First Thoughts: Colorado Women Flex Depth, Basten Wins Over Zahafi, McCabe's Statement Steeple

Another Sunday, another First Thoughts article with plenty of in-depth analysis. This article may be a touch shorter than normal, but that's because we already posted a highly detailed First Thoughts article on Saturday highlighting the results from Payton Jordan.

So with that, let's get into it...

There is admittedly not a whole lot to say here with Katy-Ann McDonald. The LSU superstar has proven to us on multiple occasions that she's one of the best middle distance runners in the country this spring. Another fast time and another big win only validate that suspicion.

However, the real story stems from the woman who finished behind her.

After running away from the women's 800 meter field at the 2021 indoor national meet, our perception of Baylor's Aaliyah Miller changed dramatically. She was someone whose raw fitness could simply out strengthen most women in certain fields, especially when her competition wasn't expecting her to take control of the race.

With a 2:00 personal best, we figured Miller would be a title contender last spring as well as this past winter -- neither of which happened. Instead, Miller has struggled a bit, failing to make it out of the prelims at last year's outdoor national meet and running 2:05 only once this past winter in her only attempt at the 800 meters.

Miller's perplexing streak of performances didn't offer any more clarity at the beginning of this spring season after she ran 2:06 and 2:05 for the half-mile distance.

However, Miller was finally able to rebound in a major way, running 2:03 this past weekend to inch her way back into the national qualifying conversation.

Miller is one of the most dominant middle distance runners in the country when she's at her best...but that's precisely the problem. She hasn't been at her best, at least not lately.

However, this 2:03 performance follows a trend of improvement that you can see in her recent 800 meter performances this spring. If she's able to capitalize on this momentum, then she may be able to peak in the postseason.

And if that happens, then she may be the last woman I would want to face come June.

Much like McDonald and Miller's 800 meter performances mentioned in the above section, this portion of our analysis is more relevant to the woman who finished runner-up. Not the winner.

Barrett's 2:02 victory this past weekend was excellent and at The Stride Report, we will happily take fast times and consistency when it comes to evaluating the best women in the country. Barrett's drop down in distance to the half-mile this year has benefitted her in ways that I didn't at all expect, but it was clearly the right decision despite her mile background.

As for Gabrielle Wilkinson, this Florida ace has to feel encouraged after running 2:03 this past weekend. The Gator veteran, who is also known for her ability to effectively move up in distance and run the 1500 meters, owns a blazing fast personal best of 2:01 for 800 meters.

She ran that time at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last year en route to a huge 3rd place finish, almost as if she was making a statement to the rest of the NCAA.

However, much like Miller, 2022 hasn't been as kind to Wilkinson as 2021 was.

This past winter, she ran 2:05, 2:04 and 2:09, three marks that ultimately weren't strong enough to qualify the defending outdoor bronze medalist for the indoor national meet. She also ran 2:04 back in April during her season debut.

Wilkinson hasn't necessarily been bad when it's come to the 800 meters this year. A pair of 2:04 marks is encouraging and that kind of time still makes her fairly competitive. Still, that time obviously doesn't hold the same firepower that her 2:01 personal best does.

But running 2:03 is a little bit different. Right now, Wilkinson sits at NCAA #15 in the event (amongst D1 competition) and given her background, she's back in the mix of potentially qualifying for the national meet. She has now run her fastest mark since last year as she prepares for the postseason.

Much like Miller, the timing of this 2:03 result works out perfectly for Wilkinson.

I admittedly don't have a lot to say here. I don't think anyone is surprised that Brandon Miller, who has run 1:44 for 800 meters, was able to go out and run 1:46 this past weekend. He's the best of the best and seeing him convincingly defeat this field is hardly surprising.

That said, I liked this plan of attack for Miller and his coaching staff. His performance at the Tom Jones Memorial meet was a bit brutal for someone like him despite posting a time of 1:47. For the Texas A&M coaching staff to have him go out and solo a 1:46 to convincingly earn a win was a good way for him to get his confidence and momentum back.

Did this result tell us anything new? No, I don't think so, but this was a good way to hit the reset button before this really ramping up later this month.

During the craziness of Payton Jordan, the Penn Relays and the Drake Relays, the Colorado women quietly went to work, posting outstanding 1500 meter times in a similar way that they did during the 2022 indoor track season.

