Four top Division I women’s teams will go after the NCAA automatic standard in the DMR Friday evening on Day 1 of the Columbia Last Chance meet at the New Balance Track & Field Center. The auto standard is 11:05.50, a mark reached by just five schools so far this season. This is the last weekend to qualify for nationals, which will be held next week at Texas A&M.
If the target number of qualifiers is not reached using the standard, the season list is used to fill the field.
Virginia (11:14 so far in 2011), Georgetown (11:14), Connecticut (11:11) and Villanova (11:16) will run the race, scheduled for a 7:30 start at the Armory in New York, along with a top Div. III school, Johns Hopkins, and a club team, the NJ/NY TC. The club lineup, of Julie Culley, Nicole Schappert, LaTavia Thomas and Frances Koons, could threaten the fastest club time ever, 11:09.86, by the Reebok Enclave in 1999.
The existing American and collegiate records are the 10:50.98 run by Tennessee two years ago at the NCAA championships. That same squad set the current Armory record a month earlier, of 10:56.40.
The 5,000 and weight throw will also be contested Friday evening, immediately following Day 1 of the ECAC Division III meet. All of the remaining events will be contested on Saturday evening beginning at 6 PM. Admission is free on Friday, $10 on Saturday.
The feature events will be the middle- and long-distance races:
M 800 (NCAA Div. I auto standard 1:48.00) The seeded heat is expected to have Anthony Romaniw (1:49.60 ’11) of Dartmouth, Billy Ledder and Toby Ulm (1:49.81) of Georgetown and Matt Stewart of Columbia against clubbers Liam Boylan-Pett, Dustin Emrani and Erison Hurtault. Ten runners have the NCAA auto so far.
W 800 (2:05.00) The top collegiate entries are Jess Palacio (2:09) of Navy, Lyndsay Harper (2:07) of Virginia, Ariann Neutts of Villanova, and Georgetown’s Emily Menges (2:08), Becca Deloache (2:09) and Chelsea Cox (2:09), facing such open runners as Emily Infeld, Renee Tomlin and LaTavia Thomas. Thomas, the recent LSU graduate, is having an excellent winter season. She ran an indoor PR of 2:01.81 on the Armory track in January.
M mile (3:59.00) A lot of collegians will be trying to break 4:00 for the first time in their careers, including Dylan Sorensen and Ayalew Taye of Georgetown, Christian Gonzalez of Rider, Daniel Lipus of Iona, Parker Boudreau of George Mason, Dominic Channon of Providence, and the host school’s Mark Feigen, Adam Behnke and Jeff Moriarty. Julian Matthews of Providence, who already has a Q with 3:58.57, may help with pacesetting duty. Thirteen milers have already met the auto standard, so it is almost certain that’s what it will take to make this year’s field.
W mile (4:37.00) A rigorous standard, met by just four women so far this season. This meet has a formidable field, including Lucy Van Dalen (4:38.48) of Stony Brook, Keri Bland (4:34 in ’09) and Kaylyn Christopher of West Virginia, Jillian King of Boston College, Heather Stephens of Syracuse, Heidi Gregson (4:40) of Iona, Jackie Drouin of Columbia, Shelby Greany of Providence, Rachel Schneider of Georgetown and Emily Lipari of Villanova. King, Greany and Lipari are old rivals as New York schoolgirls. Jillian King’s sister, Caroline, has run 4:37.04 this winter for BC. Also in the field are clubmates Culley (4:34) and Schappert.
W 3k (9:13.00) Only six runners nationally have made the standard so far, but a lot in this field have a shot, including Lauren Penney (9:16) of the ‘Cuse, Jessica O’Connell (9:21) of West Virginia, Stephanie Garcia (9:19) of UVA, Hannah Davidson (9:18) and Charlotte O’Carroll of Providence, Emily Jones and Katie McCafferty of Georgetown and Alison Smith (9:23) and Bogdana Mimic (9:17) of ‘Nova.
W 5k (16:07.50) Kathya Garcia (16:14) and Risper Kimaiyo (16:15) are coming all the way from the altitude of El Paso, Texas, to run at sea level and face a good field that includes Kate Harrison of West Virginia and New Zealanders Annie Keown and Holly Van Dalen of Stony Brook./JP/