First Thoughts (Part Two): Is Wes Ferguson the Best 800m Regardless of Division? Plus, Alex Phillip's Huge 10k Win, Michaela Rose's Incredible 1:58 (800) Mark & Gracie Hyde's Monster Steeple Effort

Welcome back to Part Two of our "First Thoughts" analysis from this past weekend of action. If you haven't already, be sure to check out Part One by clicking here. You can also read up on our piece from Friday highlighting Parker Valby's recent NCAA 10k record by clicking here.

With our 1500-meter and 5k analysis now out of the way, we finally get to address a handful of outstanding performances that may have fallen under the radar in the madness of the last few days. Let's dive into them, shall we?

You're a consistent reader of The Stride Report, then there's a good chance that you have heard/read the name "Wes Ferguson" before this past weekend. And if you're a Division Two runner/fan, then you absolutely know who this is.

The Division Two megastar has been beyond excellent over the last two to three years. He is, without question, the best middle or long distance talent in Division Two right now. And yes, I know, that's a pretty strong statement given that Adams State's Romain Legendre just smashed the former NCAA D2 5k record with a 13:16 personal best.

Even so, Ferguson showed us last spring that he could be an elite-level talent at the NCAA D2 Outdoor Championships where he won the national title with a 1:45 (800) PR which was run at altitude. And if he wasn't questionably disqualified at the USA Outdoor Championships last summer, then the UNK star would have been racing in the 800-meter finals of that stage.

On Friday, Ferguson validated last year's success by showing the country that he can run with almost anyone in any division. That's because the Loper standout started out his 800-meter race at Bryan Clay in the very back of the pack. In fact, he was in/near last place through the first lap and wasn't anywhere close to the leaders. Even with 200 meters go, Ferguson wasn't in the frame and when the field came off the curve, Ferguson was still at the back.

But over the final 100 meters, this Division Two megastar picked off his fast-fading opponents. He was able to advance himself all the way to 2nd place and emerge as the top collegian in an excellent 800-meter time of 1:45. Villanova's Sean Dolan was the other collegian in this race and ran 1:47.

There needs to be a serious conversation as to whether or not Wes Ferguson is the best men's 800-meter runner in the NCAA this year, regardless of division.

Sure, Texas A&M's Sam Whitmarsh ran 1:44 (800) earlier this spring, but he hasn't been nearly as consistent throughout his career as Ferguson has. Texas' Yusuf Bizimana has a D1 national title at the half-mile distance and has run 1:45 (800) before, but Ferguson has shown on multiple occasions that he can run with (and defeat) pro-laden fields. Iowa's Rivaldo Marshall is continuing to validate himself as a top-tier name after winning the indoor national title in March, but Ferguson is far more established by comparison.

However, what really separates Ferguson from everyone else is his tactics. He is incredibly smart when it comes positioning, surging and kicking. He has enough raw fitness to still throw down a big-time finish in a race that required him to run 1:45 (800) if he was going to be the top collegian.

Admittedly, some of you could say, "Sure Garrett, but he gets to face lighter competition than some of these D1 guys do." And at a macro level, that would be.

However, I would implore you to consider some of the half-mile stars who have recently come out of (or are in) Division Two. Remember, Ferguson had to deal with now-Alabama runner, Oussama El Bouchayby, for a year as well as CSU-Pueblo ace, Reece Sharman-Newell. Both of those men have run 1:45 for 800 meters.

Simply put, his path to success has been no walk in the park.

Now, in fairness to the other top-tier 800-meter runners, it's important to not let recency bias creep into our analysis which can often lead to some conviction-heavy statements and takes. However, after this past weekend, I think it's more than fair to at least ask if Ferguson is the top overall half-miler that the NCAA has.

Surprisingly, no other attached collegian ran under 1:47 for 800 meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational. And funny enough, the only other collegian who did run under 1:47 (800) on Friday was D2 standout, Reece Sharman-Newell (CSU-Pueblo), who was racing unattached.

If I'm a D2 fan, I am overjoyed with how the entirety of this past weekend unfolded.

As for everyone else, Dolan ran 1:47 while Texas' Cole Lindhorst, Indiana's Camden Marshall and Oregon's Elliott Cook all produced similar 1:47 marks in the second invite section of the men's 800 meters. And while I'd like to offer some kind of new and original insight, I'm not sure that I have anything left to say.

