2010 NCAA Outdoor Track Championship Preview
6/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Complete Meet Notes (PDF format)
NCAA Meet Central Webpage
Meet Schedule (Please note that times listed are Pacific)
Wednesday Live Video Streaming Links
Live Results
Men's Start Lists
Track & Field News' Predictions
Eugene Weather
The Meet
Four members of the Big South Conference champion Liberty men's track & field team have qualified to compete in the 2010 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Sam Chelanga (men's 5,000 meters & 10,000 meters), Elliot Galeone (men's javelin), Evans Kigen (men's 3,000-meter steeplechase) and Clarence Powell (men's triple jump) will participate in the meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., June 9-12. This is the third straight year that four Liberty men's track & field athletes are competing at this meet.
Looking Back at Last Year
Four Liberty Flames also competed in the 2009 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark. Sam Chelanga placed third in the men's 10K final, earning his first outdoor track All-America certificate. Liberty's other competitors included Daniel Newell (16th in men's decathlon), Matt Parker (T-15th in men's high jump) and John Talbert (23rd in men's discus).
How to Follow the Flames
The final two days of the meet will be televised, with CBS College Sports broadcasting Friday's action from 8-10 p.m. Eastern and CBS picking up the coverage on Saturday, from 1-3 p.m. Eastern.
The parts of the meet not appearing on television will be video streamed, free of charge, on NCAA.com. Watch LibertyFlames.com for the appropriate links, as they become available.
Flotrack.org will be on hand in Eugene, taping numerous postrace interviews.
Live results will be available throughout the meet, courtesy of Flash Results.
Last but not least, LibertyFlames.com will be on hand at all four days of the meet, providing live blog coverage of all of the action at Hayward Field.
Liberty Competition Schedule (All times listed are Eastern and subject to change)
June 9
7 p.m. - Men's Triple Jump (Clarence Powell)
9:15 p.m. - Men's 3,000 Steeplechase Semifinal (Evans Kigen)
June 10
8:15 p.m. - Men's Javelin (Elliot Galeone)
10:25 p.m. - Men's 10,000 Final (Sam Chelanga)
June 11
9 p.m. - Men's 3,000 Steeplechase Final (Evans Kigen)
June 12
2:21 p.m. - Men's 5,000 Final (Sam Chelanga)
Men's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase Preview
The men's steeplechase figures to be a wide-open event in Eugene. Track & Field News is projecting a victory for Iowa State junior Hillary Bor, who was the national runner-up in this event a year ago. Barnabas Kirui of Ole Miss captured the NCAA national steeplechase title as a freshman in 2007, and hopes to return to the top of the awards podium in the final race of his collegiate career. Meanwhile, the fastest qualifier, at 8:34.87, is Louisville junior Matt Hughes.
Other runners to watch include BYU senior Richard Nelson, who aims to become BYU's third different NCAA steeplechase champion in the last five years. Kirui's brother, Martin Kirui, who also runs for Ole Miss, is a very talented runner in his own right and the reigning SEC champion. Princeton sophomore Donn Cabral, one of only three non-juniors and seniors in the 24-member field, accomplished an impressive double at the NCAA Preliminary Round meet in Greensboro. He clocked a personal-best 8:35.60 in the steeplechase in the morning, before returning to the track approximately 10 hours later to qualify for Eugene in the 5K as well.
Liberty's representative, redshirt junior Evans Kigen, fared well in his first steeplechase competition at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. In 2008, he placed 10th, in a Liberty and Big South-record time of 8:43.77. He figures to be in the hunt this weekend as well.
Men's 5,000-Meter Run Preview
The third-to-last event on the meet schedule, the men's 5K final could be one of the most entertaining races of the entire weekend. Last year's second (Northern Arizona's David McNeill), third (Stanford's Chris Derrick), fourth (Arizona State's Brandon Bethke) and fifth-place (Stanford's Elliott Heath) finishers return to battle it out again over 12.5 laps. Liberty's Sam Chelanga will also throw his name into the mix in this event, in an attempt to claim his first All-America certificate in the outdoor 5K.
