As was mentioned in the 3000m preview already, Lawi Lalang,
although has not been running up to the standard that most of us hold him to,
he still is Lawi and still has a 13:08 5000m PR and therefore as the returning
champion deserves to be the number one on this list. What makes Lawi Lalang so
scary is his speed, which can come into play, especially in the 5K and especially
in a slow race. He owns a 3:55.09 Mile PR. A third place finish at the national
championships outdoors behind Levins and Chelimo was definitely not what we
thought Lalang was capable of, but keep in mind having to run a 1500m before
and maybe that he was tired from a long season of incredible running every
race. Either way you spin it, Lalang has
the fastest PR, by a decent margin, of everyone in the country and should be
considered the favorites in the 5000m this indoor season (as long as he runs
the 5000m).
Whenever the name Lalang comes up nowadays the other name
that seems to be going along with it is Kithuka. What many people do not realize
is that before Kithuka transferred, he and Lalang have actually raced each
other before. As Wayland Baptist, Kithuka ran the Invited 5000m at Mt. Sac
where he ran his solid PR of 13:28.61, but placed 9th--10 seconds
behind Lalang who was 2nd. Now it appears that Kithuka is obviously
as fit as he’s ever been and is definitely capable of beating Lawi (we saw him
do it in cross). If Kithuka carries his momentum from cross country to indoor,
he and Lalang are going to have some exciting battles.
Coming off of an Olympic year in which Ahmed was able to
represent Canada in the 10,000m, Ahmed pushed back his training in order to not
get hurt and to keep the possibility of a redshirt going in to the 2012 cross
country season. Luckily for Wisconsin and for himself, Ahmed was able to stay
healthy and get fit for the end of the season where Ahmed finished 8th
overall in Louisville and helped Wisconsin to a 2nd place team
finish. Mo redshirted indoor last year, but his outdoor season was equally as
impressive as his 2011 cross country season (finished 5th in cross).
Ahmed broke the Big 10 record for 10,000m with a PR of 27:34.64. He has a
myriad of experience running 5000m including: 11th in 2011 at indoor
nationals, 14th in 2011 at outdoor nationals, and 7th in 2012 outdoor nationals.
Ahmed has run 13:44 or better four different times and is consistently running
well at championship races which puts him high on this list for 5000m.
Although Rotich was running last year at all of the same
meets that everyone else was, no one really knew who he was, and was definitely
never in the picture as a contender for a national title or even in anyone’s
top 10 or any list you can think of about the best distance runners
in the country. It’s amazing what one year’s
difference can make. Rotich did have a pretty good outdoor season in 2012
finishing 6th in the 3000m Steeplechase and has a nice PR of
8:41.14. That was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Rotich’s ability and
that was evident during the 2012 cross country season. Rotich finished no worse
than 4th in every race he ran in cross and that 4th place
finish was at nationals. He won Pre-Nats, won Conference USA, and was 2nd
at Mountain Regionals (behind Kithuka). As long as he stays healthy Rotich has
a chance to surprise a lot of people indoors as he continues to improve and
progress.
Much of what that makes Chelimo so great and worthy of
being in this list was mentioned in the 3000m preview, and he almost did not make
this list because of that reason, but you cannot leave out the number one
returner in the 5000m from outdoors. If Chelimo is fully recovered from an
injury plagued cross country season in 2012, he has a shot to place very high
in both the 3k and 5k. Chelimo has a very good PR of 13:21.89 that he ran at
Payton Jordan last year. He has actually never run 5000m indoors and so could
very easily be taken off this list if that trend continues, but the top
returner in this event outdoors definitely deserves inclusion in this particular
list.
Another repeat name from the 3k that also belongs on this
list is Estrada. Behind Lalang, Estrada is the number 2 returner from the 5000m
at last year’s indoor championships, where he ran 13:38.12 in the final behind some
pretty good company (Lalang, Derrick, Sambu and Levins). Diego also has a
legitimate 5000m PR in 13:26.94. Estrada is always considered a threat whenever
he races especially in the 5k where he has a 4th place 2011 indoor
finish and 5th place finish indoors in 2012.
A 10th place finish in 2012 indoors for 5000m and
the number four returner in all the land puts Mecheso in the top 10.
Girma came off of a redshirt cross season in 2011 to a solid 10th
place indoor nats finish for 5000m, but led to a decent (maybe sub-par) outdoor
season. A DNF in Des Moines at outdoor
nats for 10,000m was too bad because he definitely was a contender for a top
finish in that race. That was most likely due to his solid finish for 5000m in
the same championships placing 8th in 13:57. Mecheso redeemed himself
in cross country this past season, running very well all season and finishing 5th
at nationals (he was 2nd at Chili Pepper, 2nd at Big 12’s,
and 2nd at Midwest Regionals). With all of that in mind he also has
a good 5000m PR of 13:34.83 and should improve upon that this upcoming indoor
season.
Mecheso’s teammate, who actually finished one spot ahead of
him in last year’s indoor 5000m, is Shadrack Kipchirchir. Being a top
returner in this event last year gives him a sure spot in the top 10, but
behind Mecheso because of his great cross season.
Kipchirchir had a good cross country season in 2012 finishing 18th
overall at nationals and finishing behind Mecheso in nearly every other race
they ran together. Kiprchirchir has good PRs in the distance events of 7:59.79,
13:46.00 and 29:32.99. Look for Shadrack to either move up or off of the list
throughout the season depending on his performances and health.
The 2012 Indoor season was Parker Stinson’s coming out party
where we saw him tear up the scene and emerged as an elite distance runner with
some very good times he ran for 3k and 5k. First, was at the Husky Classic
where Stinson ran 13:39.22 and then at the MPSF Championships he went 7:55.60
for 3k. Outdoors was also good for Parker with a nice 10th place finish
at nationals in the 5000m running 13:58.28. Stinson was ready for a breakout
cross country season as well in 2012, and in general one could say he did,
minus nationals. He placed 9th at Pre-Nats, 4th at Pac-12’s
(behind Lalang, Sambu, and Dunbar), and 7th at the West Regional).
Unfortunately the national meet was probably not exactly what he was shooting
for (240th). If Stinson can get over the troubles he had at the end
of the season in cross, he is definitely a contender for the 5k indoors.
If you were to only look at what Ward ran indoors and
outdoors, he might not deserve inclusion on this list. On the other hand, in
terms of momentum and running well recently Ward could be one of the up and
coming distance runners in the country.
Ward has good, but not great PR’s indoors and outdoors with an 8:01.99,
13:52.05 and 28:59, in the 3k, 5k, and 10k, respectively. What really helped
him emerge on to the scene was his very good 5th place finish in Des
Moines last June for 10,000m. Ward kept this momentum through the 2012 cross
country season where he proved to be one of the top American-born distance
runners. He finished 8th at
Pre-Nats, 1st at the West Coast Conference meet, 3rd in a
very good Mountain Regional and 14th at nationals. Going into the
indoor season Ward is definitely a darkhorse (but each list should have at
least one) and could be seen, just as Kipchirchir, either moving up or off the
list throughout the season.
Others not mentioned but of note are: Ryan Hill (NC State), Soufiane Bouchikhi (Eastern Kentucky), David Rooney (McNeese State) Tom Farrell (Oklahoma State)
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