2009 NCAA Championships Preview - Australian Athletes

 

In what is regarded as one of the largest track and field meetings in the United States, eight Australians will be lining up at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Taking place in Fayetteville, Arkansas (10-13 June), the Championships will see the chance of at least three Australians stepping up onto the podium, including Shawn Forrest (10000m) who will be running on his home track.

Australia has seen some quality performances in recent history, with Fabrice Lapierre (long jump) and Victoria Mitchell (3000m steeplechase) both taking home titles in 2005. Last year Forrest was second in the 10000m, beaten to the title by Shadrack Songok of Kenya by only 0.39 seconds, and will be looking to go one better in 2009. Two other Australian's will also be looking to improve on their 2008 performances, David McNeill (5000m) and Zoe Buckman (800m), who both placed 4th in last year's Championships.

The formcharts suggest that Buckman could well be part of a winning team, with Oregon favoured to take the women's team title from Texas A&M and LSU (which would the first women's title for Oregon since 1985). On the men's side, the team title is also likely to be won by Oregon, with Oregon athletes expected to sweep the distance events (with Galen Rupp favoured to win both the 5000m and 10000m). The home track advantage will not be enough to see Arkansas add to their already impressive 12 NCAA team titles, but should see them place in the top 3 (with Forrest scoring heavily in the 10000m).

Below is a preview for each event which involves an Australian athlete.

Men's 800m (Heats - 8.45am Thursday (AEST); Semi Finals - 10.25am Friday; Final - 3.28am Sunday)
Australian athlete - Ryan Foster (Penn State) - PB: 1.48.79; SB: 1.48.79

Foster has had a solid year, with victories at the Big-10 (both indoors and out). The 20 year-old from Tasmania qualified for the NCAA Championships with a 4th placing at the East Regional Championships. Foster competed at the 2005 World Youth Championships (placing 9th in the 2000m steeplechase), and it wouldn't shock to see him line up in the final on Sunday. Needs a touch of luck, but it must be noted that many of the qualifiers have not run any faster than 1.48.00.

The clear favourite for the event would have to be Andrew Wheating (Oregon), who placed second at the 2008 US National Championships (1.45.03), a result that saw him represent the United States at the Olympic Games in Beijing. Has run four times under 1.47.00, with the 21 year-old clearly having a class advantage over his rivals. Won both the Pac-10 and Western Regional titles in 2009, and has a season's best of 1.47.66.

If Wheating was to fall over, Tyler Mulder (Nth Iowa) and Chris Gowell (Baylor) would be the next picks for the 800m title. Mulder placed third at the NCAA Indoor Championships and has a season's best of 1.48.09. On the other hand Gowell was only 5th at the NCAA Indoor Championships, but has a faster time recorded in 2009 than Mulder (1.47.42). Gowell was one place behind Mulder at the recent Midwest Regional Championships.

Men's 1500m (Heats - 11.10am Friday (AEST); Final - 4.21am Sunday)
Australian athlete - Matthew Gibney (Villanova) - PB: 3.41.71; SB: 3.41.71

20 year-old Gibney has had an outstanding year in 2009, and has improved his personal best by over 3 seconds in the 1500m. His good form started when he ran a sub four minute 1600m for Villanova in a distance medley relay (3.58.45) at the Penn Relays. On that day he helped Villanova to victory, and although he will find it difficult to repeat the performance in Arkansas, he is ranked 10th for a good reason. Watch for Gibney to run right up to his ranking.

As with the 800m, Oregon will again have the favourite line up in the 1500m. Matthew Centrowitz has been on fire over the past two months (after 'only' placing 6th in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships), with victories at both the Pac-10 Championships and West Regional Championships. Has lowered his personal best to 3.36.92, and excellent time for a 19 year-old. Placed 11th at the 2008 World Junior Championships in the 5000m.

Centrowitz won't have it all his own way, with junior sensation German Fernandez (Oklahoma State) and Lee Emanual (New Mexico) both capable of taking home the 1500m title. Fernandez now holds the World Junior record for the mile, after running 3.55.02 this year (a time that coverts to approximately 3.37.75 for the 1500m). The 18 year-old actually has a personal best outdoors of 3.42.80, but watch out for him to run a lot faster on Sunday. Fernandez won both the Big-12 and Midwest Regional Championships in 2009, and was 11th at the World Cross Country Championships. Emanual also has excellent credentials entering the NCAA Championships, although did struggle at the Midwest Regional's where he placed 9th in 3.53.63. Has run twice under 3.38.00 in his career, and is the winner of the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships.

