Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Apr 62 min
This past week, Joshua Grenade (joshua.grenade on Instagram) reported that English distance star, Alexandra Millard, would be joining the Boston College women as a transfer from Loughborough University, a school located in the United Kingdom.
The Stride Report went on to independently verify that Alex Millard is, in fact, joining the Boston College women later this year.
It is unclear what amount of eligibility Millard will hold once arriving in Boston. Per World Athletics, the UK native is 22 years old. According to Power of 10, Millard has run times of 4:09 (1500), 8:58 (3k) and 15:27 (5k).
The Golden Eagles, who are now under the direction of second-year head coach Pete Watson, recently found success this past fall and have continued to grow with each passing season. And yet, despite their undeniable rise, signing Alexandra Millard changes the trajectory and growth rate of this program in a major way.
After a solid, but comparatively quiet, cross country regular season in 2023, the Golden Eagles found success in the postseason, placing 2nd at the Northeast Regional XC Championships and earning a surprise automatic national qualifying spot. They ended their fall campaign with a 26th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
On the indoor oval, Molly Hudson and Natalie Millerova rose to prominence as nationally competitive milers. Those two women helped Boston College advance a DMR lineup to the NCAA Indoor Championships (where they placed 9th without Millerova).
And now, by adding Alexandra Millard to Boston College's roster, the Golden Eagles suddenly look like one of the more respectable distance groups in the ACC (or at the very least, are positioned to reach that point in the near future).
While the BC women will lose top cross country scorer Emma Tavella from their 2023 lineup, replacing her with a true ace in Alexandra Millard should only make this Boston-based distance group even stronger with a star-caliber low-stick.
And when you consider that many of the core pieces from last year's cross country team are returning (minus Tavella and Sarah Flynn), the idea that Boston College can be a top-20 cross country squad in the NCAA later this fall isn't totally out of the realm of possibility.
However, maybe more importantly, Millard will give Boston College a focal star on the track who could potentially earn All-American honors. Her presence as a true standout name on the national stage, alongside Molly Hudson and Natalie Millerova, will only strengthen the Golden Eagles reputation and identity among nationally competitive teams.