Track & Field News gives the pre-race nod to McNeill, with Chelanga second and Derrick third. This race will serve as a "rubber match" of sorts in the year-long battle between McNeill and Chelanga. Chelanga captured the NCAA cross country title in November, with McNeill crossing the line second. The order then flip-flopped in March, at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships, when McNeill outkicked Chelanga to the tape to win the men's 5K crown.
If the race comes down to a furious finishing kick, McNeill showed the ability to run a 4:01 final 1,600 at last year's NCAA meet. Georgetown senior Andrew Bumbalough also closed impressively at the NCAA Preliminary Round meet in Greensboro, clocking 2:01 for his final two laps.
It's also worth noting that Chelanga is one of only three runners (also Auburn's Ben Cheruiyot and Stanford's Jake Riley) who are attempting the 5K/10K double in Eugene. Each of these athletes will compete in the 10K final Thursday evening, before returning to Hayward Field Saturday morning for the 5K final. Meanwhile, the other top contenders in the 5K will enter Saturday's race fresh.
Men's 10,000-Meter Run Preview
Liberty has never won a national individual title in men's track & field, but that fact could change Thursday evening, when Sam Chelanga takes the track as a considerable favorite in the men's 10K final. He broke his own NCAA 10K record by 20 seconds earlier this season, clocking an impressive 27:08.39 at Stanford's Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. That is the fastest 10K any NCAA runner has recorded in 2010 by over a minute.
Other chief contenders include New Mexico's Chris Barnicle, who owns the NCAA's second-fastest 10K time this year, 28:10.59. John Kosgei played a key role in Oklahoma State's men's cross country national team title in November with a 13th-place overall finish in Terre Haute, Ind.
The other two runners attempting the 5K/10K double this weekend, along with Chelanga, could also be in the mix here. Jake Riley finished eighth in the NCAA 10K final a year ago in Fayetteville, Ark., while Auburn sophomore Ben Cheruiyot was the SEC champion in this event and finished second behind Chelanga at the NCAA Preliminary Round meet in Greensboro.
Last year, Oregon's Galen Rupp captured the 10K national title in a time of 28:21.45. It was only the third time in the last 16 years that the winning effort in the men's 10K final was under 28:30, however. It would seem that a fast pace would help Chelanga's chances at victory, while a slower pace could open things up a bit more.
Men's Triple Jump Preview
Last year, the men's triple jump played a key role in Texas A&M's national team title, as four Aggies placed in the top seven of the event, scoring 18 big team points. This will be a possible swing event again in 2010, between anticipated national title contenders Texas A&M and Florida. Three Aggies and two Gators figure to battle for All-America honors and important team points.
Talented Florida sophomore Christian Taylor finished third a year ago, but heads to Eugene as Track & Field News' favorite to win it all this time around. He won the triple jump at this year's NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships and owns the nation's top jump of the year thus far, 55-7.5.
The top Texas A&M scoring hopes lie with Tyron Stewart, who jumped 54-5.5 at the NCAA Preliminary Round meet in Austin, Texas, and Zuheir Sharif, the fourth-place finisher at the 2009 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Not to be forgotten is Oklahoma sophomore Will Claye, who captured top honors as a freshman, with a wind-aided winning jump of 56-6.75. His best mark so far in 2010 is 53-5.75.
Liberty junior Clarence Powell was somewhat of a surprise qualifier, jumping two feet longer than he had all season to place fifth at the NCAA Preliminary Round meet in Greensboro. He will likely need to jump even longer than his new school and Big South-record distance of 52-1.25 in order to score points in Eugene. Last year, the eighth-place triple jumper reached 52-7.25.
