American Distance Running future stars emerge during 2013 Indoor Season

Mary Cain
(photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Future stars emerge every winter during the indoor season. Some continue to blossom during outdoors and some run out of steam. What will this year's class do? We'll likely find out at some early season meets like Raleigh Relays, Stanford Invitational and Mt. Sac Relays.

The ultimate goal for these athletes will be a strong performance at USATF Outdoors June 20-23 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, IA, with hopes of qualifying for the IAAF World Championships August 10-18 in Moscow.

Who attain the World Championship A-Standards and who will emerge and don the Team USA kit come August?

Female
1. Mary Cain
High School Junior
Previous achievements: 6th at 2013 World Junior Champs 1500 in American High School Oudoor Record of 4:11.01
Notable 2013 achievements: USATF Indoor Mile Champ (5:05.68 - 58.61 final 400). American High School Indoor Two Mile Record at Boston Grand Prix (9:38.68). American High School Indoor Mile Record at Millrose Games (4:28.25).
Thoughts: What more needs to be said? Best season ever for a female high school runner. We'll see if she can keep progressing outdoors, get the A-Standard of 4:05.50, and compete with the likes of Morgan Uceny, Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury.

2. Ajee Wilson @AjeeW
Sponsor: Adidas
Previous achievements: 2012 World Junior 800 Champ (2:00.91)
Notable 2013 achievements: USATF Indoor 800 Champ (2:02.64). World Junior 600 Record (1:26.45).
Thoughts: Wilson passed on Florida State after setting the 600 World Junior Record (for the first time. She should compete for a spot on the Moscow World Championship team this summer, but will need to run the A-Standard of 2:00.00 to be considered.

Abbey D (photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

3. Abbey D'Agostino
School: Dartmouth
Previous achievements: 2012 NCAA Outdoor 5000 Champ. 5th at 2012 Olympic Trials 5000 (15:19.98).
Notable 2013 achievements: NCAA Indoor Champ at 3000 (9.01.08) and 5000 (15:28.11).
Thoughts: D'Agostino is the most accomplished of the bunch here, with a National Championship already under her wing. But the way she dominated indoors shows her development. She'll look to defend her outdoor 5000 title and compete for a spot on the World team this summer, as the 15:18.00 A-Standard is just off her outdoor personal best.

4. Chelsea Reilly @CheReillyRuns
Agent: Flynn Sports Management
Previous achievements: 2012 USATF 10k Road Champ (32:41)
Notable 2013 achievements: USATF Indoor 3000 Champ (9:23.12) over Lisa Uhl and Emily Infeld. 8:53.89 for 3000 at British Athletics Grand Prix
Thoughts: Reilly ran a few excellent races this winter and capped it off with her first national championship on the track. She should compete for a spot on the 10,000 team for Moscow, but will need to run 31:45.00 likely at Stanford to be in contention.

5. Kate Grace @fastk8
Sponsor: Oiselle
Previous achievements: 2:01.63 Personal Best in 800. 4:10.57 Personal Best in 1500.
Notable 2013 achievements: 3rd at Millrose Games (4:28.79). 8:55.06 for 3000 at UW Invitational
Thoughts: Grace is quickly progressing. I'm not sure what her best distance will be, but she should have a breakout outdoor season, even if qualifying for Worlds may be a more distant goal.

Erik Sowinski (photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Male
1. Erik Sowinski @eSowinski
Sponsor: Running Wild
Previous achievements: 2nd at 2012 NCAA Outdoor in PR of 1:45.60 (to Charles Jock). 3rd at 2013 NCAA Indoor 800. Semi-finalist at 2012 Olympic Trials.
Notable 2013 achievements: USATF Indoor 800 Champ (1:47.09) over Robby Andrews, Tyler Mulder and Matt Centrowitz. 600 American Record (1:15.61) at Millrose Games over Duane Solomon and Nick Symmonds.
Thoughts: 2013 has been a true breakout year for Sowinski and he'll hope to carry that momentum outdoors. The A-Standard for the 800 is 1:45.30, just off his personal best. He'll likely need a second faster than that to make Team USA.

2. Will Leer @william_leer
Sponsor: Nike
Previous achievements: 4th at 2008 Olympic Trials 1500. 3:36.33 Personal Best in 1500.
Notable 2013 achievements: USATF Indoor Champ at Mile (3:58.79) and 3000 (8:07.84).
Thoughts: Leer has always been a racer, yet he has never hit a World A-Standard. He'll need to run 3:35.00 early to be ready to fight for a spot on the always tough 1500 team. If he can get that out of the way, I like his chances at the USATF Outdoor Final.

Will Leer
(photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

3. Ryan Hill @ryanhillncstate
School: NC State
Previous achievements: 5th at 2012 Olympic Trials 5000 (13:27.49)
Notable 2013 achievements: NCAA Indoor Runner-up at Mile (3:55.25). 6th at Millrose Games (3:54.89).
Thoughts: Hill has shown some serious speed this winter. He'll need to run the A-Standard of 13:15.00 to be in contention for a spot on the Worlds team, but has improved steadily every year and has phenomenal closing speed. He'll look to battle Kennedy Kithuka and Lawi Lalang over 5000 for an NCAA Championship this outdoor season as well.

4. Eli Greer
School: Oregon
Previous achievements: 1:45.06 Personal Best in 800. 2012 Olympic Trials 800 Finalist.
Notable 2013 achievements: NCAA Indoor Champ at 800 (1:47.13).
Thoughts: Greer continues to get better and will compete for a spot on Team USA. He'd love to win an NCAA Outdoor title in the proceess.

