Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Jan 19, 20236 min
Do you have an interest in writing for The Stride Report? We're looking for D1 women's writers, high school writers and potentially NAIA writers. Want to know more? Read this and send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com to let us know!
Penn State isn't your typical college or university.
It is distinctly different from anywhere else in the country.
The campus and surrounding town is so large that you almost wonder if the university should be considered a third major city within the state.
Their fan base? Cult-like. Obsessive. Engrossed. Passionate doesn't even begin to describe the attitude of alum, current students and soon-to-be Nittany Lions.
And every. single. one. of those fans are completely unapologetic for all of it.
But in the track and field world, Penn State has a different reputation.
The Nittany Lions have had past success in the sprints, jumps and occasionally the longer distances. Truthfully, the word "success" probably doesn't do this program justice. However, the men (and women) from State College have also gone by the moniker of "800U", a self-designated title to reflect Penn State's historical dominance in the half-mile event.
And when you look at the past 10 to 15 years of middle distance talents to come out of this program, it's understandable how the Nittany Lions established this nickname.
Between Casimir Loxsom, Owen Dawson, Robert Rhodes, Ryan Foster, Robby Creese, Brannon Kidder, Isaiah Harris, Billy McDevitt and Domenic Perretta, there was a stretch of time where this team was unmatched over 800 meters.
Of course, all of those half-mile stars are now gone.
Since then, certain middle distance programs have begun to lay claim to the title of "800U". Texas A&M has made it clear that they think they deserve that honor (and maybe rightfully so) while other schools such as Iowa State, Ole Miss and maybe Virginia Tech have good arguments of their own.
But over the last year, Coach John Gondak has positioned his middle distance group for long-term success. He has brought in international talents who have shown instant promise and a group of recruits from the Class of 2022 that is littered with sub-1:54 guys.
Yet, none of that may be more impactful than what Penn State announced earlier this week: Ohio native Kaleb Nastari is going to be a Nittany Lion.
Currently listed at TSR #13 in our Top-50 Recruit Rankings (of middle and long distance talents), Nastari is a unique prospect who oozes superstar potential.
Last spring, as a high school junior, Nastari ran a monumental time of 1:49 for 800 meters. Only Newbury Park's Aaron Sahlman ran faster than Nastari within the Class of 2023. The United High School product was listed at US #10 at the prep level for the half-mile last spring.
Running 1:49 over 800 meters as a high school junior is crazy impressive.
For any track and field fan, that statement is hardly a hot take.
But last spring, the boy's 800 meters was the deepest that it's ever been at the high school level since 2012, at least in terms of sub-1:50 talents. So what is it about Nastari that makes him stand out in comparison to his fellow half-mile rivals around the country?
Well, what if I told you that he might only be scratching the surface of his true ability?
Here's a fun fact: According to MileSplit, Nastari has only ever run in two seasons of competition on the track. No, not two years, two seasons. He raced during the 2021 outdoor track season and then competed during the 2022 outdoor track season.
The Ohio-based star has never toed the line for an indoor track meet (at the time of publication) and has only had two seasons of competition under his belt. At this point, many of the nation's best middle and long distance seniors have four to six seasons on their resumes.
And while some may be concerned about that lack of racing and limited experience, I can't help but look at that as a massive positive.
As Nastari continues to race on the oval, he should become more comfortable with his tactical awareness, pacing, surges and competition. And with the ability to gain confidence by simply building experience -- while also maturing into a collegiate athlete -- the sky is seemingly the limit for this middle distance ace.
Don't believe me? Let's look at his resume.
During the 2021 outdoor track season, Nastari contested the 800 meters seven times. In chronological order, he ran 2:08 then 2:07 then 2:10 then 2:07 then 2:00 then 2:00 then 1:58. For a high school sophomore in his first season of competition on the track, that kind of progression was wildly encouraging.
But a 1:58 mark wasn't going to excite anyone at the collegiate level. If Nastari was going to get attention from top Division One coaches, he was going to have to replicate that trend of development while also running dramatically faster.
So he did.
Last spring, Nastari ran 2:01 then 1:55 then 1:55 then 1:52 then 2:02 then 2:09 then 1:51 then 1:51 then 1:49 then 1:53. And for the record, each of those marks that were run over two minutes resulted in (mostly) comfortable wins.
Yes, it's true, at the 2022 New Balance Outdoor National Championships (where Nastari ran 1:53), the Penn State commit faded to 11th place overall. But in a way, that performance almost further validates the idea that Nastari still has a tremendous amount of room for growth.
That New Balance national meet was Nastari's first time racing past the Ohio State Championships. And when you look at the rest of his 2022 outdoor track season, the only other time that Nastari lost was when he faced current Virginia Tech freshman and 1:48 runner, Nick Plant.
Simply put, Nastari has very rarely been challenged at the peak of his fitness. He even won his Ohio state title in the 800 meters by nearly four seconds via his 1:49 personal best.
So it seems fair to ask...what can he do when he's training alongside an up-and-coming group of Nittany Lions? What will be his ceiling when competing against some of the best talents in the NCAA? Did Coach Gondak just find his next half-mile megastar?
Nastari has "superstar" written all over him, but his future/potential impact on the Nittany Lions extends beyond what he can bring to this team, individually. When you add him to a still-young middle distance group, there's a chance that the Penn State men could (eventually) regain their title of "800U".
Canadian Oliver Desmeules, who has run 1:48 (800) and 2:21 (1k), still has another year of eligibility in 2024. He has looked like the strongest half-mile talent for Penn State over the last year or so.
Japanese middle distance talent Yukichi Ishii ran 1:48 (800) last summer, but his recent 2:21 (1k) mark suggests that he may be able to go faster than that. He's still a freshman by eligibility this winter.
Despite some inconsistencies, Darius Smallwood ran 1:48 for 800 meters to win the Bison Outdoor Classic last spring. Oh, and he was a true freshman last year.
Handal Roban, who ran for Jamaican College before transferring to Penn State, has run 1:47 for 800 meters. He's a freshman by eligibility this winter and just appeared in his first NCAA track race earlier this month.
Evan Dorenkamp is more of a miler, but we should remind you that he has run 1:49 (800) multiple times (five to be exact) and qualified for the 2021 outdoor national meet in the event. He'll likely have two extra years of outdoor track eligibility after this year assuming that he gained a redshirt waiver after sustaining a stress reaction in his femur last year.
Also, how about Penn State's latest crop of recruits from the Class of 2022? According to our research, Jack Martin, Joseph Raudabaugh, Carter Fitzgerald and Luke Seymour have all run 1:53 or faster for 800 meters at the prep level.
Seymour has run 1:51 and Fitzgerald has run 1:50.
I just listed five men on this Penn State roster who have run under 1:50 for 800 meters. Of those five, four of them have run under 1:49. That's not just good depth, that's great depth. But what makes this current group so valuable is that all of them have numerous years of eligibility left. In fact, many of them are still considered to be freshmen or sophomores!
The future of Penn State middle distance running looks like it could undergo a revival of sorts. They have the depth, they have the time and they have the reinforcements. All they need now is a bona-fide half-mile superstar who can be the same kind of runner that Cas Loxom, Brannon Kidder or Isaiah Harris once were for the Nittany Lions.
And if Kaleb Nastari can be that talent for the men of State College, then Penn State's affectionate nickname of "Happy Valley" will make that much more sense.