2015 Stanford Invitational Preview

NEW ORLEANS — Last year, eighteen of the twenty fastest regular season Division I men’s 10ks were run at the Stanford Invitational. The automaticity of running fast at Stanford can be seem so rote that it’s easy to forget that there are actually human beings involved. Below we break down the humans involved in this weekend’s distance races.

By the way, before we get to the distances, there’s an unusual element at this year’s Stanford Invite: greatness in the sprints, jumps, and throws. NCAA champions Jarrion Lawson, Omar McLeod, and Sandi Morris of Arkansas, Deon Lendore, Shamier Little, Shelbi Vaughan of Texas A&M, and Luca Wieland of Minnesota are all on the start lists. But we already broke down the explosive events at Florida Relays; this preview is for distance junkies. You can watch the meet on Flotrack Pro. The elite distance races start Friday at 5:06 Pacific time; every distance race is Friday night except for the 800s, which are on Saturday.

Live stream | Entries and live results | Meet schedule

Men’s 800

Saturday, heats begin at 2:38 Pacific/5:38 Eastern

Notable collegians: Tretez Kinnaird, Indiana; Chris Low, Long Beach State; Patrick Rono, Arkansas (entered unattached); Tomas Squella, Arkansas; Collins Kibet, Arizona; Izaic York, Washington; Sam Penzenstadler, Loyola

Notable pros: Lopez Lomong

The big question: Is Rono running unattached because he’s redshirting this outdoor season?

Semi-baseless prediction: No one breaks 1:46.

Men’s 1500

Friday, 7:04 PT/10:04 ET

Notable collegians: Colby Gilbert, Washington; Jake Hurysz, Colorado; Sam Penzenstadler, Loyola; Stanley Kebenei, Arkansas

Notable pros: Lopez Lomong, German Fernandez, Andy Bayer, Eric Avila

The big question: Can Penzenstadler recapture the form that got him third at outdoor NCAAs behind Lawi and Mac Fleet last year?

Semi-baseless prediction: Gilbert is the first collegian.

Men’s Steeple

Friday, 6:18 PT/9:18 ET

Notable collegians: Tabor Stevens, Adams State; Blake Theroux, Colorado; Tripp Hurt, Furman

Notable pros: Andy Bayer

The big question: How fit is Stevens? He hasn’t raced since cross country nationals.

Semi-baseless prediction: Theroux runs an insanely good time–close to 8:30.

Men’s 5k

Friday, 8:48 PT/11:48 ET (fast section)

Notable collegians: Kevin Batt, Adams State; Rich Peters, Boston; Anthony Rotich, UTEP (fast section); Malachy Schrobilgen, Wisconsin; Tom Awad, Penn; Kirubel Erassa, Oklahoma State (sections 2 and 3)

Notable pros: Brian Shrader, Sean Quigley, Chris O’Hare, AJ Acosta, Mo Ahmed

The big question: Is Erassa back? If so, why is he in the third heat?

Semi-baseless prediction: The pros make a bigger splash than the collegians.

Men’s 10k

Friday, 9:42 PT/12:42 ET

Notable collegians: Kemoy Campbell, Arkansas; Ed Cheserek and Eric Jenkins, Oregon; Johnnie Guy, Southern Indiana; Martin Hehir, Syracuse; John Mascari, Indiana State; Craig Lutz, Texas; Matt McElroy and Futsum Zienasellassie, Northern Arizona; Pierce Murphy, Colorado;

Notable pros: Juan Luis Barrios, Fernando Cabada, Trevor Dunbar

The big question: Are Jenkins and Cheserek going to try? In last year’s Stanford 10k, the Oregon men ran strictly to qualify and finished in a pack with DIII runner John Crain.

Bonus big question: Can Zienasellassie get it together on the track?

Semi-baseless prediction: One but not both of Ches or Jenkins tries to run under 28 minutes.

Women’s 800

Saturday, heats start at 2:11 PT/5:11 ET

Notable collegians: Natalja Piliusina and Savannah Camacho, Oklahoma State; Lindsey Butterworth, Simon Fraser; Chrishuna Williams, Arkansas

Notable pros: Maggie Vessey, Cydney Ross

The big question: Can Piliusina or Williams start to present themselves as credible challengers to Natoya Goule?

Semi-baseless prediction: Butterworth runs one of the fastest DII times in history. (We believe 2:07.98 is the #10 performer ever)

Women’s 1500

Friday, 6:45 PT/9:45 ET (fast section)

Notable collegians: Erin Teschuk, North Dakota State; Faith Makau, UC Riverside (fast section); Katie Borchers, Ohio State; Sarah Feeny, Utah; Piliusina; Claudia Saunders, Stanford; Kori Gilley, Humboldt State; Sara Sutherland, Colorado (sections 2 and 3)

Notable pros: Anna Willard, Geena Gall, Emily Lipari

The big question: How much will Erin Teschuk take off her 1500 PR? (Her metric PB is 4:27, while she ran 4:32 for a full mile this indoor season)

Semi-baseless prediction: Saunders runs another huge PB. This is the third open 1500 of her college career; in her first two, she ran 4:35 and 4:22.

Women’s Steeple

Friday, 5:36 PT/8:36 ET

Notable collegians: Courtney Frerichs, UMKC; Lucy Cheadle, WashU; Tansey Lystad, Portland

The big question: Is Cheadle here to set the DIII national record? The record is 10:04 and her PB is 10:20.

Semi-baseless prediction: Frerichs runs 9:40.98 or faster to crack the DI top ten list.

Women’s 5k

Friday, 8:29 PT/11:29 ET (fast section)

Notable collegians: Emma Bates, Boise State; Liv Westphal, Boston College (fast section); Marisa Howard, Boise State; Molly Seidel, Notre Dame; Kelsey Santiseban, Cal; Annie LeHardy, North Carolina (section 2)

Notable pros: Juliet Bottorff, Tara Erdmann, Gabriele Grunewald, Marielle Hall

The big question: Can Bates or Westphal get their groove back? Bates didn’t have indoor eligibility, while Westphal hasn’t finished in the top three of a race since December.

Semi-baseless prediction: Neither Bates nor Westphal runs the fastest college time of the day.

Women’s 10k

Friday, 9:04 PT/12:04 ET

Notable collegians: Kate Avery, Iona; Chelsea Blaase, Tennessee; Rachel Johnson, Baylor; Molly Grabill, Oregon; Dominique Scott, Arkansas; Elvin Kibet, Arizona; Alice Wright, New Mexico; Joanna Thompson, NC State

Notable pros: Angela Bizzari, Shalane Flanagan

The big question: How fit is Shalane Flanagan slash how much does it matter this close to the Boston Marathon?

Semi-baseless prediction: If Scott tries to run fast–and not just to qualify–she runs very fast. The first collegian will be in the territory of the 31:18 collegiate record.