Girls to Watch: National Distance Preview

Ryen Frazer (NC) won the One Mile Championship at the 2014 New Balance Outdoor Nationals while placing fourth in the Two Mile and ninth in the 5k. She is currently US #1 in the indoor mile with the 4:44.2 that she ran in November - the weekend before Foot Locker Regionals.

1,600/One Mile

New Balance Outdoor Nationals champion Ryen Frazier (Ravenscroft, NC) is already on a tear this indoor season - the senior NC State commit didn't even wait until the end of cross country to blaze the indoor oval. Frazier ran NC #1 All-Time 4:44.2 for a full mile at the JDL November All-Comers Meet (11/22) the weekend before winning Foot Locker South (16:27) and finishing runner-up at Foot Locker Nationals (17:23).

The time still stands as US #1 and cements Frazier as an early favorite for the national title. This is the same runner who went from third (5:03.33) in the Emerging Elite 1 Mile at 2014 New Balance Indoors to champion (4:46.39) at the 2014 NBN Outdoors 1 Mile Championship.

The only runner who returns with a faster indoor time than Frazier's blistering 4:44.2 is Brianna Schwartz (Shaler, PA), who ran 4:42.58 to win the Pennsylvania Indoor State Championship. She is also the #2 returner in the 800m (2:10.77)

Danae Rivers (Wilbur Cross, CT) and Stephanie Jenks (Linn-Marr, IA) return as the NBN Indoors fourth (4:49.62) and fifth (4:49.28) placers. Jenks, a junior, was also 10th in the Outdoor NBN 800m (2:09.18) and is the fourth-fastest returner for 3,200m indoors (10:30.19).

Look out for dark horse junior Madeleine Davison (North Allegheny, PA), who stayed quiet last winter but returns as the third-placer from NBN Outdoors (4:47.07).

800m/1k

Ersula Farrow (2) had a photo finish with Corinne Myers (1) at the 2014 New Balance Indoor Nationals 800m, but came away with runner-up honors in 2:08.92.

Another miler to watch is Catherine Pagano (Northern Highlands, NJ), current US 1k leader at 2:52.19 (North Shore Invitational, 12/26). The Stanford commit is the #3 returner from NBN Outdoors One Mile behind Frazier and Davison.

Sophie Cantine (Lakeside, WA) is the fastest returner for 1k at 2:47.64, while freshman Gabrielle Wilkinson (Friends' Central, PA) ran 2:51.71 as an eighth-grader last season.

Ersula Farrow (Oak Park, MI) owns the nation's fastest half mile returning time of 2:08.92, clocked en route to runner-up honors at NBN Indoors. She placed fifth Outdoors (2:07.22). The versatile Hannah Parker (Coe Brown, NH) placed third in the NBN Outdoors 800m (2:06.85), though she has never raced during the indoor track post-season.

The only other returning All-American from the indoor circuit is Jazmine Fray (Kellenberg Memorial, NY), eighth last March in 2:11.68. She was 12th outdoors. Her best time is a 2:09.07 from 2013 and she is the third-fastest returner.

3,200/Two Mile

Audrey Belf finished runner-up in 10:10.9 in the Two Mile Run at the 2014 New Balance Indoor Nationals.

For the longer distance specialists, Audrey Belf (Birmingham, MI), Hannah Debalsi (Staples, CT), Makena Morley (Bigfork, UT) and Annie Heffernan (St. Ursula, OH) return at the top of the leaderboard.

Belf's 10:10.9 runner-up finish at NBN Indoors is the nation's fastest returning two mile time. The Michigan State XC Champion was one of just a few elite girls to attempt the cross country double as she finished her season seventh at Foot Locker and 14th at NXN.

Debalsi has the nation's fastest returning time for indoor 3,200m (10:19.26) and is defending NBN Outdoors Two Mile champion, where she destroyed the field in 10:09.08. She was fourth (10:17.36) at indoor nationals. She finished fifth (17:47) at FL Nationals this season.

Senior Morley placed fourth at NBN Indoors (10:21.85) and runner-up at NBN Outdoors (10:22.17). She was third at Foot Locker Nationals in one of the event's most competitive fields ever.

Heffernan (St. Ursula, OH) finished third at NBN Indoors (10:12.02) and also has the US #4 10:31.39 3,200m returning time.

Now fully recovered from injury, two-time Foot Locker Nationals champion Anna Rohrer (Mishawaka, IN) does not have a ton of post-season track experience, but can never be counted out of the battle. Her sole appearance at a New Balance Nationals event was to win the 5k (16:16.97) this past June.