You mean there were other meets besides Drake, Penn and SAC?

The Beach Invitational in glamorous Cerritos-Norwalk, Calif., was one of those.

Held to apparently coincide with Mt. SAC weekend, the meet produced the sixth-fastest women's 800 EVER by (who else?) Jessica Pixler, who dipped under 2:05. The meet also featured sub-3:50 runs for Ben Zywicki (Colorado Mines) and Tyler Emmorey (Grand Valley State) and a pair of sub-9:05 steeples.

And last weekend, the Gina Relays in Hillsdale, Mich., produced auto marks for Jeff Nordquist (steeple) and Monica Kinney (1,500), both of Grand Valley State.

And Houston's Rice J. Fred Duckett Twilight produced the eighth-fastest men's 1,500 for Jared McNeil (Tarleton State). McNeil was second, beating a bunch of D1ers. He should look forward to a berth in Charlotte.

Penn & Drake: Shippenburg's Dell, Augustana's Karbo continue fast steeple trend

Like Mt. SAC, times appeared tame at Penn and Drake relays. But the marks belie the races that took place. Highlights in Philadelphia (from a D2 perspective):

• Neely Spence (Shippensburg) easily bested would-be 5,000 challenger Megan Nedlo (Queens) in the women's 5,000, recording a 16:13. Brenae Edwards (Mansfield) also nipped Nedlo.
• Mary Dell (Shippensburg) nearly nabbed D2's best steeple time. Her 10:26 at Penn was the third such D2 time in that event. (Is it me or are D2ers running great in the steeple?)
• While Reuben Sanca (Mass.-Lowell), Amos Sang (Abilene Christian) and Futsum Mebrahtu (Queens) appeared on the start list but not the starting line, Glarius Rop (American Int'l) recorded a solid 10,000, finishing second and just under the auto standard. Nick Hilton (Lock Haven) also dipped under 30 minutes, but Cleophas Tanui (Abilene Christian) did not.

Meanwhile, in Des Moines:

• Anja Puc (Nebraska-Omaha) may give Jessica Pixler (Seattle Pacific) a run for the 800 title, after running a 2:07, second best in D2.
• Add Tom Karbo (Augustana) to your list of steeple podium-hopefuls, after his 8:54.
• Dani Dell'Orco (Truman State) and Morgan Place (Minn.-Duluth) ran under or close to 16:50.
• Place and Minn.-Duluth were second in the college women's DMR, with Augustana right behind. Augustana won the college 4x8.
• Mankato State's men didn't have a good 4x800, as NAIA schools dominated. (And how about that 7:17 in the university race? Wow.) Augustana beat Mankato in the college DMR, as both teams ran under 9. Pittsburg State was best of the smaller schools in the 4x1600 at 13th.

What to watch for at Penn, Drake

The best D2 distance action this weekend will be at Drake Relays. But why do they start the 10,000 at 2 p.m.? But I digress.

Drake features college 4x8, DMR and 4x1600 relays. Here's what to keep an eye on:

• Men's 4x8: Mankato State, likely anchored by indoor 800 champ Denise Mokaya, will have its hands full with NAIA indoor relay champ Oklahoma Baptist and runner-up Dakota State.
• Men's 4x1600: Pittsburg State will take on the big boys.
• DMR: Pittsburg State and Mankato State will represent in the college race against NAIA's Dakota State and Oklahoma Christian.
• Women's 5,000: Dani Dell'Orco (Truman State), who won a 10,000 on the Drake track recently, will race the 5,000, which includes Morgan Place (Minn.-Duluth).
• Women's steeplechase: Molly Clark (Augustana, S.D.) leads a few D2ers.
• 4x8, DMR: Augustana (SD) and Minn.-Duluth lead D2 in these events.

Don't look for any D2 distance relay teams at Penn Relays.

The best D2 race could be the women's 5,000, where Megan Nedlo (Queens, N.C.) runs against indoor 5,000 champ Neely Spence (Shippensburg). In the 10,000, Reuben Sanca (fresh off a near-sub 14 at Mt. SAC) of Mass.-Lowell, Futsum Mebrahtu (Queens, N.C.), Cleophas Tanui (Abilene Christian) and Glarius Rop (American International) will race. And Amos Sang is again signed up for the 5,000, although he ran a D2-best effort last week at Mt. SAC. Michael Crouch (Queens) isn't on a start list for Penn.

Due to travel (to Nashville), my post-relays analysis will be delayed a day or two. Get results here and here.

The big ones: SAC, Drake, Penn, Cardinal...and ?

Aside from nationals in Charlotte, I've got four meets that I'm especially interested in:

Mt. SAC Relays (April 15-17)

Penn and Drake relays (April 22-24)

Stanford Cardinal Invite (May 1).

For now, I'm concentrating on these four, but I'd like to hear about other "biggies" where D2ers will shine -- and run fast.

Race of the week: Penn Relays steeplechase

As alluded to below, most D2 distance squads appear to be looking for individual efforts at the country's two pre-eminent track and field relays. (This could change with late entries, maybe?)

At Drake (find the start list here), Harding has James Cheriuyot and D. Dirawa signed up for the 10,000, while Philip Biwott is entered in the 5,000. (Harding didn't get much out of Mt. SAC, as Julius Kosegei was a 5,000m DNF and Artek Kern was a DNS.) 

In Philly, indoor 5,000m champ Micheal Crouch of Queens (N.C.) is entered in the both long races. He can't do both, though, as those start just hours apart. Also watch for Edinboro's Ben Hahn in the 5k.

With the focus on fast relay squads, Drake and Penn don't typically produce fast long-distance races. But the race of the weekend -- from a D2 distance perspective, natch -- is the Penn Relays steeplechase.

Scheduled to go off at 7:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, the event should be a small college showdown between Daniel Maina of Abilene Christian ('08 D2 champ and last year's Penn winner in 8:40), Adams State's Reuben Chbon-Mwei ('08 D2 runner-up) and D3 stud Peter Kosgei of Hamilton (here's his own Web page).

On paper, Maina looks like the guy to beat...

4.23 update: Kern (Harding) will run the 10k at Drake

Relays?

The 100th Drake Relays (check out a cool history here) and the "Penn Relay Carnival" get underway this week. 

Mankato State will field 4 x 1600m and 4x 800m squads at Drake, but for D2 distance runners, it's more about individual efforts, according to the start lists I've seen.

Looking at the latest D2 performance list (which, incidentally, has some big omissions, like some sub-14 minute performances by Adams State), it's too bad Alaska-Anchorage couldn't get a 4x800m squad out to Philly. Looks like they have three sub 1:52 performers, with a 3:50 performer (Alfred Kangogo) as a possible fourth leg? That's a long flight, though.

Next: Penn, Drake

Contrary to what you may have read here yesterday (egg on thy face!), Penn and Drake relays are on tap this week. We'll see who shows up where...