Virginia has by our counting just three serious shots at a national distance title. Those three shots from from Theo Woods, Michaela Rose, and Brent Bailey. The first two will be in the 800 and Bailey's will come in the Mile race.
Theo Woods enters the weekend ranked 39th in the US in this event but also just 1.5 seconds off of US top 10. He has yet to be pushed this year and still has managed to run 1:52.23. He is in the second fastest section which could bode well for him.
The perfect race for him and Michaela is a race where they have company for the first 600 at a great pace and then it comes down to their kick for the win. Michaela though is seeded in the fast section where she will put her 19-0 lifetime 800 record on the line.
Brent in the Mile should be interesting. He is in the top section and has one of the sickest kicks we've ever seen. If he is able to hang on to the lead pack for 1300m then we will certainly have the finish to the season we have been waiting for.
Outside of the potential champions, almost every one of Virginia's entries has a shot at an All-American finish this weekend. The entry numbers might not be our highest but this could seriously be one of our strongest fields in quite some time.
VA Distance Entries
- 800: Grace Boone - Michaela Rose - Theo Woods
- Mile: Brent Bailey - Mary Caroline Heinen
- Two Mile: Jacob Hunter - Matthias Cannon - Ryann Helmers - MC Heinen
- 5K: Philip Lambert - Nolan Harris - Kaitlynn Wolfe