MPSF Indoor Championships 2014Feb 27, 2014 by Gordon Mack
Preview: MPSF and the NCAA top 16
Preview: MPSF and the NCAA top 16
This weekend is the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships, also known as the “West Coast Last Chance Meet." Looking at the entries, I decided to make some predictions for the top three spots in the men’s distance events.
If you agree, awesome! If you disagree, well, let me buy you a beer and we can discuss why I’m right.
Even though this year's last chance weekend is tame compared to last winter, there will still be big surprises. If you need a quick refresher, the top 16 in the NCAA for each individual event will get a bid to the national championships on March 14th in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
If you're more interested in the implications from the weekend than the weekend itself, I've listed my top 16 for the men's middle-distance and distance events under the MPSF preview.
Flotrack will be broadcasting the meet live on Flotrack Pro. If you're not already a member, click here to sign up.
Even though this year's last chance weekend is tame compared to last winter, there will still be big surprises. If you need a quick refresher, the top 16 in the NCAA for each individual event will get a bid to the national championships on March 14th in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
If you're more interested in the implications from the weekend than the weekend itself, I've listed my top 16 for the men's middle-distance and distance events under the MPSF preview.
Flotrack will be broadcasting the meet live on Flotrack Pro. If you're not already a member, click here to sign up.
Men's 800m
| Place | Time | Name | School | Notes |
| 1 | 1:47.99 | Mac Fleet | Oregon |
He ran 1:46 outdoors last year, 4th fastest PR among returners |
| 2 | 1:48.20 | Boru Guyota | Oregon |
He is gunning for a top 16 spot and will use his teammate to pull in a low 1:48 |
| 3 | 1:48.90 | Luke Lefebure | Stanford |
Has a breakout race due to Mac Fleet making it a quick race |
Flotrack's Take: Remember that time that Fleet ran 1:46.32? Post-season races in Canada, you're crazy. Here's a silly question: Could Oregon get Fleet into NCAAs in both the 800m and mile to score points? Just thinking out loud here.
Men's Mile
| Place | Time | Name | School | Notes |
| 1 | 3:58.92 | Trevor Dunbar | Oregon |
With a 3:38 1500m PR Dunbar and Johnson (3:38 PR) will work together to run a quick time |
| 2 | 3:59.00 | Brett Johnson | Oregon |
Both are looking to add more Ducks to the national meet |
| 3 | 4:01.10 | Ben Saarel | Colorado | First collegiate mile of his career |
Flotrack's Take: We've seen Dunbar show us his mile skills. After a strong anchor on Oregon's "B" team DMR not too long ago, he should be ready to roll. We're really interested to see what Brett Johnson can do in an open race. Lastly, 4:01.10 for Saarel?! We know he blew the doors off the adidas Dream Mile last year, but that's a bold prediction.
Men's 3k
| Place | Time | Name | School | Notes |
| 1 | 7:48.00 | Edward Cheserek | Oregon |
Will jog a sub 7:50 with his arms waving all over the place |
| 2 | 7:52.00 | Jared Ward | BYU |
Basically a deja vu performance from the 5K two weeks ago |
| 3 | 7:52.50 | Michael Atchoo | Stanford | Has the speed and will be paced by Ward |
Flotrack's Take: This one is loaded. King Cheserek should take it, but Ward second? No one from Colorado in top three? CU's Ben Saarel is an obvious choice, but you could really go with anyone from the reigning NCAA XC champions. But as we look down the start list of the men's 3k, it just proves what we always knew: the Pac-12 is the best conference in the NCAA.
Men's 5k
| Place | Time | Name | School | Notes |
| 1 | 13:29.00 | Lawi Lalang | Arizona | No comment |
| 2 | 13:49.00 | Joe Rosa | Stanford | Will be running in no man’s land |
| 3 | 13:50.50 | Dustin Fay | UCLA | Why not? |
Flotrack's Take: We really went out on a limb for first, huh. We're all aboard the Rosa train, but third place is tough. Fay had a good 3k at the UW Invitational (8:08.81), but struggled in his return to the Dempsey for the UW Husky Classic 3k (8:19.15). Just because we don't want to be blindsided twice, watch out for Colorado's Morgan Pearson.