5. Cas Loxsom @cassylox
School: Penn State
Previous achievements: 1:45.28 Personal Best in 800
Notable 2013 achievements: Fastest American time ever at 600 (1:15.42 - Oversized Track). NCAA Indoor Runner-up at 800.
Thoughts: The knock on Loxsom has always been his inability to make and run well in championship finals. He looks to have overcome that dig this winter with his runner-up finish at NCAA's. He'll look to build on that this spring as he has the best "true speed" out of any of the top American 800 guys right now (save maybe Solomon and Jock).

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Battle Royale: Matt Centrowitz to make pro debut in Boston this weekend

Centro is back

There are two big indoor meets next weekend, the USA Track and Field Classic in Fayetteville, AR and the Millrose Games in New York City. It's a shame they are both held on the same day, but let's face it, that's unfortunately kind of how Track and Field operates. This week, it's all about beantown. Boston is one of my favorite cities and potentially where I'll be for the next year or so (I'll know in the next six weeks). I'll also be running the marathon again in April, if I can stay healthy of course. Cross your fingers for me.

Saturday will be the professional debut of Mr. Matt Centrowitz. After executing a near-perfect race in Daegu to gain a bronze medal in the World Championship 1500, he'll have his hands full. He's racing a stacked Men's 3000 with US Open Mile Champ and Daegu 1500 Silver Medalist, Silas Kiplagat, British miling superstar (representing New Balance), Andy Baddeley, USA Running Circuit Champ, Ben True, jack of all distances, Ben Bruce and last year’s 3000 winner (over Mo Farah), in a race he ran with only one shoe, Ethiopia’s Dejen Gebremeskel. If Centro can pull this one out, we'll know he's in top form early. Update: Southern Utah's Cam Levins will be joining the fun as well!

Matt Scherer, pacing with the stars

There are two other featured distance events at the meet; the first being the Women's 800. This will feature New Balance's Maggie Vessey, Georgetown star Maggie Infield, US Open 800 Winner, Fantu Magiso, Canada’s Nicole Sifuentes and high school star, Ajee Wilson, who will be competing against the pros for the second straight week. No telling what kind of shape Vessey is in yet, but she is the class of the field.

The final featured distance event of the night is the New Balance Men's Mile. This event is the one that's gonna put butts in the seats. American superstar and 10,000 record holder, Galen Rupp, will likely receive top billing, but the man whose name you will hear non-stop in the promotion of the London Olympic Games will be Mo Farah. Farah is coming off a career year that culminated with a Gold in the 5000 in Daegu, and will be looking to build off that in Boston. Not to be forgotten is New Englander, Russell Brown, who came to Boston last year and won in front a gathering of friends and family. Also in the field is rising star and "bullet with the mullet," Ireland's Ciaran O'Lionaird. O'Lionaird burst onto the scene last year after a slew of 1500 PR's that landed him in the World Championship final. He's now training with Farah and Rupp in Portland, with Alberto Salazar. He could surprise everyone. Just announced were Kenya's Haron Keitany and Daniel Kipchirchir Komen to further add spice. Finally, Matt Scherer will be doing the pacing, as it looks like he's trying to fill the rabbiting void that David Krummenacker has held over the past few years. No word on if Krum is retiring or just waiting for outdoors, but Scherer better be ready to stay in front of these horses!

Some highlights of the non-featured, but still very exciting events will be Tirunesh Dibaba in the Women's 2-Mile, Anna Pierce vs. Morgan Uceny in the Women's 1000 and Shannon Rowbury taking on Meseret Defar and New Balance poster girl, Jenny Simpson, in the Women's 3000. Not sure why they don't combine the 3k and 2 Mile, but that's how it goes!

All the information you could need on the event is at http://NBIndoorGrandPrix.com. The meet starts Saturday at 5pm eastern and will be shown on tape delay on ESPN2 this Sunday at 2pm eastern. Flash Results will have the live results if you don't want to wait for the broadcast.

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Battle Royale: Bernard Lagat takes on Silas Kiplagat in the inaugural US Open Men's Mile

The new "Chairman of the Boards"

Bernard Lagat will be at Madison Square Garden this Saturday for his annual mile trek around the boards, only this time, it won't be for the Wanamaker Mile. It will be for the inaugural US Open, which has stacked fields in every event, from Asafa Powell versus Justin Gatlin in the Men's 50 to the return of Lolo Jones in the Women's 50 meter hurdles.

In the Men's Mile, Lagat leads the field with Daegu Silver Medalist, Silas Kiplagat, being the top contender to try to take down one of the best indoors runners ever. Also in the field are Ethiopia's Henok Legesse, Kenya's Daniel Kipchirchir Komen and Americans, Anthony "Fam" Famiglietti and Matt Elliott.

In the Women's Mile, it's an All American showdown with Anna Pierce leading the way and Daegu-bound  steeplechaser (before injury), Stephanie Garcia, Lauren Hagans and Brenda Martinez giving chase.

High school phenom Ajee Wilson, who just committed to Florida State, leads the Women's 800 and Bershawn Jackson and Renny Quow face off in their annual dual in the 600 yard dash. 

Full start lists are available here and the event is the first of the four part Visa Championship Series, which will also include the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix next weekend in Boston, the USA Track and Field Classic, which is the following weekend in Fayetteville, AR and the USATF Indoor Championships, which will be held February 25-26 in Albuquerque, NM. Not in the Visa Championship Series, but equally exciting, the "new" Millrose Games (at the Armory), is putting together a nice field, especially in the Men's 5000. More on that next week.

The full schedule for the US Open is available here. The event will air on ESPN2 this Sunday (on tape delay), from 7-9pm eastern.

Below are the qualifying standards for the USATF Indoor Championships:

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