The trio of Madison Boreman, Abby Nichols and Rachel McArthur went 1-2-5 at Fresno State this past weekend, running 4:14, 4:14 and 4:16, respectively.

It's hard to look at those results and not think about the success that the Buffaloes had in the mile this past winter. Remember, at the PAC-12 Invite, the Buffaloes had a trio of women go 4:33, 4:34 and 4:35 with Micaela DeGenero replacing Nichols in the spring-time version of that group.

Colorado showed us during the winter months that they know how to peak in the postseason. DeGenero, McArthur and Boreman all emerged as All-Americans in the mile back in March with DeGenero winning the title.

Now, with less than a month until the regional meets begin, Colorado has begun their "remember us?" campaign. A pair of 4:14 marks is awfully impressive and given her indoor track success, we know that McArthur is probably capable of running in that 4:14 range.

As for Washington's Anna Gibson, I really like the consistency that she is building this spring. She was 3rd in this race with a time of 4:14, the third time this season that she has run 4:15 or faster on the outdoor oval this year. She has also run 2:04 for 800 meters this spring.

Of course, Gibson was plenty consistent during the winter, running 4:37 or faster in the mile three different times before falling out of All-American range at the indoor national meet.

It's admittedly hard to know if her consistency this spring will produce a different result, but at the very least, she's no longer new to this nationally competitive tier of women. With the 2022 indoor track season now behind her, Gibson at least has some familiarity with the women who she'll be racing against in the postseason.

Not only that, but it's not like Gibson has been soloing most of her races. She's had to battle Katelyn Tuohy, Mia Barnett and Ellie Leather at the Raleigh Relays, Elise Thorner, Lauren Ellsworth and Katy-Ann McDonald at Bryan Clay and now a contingent of Colorado stars, teammate Madison Heisterman and New Mexico's Abbe Goldstein at Fresno State.

Few women in the NCAA are as prepared to battle elite competition as Gibson is.

As for Goldstein, seeing her run 4:15 was very solid and encouraging, but it's hardly surprising to see her run this time given that it's the third-straight time that she's 4:15 for 1500 meters this spring.

That's tremendous consistency, especially when you consider that only 0.09 seconds separate Goldstein's three 1500 meter efforts this spring.

This, however, prompts a new set of questions.

Has Goldstein plateaued at 4:15? Or is this just a sign that she's due for a big breakout performance? I typically lean towards the latter.

Regardless, consistency can't hurt and generally speaking, that actually helps someone when it comes to make it out of the regional rounds and into the national meet.

Much like Brandon Miller, I don't really have a ton to say here. We've seen Basten run 3:39 for 1500 meters multiple times before, so seeing him run 3:39 on his home track is hardly surprising, especially after the promising indoor campaign that he had.

Still, consistency, as I have mentioned many times before, is very important and on paper, Basten has become one of the more consistent milers in the country. He hasn't had a poor race in quite some time and when you look at some of the names that he's defeated, it's getting harder and harder to dislike anything about this Drake star.

For instance, Basten just took down Texas Tech's Moad Zahafi this past weekend. Zahafi's time of 3:39 is very strong, although given his reputation as a strength-based middle distance runner who has run 1:43 for 800 meters, it's hard to be surprised his result.

Zahafi's result is super impressive for someone who was moving up in distance, but it doesn't tell us anything new. We already knew that he was a strength-based half-mile specialist and while this result is strong, there is ZERO chance that he runs the 1500 meters in the postseason.

In a field that featured top-tier standout names like Nicole Fegans, Dominique Clairmonte and Joyce Kimeli, it was Tennessee's Sydney Seymour who came out on top at the Penn Relays, winning in a time of 15:36.

This is one of those times where I get to pat myself on the back.

Despite the firepower and the experience that Seymour was facing, I felt confident that her recent momentum was better than anyone else's momentum. Seymour had been running top 5k times since the indoor track season and this field, on paper, featured the perfect level of talent -- not too fast, not too slow.

I estimated Seymour would win in a time of 15:39 and while she did run 15:36, I have to think that I did a pretty job calling this one.

Nonetheless, this is a monumental result for Seymour. The Volunteer star is on the transfer portal as a graduate student, meaning that her value amongst collegiate XC programs should be skyrocketing after her last few races.

