First Thoughts: Ole Miss Dominates, Schwinghamer Stuns, Reiss & Hamilton Thrive at Altitude

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No Vanhoy, no problem.

The Ole Miss men are still among the best in the NCAA when it comes to the middle distances, something that both Baylor Frankin and Tiarnan Crorken proved this past weekend.

On Saturday, the Ole Miss duo toed the line for the men's 800 meters at the Vanderbilt Invite. There, the Rebels dominated the race, going 1-2 with Franklin running 1:46 and Crorken running 1:47.

Running 1:46 this early in the season is extremely impressive. For perspective, during this time last year, John Rivera and Brandon Miller held the NCAA co-lead in the half-mile at 1:47.48. But if those marks were posted this year, then Rivera and Miller would have sat behind Franklin and Crorken on the NCAA leaderboard.

I really like Franklin. I think he brings such tremendous value to the Rebels in both the 800 meters and the mile. He's always felt like one of the more naturally talented middle distance runners in the SEC, but he hasn't really ever made the jump from being "great" to "elite" during the NCAA season.

However, he did reach that "elite" tier during the summer months following the 2022 outdoor national meet.

But after running 1:46 and taking down a quietly strong 800 meter field, it seems hard to suggest that Franklin isn't close to the same shape that he was in last summer when he ran 1:45 at the USA Outdoor Championships. Not only that, but this is actually the only time that he has run under 1:48 on the indoor oval!

Yes, he completely skipped the 1:47 range (on the indoor track, that is).

The men's 800 meters feels somewhat wide-open this year. Navasky Anderson and Jonathan Jones look like legitimate threats for the national title, but Anderson has yet to show his true potential on the indoor oval and Jones may not even contest the event (potentially opting for the 400 meters, instead).

Could this be the year where Franklin earns his first All-American honor and elevates to that next tier or middle distance stars? After this weekend, that seems more probable than possible.

As for Crorken, it feels like some people are/have been overlooking him when it comes to the 800 meters this year. Our current TSR #25 runner had already run 1:46 prior to coming to the NCAA and was a 5th place All-American in this event last winter (he also ran 1:47 in the prelims of the 2022 indoor national meet).

Crorken didn't race last spring, so it's easy to forget about what he can bring to the table. But this is a guy who has a skillset very similar to Franklin's. He's at his best in the 800 meters and he can effectively move up to the mile where he's run under four minutes. However, maybe more importantly, he has proven to be fairly consistent and tactically sound.

Sure, he may not have beaten his teammate this past weekend, but Crorken may be in just as good of shape this year as he was last winter.

It feels like every other year, the Bradley men or women have an individual or two (or a collective cross country squad) that proves to be nationally competitive. And this past weekend, we found out who that next runner is going to be.

Wilma Nielsen toed the line for the fastest heat of the women's 800 meters at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational. And despite being one of the few collegiates in a field full of pro runners, as well as current Illinois ace Olivia Howell, the Bradley middle distance talent didn't waver.

Instead, she thrived.

Nielsen dropped a huge time of 2:03 for the half-mile distance this past weekend at the University of Iowa. She was the top collegiate in the race by a very comfortable margin and finished 3rd place overall.

If you're looking strictly at TFRRS, I'm not sure that anyone expected Nielsen to run as fast as she did. However, following the publication of this article, we found that Nielsen has actually run 2:02 overseas in the summer of 2021 outside of the NCAA season.

Nielsen has been very consistent over the last two outdoor track seasons. She ran 2:05 multiple times and ran 2:07 or faster 12 over different occasions! In retrospect, that kind of consistency likely indicated that she was due for a breakthrough. Of course, making a two-second jump on the always-more challenging indoor oval adds an extra layer of difficulty.

And obviously, a 2:02 PR suggests that she could run this kind of time.

The recent Bradley breakout star had only contested the 800 meters on an indoor track three times (at the collegiate level) prior to this past weekend. She had never run faster than 2:09. That's why you can understand our level of surprise right now.

Based on last year's results, that 2:03 result will almost certainly allow Nielsen to qualify for the indoor national meet. Her official mark of 2:03.46 would have placed her at NCAA #8 last winter.

Barring anything crazy or unfortunate, we're going to see Nielsen toeing the line in Albuquerque, New Mexico come March. But we now have an entirely new set of questions for this midwest standout.

