St. Lawrence

The 10k field is depleted a bit as a result of the utterly stacked 5k but there should be a cool race with Kithuka and Cam Levins going head to head in a clash of styles. You also have to watch out for Ben St. Lawrence who won this race a year ago. Bobby Curtis has a strong PR at this event and Barrios is an Olympic finalist in the 5k in 2012. Should be fun to watch everyone square off.