Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Feb 21, 202113 min
With so much craziness happening on the indoor oval last weekend and cross country also being the priority for a few teams, this weekend's top performances were largely centralized to one meet: The Camel City Invitational at JDL Fast Track.
There were a few other respectable results scattered throughout the rest of the nation, but most of the top distance marks could be found on one of the fastest flat-tracks in the world.
So with that, let's dive right into it and recap all of the action...
Finley McLear has been a rising name in the NCAA for a while now. He has been incredibly consistent throughout his college career and recently ran 1:47 the other weekend to put him near the top of the national leaderboard.
Now, he has a very impressive win under his belt after taking down a slew of accomplished 800 meter specialists from District Track Club on a flat-track. McLear's time was "only" a mark of 1:49, and the flat-track conversion still won't topple his 1:47 from the other week, but he beat DTC's Quamel Prince by over a second in what was a relatively convincing victory.
The men's 800 meters at Camel City may not garner a ton of attention, but McLear has continued to bolster his resume with consistency, fast times and now multiple wins over accomplished middle distance talents.
The women's 800 meters had a little more spark (and depth) in comparison to the men's race, especially from a collegiate perspective.
Although Hannah Segrave (New Balance) and Julia Rizk (Under Armour) were the top-two finishers in this race, the contingent of collegiate women who finished behind them gave the NCAA leaderboard even more depth when it came to the women's 800 meters.
Temple's Alanna Lally was the first collegiate across the line in a time of 2:07.33, just barely holding off Villanova veteran McKenna Keegan (2:07.67) and Richmond veteran Brooke Fazio (2:07.70) in the process. Wake Forest sophomore Aleeya Hutchins, a promising underclassman talent, finished with a time of 2:08.85.
When you factor in the flat-track conversions, those times become 2:05.88 (Lally), 2:06.22 (Keegan), 2:06.25 (Fazio) and 2:07.39 (Hutchins). In the slower heat, Duke's Leigha Torino ran a converted 2:07.72 to take home the win.
Temple continues to produce talented individuals. Last year it was Millie Howard. This year it is Alanna Lally. A mark of 2:05.88 is very respectable and it has a chance of potentially qualifying the Temple senior for the national meet.
Not only that, but the women she took down are accomplished individuals whose best races have come at the 800 meter distance. Keegan and Fazio have often posted top times throughout their careers and while they aren't exactly superstar names, they are strong enough runners who should give anyone who beats them a confidence boost.
Villanova's Sean Dolan was a stud in high school, emerging as one of the better middle distance talents in the nation. That's why his decision to join the Wildcats seemed incredibly ideal on paper. After all, Villanova is a historically excellent program when it comes to developing top milers.
Sure enough, the Nova redshirt freshman extended his high school success into the NCAA in his first collegiate mile, running 4:01 on a flat-track and taking down two very strong distance talents in Aaron Wier (Furman) and Athanas Kioko (Campbell).
Dolan's time converted to an eye-catching mark of 3:58.53 which places him at NCAA #18, just two spots out from an automatic qualifying spot. If enough people scratch out of the men's mile, then Dolan has a very good chance of toeing the line in Fayetteville, Arkansas as it is unlikely that he'll play a role in Villanova's varsity cross country lineup (but we could be wrong).
Keep an eye on Dolan as the rest of the season unfolds. Wier and Kioko are no-joke talents and Dolan's youth gives him upside that most of these veterans don't have. He's been in big-time races as a high schooler and isn't a stranger to the collegiate scene given that his dad, Steve Dolan, is the head coach at Penn.
As for Wier, his time of 4:01.92 converts to a mark of 3:58.88, a time that he has been chasing for the past few seasons (even if it's not an official sub-four). Regardless, Wier is a veteran talent who has been underappreciated given the recent success of Ryan Adams and Cameron Ponder. He currently sits at NCAA #20, so it's possible that if no one new runs faster than him for the rest of the season, then the Furman ace could sneak into the national meet with enough scratches from other athletes.
We then come to Kioko who ran 4:02.84 which converted to 3:59.78. That seems about right for the Campbell ace given that he ran 3:58 over the summer. This might have been approached as a speed tuneup for the long distance talent before he pursues a national qualifying mark in the 3k or 5k.