Let's be honest, you and I both knew exactly what was going to happen in this race before Rose and her follow competitors even toed the line.

As soon as the gun went off in the women's 800-meter invite field at the Bryan Clay Invitational, LSU's Michaela Rose jolted to the front. And with 300 meters to go, the field wasn't anywhere remotely close to this middle distance phenom.

Rose would eventually cross the finish line with a jaw-dropping mark of 1:58.37 for 800 meters. That time improved upon her prior NCAA #2 all-time mark (in-season) that she produced last spring. She also became the second collegian to ever run under 1:59 for the half-mile distance (in-season).

When it comes to Rose's actual race, there is very little to discuss. We knew she was crazy fit, we knew she liked to be an aggressive front-runner and we knew that, based on her consistent 1:59 efforts, that she could run 1:58 for 800 meters on a good day.

In fact, I even predicted it to happen...and I imagine plenty of others did, too.

But with this performance comes an entirely new question: Can Michaela Rose potentially break Athing Mu's NCAA 800-meter record of 1:57.73? Prior to this past weekend, I would have said no. But when you run 1:58-low in the middle of April, you can't help but wonder if Rose has another 0.60+ seconds within her that she can drop.

I still think it's more likely than not that Mu will keep her collegiate record by season's end. Even so, the fact that we're even considering that Mu's record could be broken over the next couple of months should tell you plenty about how incredible Rose has been.

In the second invite section of the women's 800 meters, we saw Stanford's Juliette Whittaker and Oklahoma State's Gabija Galvydyte each post strong 2:01 times while Washington's Wilma Neilsen produced yet another 2:02 performance. Not only that, but Wilma Nielsen's sister, Julia Nielsen, won the third section of the women's 800 meters, also in a time of 2:02.

Both Whittaker and Galvydyte ran very different races, but largely came out with the same result. And while neither woman necessarily looked incredible, they didn't have to, not in the middle of April. With strong 2:01 performances now on their seasonal resumes, they can prep and fine-tune their fitness over the next few months.

In a race headlined and led by former Arkansas' star Shafiqua Maloney, it was Clemson's Gladys Chepngetich and Houston's Kelly-Ann Beckford who benefitted the most. While Maloney went on to run 1:59 for 800 meters, it was Chepngetich who ran 2:00.53 while Beckford ran 2:00.70. Texas A&M's Bailey Goggans ran 2:02 in the same race.

Truthfully, there isn't much analysis to offer on these women. After seeing what Chepngetich and Beckford did during the winter months, running 2:00 for 800 meters was more or less a given. In fact, Beckford had already run under 2:01 in this event at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships.

Even so, what this race does tell us is that the top-end of the women's national 800-meter picture has never been this heavy. We just hit mid-April and we already have nine D1 collegians who have gone under 2:02 (800). In theory, that likely means that there's less room for error for the more established stars...right?

Wow...what a race.

The men's 10k at the Bryan Clay Invitational turned out to be plenty entertaining as a handful of All-American standouts clashed en route to some very quick times. However, the race didn't really start to get interesting until two-ish miles to go when Texas Tech's Ernest Cheruiyot attempted to gain some separation from a pack that consisted of Oklahoma State's Alex Maier, North Carolina's Alex Phillip, West Texas A&M's William Amponsah and New Balance pro Charles Philibert-Thiboutot.

Sure enough, Cheruiyot did exactly that, establishing a lead as large as 15 meters at one point. However, behind him was a pack led by Alex Phillip, the former D3 superstar who had joined the North Carolina men as a graduate transfer this past summer. And it was that same Tar Heel runner who led the pursuit of Cheruiyot over those final two miles.

Slowly but surely, Phillip chipped away at Cheruiyot's lead while Alex Maier fell off pace. And with 1000 meters to go, both Phillip and Philibert-Thiboutot caught the Red Raider rookie. In fact, Phillip then took over the lead, cranking down the pace in an effort to shake the likely-tired freshman.

But to Cheruiyot's credit, he not only hung tough, but he even tried to take the lead back with a lap to go. That, however, was a short-lived initiative as Phillip returned to the front and ended the race with a fantastic time of 27:51. Cheruiyot was just one second behind while Philibert-Thiboutot ran 27:54 and William Amponsah ran 28:00.

Oklahoma State star Alex Maier faded back to 5th place in a time of 28:17.