Men's Javelin Preview
While the triple jump is a crucial discipline for Florida and Texas A&M, hometown favorite Oregon will need a big showing in the men's javelin if it hopes to join the Gators and Aggies in the hunt for the team championship. The Ducks' Cyrus Hostetler, Track & Field News' pick to win the event, finished fourth in 2009 and owns the top throw of 2010, a 256-6 heave at Hayward Field on April 30. Oregon's other hope for points is Hostetler's high school teammate from Newberg High School in Oregon, junior Alex Wolff. Wolff has reached 240-8 this year, also at his home facility.
Texas A&M freshman Sam Humphreys hopes to spoil the Ducks' party and claim some vital team points for the Aggies. He threw 251-8 at Hayward Field in April and is picked to finish second this weekend by Track & Field News.
Brown junior Craig Kinsley is the East Coast's most likely hope at a javelin national title. He finished third nationally in 2009 and has thrown well recently. Kinsley captured the IC4A javelin championship and then recorded the nation's longest throw of NCAA Preliminary Round weekend, at 238-7.
Elliot Galeone of Liberty had never thrown over 220 feet in his career, before doing it at back-to-back meets. He threw a school-record 224-3 at the IC4A meet and followed it up with a 221-6 at the NCAA Preliminary Round meet. A year ago, 225-1 stood up for eighth place, so Galeone could battle for All-America honors with another personal-best heave on Thursday.
Double Triple
This has been a historic season for the Liberty men's and women's cross country/track & field program. The Flames and Lady Flames won all six possible Big South Conference titles, including men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor track & field and men's and women's outdoor track & field.
The feat, dubbed the "Double Triple," was the only one of its kind in Division I this season and only the 18th in history. BYU was the last program to achieve a Double Triple before Liberty, achieving the feat in the Mountain West Conference in 2006-07. Only nine different Division I schools have ever recorded a conference Double Triple.
Fantastic Four
Liberty's four men's qualifiers for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships match the most in program history. Four Flames also competed at the NCAA outdoor meet in 1999, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
First-Timers
Two of the four Liberty athletes in action this week--Elliot Galeone and Clarence Powell--will be making their first visit to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The most recent Liberty competitor to become an All-American during her first NCAA outdoor appearance was Heather (Sagan) Zealand, the national runner-up at 1,500 meters in 2002. Josh Jones, an All-American in the decathlon at the 2000 NCAA outdoor championship meet, was the last Liberty men's athlete to do so.
Liberty's NCAA Team Finishes
In 2007, the Liberty men's squad tallied 13 points, tying for 22nd place at the NCAA outdoor championship meet. The finish was the Flames' highest ever at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, although the Liberty women's team tied for 15th place in 2002.
Streaks Continued, Streaks Snapped
This is the sixth consecutive year that Liberty has sent at least one men's distance runner to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships and the fourth straight year a Liberty men's thrower is competing at the meet.
However, the Flames' string of five consecutive seasons with a decathlete at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships was halted.
Hoping to Make History
If any of Liberty's four competitors in Eugene is able to capture a national championship this week, he would make history in a couple of different ways.
Liberty has never captured an individual national title in outdoor track & field at the NCAA Division I level. The closest calls came in 2002, when Heather Sagan was the runner-up in the women's 1,500-meter run and Andrea Wildrick placed second in the women's pole vault.
Liberty is also seeking its first individual national championship in either men's indoor or outdoor track & field at the NCAA Division I level. Sam Chelanga has come the closest to winning it all, finishing as the indoor men's 5K runner-up in both 2009 and 2010.
History at Hayward Field
Current assistant coach Clendon Henderson was the most recent Liberty track & field athlete to compete at Hayward Field. On July 3, 2008, he placed 22nd in the men's discus at the Olympic Trials as a Liberty senior.
Liberty Flames have also competed in the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field on two previous occasions. In 2001, Andrea Wildrick placed 10th in the women's pole vault and Mike Decker was 15th in the men's 400-meter dash. In 1996, Ryan Werner claimed his third consecutive All-America honor in the decathlon, finishing eighth overall.
