First Thoughts: Molly Hudson, Carson Williams & Habtom Samuel Impress in Mile, Yusuf Bizimana Runs Converted 1:45 (800)

Many of us at The Stride Report are still recovering from a wild Friday night of action which produced a handful of historic performances. Of course, there's no time to rest. Yet another contingent of top NCAA distance talents continued to light up the track on Saturday, posting a handful of outstanding middle distance results.

There's no time to lose, let's get into all of the analysis, insights and takeaways...

The University of New Mexico has quietly become a popular venue for many middle distance athletes to attack fast times -- and ultimately gain strong altitude conversions.

Last year, Washington's Anna Gibson threw down a highly impressive mark on that same track and earned a 4:31 mile conversion. Similarly, Yusuf Bizimana ran 1:46-mid for 800 meters last year which later received a 1:46-low conversion.

In 2024, Bizimana returned to the same track, this time running even faster than last year. The Longhorn veteran ran an outstanding time of 1:46.47 this past weekend, good enough for a 1:45.88 conversion over the half-mile distance.

And truthfully, I can only shrug my shoulders and say, "What else did you expect?"

After running the NCAA 1000-meter collegiate record less than two weeks ago -- which was quickly broken by Tinoda Matsatsa on Friday night -- it felt more than reasonable to suggest that Bizimana could run a 1:46 mark at altitude. And with a 1:45-high conversion nearly on par with his PR, we could probably say that this was the least surprising result of the weekend.

Of course, as I always say, just because a result isn't surprising doesn't mean that it's not impressive. Right now, there isn't a middle distance runner in the NCAA who has a more complete resume or proven skillset than Bizimana.

Yes, Tinoda Matsatsa and Darius Kipyego recently had incredible 1k efforts on Friday night, but they still have more to prove over 800 meters. And frankly, neither has the national meet experience than this Longhorn star does.

That being said, guys such as Handal Roban and Oussama El Bouchayby should still be considered as very legitimate threats to their Texas-based counterpart once they make their 800-meter season debuts.

While Yusuf Bizimana stole the show over 800 meters at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational, hosted by New Mexico, one could argue that Lobo star Habtom Samuel was just as good in the mile.

The Eritrean superstar has largely been known for his aerobic dominance, thriving over the 5k and 10k racing distances. However, over the last two weekends, Samuel has clearly been refining his turnover. The Lobo talent (slightly) dropped down in distance last weekend to run 7:45 over 3000 meters. Then, on Saturday, Samuel dropped down even further, contesting the mile where he ran a surprisingly impressive time of 3:59 at altitude.

And after conversions, Samuel now boasts a 3:53 mile conversion.

The indoor track in Albuquerque sits at 4900 feet, making most mile races contested on that indoor oval a test of one's strength rather than their speed and turnover. And given the aerobic capacity that Samuel has displayed over his career, it's not necessarily a shock that he willed himself to a sub-four effort on his home track.

Even so, I have to commend Coach Darren Gauson for his approach in developing and training Habtom Samuel. It's clear that this rookie standout has a ton of raw endurance-based strength, but the need for greater turnover and speed -- something that is absolutely necessary at the usually-tactical NCAA Indoor Championships -- is seemingly being addressed with his recent efforts.

No, simply running strong mile and 3k times doesn't necessarily guarantee that Samuel will have just as much speed and turnover as anyone he'll face on the national stage. Even so, it's good to see that this 5k/10k specialist can still hold his own at distances that are just a fraction of what he's best at.

When Coach Pete Watson left Texas to take the Director role at Boston College, the rest of the ACC likely became a bit more tense. Watson had proven to be one of the best distance coaches in the NCAA and with his hire, the idea that the Golden Eagles could become a legitimate force within the ACC became more and more realistic.

After helping the BC women advance to the NCAA XC Championships this past fall, the top middle distance talents who Watson recruited now have their chance to be in the spotlight.