I can't say enough good things about Alex Phillip after seeing that race. There was so much poise and composure in every move he made. He knew exactly what his best racing attributes were and he utilized them perfectly.

As a strength-based runner, Phillip clearly understood that it made more sense for him to truly kick with a lap to go rather than with 200 meters to go. And when Cheruiyot established a noticeable gap, the Tar Heel star didn't overreact. Instead, he patiently led the chase pack back to the leader and then made a pass that would usually take men in Cheruiyot's position out of contention.

Coming into this weekend, the very broad question that we had for Phillip was, could he be an All-American come June? And after Thursday night's race, I think we very clearly learned that he can, in fact, be an All-American a few months from now.

Of course, saying that someone "can be" an All-American doesn't necessarily equate to us saying that they "should" or "will" earn that exact honor. Even so, this was a fantastic race that forces us to reevaluate what kind of contender the Chapel Hill-based long distance star could be over the next few months.

As for Cheruiyot, I gotta give him credit, he showed a lot of exciting long-term potential.

Did he run the smartest race? No, he truthfully didn't, but that's actually what makes his performance that much more impressive.

In my eyes, I thought Cheruiyot went too early in his attempt to gain separation. And when he put himself ahead of Phillip going into the last lap, I thought it would have made more sense to tail his UNC counterpart and try to respond to what Phillip was doing rather than assuming the lead duties with 400 meters remaining.

And yet, despite all of that, Cheruiyot effectively responded to moves that would usually take top contenders out of the mix. He never truly faltered from the lead and was still in contention to win with 100 meters to go despite having to deal with a small barrage of lead changes.

When you take all of that into consideration, I can't help but view Cheruiyot as someone with so much untapped potential and tons of upside.

West Texas A&M's William Amponsah was outstanding with his 28:00 (10k) PR. In a year where the men's 10k at the D2 level seems somewhat light, this Buffalo star firmly placed himself back into the national title mix. And give that he was the D2 national champion in the fall, the idea that he could win gold in late May is plenty realistic.

As for Alex Maier (Oklahoma State) and Aaron Las Heras (Northern Arizona), those two distance standouts ran 28:17 and 28:19, respectively. While those are certainly times that demand respect, we also expected both of these veterans to have a much greater presence in this field in the latter-half of the race.

It would be wrong to dismiss Maier and Las Heras as top-tier names at the Division One level. Remember, both of these men were All-Americans a month ago. The former earned two of those honors at the indoor national meet and the latter ran some insanely fast times throughout the winter months.

Before we get into the race, I want to give a shoutout to Iowa State's Gable Sieperda. Without him being as aggressive as he was, this race wouldn't have been nearly as fast as it turned out to be. He deserves major kudos for giving us one of the fastest early-season steeplechase performances in recent memory.

However, when Sieperda did fade, it was Eastern Kentucky's Abdelhakim Abouzouhir who took over alongside pro runners Benard Keter and John Gay.

For the most part, the focal point of this race was those three men. And despite being a collegian with a noticeably slower PR than his pro counterparts, Abouzouhir kept things very competitive throughout the remainder of the race.

In the end, that trio would cross the line somewhat together with Keter and Gay going 1-2 while Abouzouhir posted a fantastic steeplechase PR of 8:25. According to TFRRS, that was a 10-seconds personal best.

Of course, when you look at the results, you'll find that there was a fourth name who also crossed the line with that aforementioned trio. That man was Victor Kibiego, the former UTEP steeplechase star who was the bronze medalist in this event at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Kibiego has since transferred to Texas A&M (as of this past winter) and was considered to be the clear and obvious steeplechase national title favorite going into the spring months. However, an underwhelming indoor track season and a "just okay" steeplechase effort at the Stanford Invite (where he ran 8:45), left us wondering if this Aggie runner was still the gold medal threat that we thought he could be.

Well, after seeing Kibiego throw down an outstanding last lap on Thursday, he was able to run a very competitive time and finish next to someone who we would very much consider to be a national title contender.

More simply, this race was important for two reasons.

The first is that Abouzouhir backed up his excellent steeplechase win at the Stanford Invite, further validating himself as a contender for NCAA gold come June. The second is that Victor Kibiego put together a performance that reassured us that he is, in fact, as good as we thought he'd be.

I'd still like to see Kibiego run with the top pack rather than throw down a crazy last-lap kick, but Thursday's result is exactly what we were looking for.