The fact that a rapidly rising distance ace with sub-15:40 prowess is available likely means that certain programs will throw some heavy scholarship money at this Tennessee Vol.

For a while, I've been saying that NC State should make an effort to pursue Seymour. I admittedly have zero idea if that's an actual/possible destination for Seymour, but that pairing would make a lot of sense for both sides.

Landing Seymour would allow the Wolfpack to maintain some of the veteran firepower that they are losing in the future while extending the national title potential that they have with somewhat younger women like Tuohy, Chmiel and Bush.

As for the rest of this field, there's not a whole lot to say. Fegans had a nice run by posting a time of 15:41, although I don't think anyone is surprised. Her best event is the 10k, but there's a good chance that she'll try the 10k/5k double at the national meet since she'll be fresh for the 10k.

NC State's Dom Clairmonte posted a great time of 15:42 which was nice to see after a wave of DNF results since December. Clairmonte has always been a tricky name to figure out, but we do know that when she's at her best, she's quite challenging to take down.

If I had to guess, she still has a 15:30s mark in her, although much like last year, I imagine that she's prepping for an all-out 10k which may be her best event.

Death, taxes and Campbell's Athanas Kioko running a ridiculously fast time all by himself. That's what happened this past weekend at the North Florida Invite.

With a personal best of 13:13, it's admittedly not too surprising that Kioko ran 13:26 all by himself, especially when you consider that he did the exact same thing at the BIG South Indoor Championships this past winter, running a flat-track converted 13:27.00 all alone.

This is a strong result, but for the most part, I don't have much to analyze. I like that Kioko has been working on his middle distance speed this season after faltering a bit during a tactical 3k at the indoor national meet, but I think the 5k (and maybe the 10k) is more of his marquee event which favors him this spring.

Rice standout Grace Forbes has been one of the NCAA's top up-and-coming distance talents for the last year or two. Her rise during the winter of 2020, when she ran 8:56 for 3000 meters, followed her into 2021 where she became an all-around distance weapon, excelling in the longer distances.

Then, like the Avatar, she vanished, not contesting any races during the 2022 winter season after a respectable cross country campaign. After an unexciting 4:23 mark for 1500 meters during her outdoor debut, I admittedly questioned what kind of impact Forbes would have this spring.

However, at the Penn Relays, she made a major comeback statement, soundly defeating a very underrated talent in Laura Mooney and dropping a sub-33 mark of 32:59.

Forbes is a dynamic and versatile weapon. She can run 4:37 in the mile, but has also run as fast as 32:24 for the 10k distance. In a year where the women's 10k seems somewhat wide-open, Forbes could work her way into the All-American conversation.

But where within that All-American could she finish?

How much did her experience from last year benefit her?

Could this recent performance be the spark she needs to build momentum en route to a title?

Am I asking too many questions?

As for Mooney, this Providence ace is VERY good and a lot better than some people realize. Her progress this season has been encouraging to see and she seems to do well in honest races.

She's not perfect, but I could absolutely see her qualifying for the national meet in the 10k. Mooney clearly gets better the longer distance becomes, something her cross country, 5k and 10k results signal.

Yesterday, I spoke to you about how incredible New Mexico's Elise Thorner was for her 9:32 mark in the steeplechase. At the time, Thorner was ranked at NCAA #9 all-time in the women's steeplechase.

That, however, didn't even last 24 hours.

Instead, West Virginia's Ceili McCabe made her long-awaited season debut and posted a tremendous time of 9:32 in the steeplechase, matching the elite performances that we saw from her during the winter months.

It's no surprise that McCabe is running some of the fastest times that the NCAA has ever seen. During the indoor track season, she ran 8:52 for 3000 meters, a time that also sits at NCAA #9 all-time in the D1 record books.

Given her cross country results, a jump up in fitness this year was hardly surprising.

It's also unsurprising to see McCabe go after the steeplechase this spring. After all, the 2021 outdoor track season is arguably when her breakout into the elite tier began, posting a surprisingly great time 9:39 in the steeple prelims of the national meet before running 9:37 in the finals en route to a 6th place All-American finish.

When you pair her steeplechase success from last spring with her ongoing progression, it's understandable as to why this West Virginia star has run as fast as she has.