Sam Chelanga, Elliot Galeone, Evans Kigen and Clarence Powell will all be competing at Hayward Field for the first time.
Record-Setting Performance
Sam Chelanga's first 10K race this season was a very memorable one, May 1 at the Payton Jordan Invitational. He finished third in an elite field, shaving 20 seconds off of his own NCAA 10K record with a 27:08.39 clocking.
The time still ranks No. 3 in the world for 2010, according to the IAAF website. It also allowed Chelanga to defeat long-time rival Galen Rupp for the first time. Rupp came in fourth at 27:10.74, eclipsing the previous American record.
The NCAA's second-fastest 10K this season, a 28:10.59 by Chris Barnicle of New Mexico, happened in the same race. Barnicle was just beginning his final lap as Chelanga crossed the finish line.
What Is It About The West Coast?
The last two times Sam Chelanga has traveled to the West Coast to run a 10K, he has set the NCAA record. On April 24, 2009 at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational in Berkeley, Calif., Chelanga ran a 27:28.48, breaking Galen Rupp's collegiate record of 27:33.48.
This year, Chelanga improved his own NCAA 10K mark to 27:08.39, May 1 at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Stanford, Calif.
Familiar Foes
Sam Chelanga has only lost to two collegiate runners this season, including cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field, and he will face both in Saturday's 5K final.
Stanford sophomore Chris Derrick came from behind to defeat Chelanga in the cross country Pre-Nationals 8K White race on Oct. 17, taking the victory 23:27.1 to 23:34.6. Chelanga then bounced back to win at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships five weeks later, outdistancing second-place David McNeill of Northern Arizona by 25 seconds and third-place Derrick by 33 seconds.
McNeill outkicked Chelanga to claim the 5K at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 12 in Fayetteville, Ark., 13:36.41 to 13:37.01. McNeill and Chelanga have not faced each other since that race.
Distance Doublers
Sam Chelanga is attempting the 5K/10K double at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the first time in his career. He is one of three men's runners who will compete in both the 5K and 10K in Eugene, joining Auburn's Ben Cheruiyot and Stanford's Jake Riley.
Last season, Oregon's Galen Rupp won both events at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, achieving the feat for the 14th time in meet history.
First in Flight
Elliot Galeone is Liberty's first-ever qualifier to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the men's javelin. However, numerous Flames have thrown the javelin at the NCAA outdoor meet previously, as the ninth decathlon discipline, and some have fared quite well.
Ryan Werner threw a 196-7 (59.91m) in the decathlon javelin at the 1995 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where he placed fourth overall. Brandon Hoskins stretched the tape to 196-3 (59.83) in the decathlon javelin in 2007. That year, he finished seventh in the decathlon at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
If At First You Do Succeed ...
Elliot Galeone has wasted no time in posting a big throw at each of his last two competitions, the IC4A Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 16) and the NCAA Division I Preliminary Round meet (May 28).
The redshirt junior's first throw at the IC4A meet set a school record at 224-3 and held up for third place in the competition. Then, his very first effort in Greensboro reached 221-6, earning seventh place and his initial NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships berth.
Steady Progress
Elliot Galeone, who had never thrown the javelin before enrolling at Liberty in the fall of 2006, has displayed steady progress and improvement in the event. He threw 189-0 (57.62m) as a freshman in 2007, 204-7 (62.37m) as a redshirt sophomore in 2009 and 224-3 (68.35m) this season.
Keeping the Streak Alive
Elliot Galeone's qualification to Eugene made it four straight years a Liberty men's thrower has reached the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Jon Hart (hammer) and Clendon Henderson (discus) made the meet together in both 2007 and 2008. John Talbert threw the discus at the 2009 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Head-to-Head Success
Evans Kigen had not lost a head-to-head steeplechase race against a collegiate rival this season, until 2007 NCAA national steeplechase champion Barnabas Kirui of Ole Miss edged him at the line at the NCAA Preliminary Round meet.