In the elite race, we saw Virginia Tech's Sarah Edward and Furman's Gabrielle Jennings run 4:32 and 4:33, respectively. However, both of those women do not have indoor track eligibility. Either way, those are incredible marks and would have put both women, specifically Edwards, scary close to a sub-4:30 mark.
Edwards and Jennings are accomplished talents and we knew that they were amongst some of the best in the nation based on how they performed during the 2020 indoor track season. However, this pair of mile results was wildly impressive and a clear up-tick in talent has put both of these women in the elite-tier for the upcoming spring track season.
But what about the collegiate women who actually donned their school's singlets? What about them?
The top attached collegiate in this race was Rhode Island's Lotte Black who had initially left us wondering if we were going to see her compete this winter after one unexciting race in December. However, since then, Black has recorded a 4:43 mile victory (while doubling in the DMR) and then came back a little over a week later to run 4:38 on a flat-track at Camel City.
That 4:38 mark gives Black a converted time of 4:35 which now sits at NCAA #7, suddenly changing our understanding of who could be on the podium in March.
Black has been an underrated and dangerous threat in all three seasons of competition. Against collegiates, she has been a tactically savvy racer who also earned a 4th place finish at the 2019 outdoor national meet in the 1500 meters in a field that featured Sinclaire Johnson and Jessica Hull.
Now, armed with a strong national qualifying time, this experienced and proven ace could be in the mix to make some serious noise at the indoor national meet. Black also has strong middle distance times, so her speed can make her a threat in most race scenarios that require a fast finish.
Yes, Black was the main name who we'll be talking about on the national leaderboard, but what about Kaley Richards from UMass Lowell? She just ran 4:38 on a flat-track which also converted to 4:35, giving her the NCAA #8 time.
I won't lie, I didn't know who Richards was prior to seeing this result. Coming into this race, she held personal bests of 2:45 (1k), 4:22 (1500), 4:38 (mile) and 9:24 (3k), all of which came from last winter. Those are strong marks that usually would have put her on our TSR radar, but for whatever reason, we haven't really been able to appreciate her talent until now.
The fact that Richards replicated her already 4:38 mile PR on a flat-track should be very encouraging for the UMass Lowell coaching staff. She has clearly taken a step in the right direction and has kept things incredibly close with Lotte Black in their two races so far this season.
We haven't seen Richards race on the national stage before, but her personal bests reminds us a lot of Lotte Black and the recent results suggests that she isn't that far behind her. Keep an eye on Richards as the rest of this winter season unfolds.
Meanwhile, Elly Henes (NC State) and Ellie Leather (Cincinnati) both ran 4:42. Henes earned a converted mark of 4:39 while Leather current sits at 4:40. This was a respectable result for Leather, but Henes was probably using this as speed work given her prowess in the longer distances.
We should also mention that Savannah Shaw (NC State) has finally been rewarded for underrated consistency in the mile. She ran 4:42 this past weekend (which converts to 4:39) in the slower mile field to finish as the top collegiate.
Just like last year, the men's 3k continues to be one of the deepest events in the nation for Division One. And for D2? Well, let me explain that in a moment.
Let's briefly chat about Villanova's Casey Comber and Butler's Euan Makepeace. They don't have any indoor track eligibility left, but they ran times of 7:52 and 7:55, respectively.
For Comber, this is a super encouraging performance. He was clearly not at 100% last year, but has since rebounded and appears to be even stronger now. Comber's mark roughly converts to 7:47 for 3000 meters, making him a name that we have to reconsider this spring when it comes to the 1500 meters, his historic specialty.
As for Makepeace, he has been a stud at Butler for years now and his most recent mark converts to just under the 7:50 barrier. Given what we know about him, this seems to be a fairly unsurprising mark, although it's certainly on the faster end of his all-time performances.
As for the rest of this field, we got see Ahmed Jaziri (Eastern Kentucky), Cameron Ponder (Furman), Charlie Sweeney (Western Colorado) and Taylor Stack (Western Colorado) all run some pretty incredible times.