Enter Molly Hudson, a talented English middle distance runner who ventured to Boston with personal bests of 2:04 (800) and 4:20 (1500). Those were solid marks, especially the former, but suggesting that Hudson would be an individual national qualifier this winter seemed like a stretch.

But after Saturday, that scenario went from possible to probable.

That's because Hudson just threw down a monster mile time of 4:32 at the New Balance-owned, "The TRACK" facility in Boston, the same venue that will host the national meet this year. That incredible performance now has Hudson sitting at NCAA #4 on the national leaderboard and in a good position to eventually qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

We admittedly need to see more from Hudson before we make any defining claims about what she may or may not be able to do on the national stage. Her 4:32 mile result is truthfully a significant outlier compared to her 4:20 (1500) PR.

Even so, there are a lot of promising aspects on her resume right now.

While her mile mark is now the marquee result on her resume, knowing that she has also run 2:04 for 800 meters only makes us more excited about her potential. In theory, that kind turnover and speed should be very useful on the national stage.

And if she was running that fast before her recent mile effort, then what can she run over 800 meters now that she has seemingly reached a new level?

However, the other key result from this race was Hudson's teammate, Natalie Millerova, finishing runner-up with a promising time of 4:37.

In many ways, Millerova is a fairly identical athlete to Hudson. She also owns a 2:04 personal best for 800 meters, although prior to coming to Boston, she was the slightest bit faster in the metric mile, running 4:18 for 1500 meters.

It feels like Millerova has the skillset and talent to run even faster than 4:37 this winter. Of course, how much faster is the biggest question. But more importantly, Boston College now has two competitive milers, one of which is a home run anchor leg, that could lead to a very dangerous DMR lineup later this season.

Don't forget, Watson was the coach for Texas when the Longhorn men won the DMR national national at the 2022 indoor national meet. He'll need to find a third piece, specifically for the 800-meter leg, but he should have plenty of options -- it's just a matter of finding out which of his half-milers will break out beyond the 2:06 to 2:08 range.

Over the last year of competition, Furman veteran Carson Williams has strung together a handful of strong performances. The Paladin runner posted marks of 7:50 (3k, flat-track converted) and 13:42 (5k) last winter and owns an 8:37 (steeple) PR from the spring of 2022.

Williams continued to carry his momentum into the most recent cross country season, finishing 10th at the Joe Piane Invite, 72nd at the Nuttycombe Invite and individually qualifying for the national meet.

And yet, despite all of that, I'm not sure I would have tabbed Willians to drop a brilliant mile PR of 3:55 this past weekend. That is a tremendous performance that could likely be argued as the best result of his career -- yes, even beyond his steeplechase success.

A 3:55.46 mile mark should, in theory, allow Williams to advance to the indoor national meet this winter...I think. That exact time would have placed the Paladin star at NCAA #16 on the 2023 national leaderboard last winter, the last automatic qualifying spot. But even if the qualifying times to do get faster this year, then Williams could still have a decent shot of qualifying after scratches.

But what I'm most impressed by is the fact that Williams didn't just run this race all alone in a pristinely set up time trial void of any true contenders. Instead, he had to shake off South Carolina's Rogerio Amaral who ran 3:58 right behind him.

If Williams is able to run that fast over the mile distance, then what can he do over 3000 meters? We'll likely find out soon as the Camel City Elite meet, a venue known for producing fast flat-track converted 3k times, is taking place this weekend.

As for Rogerio Amaral, his sudden breakout performance certainly caught our attention. Previously, the Gamecocks' top distance talents were Anass Essayi and recent transfer, Bradley Makuvire.

But now, with a 3:58 mile PR, this Portuguese runner has suddenly jumped onto our radar.

And maybe the most intriguing part in all of this is that Amaral was more of a 5k guy coming into this weekend, owning a personal best of 13:52. His recent mile effort, compared to his other times, is a fairly significant improvement.

With competitive marks in both the mile and the 5k, does that mean that the 3k could be his sweet spot throughout the rest of his time? It certainly seems that way...