Can Nielsen replicate that kind of time again? And can she do it on the national stage? How much faster can she go? How will this mark translate to the tactics of a championship race? What does this mean for her future efforts in the mile?

We probably won't be able to answer all of those questions over the next five weeks, but we can at least get greater clarity until then. She now has a ton of time to build and refine her newfound talent without having to worry about posting a national qualifying mark.

Coming into this season, one of my consistent asks was for Iowa State's Darius Kipyego to make the leap from "good" to "great". And depending on who you ask, he likely did that this past weekend.

The Cyclone sophomore had already run 1:47 for 800 meters last spring, but running just 0.44 seconds slower on an indoor oval is highly impressive. And yet, at the same time, it also doesn't guarantee that this Rhode Island native will advance to the indoor national meet.

Kipyego's winning time of 1:47.66 at the Cyclone Open on Saturday would have had him tied for the NCAA #16 time over 800 meters last winter. In other words, he's right on the cusp of qualifying for his first national meet. But given how quick the men's 800 meters was this past weekend, this Iowa State runner may need to post a slightly quicker time to feel safer about extending his season.

That, however, shouldn't be a major concern. The second-year half-miler has been slowly and steadily improving. He still has a ton of upside and should be able to take one more step up in his fitness, especially whenever he's in an upper-level field that consists of more than just his teammates.

As for Peter Smith (Iowa State) and Isaac Basten (Drake), you gotta give them credit for their 1:48 marks, placing 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Smith may be overshadowed by Kipyego, Gomez and Gentil, but his consistency is sneaky-good. He may be due for a 1:47 mark in a few weeks.

As for Basten, you gotta appreciate his ability to work on his speed. He hasn't had much range beyond the mile/1500 meters over the last few seasons, so running a 1:48 mark gives his resume some nice event diversity. It was also a nice way for him to rebound after some not-so-great execution during his half-mile effort from last week.

When Virginia Tech's Lindsey Butler ran 2:42 for 1000 meters on Friday night, I thought that would be the main storyline of the weekend on the women's side. But what I didn't expect was for Kentucky's Jenna Schwinghamer to ALSO run 2:42 for the same distance.

Make no mistake, Schwinghamer has proven to be a talented middle distance runner over the past year. She ran 2:03 for 800 meters last spring and was a member of the Wildcats' 5th place All-American DMR squad last winter.

But running 2:42.39 puts this sophomore (by eligibility) in a completely new tier. And although that mark won't count towards the official NCAA all-time list, her newest PR ties her with Stanford alum Elise Cranny at NCAA #14 all-time if we included "all-conditions bests".

I loved the momentum that we were seeing from Schwinghamer over the last few seasons, but you could not have convinced me that she was going to run 2:42 this past weekend.

I now have to wonder what Schwinghamer could do in events like the 800 meters and the mile over the next month and a half. A 2:42 mark would lead me to believe that, at the very least, she could run 2:03 over the half-mile distance this winter.

But more realistically, a time closer to 2:02 is probably in the cards for her now. And if she's able to effectively move up to the 1200 meters and/or the mile, then Kentucky's DMR may actually look better than it did last year (which is saying quite a bit).

Of course, Kentucky's future DMR is expected to be better for more reasons than just Schwinghamer running insanely well in one race. It's also because three other Wildcats -- Sydney Steely, Phoebe McCowan and DeAnna Martin -- ran 2:43, 2:44 and 2:44, respectively, in the same 1000 meter race.

That's insane depth!

If you had asked me which middle distance program was going to have a better weekend over 1000 meters, Virginia Tech or Kentucky, I would have put all of my life savings on the Hokies. And after having three women run 2:45 or faster, I thought the women of Blacksburg, Virginia weren't going to be touched this weekend.

Of course, then the women from Lexington, Kentucky put four women at 2:44 or faster.

If Coach Hakron Devries is the one overseeing the women's middle distance group and not just the longer distances (and I believe that he is), then he deserves a massive amount of respect for what his athletes just accomplished.

Now, it's just a matter of having them translate that fitness to other events.

As for the Ole Miss women, they also ran incredibly well, although they'll likely be overshadowed by their SEC rivals. Led by Loral Winn's runner-up finish in a time of 2:43, the Rebels also saw Sophie Baumann (2:46) and Jocelyn Long (2:49) dip under the 2:50 barrier.

