Atlantic 10 2014 Outdoor Championship Preview

Long Distance

 

“Legs, arms, shoulders, jawbone, ears, chest, fingers… all battling the strained numb pain of lactic acid, all striving for that normality of motion that would preserve – should heaven and hell fall into each other in a cosmic swirl – the integrity of the stride. Let others flail; the runner runs truly to the end.”

 

 

 Men’s 5,000m

 Jim Spisak (Duquesne) leads the field in the 5,000m with his Indoor time 13:43.24 but has not run one yet this Outdoor season. Spisak had an incredible Indoor season, noted by breaking multiple school records and qualifying for USATF Indoor Championships and placing 8^th in the 3k. The fastest 5k run this season belongs to Aaron Leskow (Saint Joseph’s) who currently is seeded 2^nd with his time of 14:09.44. Freshman Rico Galassi is seeded 3^rd with a time of 14:15.29. Last year’s 5,000m winner is seeded 4^th with a time of 14:20.91 and should not be counted out, Alfredo Santana (La Salle).  Santana won both the 3k and 5k and the most recent Atlantic 10 Indoor Championship. Both he and Spisak are doubling back from the 10k and will need to recover well from that if they want to medal.

 

 

Women’s 5,000m

 The current leader Meghan McGlinchy (La Salle) looks to retain her Indoor 5,000m title this weekend as she leads the field by almost 30 seconds with a time of 15:53.74. This is an Indoor time which she ran solo back in January.  She took that time all the way to NCAA Nationals where she finished with a 2^nd Team All American finish of 15^th place. Her best this season is 16:07.32. Also vying for medals are the 2^nd seed Margo Richardson (Saint Louis) with an entering time of 16:20.27 and Bethany Sachtleben (George Mason) with a time of 16:23.76. McGlinchy and Richardson went 2-3 at last years Outdoor Championship. McGlinchy ran away from the field at the gun this Indoor season to win the gold at A10’s. However, this time around she will be attempting a more aggressive 5,000m and 10,000m double. Its seems unlikely that she will try to sprint away from the field this time after fighting through a 10,000m the day before, but who knows. She typically runs her best on her own and without another runner in sight. It will be interesting to see how she does with her 10,000m race in her legs and competing in a more compact field.

 

Men’s 10,000m

 The heavy favorite in this event is Jim Spisak (Duquesne) who has run 29:02.09 so far this season. Spisak red-shirted last Outdoor season and Duquesne does not have an Indoor team that competes at conference, so this is his first Atlantic 10 Champs race in a year. Spisak is followed in seeds by two seniors from La Salle: Alfredo Santana in 29:50.67 and Demetri Goutos in 29:54. Santana was the winner at this distance last year in 29:58.69. Goutos is a 5^th year grad student who transferred from Yale and is running well under Coach Ireland at La Salle. Duquesne and La Salle own the top 5 seeds in this event (Chuck Lockwood of Duquesne in 4^th and Nico Greco of La Salle in 5^th.) Greco was the most recent Atlantic 10 Cross Country Champion.  

 

 

Women’s 10,000m

Meghan McGlinchey (La Salle) owns a sizeable lead over the next entry time with her time of 33:15.95. Bethany Sachtleben (George Mason) trails McGlinchey in seeding for the second race of the weeked with a time of 34:31.99. The third seed belongs to Jessica Hoefert (Saint Louis), a Milliken University transfer who has found success switching from soccer to track while at Saint Louis. She took the silver medal in the 5,000m at the most recent A10 Champs. McGlinchey and Sachtleben may be racing conservatively with the 5,000m in mind the next day, while Hoefert is solely racing the 10,000m and can be a little more liberal with a quick pace early.

Atlantic 10 2014 Outdoor Championship Preview

Middle Distance

“Every miler knows, in the way a sailor knows the middle of the ocean, that it is not the 1st lap but the 3rd that is farthest from the finish.”

 

Men’s 800m

The freshman Chris Sanders (La Salle) leads all Atlantic 10 half milers with his time of 1:50.66. Sanders split 1:48 on the La Salle DMR that ran 9:39.31 to place 7th in the College Championship of America heat at the Penn Relays just last week. With his bronze medal finish at 800m at the A10 Indoor Championship this past winter, Sanders is clearly not your typical freshman and will be looking to medal again this weekend. The current top three are rounded out by Craig Morgan (George Mason) with a time of 1:51.42 and Khalid Khamis (VCU) with a time of 1:51.95. 10 men have broken 1:53 this season.

Women’s 800m

Titi Fagade (Fordham) is the current top seed at this distance with a time of 2:07.12. She ran this time Indoors and is yet to run faster this season on the larger track. In fact, each woman in the current top three have yet to pass their incredibly fast Indoor marks: Elise Farris (Duquesne) is 2nd with a 2:08.38 and Heather MacLean (UMass Amherst) with a 2:09.42. Farris out-leaned Fagade at the most recent Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships to win by less than half a second. Look for a tight race between these two as Fagade tries strike back against Farris. The current fastest time run this Outdoor season is Tori Pisco’s (La Salle) mark of 2:11.86. This time seeds her 5th.