I know what you are thinking: I have an Oregon bias! Actually, I have a bias towards the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays who will sweep the men’s and women’s DIII Centennial Conference Team Championships this weekend. But that's neither here nor there.
Since this is last chance weekend and there's only one last chance meet (BU Last Chance), the big question is who will be in the top 16 by the end of the weekend?
Below, I've listed what I think the men's top 16 for the middle-distance and distance events will look like after the weekend.
Men's 800m
RNK ATHLETE SCHOOL TIME MEET NAME 01 Kemboi, Edward Iowa State 1:45.98 02 Kidder, Brannon Penn State 1:47.45 02 Rutto, Eliud Mid. Tenn. State 1:47.45 04 McBride, Brandon Miss State 1:47.51 05 Obinwa, Sean Florida 1:47.76 06 Ledder, Billy Georgetown 1:47.89 07 Chavez, Alvaro Connecticut 1:47.96 07 Rono, Patrick Arkansas 1:47.96 09 Arroyo, Andres Florida 1:47.97 10 Fleet, Mac Oregon 1:47.99 MPSF 11 Schnulle, Ryan Florida 1:48.05 12 Watkins, Za'Von Penn State 1:48.11 13 Guyota, Boru Oregon 1:48.20 MPSF 14 Ellison, Samuel Villanova 1:48.40 15 Squella, Tomas Arkansas 1:48.70 16 Mudd, Austin Wisconsin 1:48.80 BIG TEN
Men's Mile01 Lalang, Lawi Arizona 3:52.88 02 Rotich, Anthony UTEP 3:55.86 03 Williamsz, Jordan Villanova 3:56.84 04 Hillenbrand, Matt Kentucky 3:57.00 05 Rae, Jeremy Notre Dame 3:57.25 06 Peters, Rich Boston U. 3:57.27 07 Creese, Robby Penn State 3:58.01 BIG TEN 08 Geoghegan, Will Dartmouth 3:58.04 09 Penzenstadler, Sam Loyola (Ill.) 3:58.21 10 Fleet, Mac Oregon 3:58.25 11 Gillespie, Matthew Iona 3:58.48 12 Kidder, Brannon Penn State 3:58.49 13 Engholm, Elmar New Mexico 3:58.90 14 Dunbar, Trevor Oregon 3:58.92 MPSF 15 Johnson, Brett Oregon 3:59.00 MPSF 16 Hatz, Alexander Wisconsin 3:59.03 BIG TEN
01 Lalang, Lawi Arizona 7:44.20 02 Cheserek, Edward Oregon 7:48.00 MPSF 03 Shrader, Brian Northern Arizona 7:51.48 04 Korolev, Maksim Harvard 7:51.52 05 Geoghegan, Will Dartmouth 7:51.57 06 Ward, Jared BYU 7:52.00 MPSF 07 Gillespie, Matthew Iona 7:52.24 08 Atchoo, Michael Stanford 7:52.50 MPSF 09 Peters, Rich Boston U. 7:52.61 09 Saarel, Ben Colorado 7:52.61 11 Dunbar, Trevor Oregon 7:53.13 12 Tiernan, Patrick Villanova 7:53.20 BU Last Chance 13 Connor, Reed Wisconsin 7:53.95 14 Erassa, Kirubel Oklahoma State 7:54.05 15 Happe, Nick Notre Dame 7:54.39 16 Theroux, Blake Colorado 7:54.76
01 Lalang, Lawi Arizona 13:29.00 MPSF 02 Connor, Reed Wisconsin 13:37.42 03 Tiernan, Patrick Villanova 13:37.73 04 Cheserek, Edward Oregon 13:40.51 05 Ward, Jared BYU 13:42.17 06 Caldwell, Luke New Mexico 13:42.50 07 Korolev, Maksim Harvard 13:42.56 07 Olson, Erik Stanford 13:42.56 09 Parrish, Mark Florida 13:43.15 10 Bosshard, Joe Colorado 13:43.21 11 Stinson, Parker Oregon 13:43.51 12 Ahmed, Mohammed Wisconsin 13:44.00 BIG TEN 12 Colley, Andrew N.C. State 13:44.00 ACC 14 Rotich, Anthony UTEP 13:44.13 15 Shrader, Brian Northern Arizona 13:44.55 16 Bitchell, Adam New Mexico 13:44.70