First Thoughts: Marshall Defeats Hassan, Perrin's Converted 5k & Cha'iel Johnson Makes NCAA Debut

Did you know that there were OTHER indoor track meets that happened this month other than the Boston U. Season Opener?! Yes, I just heard all of your collective gasps, it's true. And as the offseason continues, I wanted to ensure that we got everyone caught up on a few key performances that had not yet highlighted.

And don't worry, I'll be sure to post a few additional pieces of analysis for Division Two and Division Three in the near future as well! Alright, let's dive in, shall we?

Earlier this year, we reported that the Iowa men had signed JUCO middle distance star, Rivaldo Marshall. With an 800 meter personal best of 1:47.35 from last spring, the Hawkeyes' middle distance-centric program felt like the perfect fit for a guy who was already attending a junior college in the state of Iowa.

Sure enough, Marshall's transition from the NJCAA to the NCAA ranks has gone smoothly, at least so far. That's because this past weekend, the newest Iowa ace went head-to-head with Wisconsin All-American Abdullahi Hassan -- and won.

With a blistering-fast time of 1:47.83 (800), which allowed him to defeat Hassan by just over a second, Marshall has now firmly placed himself in the national qualifying conversation. However, given that last year's 800 meter cut-off time to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships was 1:47.28 (after scratches), there is still plenty of work for the newest Iowa standout to do.

Regardless, taking down a top-tier half-miler with a 1:47 mark in the month of December is no joke. And if Marshall can continue to refine and build on this talent, then he may have a shot at advancing out of the prelims at the indoor national meet come March (maybe).

As for Hassan, it's hard to be too critical of an early-season loss on December 9th where he still ran 1:48 for 800 meters. We saw this Badger veteran show flashes of brilliance last winter and he went on to have a superb outdoor track season. With a personal best of 1:46.25 over this distance, it's hard to look at this result as anything other than a nice rust-busting effort.

One of top middle / long distance recruits from the Class of 2023, Cha'iel Johnson, has made her NCAA debut! However, the Kentucky freshman ultiamtely contested an "off" distance last weekend at the Indiana Early Bird Invite -- the 600 meters.

Johnson, whose father is Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson, a former star wide receiver for the Cinnciatti Bengals, would record a final time of 1:32 for the distance. That was a fine mark, but the fact that she also earned the overall win (narrowly) over a very respectable name in Maddie Russin (who has run 2:05 for 800 meters) is what leaves me encouraged.

Coach Hakron DeVries has been able to develop and recruit top middle distance talents over the last few years -- and the winter of 2024 will likely be no different.

Given the potential that this squad holds to be competitive in the DMR (yet again), the introduction of a versatile 400/800 meter hybrid talent like Johnson could create some valuable lineup flexibility. If Johnson can be a servicable leg in the middle of the Wildcats' DMR lineup, then women like Jenna Schwinghamer, Phoebe McCowan and Sydney Steely could best utilize their talents on the most important legs of the relay.

Another year, another ultra-fast converted mark from a top Montana State distance talent.

Bobcat veteran Ben Perrin has always been a strong distance runner, consistently posting excellent marks and thriving in aerobic-centric events. However, few races have better exemplified Perrin's strength than what he showed at the Bobcat Preview last week.

On his home track, which is flat and sits at 4900 feet of elevation, Perrin ran an outstanding mark of 13:59 for 5000 meters. And while he finished 56 seconds ahead of the next finisher, it seems as though Perrin had pacers to work with given the DNF results.

After flat-track and altitude conversions, Perrin now holds an outstanding 5k seed time of 13:29.15. That mark is good enough for NCAA #12 on the D1 national leaderboard.

Last year, that time would have beeen good enough for NCAA #17 at the end of the season -- and after scratches, that mark would have put Perrin into the national meet.

Of course, it's plenty possible that the national qualifying time for the men's 5k this winter will end up being faster or have fewer scratches. In that case, Perrin is probably on the outside looking in. But in terms of natural fitness and raw strength, this Montana State ace looks incredibly good right now.

The 5k is almost certainly Perrin's best chance at extending his season into the middle of March. However, if he wants greater insurance that he'll be in Boston during that time, then he'll likely, a) attack a fast 5k at the University of Washington, or b) go after another fast 5k effort on his home track in hopes of getting an even better converted mark.

And if you think about it, not many athletes have the chance to take advantage of the latter. That's why Perrin should stay on your radar, even if you don't think that his recent effort will hold up for national qualifying purposes.

I would be lying to you if I said that I knew a lot about Iowa State's Makayla Clark going into these winter months. But maybe that's my fault. She did, after all, run 2:05.56 for 800 meters last spring to place 3rd at the BIG 12 XC Championships. The Cyclone standout was also three spots out from advancing to the national meet.

Even so, I'm not sure that I expected Clark to run 2:44.97 for 1000 meters in the second weekend of December. That time allowed Clark to finish as the top collegiate at the ISU Holiday Invitational, settling two seconds behind Alexina Teubel who is a very strong American miler.

Running 2:44 for 1000 meters is good...really good. And while I do need to see more from Clark before I say that she is a national qualifying name (over 800 meters), I do think that momentum has begun to fall in her favor.

But maybe more importantly, the Iowa State standout now looks like a very real and competitive threat to the rest of the BIG 12. That's a conference which not only includes Oklahoma State and Texas, but also now BYU.

The Class of 2023 was loaded with top middle distance recruits, many of whom had dominated the 800 meter distance. But a lot of those names were also fairly dynamic and had the ability to effectively move up in distance as well (think Simeon Birnbaum and Dan Watcke).

That's why certain middle distance-centric runners like Blaik Slavinski, a current freshman at Clemson, may have flown under the radar a bit despite his 1:49 (800) PR. But in the first-half of December, this New Jersey native made sure to make a statement that, frankly, a lot of 1:48 (800) runners can't.

The Clemson rookie just ran 2:20.52 for 1000 meters, a school record for a program that is known for their middle distance excellence. For someone as young and as inexperienced as Slavinski, that's a wildly impressive time. After all, this is someone who had "only" run 1:53 for the half-mile distance on the indoor oval last winter.

Compartively, Slavinski's recent 2:20 mark is significantly stronger than his indoor half-mile seasonal best. That's why this performance is such a surprise...a pleansant surprise, at that.

Most times, a 2:20 mark over 1000 meters can be translated to a just-as-fast time for 800 meters later in the season. Yes, freshmen like Slavinski are intrinsically more sporadic and unpredictable in their performances, but you don't run as fast as he did on accident.

Let's also not forget that the Tigers have recently produced a large handful of strong half-milers over the last couple of years between John Lewis, Kameron Jones, Aman Thornton and Tarees Rhoden. In other words, history suggests that Slavinski may very well develop into a 1:47 runner as soon as this year and maybe even a 1:46 talent in future years.

And for as much inexperience that true freshman have, the upside that they carry is arguably just as valuable -- and the newest Clemson talent is proving exactly that.