Winn has always been an underrated talent. She was quietly great on the grass this past fall, has run 4:39 in the mile and also owns a 9:10 personal best over 3000 meters. And with a blistering quick 1k mark now under her belt (which was nearly a three-second PR), I have to think that Winn will be able to run somewhere around 4:36 or 4:37 this winter...I think.

You know how the headline reads, "Ole Miss Dominates"? Well, that didn't just apply to Baylor Franklin and Tiarnan Crorken in the 800 meters. It also applies to Shane Bracken (3:57) and Anthony Camerieri (3:58) who went 1-2 in the men's mile this past weekend.

I'll be honest, I don't think there's a whole lot to analyze here. Bracken has actually run (very slightly) faster before and Camerieri was already a 4:00 miler before having a breakout cross country season this past fall.

But just because there's not a whole lot to analyze doesn't mean that those sub-four mile efforts weren't impressive! Bracken is ahead of schedule in terms of his mile fitness compared to last year and Camerieri continues to boast excellent momentum. He could be even better over 3000 meters in the coming weeks.

I'm glad that most of these Ole Miss men opted to stay and give Coach Adam Smith a chance. The Rebel men shattered expectations in the postseason this past fall and they look just as strong on the oval this winter as they did last year (at least among those who didn't graduate).

I don't know how much better Bracken and Camerieri are going to be throughout the rest of this season, but I struggle to see them going anywhere else but upwards throughout the rest of this month and throughout February.

And a DMR? Well, that prospect looks very interesting right now for Ole Miss...

Northern Arizona's Annika Reiss was one of the bigger breakout stars of this past cross country season. And if fellow teammate Elise Stearns hadn't made a massively unexpected jump of her own, then we could be talking about Reiss as our "most improved" runner from the fall months.

It would have been fair to question how Reiss was going to translate her success from the grass to the oval this winter. Her fastest mile time prior to this past weekend was a 4:46 PR and her best 1500 meter mark currently sits at 4:23.

Even if she did make an instant improvement on the track, there was no guarantee that she was going to be nationally competitive.

But in her season debut this past weekend, Reiss threw down a 4:47 mile mark to finish 4th overall in a top-heavy, pro-laden field...at 6800 feet of altitude. With conversions, Reiss was able to earn a monumental time of 4:36. That performance now puts her at NCAA #7.

Oh, and she also ran a 2:09 conversion for 800 meters at that same meet.

Reiss was excellent on the grass this past fall, but if her fitness from the cross country season was going to carry over to the oval, then I thought it would best materialize in the 3000 meters and/or the 5000 meters -- and it still could!

But Reiss running a 4:36 conversion in her season opener spells only good things for her moving forward. She has a realistic shot of qualifying for the national meet in the mile if she makes a few minor improvements, but may actually be better suited for the longer distances.

Simply put, the sky is the limit for this rising distance star.

Once again, Montana State superstar Duncan Hamilton has run a ridiculously fast conversion. And yet again, there will be people who question how legitimate his conversion is.

This past weekend, the Bobcat ace ran 8:00 for 3000 meters on a 200 meter flat-track...which sits at 4900 feet of elevation. As a result, Hamilton gained a ridiculous 17-second conversion. His final time now reads 7:43.28, just 0.01 seconds off from Kieran Lumb's NCAA lead in the event.

I am almost positive that someone numerous people will start a riot about excessive conversions and question the validity of Hamilton's recent effort. But truthfully, a mark like this is plenty realistic for someone who has his resume.

Hamilton's official, non-converted 3000 meter PR sits at 7:45 which is within reasonable striking distance of his latest conversion. And when you look at his other marks of 3:39 (1500), 13:30 (5k) and 8:18 (steeple), I can't say that I'm super shocked by this time.

I'm also not going to question anything that Hamilton does at altitude after he matched his converted time at sea level last winter. And when he did that, he proceeded to take a screenshot of everyone who questioned his conversion and then posted all of them on his Instagram story when he ran 7:45.

And honestly, that's so funny that I just have to respect it.

In terms of raw fitness, Hamilton may be a top-five distance talent in the NCAA. However, the next step for him is to see if he can refine his tactics enough to emerge as an All-American in March.