NCAA Prelim Preview | Distance - Syracuse University Athletics

The NCAA East Prelims begin on Thursday in Tampa. Preview the Orange's distance competitors looking for a trip to the NCAA Championships.

NCAA EAST PRELIM
Meet Details	Thursday - Sunday \| Tampa, Fla.
Game Coverage	Live Coverage: RESULTS Watch (Flotrack): WATCH Men's Heat Sheets: Start List Women's Heat Sheets: Start List

PREVIEW SPRINTS AND HURDLES

Men's 10,000-meters | Thursday | 9 p.m.
Syracuse competitors: Colin Bennie (28:37.04), Iliass Aouani (29:19.43), Dominic Hockenbury (29:36.64), Kevin James (29:48.88), Joe Dragon (29:55.25)
Top seed: Vincent Kiprop (28:19.07), Alabama
Format: One round, one heat, top 12 finishers to Eugene

- Colin Bennie is seeking his fourth-straight trip to Eugene, the last-two have come in the 10k, highlighted by a 10th-place finish in 2016. The other four are seeking their first trip to the NCAA Championships.
- Bennie and Aouani raced in the 5k at the ACC Championships, both medaling behind champion Justyn Knight. James also finished 14th in the second-leg of a double from the 10k two days earlier.
- Aouani and James medaled in the 10k, with Aouani taking silver and James bronze. Hockenbury (sixth) and Dragon (seventh) also scored in the event.

Men's 3000-meter steeplechase | Friday | 8:20 p.m.
Syracuse competitors: Aidan Tooker (8:45.79), Noah Affolder (8:46.22)
Top seed: Emmanuel Rotich (8:40.66), Tulane
Format: One round, three heats. Top three from each heat, plus next-three fastest times to Eugene.

- Aidan Tooker took 21st as a true freshman at the NCA Championships in the 3000-meter steeplechase last season, he's looking to earn a second-straight trip to Eugene, while Affolder looks to follow in his footsteps and get there as a true freshman as well.
- Affolder and Tooker went one-two in the event at the ACC Championships, with Tooker making up late ground after a fall on the final lap.
- Tooker set his seed time when he was the top collegian at the Virginia Challenge earlier this year, while Affolder's win at the ACC Championship was a collegiate best for him and earned him a spot in the top-five of the East.

Women's 3000-meter steeplechase | Friday | 9 p.m.
Syracuse competitors: Paige Stoner (9:50.42), Sydney Leiher (10:27.20)
Top seed: Paige Stoner (9:50.42), Syracuse
Format: One round, three heats. Top three from each heat, plus next-three fastest times to Eugene.

- ACC Champion Paige Stoner looks to build off her Second Team All-America performance in the event from last year in the 3000-meter steeplechase, while Sydney Leiher seeks her first trip to Eugene.
- Stoner is the top-seed in the east and has the third-best time nationally this season, when she broke her own school record in the event.
- Her record-breaking performance came less than two weeks ago, when she posted her seed time during a dominant ACC Championship win in the event.
- Leiher took eighth in the event at the ACC Championships, an event she also set her qualifying time.
- A trip to Eugene would make Stoner the first woman in program history to earn All-America status in each of a distance runner's three seasons (XC, indoor, outdoor). She's already the second person in program history to accomplish the feat ever after earning All-America status in outdoor in 2017, XC and indoor in 2018, joining Lauren Penney who did so across two seasons (2011-12 and 2012-13).

Men's 5000-meters | Saturday | 8:05 p.m.
Syracuse competitors: Justyn Knight (13:18.74), Philo Germano (13:50.48)
Top seed: Justyn Knight (13:18.74), Syracuse
Format: One round, two heats. Top-five from each heat plus next-two fastest times advance to Eugene.

- Knight enters the East Prelims with nearly a 20-second advantage over the next-fastest competitor this season. He is seeking his fourth-straight trip to Eugene and a triple crown, winning an NCAA Championship in each season.
- Germano is coming off a fifth-place finish at the ACC Championships, in an event 'Cuse took six of the top-seven spots behind Knight's ACC title.
- Germano