Transfer Market (Part 23): Who Let The Dawgs Out?

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As first reported by Fast Women's 6/13 newsletter, Yale's Kayley DeLay will be finishing her eligibility as a graduate transfer with the University of Washington starting next year. She is expected to have just one season of outdoor track eligibility remaining.

DeLay has been a standout talent for quite some time, but she has only advanced into the most elite tier of collegiate distance running over the last year or two.

The Yale superstar steadily grew throughout her career, winning the Ivy League XC Championships in 2019 before placing 19th at the Northeast Regional XC Championships that same season. She would not advance to the national meet.

Fast forward to 2021 and DeLay once again secured the win at the Ivy League XC Championships. She then finished runner-up in her region and secured a massive 10th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.

But DeLay's best accolades have arguably come on the indoor and outdoor ovals over the last two seasons.

This past winter, she ran impressive marks of 4:40 in the mile and 9:09 in the 3000 meters. Of course, it was her jaw-dropping 15:36 result for 5000 meters that truly validated her breakout 2021 cross country season.

She would later falter at the NCAA Indoor Championships, placing 15th overall in the 5k.

This past spring is when DeLay truly become one of the best of the best. She ran 15:39 for 5000 meters to place 3rd at the Raleigh Relays, emerging as the top collegiate overall. The Ivy League superstar also ran 4:12 for 1500 meters and 9:41 for the steeplechase before going to the national meet.

Once she was there, DeLay followed Courtney Wayment to the third-fastest steeplechase time in NCAA history of 9:25, earning a silver medal and raising numerous eyebrows as to how incredible her rise has actually become.

Despite having only one season of outdoor track eligibility, DeLay is easily one of the most valuable pick ups of the year. Her massive breakthrough indicates that she has yet to truly reach her ceiling, a scary realization for many of her competitors who will also be gunning for the steeplechase national title next year.

Washington was recently home to Katie Rainsberger, a steeplechase standout who ran 9:32 for the Huskies in the spring of 2021 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. That mark earned her a bronze medal in a close race to the line.

But Rainsberger, who is now a member of Team Boss, may not have that school record for much longer with the introduction of DeLay. The former Yale standout brings with her massive experience, underappreciated versatility and momentum that is amongst the best in the NCAA.

Now, the only questions remaining are whether or not Maurica Powell can turn DeLay into a national title winner and how close she can get DeLay to Wayment's recent collegiate record of 9:16.

An Aussie superstar is going to the west coast, bringing with him one of the most impressive resumes of any steeplechase standout in recent memory. As first reported by the Coffee Club Podcast and later confirmed by a TSR source, the soon-to-be former Princeton runner will be going to Washington next year as a graduate transfer.

According to TFRRS, he is expected to have one season of cross country eligibility remaining as well as one season of outdoor track eligibility (at least). It does not appear that he has any indoor track eligibility remaining, although that part is unclear.

Trippas was one of the most underappreciated stars of the NCAA coming into this academic year. That's because the Australian steeplechaser had a breakout season in the summer of 2021, recording results that didn't show up on TFRRS. The Ivy League ace ran a jaw-dropping time of 8:19 for the steeplechase last year and qualified for the Olympics Games.

Of course, Trippas wasn't content on the summer of 2021 being the only highlight of his resume. The Princeton star took to the track this past spring, running under 8:50 in the 3000 meter steeplechase six different times, progressing with each effort.

Trippas eventually won the Ivy League steeple title, advanced to the outdoor national meet, ran 8:29 in the prelims and then powered to an incredible time of 8:20 in the finals to finish 5th overall, earning the world standard in the process.

But now Trippas will venture to Washington where he will join a historically great steeplechase crew. The Huskies' school record of 8:32 sits well within striking distance for Trippas.

But some of those all-time great steeplechase marks within Washington's record books are fairly recent. Brian Fay ran 8:32 earlier this spring while Joe Waskom, the most recent 1500 meter national champion, ran 8:35 in 2021.

On paper, Trippas will now be part one of the best, if not THE best, steeplechase contingent in the NCAA next year.

A steeplechase national title will surely be the goal for Trippas in 2022 -- and he is more than capable of achieving that goal. However, the soon-to-be Husky will have his hands full with top national meet returners such as Ahmed Jaziri, Duncan Hamilton and Parker Stokes (barring any injuries, redshirts or professional contract signings).

But the outdoor oval isn't the only area where Trippas will have massive value.

After all, this is the same guy who finished 67th overall at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships.

Admittedly, Trippas is a better steeplechaser than he is a cross country runner, but that's like saying that Joel Embiid is a better offensive player than he is a defensive player -- both aspects of their resumes are very strong.

Not only was Trippas a top-70 finisher at the cross country national meet last fall, but he also placed 6th at the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships, earned runner-up honors at the Ivy League XC Championships and placed 39th at Pre-Nationals.

Trippas is a massively valuable piece for the Huskies' 2022 cross country lineup. According to TFRRS, Brian Fay, Kieran Lumb, Tibebu Proctor and Isaac Green are all expected to not have any cross country eligibility remaining for the fall season.

And while it's surely possible that some of their eligibility isn't totally accurate (we're speculating), the fact of the matter is that Coach Powell's squad is going to need some serious scoring help on the grass.

The good news is that names like Nathan Green, Joe Waskom and Luke Houser all showed tremendous promise this past spring. On paper, they could easily be the nucleus of a high-ceiling varsity lineup which will benefit from the added veteran experience of Trippas.

