Photo by: Tim Cowie
NCAA Championship Preview: Women's 10k
6/7/2016 4:10:00 PM | Track and Field
The two women set to compete for the Orange will do so in the women's 10,000-meters, as Shaylyn Tuite and Margo Malone will take to the track on Thursday evening to compete.
For Malone, it's her third trip to Eugene. The Orange senior earned USTFCCCA First Team All-America honors in the event last season and took home honorable mention honors in 2014. Tuite makes her first trip to an NCAA Championship, looking to duplicate Syracuse's 2014 performance when two competitors earned All-America honors.
Tuite enters Thursday's race as the No. 10 seed, while Malone ranks 23rd. The duo each set their best season mark in the same race at the Stanford Invitational. Tuite finished with a time of 33:22.04, which currently ranks 12th nationally, while Malone finished in 33:55.93, good for 26th.
2015 NCAA Champion Molly Seidel will not return for 2016, but Arkansas' Dominique Scott, who currently owns the nation's fastest time, was the runner-up last season and enters as the No. 4 seed. One of this week's favorites, Scott won the SEC 5k Championship and finished in the top-two of both the 5k and 10k of the West Prelim.
The top-seed this weekend comes from Iona's Tara Jameson, who won the East prelim in the 10k and also took third in the 5k. Jameson has only run one 10k prior to the east prelim, taking first at the Virginia Challenge in 33:38.50.
Tennessee's Chelsea Blaase is the No. 2 seed on the weekend. A sixth-place finisher at the NCAA Championship last season – one spot ahead of Malone – Blaase owns the third-fastest time nationally this season, which she set at the Stanford Invitational as well. She crossed the line in 32:08.39.
Anne-Marie Blaney from UCF is the third seed for Thursday's race, she took fourth behind Tuite's second-place finish in their section at the Stanford Invitational earlier this season in the only prior head-to-head race before the East prelim.
New Mexico's Alice Wright, Washington's Katie Knight, Michigan's Gina Sereno, Michigan State's Alexis Wiersma and Idaho's Kinsey Gomez occupy the five seeds directly in front of Tuite, respectively.
Wright has the fourth-fastest time in the nation coming into the meet, which she set at the Payton Jordan Invitational earlier this season (32:36.11). She took second at the West Prelim to take the No. 5 seed overall.
Knight set her season-best time in her first 10k of the season at the Pac-12 Championship in May while winning the event. She raced in the 5k at the Payton Jordan Invite with Malone and Tuite, however they competed in different sections and have yet to race head-to-head on the year.
Sereno was the Big Ten Champion in the 10k, which was also her first race at that distance on the season. Her time of 34:19.39 in that event pits her at 56th nationally. She also has yet to race against the Orange duo this season.
Gomez ran her only regular-season 10k at the Stanford Invitational, finishing 1.55 seconds behind Tuite for third in their section at the meet. She also raced in the same 5k section as Malone and Tuite at the Payton Jordan Invitational later in the year, edging out both.
Behind Tuite, Air Force's Hannah Everson and Portland's Lauren LaRocco sit in 11th and 12th.
Everson owns the sixth-best time in the country this season (33:05.26) at the Stanford Invitational. She competed in the same section as Malone in that race, finishing as the third collegiate finisher in a field loaded with professionals. Malone was the seventh-fastest collegiate competitor of 12 in the talented field.
LaRocco was the only runner to finish ahead of Tuite in her section of the Stanford Invitational earlier this season, crossing the line in 33:15.75 to beat the Orange junior across the line.
Boise State's Breanna Peloquin is the top freshman in the field. The Mountain West 5k Champion set her prelim qualifying time at the Payton Jordan Invite earlier this season and was the seventh-fastest finisher out of the West to earn the No. 13 overall seed. She has never faced either Tuite or Malone on the track, but finished ninth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships this fall.
Another runner out of the West, Colorado's Mackenzie Caldwell finished eighth at the West Prelim after taking third at the Pac-12 Championship in the 10k in her only previous race at that distance this season.
