NCAA Championship Preview: Men's 10k
6/7/2016 10:46:00 AM | Track and Field
One of the staple events of the Syracuse track and field program gets underway on Wednesday evening at the NCAA Championships with two Syracuse student-athletes set to compete in the 10,000-meters.
Colin Bennie and Philo Germano enter as the No. 22 and No. 24 seeds in the event, which has produced six SU All-American performances on the men's side since 2011 and had multiple 'Cuse participants in it for the second-straight year. Of the 24 qualifiers for the event, the top-12 are from the west preliminary after their race was taken out at a faster pace.
Despite entering as the No. 22 seed, Bennie comes into the NCAA Championship with the sixth-fastest time in the country this season after turning in a 28:52.72 performance at the Payton Jordan Invitational. Germano owns the 17th fastest time nationally, which he set on the same track at the Stanford Invitational.
Bennie is seeking his fourth-straight season with an All-American finish dating back to last year's NCAA Championships where he earned second team honors in the 5k. He followed it up with an eighth finish in cross country and another eighth place finish in the 5k during the indoor campaign this season.
It's the first NCAA Championship event for Germano, but he's got All-America experience after earning the honor in cross country while closing late to seal the NCAA Championship for 'Cuse this fall.
Top-seed Edward Cheserek of Oregon enters as the favorite once again. The junior is seeking his 14th national championship across cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field including relays. The most recent time he faced a member of the Orange was at the NCAA Indoor Championships, when Bennie finished little more than five seconds behind Cheserek as he claimed the title.
Northern Arizona's Festum Zienasellassie enters as the No. 2 seed, he and Bennie ran in the same section of the 10k at the Payton Jordan Invite earlier this year, when Zienasellassie was the top-collegiate finisher and Bennie was the third-collegiate finisher in the section that featured nearly 30 professional runners. Zienasellassie has the fastest time nationally this season from that performance at the Payton Jordan (27:52.70).
The second finisher among collegiate competitors at that meet was Colorado's Pierce Murphy. He, Bennie and Germano are familiar with each other, having all earned All-America honors in cross country this season, with Bennie also facing him at the NCAA Indoor Championships, where Murphy finished third, in addition to the Payton Jordan. Murphy has a season-best time just four seconds ahead of Bennie's, which is good for fifth on the national list this season.
Arkansas' Gabe Gonzalez enters as the No. 4 seed after claiming third at the SEC Championships this season. He hasn't faced either Bennie or Germano on the outdoor track this season, most recently Bennie edged him by four spots in the 5k during the indoor season. Gonzalez's season-best time is 29:01.62, just three seconds ahead of Germano, which ranks 14th in the nation.
Tulsa's Luke Traynor comes in with the fifth seed. He and Germano both ran 10ks at the Stanford Invitational, however in different sections, so he has yet to face either 'Cuse participant this season in a head-to-head matchup.
Reed Fischer from Drake and Ried Buchanan from Portland rank sixth and seventh entering the meet, and neither has raced a 'Cuse runner in a 10k this season. Buchanan and Germano both ran in the same 5k race at the Payton Jordan Invite, however that's the only meeting on the track or in cross country between them.
BYU's Connor McMillan is the next participant who has raced the duo this season, he raced in a different section of the 10k at the Stanford Invite than Germano, so their only head-to-head experience this season came in cross country, when McMillan finished 84th.
The same can be said for No. 9 seed Tyler King from Washington, who only raced head-to-head with the pair at cross country nationals, where he finished 249th. He did run a 5k at the Payton Jordan, but in a different section from Germano.
Rounding out the west qualifiers are Ryan Rutherford from Illinois State, Lane Werley of UCLA and Stephen F. Austin's Charles Mathenge.
The top-seed out of the east prelims was Campbell's Amon Terer, who owns the eighth-best time nationally this season, two seconds behind Bennie's. The East Prelim is the only time the 'Cuse pair has ran head-to-head with Terer this season.
Alabama's Antibahs Kosgei is seeded 13th overall and was the second finisher out of the east. The SEC runner-up in the event, Kosgei turned in his top time of the season at the Stanford Invitational in a separate section from the 'Cuse harrier, but he finished 15 seconds behind Germano's time for the 50th-best time nationally.
SEC Champion Jacob Thomson from Kentucky finished third at the East regional. Thomson won Germano's 5k section of the Payton Jordan in their only prior head-to-head meeting before the East Prelims. He set his regional qualifying time at the Raleigh Relays, with a mark of 29:01.34, which is the 13th-fastest mark on the season, sandwiched in the middle of Bennie and Germano's top times.
Possibly the most familiar face in the field, NC State's Luis Vargas comes in seeded 16th. He took fourth at the East Prelim after taking second at the ACC Championships in both the 5 and 10ks. Germano doubled for the Orange as well in those races, turning in a pair of top-10 finishes, while Bennie stuck just with the 5k, finishing fifth.
Butler's Erik Peterson has the third-fastest time nationally and finished fifth at the East Prelims to punch his ticket to Eugene. He finished eight seconds ahead of Bennie at the Payton Jordan Invite in the only prior meeting before prelims between the two.
Big Ten Champion Ben Flanagan is comes in seeded 18th and Campbell's Lawrence Kipkoech sits in 19th to enter Wednesday's event, with both only having faced the 'Cuse duo at prelims.
The fourth member of the ACC to qualify for Eugene is Duke's Shaun Thompson, he owns the fourth-best time in the country to date this season after winning the Mt. SAC Relays. Fellow conference opponent George Parsons of NC State finished the prelim between Bennie and Germano. The NCAA Championships will be just his third 10k of the season, having only competed in the Raleigh Relays and NCAA East Prelim this season. Parsons took sixth at the ACC Championships in the 5k behind Bennie.