And let's not forget, Trippas could still get much better on the grass. Even if he simply replicates his performances from this past fall, he'll still act as one of the better overall scorers for the Seattle-based men.

But if Trippas continues to grow, then he'll be a massively valuable home-run hitter for Washington whom effectively makes the Huskies a more complete team.

Yet another Princeton and Ivy League superstar is on the move. Last week, standout miler Sam Ellis announced via Instagram that he will be going to the University of Washington next year as a graduate transfer.

According to TFRRS, he is expected to have at least one season of outdoor track eligibility remaining and at least one season of cross country eligibility remaining. It does not appear that Ellis has any indoor track eligibility remaining, although that part is unclear.

Ellis has evolved into one of the most dangerous and underrated milers in the NCAA with his best accolades coming this past spring and this past winter.

The Princeton ace was a respectable distance talent for the first-half of his collegiate career, but he didn't truly break out until the winter of 2020 when he ran 2:22 for 1000 meters and ran 3:57 in the mile.

But Ellis truly introduced himself as someone with national-contending talent in 2022 once the chaos of the pandemic had settled. He once again ran 3:57 in the mile, but then improved upon that mark with a 3:56 PR later in the winter months. He also ran 1:48 for 800 meters.

Ellis shockingly didn't advance to the indoor national meet in the mile this past winter in what was easily the most competitive year ever in the NCAA. He did, however, anchor the Princeton Tigers to a 4th place All-American finish in the DMR.

On the outdoor oval, Ellis only got better. He peaked in the back-half of the spring months, running 3:39 for 1500 meters before the regional meets. Ellis then advanced to the national meet where he ran a 3:37 PR in the prelims and masterfully navigated through the finals to earn bronze.

Few men in the NCAA peaked better for the postseason than Ellis did. Now, he'll take his sky-high momentum and elite mile prowess to Seattle where he'll join arguably the best contingent of milers in the NCAA.

If you include Ellis, the Huskies took four of the eight All-American spots in the 1500 meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships earlier this month (1-3-5-7).

Ellis has slowly gotten better over time. Not just in his times, but also in his tactics. His overall fitness has improved, but so has his range. His tactics, patience and understanding of positioning have become noticeably better and he generally looks much more comfortable in many of the nationally competitive fields that he's been in.

And with one of the best developers of mile/1500 meter talents in the NCAA now as his head coach (Andy Powell), Ellis has the potential to legitimately contend for the national title next year.

But in a unique twist of fate, he'll need to go through future teammate and the defending 1500 meter national champion, Joe Waskom, in order to do so.

Ellis is a fine cross country runner, but it's clear that his biggest role will come on the oval rather than the grass. His middle distance favoritism heavily outweighs what he can contribute over 8000 to 10,000 meters in the fall.

If you thought that the influx of elite talent heading to Washington was ending with the Ivy League, then you would be sadly mistaken. That's because on Monday, Williams ace and D3 megastar Aidan Ryan announced via Instagram that he would be attending the University of Washington next year to pursue his Masters degree.

According to TFRRS, he is expected to have one season of outdoor track eligibility remaining and potentially one additional season of indoor track eligibility remaining. He is not expected to hold any additional cross country eligibility.

Ryan, in a unique way, is the Steph Curry of collegiate distance running, specifically in Division Three. That's because both parties dramatically transformed how we view and think about their respective leagues (or in Ryan's case, his entire division).

The Williams superstar redefined what it meant to be an elite D3 distance runner. Ryan was solid runner in the early days of his collegiate career, but he truly began to build momentum in 2019 when he won the D3 1500 meter national title. He later finished 10th at the D3 NCAA XC Championships that same year.

Ryan then posted all-time marks of 4:05 (mile) and 8:08 (3k) during the 2020 indoor track season, but never had the opportunity to flex his talent on the national stage due to the pandemic.

But when Ryan returned to the oval, the Williams veteran looked like a completely new (and improved) talent.

He placed 4th at the 2021 D3 NCAA XC Championships, ran jaw-dropping marks of 3:56 (mile) and 7:54 (3k), won an indoor mile title, earned a pair of runner-up finishes in the 3k and the DMR, and then ran 3:45 for 1500 meters, 14:01 for 5000 meters and 1:51 for 800 meters.

Unfortunately, a rumored (and unconfirmed) combination of recovering from illness and a hamstring tweak ultimately held Ryan out from advancing to the 1500 meter finals at the most recent D3 outdoor national meet.

What Aidan Ryan has done for the reputation of Division Three cannot be overstated. His complete disregard for historical precedents and his destruction of formidable D3 distance records has been awe-inspiring.

Now, Ryan will join what is easily the best all-around group of miler/1500 meter runners in the NCAA today. Not just with Nathan Green, Luke Houser and Joe Waskom, but with former Princeton star Sam Ellis as well.

Despite a tough ending to his 2022 outdoor track season, Ryan's room for improvement is still incredibly high. He'll be pushed to his absolute limits with the Huskies as he aims to crowd future national meets with his soon-to-be teammates.

But what may also be an underappreciated aspect of Ryan's resume is his 3k prowess, something that only Luke Houser of that aforementioned UW mile contingent has truly emulated on the indoor oval.

By potentially shifting his postseason focus to the 3000 meters, Ryan could potentially create more leeway for the Washington men when it comes to the indoor national meet, both in terms of national qualification and advancing to the national meet mile finals.

All while theoretically maintaining the same scoring potential in the distance events for UW.