First Thoughts: Hendrick's Solo Effort, Electric 1500s at Joe Walker & Steelman's Steeple Dominance

Welp, another weekend of distance running action is now in the books. We already covered numerous top-tier results in our last article, but there were still plenty of performances to analyze from Saturday.

I hesitate to say that this is a breakout performance for Sarah Hendrick, mainly because her breakout season took place on the indoor oval where she consistently posted top times, including a mark of 2:03.73. That performance qualified her for the NCAA Indoor Championships where she earned All-American honors with an 8th place finish.

Anyone familiar with the upper-echelon of the women's 800 meters knows that this rising Kennesaw State star is one of the better middle distance talents in the country. However, Hendrick just ran a monumental time of 2:01.47, completely dominating her competition with a solo effort and earning a Olympic Trials Qualifying mark in the process.

Jumping from 2:03 to 2:01 is quite the accomplishment and it certainly solidifies Hendrick as a top-tier name. However, when it comes to her place in the NCAA's hierarchy of middle distance talents, she doesn't really improve all that much. Athing Mu has run 1:58, Hurta and Miller have both run 2:00 and Barton, Maloney and Butler have all run 2:01.

Even so, at the very least, Hendrick has forced us to reevaluate what kind of damage she can do on the national stage. She's clearly trending upwards and her most recent performance suggests that she can be better than 8th at the NCAA Championships come June.

While Hendrick may not be a title favorite at the moment (depending on who you ask), we should still view her as a title contender. If Mu and Hurta choose to avoid the 800 meters yet again in the postseason (like they did during indoors), then the idea that Hendrick can win NCAA gold becomes realistic and not just a pipe dream.

The main race to watch this weekend was going to be the men's 1500 meters at the Joe Walker Invitational. Despite some strong entries at a variety of other meets, no field was as loaded with elite-level talents as the men's 1500 meters at the Joe Walker Invitational.

Between names like Waleed Suliman, Casey Comber, Mario Garcia Romo, Sean Dolan, Ryan Adams, Robert Brandt, Jack Anstey and a maybe few others, it didn't feel right to say that one name in particular was the overwhelming favorite.

The start of the race featured the rabbits taking out the pace hard, with Suliman essentially right behind them for most of the race. When the pacers stepped off, it was Suliman's race to lose. The Ole Miss star stayed in the front position and never let it go, controlling the race from the front and looking incredibly smooth as a stampede of elite milers charged after him.

When the dust settled and the results were shown on the board, Suliman's time was 3:36.53 while teammate Garcia Romo had run 3:37.17 for the runner-up position. Meanwhile, Villanova's Casey Comber came oh-so-close to earning an OTQ time, finishing 3rd overall with a time of 3:37.76.

As for the rest of the field, we saw Florida State's Kasey Knevelbaard run 3:38.07, Georgetown's Robert Brandt run 3:38.29, Furman's Ryan Adams run 3:38.29, Villanova's Sean Dolan run 3:38.60 and Illinois State's Jack Anstey run 3:39.17.

Phew. What a list.

When we take a look at these results, there is certainly a lot to take away, but a few of these performances meant far more certain names than others.

For Suliman and Garcia Romo, I'm not sure we exactly learned anything new. Suliman's time of 3:36.53 is wildly impressive and it suggests that he can at least contend for another top-three finish during this season's national meet. He did, after all, earn a bronze medal at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Even so, we've seen Suliman post jaw-dropping fast times during the regular season before. Yes, this is clearly the best race of his career, but trying to get past Kipsang and Hocker in a championship setting will continue to be the bigger development that we watch. That said, with this kind of performance, we do have to think of Suliman as a legitimate threat to Hocker, even if the Oregon sophomore still has far more to offer this spring.