Jaziri, the steeplechase star from overseas, ran 7:55 to give him a converted mark of 7:50. Meanwhile, Ponder ran 7:56, also putting him just under the 7:51 mark via conversion. Those two results are certainly on the faster side of Jaziri's and Ponder's resumes, but it's not like these times were ever out of the question for them.
Ponder might be one of the most consistent top-ranked distance runners in the nation this year while Jaziri's steeplechase mark of 8:35 suggested that he could run this fast. Yes, their most recent 3k times were personal bests, but these two are becoming proven talents and the conversions make their recent performances seem like they were out of nowhere.
As for Sweeney and Stack, running converted times of 7:51 and 7:52, respectively, is absolutely insane. There are now nine men in D2 who have marks that currently sit under 8:00 for 3000 meters on the D2 national leaderboard. That is an unbelievable development.
How many men held marks under the 8:00 barrier during the 2020 indoor track season?
Zero.
That's right, zero.
So to suddenly have nine men under that 8:00 barrier one year later? This is easily the deepest and most top-heavy year in recent memory for D2 -- and the 5k may be even more loaded.
The women's 3000 meters wasn't quite as deep as the men's race, but there were still plenty of notable performances. The first came from Hannah Steelman, the NC State star who ran 9:05 this past weekend. After running a personal best of 15:47 (5k) a few weeks ago, Steelman delivered another big-time performance, running a time of 9:05 at Camel City to get a 9:00.70 conversion. That time now puts her at NCAA #7 on the national leaderboard.
It's still unclear what the Wolfpack will do at the national meets in the middle of March when it comes to cross country and indoor track. Steelman and Henes both look primed to run the 5k/3k double at the indoor national meet, but with cross country obligations still on Steelman's plate, would it make any sense for her to race in Fayetteville?
She's certainly talented enough to be an All-American, but the women's cross country team title picture is looking somewhat wide-open this fall, so that will have to be taken into consideration.
And how about Celine Ritter? All of the headlines this winter have been about Lee's Christian Noble, but Ritter has been having the best season of her career, and that includes a recent 9:11 (3k) effort this past weekend.
That mark shatters the preview D2 record by five seconds and also earns a conversion to 9:06. At this point, Ritter has to be considered the 3k national title favorite. Allie Ludge and Lauren Bailey are incredibly talented, but Ritter also has a 4:44 mile personal best from earlier in the year and that still leads the NCAA. On paper, she's the biggest distance weapon in all of D2.
And yes, that mark that incredible did come a bit out of nowhere, but that doesn't mean that Ritter hasn't been impressive.
Others such as Sara Freix (VT unattached), Nicole Feagans (Georgia Tech), Hannah Brookeover (Wake Forest) posted very strong results, but the person who we need to talk about is Katelyn Tuohy.
The young phenom from NC State finally made her long-awaited collegiate debut this past weekend, running 9:19 for 3000 meters and finishing last in the women's elite field. That time converts to 9:14.92 (NCAA #18).
Yes, her personal best from high school is 9:01 and she did finish last in this race, but I would implore everyone to take a deep breath and not look too heavily into this result. This was her first race back in over a year and she was thrown into an elite field on a flat-track. Not only that, but 9:19 is not a bad time by any means.
Is she capable of doing more? Yes, but let's not act like this was an awful performance. Let's let her shake off the rust and prepare herself for March, as well as the outdoor track season.
The Cincinnati duo of Aaron Bienenfeld and Alec Sandusky look like they could be a problem for their fellow competitors at the indoor national meet later this year. On a flat-track, Bienenfeld finished with a time of 13:41 while Sandusky, who has been having a breakout season, wasn't far behind in 13:43.
Those times converted to 13:33 and 13:34, meaning that this duo now sits at NCAA #4 and NCAA #5 on the national leaderboard in the men's 5000 meters.
After running 7:50 and 7:53 for 3000 meters the other week, it's time to start taking this Bearcat duo seriously. Bienenfeld has proven that he equally as fast as this before in different events on the outdoor track, but for Sandusky, this is new territory for him. We'll be interested to see how he handles the national stage.