The other competitor out of the ACC in this event is Virginia's Cleo Boyd, who's seeded 15th. She won both the ACC Championships in the 10k and 5k this spring, with Malone finishing on the podium with her in both events after taking second in the 10k and following that with a third-place finish in the 5k two days later. Tuite only ran the 10k at the meet, taking fifth.
Butler's Olivia Pratt and Minnesota's Liz Berkholtz are seeded 16th and 17th to enter the meet. Pratt raced in the same section of the Stanford Invitational 10k as Malone and same section of the 5k as both 'Cuse competitors in the Payton Jordan, making her a familiar foe.
Pratt was the fourth-fastest collegiate competitor – three ahead of Malone – at the Stanford Invite in the 10k. She later went on to win the BIG EAST crown in the event. Berkholtz has not faced either Tuite or Malone in any event this year, but was the Big Ten runner-up in the event.
Another competitor from New York, Cornell's Caroline Kellner is the No. 18 seed in the meet, but despite being the most local competitor to 'Cuse, has not faced Tuite or Malone this season. She ran her qualifying time at the Bruin Legends of Track and Field Distance Carnival in April, before winning the Ivy League Championship in May and taking ninth at the East Prelim.
The 19th and 20th seeds came out of the West Prelim, with Kansas' Sharon Lokedi and Bradley's Kristin Busch occupying those spots.
Rachele Schulist from Michigan State makes the Spartans the only other team with two competitors in the field in addition to the Orange. She only ran three times on the outdoor track this season, setting a qualifying time at the Raleigh Regionals before running her only other 10k at the East Prelim.
San Francisco's Charlotte Taylor is seeded 22nd. She and Tuite went head-to-head at the Stanford Invitational earlier this year, with Taylor crossing the line three seconds behind Tuite as she took fifth.
The final qualifier came out of the East as well. Belmont's Hannah Wittman took 12th at the East Prelim and secured the final spot in Thursday's meet. That was her only competition against Tuite and Malone this season.
Action begins on Thursday at 10:08 p.m. eastern on ESPN
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For Malone, it's her third trip to Eugene. The Orange senior earned USTFCCCA First Team All-America honors in the event last season and took home honorable mention honors in 2014. Tuite makes her first trip to an NCAA Championship, looking to duplicate Syracuse's 2014 performance when two competitors earned All-America honors.
Tuite enters Thursday's race as the No. 10 seed, while Malone ranks 23rd. The duo each set their best season mark in the same race at the Stanford Invitational. Tuite finished with a time of 33:22.04, which currently ranks 12th nationally, while Malone finished in 33:55.93, good for 26th.
2015 NCAA Champion Molly Seidel will not return for 2016, but Arkansas' Dominique Scott, who currently owns the nation's fastest time, was the runner-up last season and enters as the No. 4 seed. One of this week's favorites, Scott won the SEC 5k Championship and finished in the top-two of both the 5k and 10k of the West Prelim.
The top-seed this weekend comes from Iona's Tara Jameson, who won the East prelim in the 10k and also took third in the 5k. Jameson has only run one 10k prior to the east prelim, taking first at the Virginia Challenge in 33:38.50.
Tennessee's Chelsea Blaase is the No. 2 seed on the weekend. A sixth-place finisher at the NCAA Championship last season – one spot ahead of Malone – Blaase owns the third-fastest time nationally this season, which she set at the Stanford Invitational as well. She crossed the line in 32:08.39.
Anne-Marie Blaney from UCF is the third seed for Thursday's race, she took fourth behind Tuite's second-place finish in their section at the Stanford Invitational earlier this season in the only prior head-to-head race before the East prelim.
New Mexico's Alice Wright, Washington's Katie Knight, Michigan's Gina Sereno, Michigan State's Alexis Wiersma and Idaho's Kinsey Gomez occupy the five seeds directly in front of Tuite, respectively.