Of course, with every great performance, there has to be a few questions. That's just how my mind operates.

If McCabe was able to do this in her season opener, how fast can she run a month from now? If McCabe's best performances come in the postseason (as we saw last spring), then could her postseason peak be enough to challenge (and possibly defeat) Courtney Wayment?

Don't get me wrong, Wayment is still the undeniable favorite in this event. If you asked me to make my national meet predictions today, I would still say Wayment for gold.

Even so, with one month to go until the regional meets, the momentum and improvements that we could see from McCabe could put her in the same tier as Wayment by June.

And in an event as variable as the steeplechase, that's a scary thing to think about.

As someone who grew up just outside of Philadelphia and who attended the Penn Relays for a handful of years, I can definitively say that there are very few track and field meets that match the atmosphere at Franklin Field.

It's just different. It just means more.

And yes, the other collegiate distance relays like the 4x800 or the distance medley relay are exciting and important. However, the 4x1500 meter relay and the 4xMile relay are always the marquee events of this meet.

And it's not just the bragging rights that are on the line in these races. It's pride.

That's what we saw in the women's 4x1500 meter battle as NC State and Arkansas battled it out in what was one of the most intense showdowns between collegiate powerhouses in recent memory.

On paper, Arkansas seemed like the better team. That's mainly because most of their women were predominately milers. Yes, a good portion of NC State's lineup featured mile-centric runners, but the Wolfpack's best runners can often be found in the longer distances.

Through each leg, things felt fairly even. However, a few back-and-forth lead changes during the middle legs of this race ultimately gave NC State a gap that they needed to make up.

Tuohy had to chase down a historically dominant miler in Krissy Gear to win it all.

In the end, the amount of distance that Tuohy had to make up left Gear with an opportunity to close out the race on the final lap. And while Tuohy fought admirably, it was the first legs of Arkansas' relay who gave their anchor too much room to work with.

Oh, and both teams shattered the national record of 17:08 from the 2009 Tennessee women.

In the end, Arkansas ran 16:53 while NC State ran 16:55, meaning that each relay averaged roughly 4:13 through all four legs. For Arkansas, Isabel Van Camp split 4:15, Logan Jolly split 4:13, Lauren Gregory split 4:12 and Krissy Gear split 4:12.

For NC State, Anna Vess split 4:17, Samantha Bush split 4:10, Savannah Shaw split 4:17 and Katelyn Tuohy split 4:09.

I think this race went as well as it could have. Two historical powerhouses battled it out with a fully-stacked lineup on one of the biggest stages of the spring season. A young phenom anchored against an established veteran and both teams went well under the old record.

And at the end of the day, you can't tell Arkansas' story without highlighting NC State.

During most years, it's usually the men's 4xMile that attracts most of the attention. I mean, who can forget the 2015 circus when Edward Cheserek was boarderline walking his anchor leg in a bizarre display of tactics before eventually getting out-kicked by Jordy Williamsz?

Maybe it was that historic and unique 2015 battle that has allowed the men's 4xMile to keep its allure amongst a younger generation of distance running fans.

The 2022 version of this relay race was fun, but it admittedly didn't hold the same weight that the women's 4x1500 meter race did. Maybe that's because the hopes of a sub-16 result seemed to gone as soon as the race started.

According to the in-race splits, only one runner (Kyle Mau) split under 4:00 in this race (3:59).

There were 62 men who recorded a split.

However, the ending of this race was arguably just as crazy as it was in 2015.

With roughly nine anchor legs still in the mix with 200 meters to go, the barrage of kicks began to clash with the number of bodies inside those first few lanes.

As a result, this prompted Providence to make an admittedly bold move to the outside of lane one which forced Wisconsin to lose stride, take an awkward side step and ultimately tumble to the ground, bringing North Carolina down with them.

Amazingly, Penn left that mass of chaos unscathed.

Despite the craziness, it was Texas' Crayton Carrozza (who had his own teammate go down on the second leg) who perfectly positioned himself on the final curve. Carrozza swung wide and overtook the leaders with a beautifully executed last 200 meters.

Is there any NCAA Championship-related insight that I can derive from this race?

No, probably not.

Was it the most entertaining race I've seen so far this season?

Yep, probably.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the Penn Relays is must-watch television.