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THE WARM-UP LAP: Events to Watch as Championships Season Begins
By Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA
February 20, 2015
Collegiate indoor track & field’s championships season isn’t quite in full swing yet, but it’s revving up.
Select conferences like the Southland Conference have already contested their league meets over the past week. A dozen or so more conferences across all three NCAA Divisions are competing this weekend (mostly from the Northeast and the South). Most teams are either resting or competing in tune-up meets with their league meets upcoming next weekend.
Here’s a list of conference championship action taking place this weekend, and below we get into a few of the headlining match-ups of the weekend.
| *America East Indoor ChampionshipsNew York, N.Y. * New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory | NYC Armory Fri Feb 20 | Meet Home Meet Preview |
| Atlantic 10 Indoor ChampionshipsProvidence, R.I. * Mackal Fieldhouse | Rhode Island Sat Feb 21 – Sun Feb 22 | Timing Site Meet Home |
| MAAC Indoor ChampionshipsNew York, N.Y. * New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory | Manhattan Sat Feb 21 | Meet Home Meet Schedule |
| Northeast Indoor ChampionshipsLandover, Md. * Prince George’s Sports Complex | Northeast Sat Feb 21 – Sun Feb 22 | Timing Site Meet Home |
| *Patriot League Indoor ChampionshipsAnnapolis, Md. * Wesley A. Brown Field House | Navy Fri Feb 20 – Sun Feb 22 | Timing Site Meet Home |
| Sun Belt Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham, Ala. * Birmingham CrossPlex | Sun Belt Mon Feb 23 – Tue Feb 24 | Meet Home Broadcast Info  (WEB: SunBeltSports.com) |
| SWAC Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham, Ala. * Birmingham CrossPlex | SWAC Sat Feb 21 – Sun Feb 22 | Meet Home |
| *GPAC Indoor ChampionshipsSeward, Neb. | Concordia (Neb.) Fri Feb 20 – Sat Feb 21 | Timing Site Broadcast Info (WEB: Concordia Sports Network) Host Site | Meet Schedule |
| *Heart of America (HAAC) Indoor ChampionshipsLamoni, Iowa * Eugene E. and Julia Travis Closson Center | Graceland (Iowa) Fri Feb 20 – Sat Feb 21 | Host Site |
| Wolverine-Hoosier (WHAC) Indoor ChampionshipsGrand Rapids, Mich. * Alksnis Athletic & Rec Building | Aquinas (Mich.) Sat Feb 21 | Host Site |
Here are the events/match-ups with the biggest national and/or historical implications, in chronological order.
Michael Lihrman (Wisconsin) vs. The Collegiate Weight Throw Record
Wisconsin Scarlet & White Open | Friday, 5pm ET/4pm CT
Lihrman, the current NCAA Division I weight throw record holder with his season-opening 80-3½ (24.47m), is taking aim this weekend at the collegiate record in the event. That mark is 82-3½ (25.08m), held by Kibwe Johnson of Division II Ashland.
How do we know he’s taking aim at it?
The Badger senior owns six of the top 10 marks in collegiate history, though Big Ten rival Chukwuebuka Enekwechi of Purdue is hot on his heels with a mark this past weekend of 80-0¼ (24.39m). Lihrman has only finished in the 78-foot neighborhood in each of his two subsequent meets, though those marks would still have put him at No. 5 in collegiate history.
Shawn Barber (Akron) vs. The Collegiate Indoor Pole Vault Record
Akron Zips Invitational | Friday, approx 8pm ET (following women’s PV at 7pm)
Live Webstream
Live Webstream
Barber, who joined us yesterday on our QA2Max Podcast, has broken the collegiate record in the pole vault two weekends in a row, most recently with a 19-4¼ (5.90m) leap at Arkansas’ Tyson Invitational last weekend.
The week before that was at the Akron Invitational in the same Stile Athletes Field House in which he’ll be competing tonight. He took down 19-3½ (5.88m) on that night on his first attempt, then took three tries at six meters.
Will he make it three weeks in a row tonight? You can find out live with a free webstream from Akron.
Men’s & Women’s Distance Medley Relay Teams vs. The National Qualifying Lists
Notre Dame Alex Wilson Invitational | Saturday, 11:50am ET (Women) & 12:05pm ET (Men)
LIVE on Flotrack Pro
LIVE on Flotrack Pro
Once a "last-chance" fixture for distance medley relay teams the weekend before the NCAA Championships, the Alex Wilson Invitational has moved two weeks forward when "last chance" meets were discontinued before the beginning of last season.
That hasn’t stopped many of the nation’s top DMR teams from making the trip to South Bend, Indiana, in pursuit of fast qualifying times.
There’ll be two sections of the men’s race. The first is scheduled to feature defending national champion No. 6 Stanford, last year’s third-place Indiana, No. 10 Iowa State, and No. 11 Columbia. The second will be headlined by No. 7 Arkansas and also feature No. 17 Virginia and No. 18 Texas battling to get into the top 12 nationally – the cutoff for the NCAA Championships.
Just one section of the women’s race is scheduled, headlined by last year’s third- and fifth-place finishing teams in host Notre Dame and Michigan, respectively. Also looking to bolster their positions will be No. 8 Baylor, No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 13 Harvard and a No. 22 North Dakota State squad that will be running this time with standout Erin Teschuk.
Demi Payne (Stephen F. Austin) vs. Sandi Morris (Arkansas) vs. The Collegiate Women’s Pole Vault Record – Round 2
Arkansas Open | Saturday, 4pm ET/3pm CT
LIVE on SEC Network+
LIVE on SEC Network+
Saving the best for last, the final match-up to watch this weekend is the rematch between the last two women’s collegiate pole vault record holders: current standard-bearer Demi Payne of Stephen F. Austin and former record-holder Sandi Morris of Arkansas.
Last time these two met – two weekends ago at New Mexico – Payne got the better of Morris. The SFA senior cleared 4.66m on her first attempt and proceeded on to take three attempts at 4.76m (one centimeter better than her current collegiate record ), while Morris went out at 4.56m after three tries at 4.66m.
What have they been up to since? Payne easily won the Southland Conference at, what is for her, a pedestrian 4.28m (she only brought "monster poles" to the meet), while Morris won the Tyson Invitational at 4.49m after shaking the rest of the field early and taking three solid attempts at 4.76m.
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