As for Garcia Romo, it feels safe to say that the 1500 meters will be the event that he pursues this season. The 5k seemed like a potentially strong option for him, but I'm not sure I see a scenario where he runs anything fast enough to make him a bigger contender in that event compared to the 1500 meters. Then again, he might see his newfound 1500 meter speed as an asset in a tactical 5k race...so who knows?

Let's transition to talking about Casey Comber. It's likely hard for him to swallow the fact that he narrowly missed the OTQ mark. That said, this guy looks like he's the best he's ever been. I'll be honest, when he finished runner-up at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships in the mile, I thought it was a fluke.

Of course, as we all went on to see, I couldn't have been more wrong.

Now, Comber has emerged as a true star. Running 3:37 should not be lost in the madness of what Suliman and Garcia Romo did. With an extensive amount of experience and stamina-based strength which could match the likes of Garcia Romo, I have a feeling that this Villanova veteran is going to be a major problem for his opponents in the postseason. He's great at positioning himself in these overwhelmingly strong races and he simply looks more refined than he ever has been.

Kasey Knevelbaard's 3:38 really needs some attention. He's been a top name in the NCAA for quite some time, but hasn't really been the top-tier ace at Florida State that he was at Southern Utah.

That, of course, has now changed. Running 3:38 has to give Knevelbaard a boost of confidence and assurance that he can return to the All-American form that we've seen from him in previous seasons. He's far more dynamic than some people realize and has learned how to navigate the rounds of championship meets incredibly well. Seeing him run well is not a great sign for any other name who was going to be an All-American candidate in the 1500 meters this year.

When Knevelbaard is at his best, he's likely considered to be a favorite to make it to the finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

How about Robert Brandt? This guy has seen nothing but major success since joining the Hoyas. He ran 27:39 for 10,000 meters back in December and prior to that, ran a sub-four minute mile in a time trial.

Brandt dropped down in distance this past weekend, working his magic over the final 120 meters of the race to earn a huge time of 3:38. That is an unreal amount of speed for a guy who is in the conversation to win the 10k national title this year.

Now, admittedly, the men's 10k at the NCAA Outdoor Championships will likely not be tactical. If anything, it's going to be an all-out effort from the gun, so Brandt's newfound 1500 meter speed may not be super relevant to that race. Even so, this is a great display of versatility. To see Brandt drop down in distance like that and still pull off one of the nation's fastest times is highly impressive.

As Ryan Adams and Jack Anstey, I'd like to tell you that their times of 3:38 and 3:39 have created new insights for us to analyze...but truthfully, I don't think they do.

However, just because they finished 7th and 9th in this field doesn't mean that they are out of the All-American conversation. They were both in the mix with that final pack and have shown on numerous occasions that they have lethal finishing speed. Let's not forget that Jack Anstey was an All-American in the 1500 meters during the 2019 outdoor track season.

Finally, we have Sean Dolan, the Villanova youngster who continues to do big things. He was sandwiched between Adams and Anstey for an 8th place finish in a time of 3:38. Despite his youth, he's been able to continuously hold his own in these overwhelmingly powerful fields on numerous occasions.

Yes, running 3:38 is super impressive, but doing that on such a consistent basis in such a short time span despite his very limited experience is probably the strongest facet of his recent performances.

The return of the outdoor track season means the return of the steeplechase. This year, one could argue that the national title favorite is Charlotte Prouse, although Adva Cohen is likely in that conversation as well.

However, one more name who could make the jump from being an All-American lock to a true national title favorite is NC State's Hannah Steelman. The transfer from Wofford has had plenty of success on the outdoor oval, earning numerous top times in the 5k and steeplechase -- two events that she earned All-American honors in during the spring of 2019.

Fast forward to this season and the Wolfpack star just ran a huge time of 9:46.35 in the steeplechase. The catch? It wasn't even her personal best (which is 9:46.08).

Even so, this run was super impressive. This was essentially a solo effort as no other woman in the field came remotely close to Steelman. If the NC State runner is able to run that well all alone, what can she do when she's actually pushed?