Men’s 1500m

Aaron Leskow (Saint Joseph’s) is leads all A10 1500m men with his time of 3:45.81. Leskow is coming off of an Indoor season where he won the Mile and placed 4th in the 3k at Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships and set his school record in the 3k by running 8:07.07 to place 11th at the IC4A Indoor Championships. The 2nd and 3rd spots in the A10 are both Mile conversions from Indoors: Jim Spisak (Duquesne) and Nick Ross (La Salle). However, Spisak has not entered in 1500m and will be perusing medals in longer events. The only returning top 3 finisher from last years Outdoor Champs is Tom O’Kane (Saint Joseph’s). He earned a bronze medal last year and is currently seeded 11th 3:50.93. 7 of the top 11 runners are from Philadelphia, PA (4 from La Salle and 3 from Saint Joseph’s).

Women’s 1500m

The Atlantic 10 1500m women are led by a pair of Dukes in Hailey Pisarcik’s 4:26.64 and Amber Valmont’s 4:27.19. Valmont’s time is a conversion from her Indoor mile. She has run a season-best time of 4:31.14. Margo Richardson (Saint Louis) rounds out the top 3 with her time of 4:28.52. This event will come down to each girl’s ability to handle previous races and continue racing. The top three alone will have all run at least two races each by the finals (each girl running the 1500m prelim, Pisarcik an 800m prelim and possibly the final, Valmont running the 3k Steeplechase and Richardson running the 5k.) Any less-exhausted runners in this final may be looking to push the pace early in an attempt to break the worn-down race favorites.

Atlantic 10 2014 Outdoor Championship Preview

Sprints

“Their art revolved around a single explosive instant during which all was gained or lost.”

 

Men’s 100m

The current leader at 100m is Patrick Farnham of UMass Amherst with a time of 10.75, followed closely by Alec Peabody (Saint Josesph’s) and Jalen Young (Rhode Island), both with times of 10.79. Franham has made large improvements since last year when he did not make it to the finals in the 100m at conference. Each of these athletes will  also be trying to score points in events as deep as the 400m and as off-the-track as long jump. Strength to double and come back, as well as experience in high-pressure races, will come into play in this event where medals will be decided by hundredths of a second.

 

Women’s 100m

The heavy favorite for this event is Kiara Porter of VCU who leads the conference by over half a second with a time of 11.38. This time ranks her 6^th in the NCAA. Porter is coming off an incredible Indoor season where she took home Atlantic 10 Championship gold medals in the 60m, 200m and 400m,  as well as qualifying for NCAA Nationals in the 400m. The next fastest times belong to Maya Pedersen (Dayton) with an 11.84 and Jennifer Christian (Rhode Island) with an 11.95. Last year’s runner-up at this meet was Hannah Janeczak (Rhode Island) but she currently sits in 10^th with a time of 12.25.

 

Men’s 200m

Rhode Island continues to hold a strong presence in the sprinting events, holding the 1^st and 3^rd spots with Jalen Young in 21.31 and Kebba Nasso in 21.44 The 2^nd position belongs to Adrian Vaughn (George Mason) in 21.38. Both Nasso’s and Vaughn’s times were run indoor.  Four men return from last year’s 200m final: a trio of Rhodies in Young, Tyler Oliveria, and Anthony Davidson, as well as a sophomore from Saint Joseph’s, Alec Peabody. Peabody anchored his 4x200m team at the Penn Relays last weekend to the IC4A Championship heat.

 

Women’s 200m

Last year’s winner returns as this year’s fastest time entering the meet, Kiara Porter (VCU). She is yet to run an open 200m this Outdoor season but her Indoor time of 23.70 is good enough to earn her the top seed. Porter is followed closely in the seeding by Maya Pedersen (Dayton) in 24.17 and Jessica Ewing (VCU) in 24.48. Ewing ran that mark Indoors but has ran only 25.45 on a full-size track. Team tactics could play into whether VCU enters Porter and Ewing in each of the sprinting events, as they are both capable of earning points from 100m to 400m as well as relays. Sophomore Mary Allen (Richmond) won a silver medal in this event last year but currently sits at 16^th with a time of 25.03, an Indoors time that she has yet to better Outdoors.

 

Men’s 400m

The reigning Indoor IC4A Champion Kebba Nasso (Rhode Island) sits atop the conference with his IC4A winning time of 46.65. His current best this Outdoor season is 47.51. Teammate Jalen Young (Rhode Island) holds 2^nd in the conference with his time of 47.44, which is the conference’s fastest current Outdoor time. George Empty (George Mason) rounds out the top three with his time of 47.55. Six men enter the meet with marks under 48 and 13 have gone under 49. The addition of George Mason and VCU has made this event incredibly competitive. I am personally pumped to watch it.

 

Women’s 400m

Kiara Porter (VCU) continues her dominance in the sprinting events, having run 52.50 Indoors to hold the conference’s top seed. Porter won this event last year as s sophomore with a time of 53.61, a full second faster than the next competitor. She has run 52.92 so far this season. The next two seeds belong to a duo from George Mason in Daianna Barron and Dominique Graham, who have run 54.06 and 54.65, respectively.