The event gets underway at 10:08 p.m. on ESPN2.
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Colin Bennie and Philo Germano enter as the No. 22 and No. 24 seeds in the event, which has produced six SU All-American performances on the men's side since 2011 and had multiple 'Cuse participants in it for the second-straight year. Of the 24 qualifiers for the event, the top-12 are from the west preliminary after their race was taken out at a faster pace.
Despite entering as the No. 22 seed, Bennie comes into the NCAA Championship with the sixth-fastest time in the country this season after turning in a 28:52.72 performance at the Payton Jordan Invitational. Germano owns the 17th fastest time nationally, which he set on the same track at the Stanford Invitational.
Bennie is seeking his fourth-straight season with an All-American finish dating back to last year's NCAA Championships where he earned second team honors in the 5k. He followed it up with an eighth finish in cross country and another eighth place finish in the 5k during the indoor campaign this season.
It's the first NCAA Championship event for Germano, but he's got All-America experience after earning the honor in cross country while closing late to seal the NCAA Championship for 'Cuse this fall.
Top-seed Edward Cheserek of Oregon enters as the favorite once again. The junior is seeking his 14th national championship across cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field including relays. The most recent time he faced a member of the Orange was at the NCAA Indoor Championships, when Bennie finished little more than five seconds behind Cheserek as he claimed the title.
Northern Arizona's Festum Zienasellassie enters as the No. 2 seed, he and Bennie ran in the same section of the 10k at the Payton Jordan Invite earlier this year, when Zienasellassie was the top-collegiate finisher and Bennie was the third-collegiate finisher in the section that featured nearly 30 professional runners. Zienasellassie has the fastest time nationally this season from that performance at the Payton Jordan (27:52.70).
The second finisher among collegiate competitors at that meet was Colorado's Pierce Murphy. He, Bennie and Germano are familiar with each other, having all earned All-America honors in cross country this season, with Bennie also facing him at the NCAA Indoor Championships, where Murphy finished third, in addition to the Payton Jordan. Murphy has a season-best time just four seconds ahead of Bennie's, which is good for fifth on the national list this season.
Arkansas' Gabe Gonzalez enters as the No. 4 seed after claiming third at the SEC Championships this season. He hasn't faced either Bennie or Germano on the outdoor track this season, most recently Bennie edged him by four spots in the 5k during the indoor season. Gonzalez's season-best time is 29:01.62, just three seconds ahead of Germano, which ranks 14th in the nation.
Tulsa's Luke Traynor comes in with the fifth seed. He and Germano both ran 10ks at the Stanford Invitational, however in different sections, so he has yet to face either 'Cuse participant this season in a head-to-head matchup.
Reed Fischer from Drake and Ried Buchanan from Portland rank sixth and seventh entering the meet, and neither has raced a 'Cuse runner in a 10k this season. Buchanan and Germano both ran in the same 5k race at the Payton Jordan Invite, however that's the only meeting on the track or in cross country between them.
BYU's Connor McMillan is the next participant who has raced the duo this season, he raced in a different section of the 10k at the Stanford Invite than Germano, so their only head-to-head experience this season came in cross country, when McMillan finished 84th.
The same can be said for No. 9 seed Tyler King from Washington, who only raced head-to-head with the pair at cross country nationals, where he finished 249th. He did run a 5k at the Payton Jordan, but in a different section from Germano.
Rounding out the west qualifiers are Ryan Rutherford from Illinois State, Lane Werley of UCLA and Stephen F. Austin's Charles Mathenge.
The top-seed out of the east prelims was Campbell's Amon Terer, who owns the eighth-best time nationally this season, two seconds behind Bennie's. The East Prelim is the only time the 'Cuse pair has ran head-to-head with Terer this season.
Alabama's Antibahs Kosgei is seeded 13th overall and was the second finisher out of the east. The SEC runner-up in the event, Kosgei turned in his top time of the season at the Stanford Invitational in a separate section from the 'Cuse harrier, but he finished 15 seconds behind Germano's time for the 50th-best time nationally.
SEC Champion Jacob Thomson from Kentucky finished third at the East regional. Thomson won Germano's 5k section of the Payton Jordan in their only prior head-to-head meeting before the East Prelims. He set his regional qualifying time at the Raleigh Relays, with a mark of 29:01.34, which is the 13th-fastest mark on the season, sandwiched in the middle of Bennie and Germano's top times.
Possibly the most familiar face in the field, NC State's Luis Vargas comes in seeded 16th. He took fourth at the East Prelim after taking second at the ACC Championships in both the 5 and 10ks. Germano doubled for the Orange as well in those races, turning in a pair of top-10 finishes, while Bennie stuck just with the 5k, finishing fifth.
Butler's Erik Peterson has the third-fastest time nationally and finished fifth at the East Prelims to punch his ticket to Eugene. He finished eight seconds ahead of Bennie at the Payton Jordan Invite in the only prior meeting before prelims between the two.
Big Ten Champion Ben Flanagan is comes in seeded 18th and Campbell's Lawrence Kipkoech sits in 19th to enter Wednesday's event, with both only having faced the 'Cuse duo at prelims.
The fourth member of the ACC to qualify for Eugene is Duke's Shaun Thompson, he owns the fourth-best time in the country to date this season after winning the Mt. SAC Relays. Fellow conference opponent George Parsons of NC State finished the prelim between Bennie and Germano. The NCAA Championships will be just his third 10k of the season, having only competed in the Raleigh Relays and NCAA East Prelim this season. Parsons took sixth at the ACC Championships in the 5k behind Bennie.
The event gets underway at 10:08 p.m. on ESPN2.
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Players Mentioned
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