Given her success on the indoor oval and on the grass, Steelman looks like she is seamlessly translating her recent success to the outdoor oval. At this point, she needs to be in the title conversation. Prouse owns a personal best of 9:44 which seems to be well within striking distance for Steelman. As for Cohen, her personal best is 9:29 from the summer of 2018, but she hasn't always been the most consistent and has never run faster than 9:44 in a collegiate race.
 

The steeplechase finals come before the 5000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. That would allow Steelman to pursue the same steeplechase/5k double that we saw from her during the 2019 season while still being fresh for what appears to be her primary event (the steeple).

Eliud Kipsang garnered a ton of attention on Friday night when he ran a solo effort of 3:36.00 for 1500 meters. That time now ranks him at NCAA #7 on the all-time outdoor track leaderboard.

Kipsang's 3:36 was super impressive, but his ability to double back the next day and run 1:47 is what really separates him from this rising mass of top-tier 1500 meter runners. I always viewed Kipsang as a miler who leaned towards the longer distances. He did, after all, run 7:58 for 3000 meters this past winter.

However, running a 1:47 has now forced our contributors at TSR to reevaluate how we think about this Alabama distance talent. That is far more speed than we were expecting him to have, especially since he was coming off of a historic 1500 meter performance from the day before.

This recent spike in speed could be incredibly useful during the regional and national preliminary rounds. Those races are often super tactical and a fast finish is almost always a must-have if someone is going to advance to the finals.

It's easy to forget how good Thomas Ratcliffe is given his recent absences from competition. However, the UNC star was able to build a little bit of momentum during the tail-end of the indoor track season, running 3:59 in the mile and splitting 2:53 on the 1200 meter leg of the Tar Heels' DMR.

Luckily, it seems like Ratcliffe has carried that momentum to the outdoor oval, earning a huge win over 3:57 miler (and teammate) Brandon Tubby, as well as Wake Forest ace Zach Facioni, with a time of 3:39 for 1500 meters.

Traditionally a longer distance runner who boats a 5k personal best of 13:32, it's a bit of a surprise to see Ratcliffe running something this quick in the 1500 meters. He has been hovering around the 3:59/4:00 in the mile on a few occasions, but a 3:39 effort is a true breakout performance when we're talking about Ratcliffe's middle distance speed.

Still, given the unbelievable depth that we're seeing in the mile/1500 distance this year, it is very likely that Ratcliffe will aim to run a fast 5k in the future. That event seems to have a few more All-American opportunities compared to the 1500 meters. Ratcliffe's new middle distance speed would come in handy at that distance if a championship 5k turned tactical.

Of course, Ratcliffe didn't just run away with the overall victory. Both Tubby and Facioni also ran a pair of 3:39's with Tubby getting the edge over Facioni. On paper, this isn't much of a surprise. Tubby has evolved into one of the most consistent and underrated milers in the country, finally delivering on his high ceiling that we've seen from him over the past few seasons.

As for Facioni, this wasn't a surprise either. He has made clear improvements in his overall fitness and having this North Carolina duo to chase only aided in his efforts to earn a top time. However, much like Ratcliffe, I have to wonder if the 5000 meters would be his best event this season. This year's 1500 meter field is loaded, especially in the East region.

The Northern Arizona star has returned to action, posting a time of 3:39 for 1500 meters at the Jim Click Shootout, taking down a rising Arizona talent in Victor Ortiz-Rivera and fellow teammates Nur, Young, Easton and Quax.

Grijalva's winter cross country wasn't bad by any means, but he clearly wasn't the title contender that we thought he could be. That was likely due to a rumored injury that the NAU coaching staff was cautiously managing. This performance, however, is much more on par with expectations.

Based on his 13:16 (5k) from December, it seems fair to say that the 5000 meters is still the best option for Grijalva, especially with the 1500 looking far deeper than usual this year. While I do wish we were able to generate more analysis from this result, this is roughly what we expected.