Wright has the fourth-fastest time in the nation coming into the meet, which she set at the Payton Jordan Invitational earlier this season (32:36.11). She took second at the West Prelim to take the No. 5 seed overall.
Knight set her season-best time in her first 10k of the season at the Pac-12 Championship in May while winning the event. She raced in the 5k at the Payton Jordan Invite with Malone and Tuite, however they competed in different sections and have yet to race head-to-head on the year.
Sereno was the Big Ten Champion in the 10k, which was also her first race at that distance on the season. Her time of 34:19.39 in that event pits her at 56th nationally. She also has yet to race against the Orange duo this season.
Gomez ran her only regular-season 10k at the Stanford Invitational, finishing 1.55 seconds behind Tuite for third in their section at the meet. She also raced in the same 5k section as Malone and Tuite at the Payton Jordan Invitational later in the year, edging out both.
Behind Tuite, Air Force's Hannah Everson and Portland's Lauren LaRocco sit in 11th and 12th.
Everson owns the sixth-best time in the country this season (33:05.26) at the Stanford Invitational. She competed in the same section as Malone in that race, finishing as the third collegiate finisher in a field loaded with professionals. Malone was the seventh-fastest collegiate competitor of 12 in the talented field.
LaRocco was the only runner to finish ahead of Tuite in her section of the Stanford Invitational earlier this season, crossing the line in 33:15.75 to beat the Orange junior across the line.
Boise State's Breanna Peloquin is the top freshman in the field. The Mountain West 5k Champion set her prelim qualifying time at the Payton Jordan Invite earlier this season and was the seventh-fastest finisher out of the West to earn the No. 13 overall seed. She has never faced either Tuite or Malone on the track, but finished ninth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships this fall.
Another runner out of the West, Colorado's Mackenzie Caldwell finished eighth at the West Prelim after taking third at the Pac-12 Championship in the 10k in her only previous race at that distance this season.
The other competitor out of the ACC in this event is Virginia's Cleo Boyd, who's seeded 15th. She won both the ACC Championships in the 10k and 5k this spring, with Malone finishing on the podium with her in both events after taking second in the 10k and following that with a third-place finish in the 5k two days later. Tuite only ran the 10k at the meet, taking fifth.
Butler's Olivia Pratt and Minnesota's Liz Berkholtz are seeded 16th and 17th to enter the meet. Pratt raced in the same section of the Stanford Invitational 10k as Malone and same section of the 5k as both 'Cuse competitors in the Payton Jordan, making her a familiar foe.
Pratt was the fourth-fastest collegiate competitor – three ahead of Malone – at the Stanford Invite in the 10k. She later went on to win the BIG EAST crown in the event. Berkholtz has not faced either Tuite or Malone in any event this year, but was the Big Ten runner-up in the event.
Another competitor from New York, Cornell's Caroline Kellner is the No. 18 seed in the meet, but despite being the most local competitor to 'Cuse, has not faced Tuite or Malone this season. She ran her qualifying time at the Bruin Legends of Track and Field Distance Carnival in April, before winning the Ivy League Championship in May and taking ninth at the East Prelim.
The 19th and 20th seeds came out of the West Prelim, with Kansas' Sharon Lokedi and Bradley's Kristin Busch occupying those spots.
Rachele Schulist from Michigan State makes the Spartans the only other team with two competitors in the field in addition to the Orange. She only ran three times on the outdoor track this season, setting a qualifying time at the Raleigh Regionals before running her only other 10k at the East Prelim.
San Francisco's Charlotte Taylor is seeded 22nd. She and Tuite went head-to-head at the Stanford Invitational earlier this year, with Taylor crossing the line three seconds behind Tuite as she took fifth.
The final qualifier came out of the East as well. Belmont's Hannah Wittman took 12th at the East Prelim and secured the final spot in Thursday's meet. That was her only competition against Tuite and Malone this season.
Action begins on Thursday at 10:08 p.m. eastern on ESPN
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