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Women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase

State of the event since Rio

Most of the heavy hitters haven’t raced a lot this outdoor season and they’ve only steepled once or twice each. Olympic bronze medalist Emma Coburn showed that she’s in PB shape with her 9:07.96 at the Prefontaine Classic. Olympian Courtney Frerichs clocked a personal best of 9:19.09 in the same race. Olympian Colleen Quigley and 2015 world championship team member Stephanie Garcia have posted times that indicate they are ready to roll for a spot on the team.

Star/favorite to watch

Coburn is the obvious favorite here with that Olympic bronze and having almost bested her own American Record at Prefontaine. It will be fun to see how she decides executes her race plan with such an edge on the rest of the field.

Dark horse pick

Oiselle’s Mel Lawrence has been having a good season by throwing up PRs across the board and she’s no newbee to the event. It’s going to be hot on the track in Sacramento and she’s tough.

Fun stat/fact

You heard it here from the 2013 U.S. outdoor champion, which was contested in the hot conditions in Des Moines: The hotter it is on the track and the hotter the race is up front, the more fun the water pit is to watch for everyone else. Keep your eyes peeped for some carnage.

Picks to make the team

Coburn – this seems obvious. Frerichs has got momentum and she races smart. Quigley or Garcia is hard to pick. Garcia’s sharp right now and has the sting of missing the Olympic team last summer to go with it. Quigley, on paper, isn’t as sharp right now and appeared to be a little banged up back in May. But things like that haven’t stopped Quigley from making a team before.

Men’s 3,000-meter steeple

Same as the women, most of the heavy hitters on the men’s side have only raced one or two steeples as well. Except Jager, who hasn’t raced any. Contenders Hilary Bor, Andy Bayer, and Stanley Kebenei has all run sub 8:20 this outdoor season.

Star/favorite to watch

Jager is the obvious favorite here with the Olympic sIlver and the American Record. Though he hasn’t raced over water barriers recently.

Dark horse pic

“Dark horse pick” isn’t exactly the respectable terminology that Cabral deserves as an Olympian. So this is more like my “I-know-you-had-some-interruptions-in-your-training-this-spring-but-I-see-you” pick. He also knows how to get it done. It being making teams.

Fun stat/fact

Daniel Huling has made every world team since 2009 but has never made an Olympic team. His Bowerman Track Club teammate Woody Kincaid actually asked him about it in an episode of The Price of a Mile podcast.

Picks to make the team

Jager – Obvs. Andy Bayer has been one spot out of making teams a few too many times so he’s got that sting of motivation and some momentum from a PR to mix with it. As mentioned above, Huling knows how to run well in hot Sacto and knows how to make teams. But, Bor threw down a 8:11.82 at the Rome Diamond League.