Men's 5000m (Heats - 12.25pm Thursday (AEST); Final - 11.40am Saturday)
Australian athlete - David McNeill (Nth Arizona) - PB: 13:30.63; SB: 13:30.63

If it wasn't for a certain athlete from Oregon lining up in the 5000m, McNeill would have been quietly confident about coming away with a victory from Arkansas. Will represent Australia later in the year at the World Championships in the 10000m, and a top 3 placing on Saturday would be a nice confidence boost for the 22 year-old leading into Berlin. Has only raced sparingly in 2009, although this is partly due to the fact that he had an interupted start to the year (after picking up an achilles injury from winning the Zatopek 10000m in Melbourne - December, 2008). Placed second to Rupp at the West Regional's, and it looks to be a similar situation for McNeill at the NCAA Championships.

Apart from McNeill, Rupp looks to have few challenges for the men's 5000m title (especially considering that he has run 13:18.12 indoors, which is a US Indoor record). Hassan Mead (Minnesota) has run 13:28.45 in 2009 and would be looking for a podium finish, while Tyson David (Alabama - Kenya) has run 13:36.76 indoors and was 5th at the NCAA Indoors Championships (behind both Rupp and Forrest), and should also be competative in the final.

Men's 10000m (Final - 12.45pm Friday (AEST)
Australian athlete - Shawn Forrest (Arkansas) - PB: 27:52.10; SB: 27:52.10

Could the Arkansas crowd lift Forrest to victory? Well if personal bests have anything to do with the final result, then the answer would be no. Although in saying this it wouldn't be a total surprise to see Forrest place in the top-2. With Rupp backing up from running the heats of the 5000m only 24 hours prior to the 10000m final, there is a chance that Forrest could sneak into second place. Forrest has already run 13:28.81 for 5000m when winning the Stanford Invitational, and has also placed third at the NCAA Indoor Championships (also in the 5000m) in 2009. It has been a fantastic 2009 for the 25 year-old, although a spot on the Australian team in the 10000m for the World Championships has yet to be achieved by this very talented distance runner (Forrest would need a 27:47.00, which is an "A" qualifier for the World Championships, to make the Australian team), and therefore he would say that not all of the boxes have been ticked for the year..

So if Forrest can upset Rupp and run himself into second place, who is going to take home the men's 10000m title? Well it's the newly crowned Collegiate record holder, Sam Chelanga (Liberty - Kenya). Chelanga was the athlete who defeated Collis Birmingham (who set his Australian record) when running 27:28.48 at Berkeley, California in April. Chelanga was unable to defeat Rupp at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2009, but is in excellent form and should have a slight edge over Rupp (but you could never suggest that Rupp couldn't actually complete the 5000m/10000m double as he is already seen as one of the best ever junior distance runners the United States have ever produced).

Men's Hammer Throw (Qualifying - 1.30am Thursday (AEST); Final - 4.00am Saturday)
Australian athlete - Simon Wardhaugh (Boise State) - PB: 69.05m; SB: 68.29m

It has been a consistent year for Wardhaugh, with four wins from six competitions for the 23 year-old representing Boise State. Enters the competition ranked 6th, although is just under four meters from being a medal chance on Saturday. Placed 5th at the World Junior Championships in 2004, and recently set an Australian indoor record in the weight throw (22.25m - December, 2008).

The winner of the men's hammer throw should come from the following athletes - Marcel Lomnicky (Virginia Tech - Slovak Republic), Walter Henning (LSU) or Chris Rohr (Missouri). All three athletes own personal bests of over 71 meters, with Lomnicky leading the way with 72.66m (set in 2008). Lomnicky placed third at the 2006 World Junior Championships, and also placed third at the European Junior Championships in 2007. Henning defeated Rohr at the Mideast Regional Championships, and could be the thrower to challenge Lomnicky for the win.

Women's 800m (Heats - 8.30am Thursday (AEST); Semi Final - 10.15am Friday; Final - 3.19am Sunday)
Australian athlete - Zoe Buckman (Oregon) - PB: 2.02.50; SB: 2.05.21

You couldn't say that Buckman has had her best season in 2009, especially in her favourite event (800m), although she still has a personal best that could be very competitive over the two laps at the John McDonnell Reserve. Buckman was second in the Western Region behind NCAA Indoor champion Lacey Cramer (BYU), although it should be noted that Cramer's personal best of 2.03.01