Kigen has won four of his six steeplechase races this season and lost to only a pair of post-collegiate athletes in his section at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational.
Kigen has faced seven NCAA national steeplechase qualifiers this season and has defeated six of them. He beat N.C. State's John Martinez, Weber State's Jace Nye, UTEP's Nicodemus Ng'etich and Stanford's John Sullivan at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, defeated Duke's Ryan McDermott at the IC4A meet and took down Ohio State's Cory Leslie at the NCAA Preliminary Round.
From Drake to Oregon
Only three of the 14 men's steeplechase finalists from the 2008 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, will compete in the steeplechase in Eugene.
The returnees include Iowa State's Hillary Bor, who placed fourth in that race, Kigen, who finished 10th, and Barnabas Kirui of Ole Miss, who came in 13th.
International Flavor
As usual, the field of 24 men's steeplechase runners bound for Eugene comprise a very international field. One-third of the field was born outside the United States. Here's how the participants' nationalities break down:
Canada: Matt Hughes (Louisville)
Finland: Joonas Harjamaki (Lamar)
Kenya: Hillary Bor (Iowa State), Evans Kigen (Liberty), Barnabas Kirui (Ole Miss), Martin Kirui (Ole Miss), Gilbert Limo (Texas Tech) and Nicodemus Ng'etich (UTEP)
United States: Donn Cabral (Princeton), Adu Dentamo (Charlotte), Julian DeRubira (UC Santa Barbara), Stephen Finley (Virginia), Brett Hales (Weber State), Dylan Knight (UCLA), Cory Leslie (Ohio State), John Martinez (N.C. State), Ryan McDermott (Duke), Harry Miller (William & Mary), Richard Nelson (BYU), Jace Nye (Weber State), John Ricardi (Idaho State), Steve Sodaro (California) and De'Sean Turner (Indiana)
From The Empire State to the Commonwealth
Evans Kigen attended New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) for his first three semesters, before transferring to Liberty in January 2008. He was a Division II cross country All-American at NYIT in 2007.
Kigen is one of two transfer students competing for Liberty this weekend. Sam Chelanga transferred from Fairleigh Dickinson to Liberty after the 2006-07 academic year.
The Third Time's The Charm
Clarence Powell finally qualified for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the first time, after two very close calls.
During his freshman season of 2008, he triple jumped 51-9 (15.77m) at the NCAA Division I East Regional Championships, but was the first competitor left out of the national field. This year, he long jumped 24-7.25 (7.50m) at the NCAA Preliminary Round meet, but placed 14th, missing the 12th and final qualifying spot by two inches.
Flair For The Dramatic
The following is a timeline account of the dramatic fashion in which Clarence Powell qualified for Eugene in the triple jump, May 29 at the NCAA Preliminary Round meet.
12:33 p.m. - After fouling his first two jumps, Powell posts a season-best 50-9.25 (15.47m) on his third and final attempt in the preliminaries. The jump is the longest in either Flight 1 or Flight 2.
2 p.m. - North Carolina's Austin Davis fails to pass Powell's mark in Flight 4, guaranteeing the Sunshine State native a spot in the final 16.
2:51 p.m. - Powell catapults from 14th place into seventh with another season-best leap on his second attempt of finals, this one measuring 51-7 (15.72m).
3:02 p.m. - Powell puts an exclamation point on his first trip to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, jumping a career-best, Liberty-record and Big South Conference-record 52-1.25 (15.88m) on his sixth and final attempt. The jump moves him up to fifth place in the final standings in Greensboro.
Championship Performer
Clarence Powell has performed well in championship meets during his career, winning five Big South event titles (2008 indoor and outdoor triple jump, 2010 indoor high jump, 2010 indoor triple jump and 2010 outdoor long jump) and one IC4A crown (2010 indoor high jump).
Additionally, the two longest triple jumps of his career have come at the 2010 NCAA Preliminary Round (52-1.25) and the 2008 NCAA East Regional meet (51-9).