We then come to Rob McManus and Levi Taylor, a Montana State duo that continues to thrive when racing next to each other. After being competitive with Abouzouhir at the Stanford Invite a few weeks ago, the Bobcat duo improved their marks to 8:29 and 8:30, respectively, on Thursday night.

That's a PR for the former and a very near PR for the latter.

When we eventually reach the national stage, it's going to be very hard to leave these Montana State men out of our All-American predictions. Coach Lyle Weese has been brilliant when developing steeplechasers and he now has two guys who are very heavy All-American favorites.

In fact, with the way that Rob McManus is running right now, you could argue that he's a legitimate factor in the national title conversation...even though it's still very early in the spring season.

Regardless, I'm a big fan of what these two men are doing and after them, the number of reliable nationally competitive steeplechasers seemingly begins to dwindle (although not entirely).

Other key results include Notre Dame's CJ Singleton running 8:33 while Iowa State's Gable Sieperda was rewarded for his front-running with an 8:34 PR. In total, 11 different collegians broke the 8:40 barrier in the steeplechase at Bryan Clay, a surprisingly impressive number for this time of the year.

We should start this question with a clarifying note. While the headline does read that Gracie Hyde emerged as the top collegian in this field, it was actually BYU's Lexy Halladay-Lowry who won the entire race in 9:26. However, because Halladay-Lowry is running unattached, it's Hyde who gets the "top collegian" nod.

This was an interesting race that was very top-heavy with a handful of select stars. Initially, California Baptist's Greta Karinauskaite led the way, an unsurprising move given how aggressive she was with her front-running last year.

But while the Lithuanian distance talent held her own, she was eventually overtaken by a small pack of women which included fellow NCAA standouts, Gracie Hyde (Adams State) and Elise Thorner (Florida). And when Halladay-Lowry pounced to the front and opened up the field even more, it was those two women who seemingly benefitted the most.

In the end, Hyde would run a fantastic time of 9:28 in the steeplechase to easily shatter the former D2 record of 9:40. Thorner would also run 9:28, a new PR, after putting together an impressive last lap. Karinauskaite would finish as the third collegian and in 6th place overall in a time of 9:37.

Let's talk about Gracie Hyde who is putting together the single-best year of performances that a D2 distance runner has ever had on the track -- and it's not close. In just this past weekend alone, the Adams State superstar ran two new NCAA D2 records -- 4:08 over 1500 meters and 9:28 in the steeplechase.

In fact, she didn't just break those records, she shattered them.

So far this year, Hyde has run 2:05 (800), 4:08 (1500), 4:30 (mile), 8:58 (3k) and 9:28 (steeple). It should also be noted that her 2:05 mark gets a conversion down to 2:04. In terms of value, Hyde's resume is absolutely insane and it would almost certainly be good enough for her to be ranked inside of our top-25 D1 rankings (although the exact spot would be debated).

I don't really know what more we could possibly say about this Arkansas Razorback-turned-Grizzly distance talent. She is on a completely different tier compared to everyone else in D2. At the moment, there isn't anyone who can come remotely close to matching her accolades.

As for Thorner, I loved that she thrived in this kind of race. There were a handful of women who could have legitimately attacked the front of this field in a variety of different ways. But Thorner kept herself out of trouble and then powered home over the last few laps to make up some ground and essentially cross the line next to Gracie Hyde (who she briefly passed at one or two points).

For years now, Thorner has been one of the more reliable steeplechasers in the NCAA. She's been a two-time All-American in the event and she had run as fast as 9:32 during her time with New Mexico. However, her latest effort at the Bryan Clay Invite feels like a breakthrough to the next echelon of collegiate steeplechase stars.

Sure, Thorner may not be in the national title tier yet, but I don't know how many D1 women other than Olivia Markezich, Greta Karinauskaite and maybe Ceili McCabe have the potential to match her this spring.

As for Karinauskaite, it's hard to be concerned about a 9:37 steeplechase effort in the middle of April. If anything, that's a step in the right direction after a tough 5k showing at the Stanford Invite a few weeks ago.

With a 9:26 steeplechase PR and a silver medal in this event from last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships, this Lancer veteran is still very much part of the national title discussion. Remember, Karinauskaite peaked beautifully at the tail-end of last spring. If she can do that again, then she'll very much be battling with Thorner and maybe even Markezich yet again.