Either way, both of these men should be in the All-American conversation. In fact, I think it's very likely that both of them will leave Fayetteville as All-Americans given their 5k/3k doubling opportunity.
Abby Wheeler has been a top name for Providence for years now. She has posted incredible times, has made it to numerous national meets and has often been competitive with some of the better names in the NCAA.
That's why it should have come as no surprise that Wheeler ran 15:57 on a flat-track this past weekend and took down a highly accomplished name in Kelsey Chmiel (who ran 15:58) in the process. Wheeler has proven that she can be successful in pretty much any kind of race scenario and we don't give her enough credit for how consistent she is.
With a converted time of 15:50, it feels safe to say that Wheeler is in the All-American conversation...but is she an All-American favorite? The women's 5k could see a few women scratch out of it, but it's also very realistic that most women listed at the top of the national leaderboard will toe the line for the indoor national meet.
Either way, this was a nice result for Wheeler.
And how about Chmiel? After a rough 2020 cross country season where she didn't seem to be at her best, the NC State sophomore bounced back and just ran 15:58 for 5000 meters on a flat-track. That was a new personal best and it converts to 15:50.
If I'm the Wolfpack, I'm incredibly excited about Chmiel's bounce back performance. She didn't look great this past fall, but if she is able to translate that race to the grass in March, then she will surely keep NC State in the national title conversation. Her being an All-American will be pivotal given the mix of firepower and depth that we've seen from other top contenders.
The RedHawks from Miami, Ohio have been on the rise for the past few seasons and they have made a few efforts to put together a nationally competitive DMR. This year, it looks like they finally found the perfect relay lineup combination.
The relay of McLear-Finnegan-Schroff-Torpy toed the line at Camel City and made a statement, running a flat-track converted 9:29 which puts them at NCAA #3. That should comfortably qualify them for the national meet.
It's hard to say how that group will fare at the national meet. McLear and Torpy are proven top talents who could at least stay competitive enough to get on the podium, but the national stage will be a different animal, even with certain teams like Notre Dame probably not racing on the indoor oval this year.
As for the Virginia Tech, I'd like to say that this was a super exciting and shocking performance, but a converted 11:04 from the Hokies seems about right for them. They are a middle distance powerhouse and have all of the right pieces to be dangerous in this event. They currently sit at NCAA #6.
Montana State has been known for developing a plethora of top-tier individuals over the past few years. From Pat Casey to Cristian Soratos to Diego Leon, the Bobcats have consistently produce upper-echelon talents in the mile and that seems to be no different this year with the rise of Duncan Hamilton.
Hamilton has been a name on our radar for a while now. He had modest success last year and ran a handful of fast times at altitude which helped him jump onto our radar. However, this season, he has been primed for something special.
Hamilton ran a converted 4:00 mile a few weeks ago and later came back this past weekend with a monster NCAA #9 mile time of 3:57 (converted) to almost surely secure himself a spot to the NCAA Championships.
Admittedly, it's still tough to get an idea of just how good Hamilton is. Most of his times have come at altitude and his other personal bests don't really stand out in any major way.
We're not sure how Hamilton will fare against national-caliber competition when he gets to Fayetteville, but people also had concerns about Cristian Soratos when he was running fast at altitude a few years ago and he ended up finishing 2nd at the indoor national meet.
Grace Forbes continues to prove that her breakout 8:56 (3k) performance from last year was no fluke. After soloing a 15:50 (5k) the other weekend, she came into the CUSA Indoor Championships and threw down a super impressive double.
The Rice University star earned a meet record in the mile with a dominant 4:37 personal best and earned a second gold medal in the 3000 meters with a time of 9:18. That's a very strong double and it shows off some versatility that we didn't know that Forbes initially had.
As for Nickolas Scudder, the Charlotte ace also took home two gold medals in the 3000 meters and 5000 meters, but his 5k time was the real story. He took down a field featuring top-ranked teammate Paul Arrendondo with a time of 13:47, shattering the meet record by 20 seconds.
We knew Scudder was a name on the rise, but we didn't expect his cross country success to translate to the indoor oval as well as it has. Keep an eye on him as he continues to build momentum into the postseason (if Charlotte gets a bid to the national meet) and into the spring season as well.