Transfer Market (Part 27)

Have a transfer tip? Send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com and we'll look into it.

Iowa State has announced that Miami (Ohio)'s Finley McLear will be finishing his eligibility with the Cyclones as a regular transfer. McLear has two years of eligibility remaining, but is expected to use only one full year of that remaining eligibility.

McLear has grown into a national-caliber superstar over the last two years, specifically during the 2021 indoor and outdoor track seasons. Over the last two years, the Miami (OH) standout has run outstanding marks of 1:45 (800) and 3:43 (1500).

Last year, McLear made a statement to the rest of the NCAA by going undefeated in the indoor 800 meters during the regular season. Then, at the NCAA Indoor Championships, McLear refused to be shaken off by the leaders, nearly getting the national title and instead settling for runner-up honors by 0.01 seconds.

McLear did, however, run a monster mark of 1:45.91 for 800 meters en route to that silver medal in that race, making a statement to the rest of the NCAA that his fitness and regular season success was as real as it gets.

Fast forward to the spring of 2021 and McLear continued to dominate, running under 1:48 numerous times before going to the national meet, earning a 4th place finish and running a PR of 1:45.80 in the 800 meters in the process.

2022 was admittedly not an ideal year for McLear.

The RedHawk standout was absent from competition during the winter months. Then, during the spring, McLear showed promise by running a 3:43 personal best for 1500 meters. However, he only raced in two more meets after that, ending his season with an 800 meter title at the Mid-American Conference Championships in a mark of 1:49.

Whatever lull forced McLear to take a step back this year can now be set aside. The 2021 national indoor runner-up in the half-mile will now venture to Ames, Iowa where he join one of, if not the, deepest and best middle distance programs in the country.

Iowa State is an 800 meter powerhouse with countless men running 1:50 and many more qualifying for the national meet and emerging as All-Americans. Coach Sudbury has taken lesser-known talents and developed them into megastars and has also taken well-established standouts and built upon their already stacked resumes.

On paper, there isn't a program in the country that better suits McLear. He can join a historic powerhouse in his ideal event area while staying in the midwest, all while joining a roster that features Jason Gomez (1:46), Cebastian Gentil (1:46), Darius Kipyego (1:47) and others.

McLear has one more year to not only prove that he can return to elite form, but to also prove that he can contend for a national title. That last part will be challenging, but if there is any team in the country that can get him back to that point, it's Iowa State.

We have yet another runner stepping away from Miami (OH). This time, it is Anthony Camerieri who will be finishing his eligibility with Ole Miss as a graduate transfer. He is expected to have one full year of eligibility across all three seasons of competition.

Camerieri is arguably one of the more underrated distance runners in the midwest, running marks of 3:41 (1500), 4:00 (mile), 7:54 (3k) and 13:48 (5k). All of those personal bests came in the last six months.

On the grass, Camerieri has shown promise, but he still has work to do in order to be a key contributor for Ole Miss. The incoming graduate transfer secured a very strong 9th place finish at the Louisville Classic last fall, but faltered a bit at Pre-Nationals and the Great Lakes Regional XC Championships.

Camerieri, who committed to Ole Miss back in February, will now be joining a program that just lost its superstar head coach, Ryan Vanhoy. The Rebels did, however, recently hire Adam Smith, the former assistant coach for Reebok Boston Track Club.

Camerieri's introduction to Oxford, Mississippi comes at the perfect time. The departure of Mario Garcia Romo, James Young, Michael Coccia and others (according to TFRRS) leaves Ole Miss with the need to bolster their mile/3k corps, an area that Camerieri fits into perfectly.

The soon-to-be Rebel isn't going to replace all of the scoring that the departing veterans left behind. However, this is someone who can realistically score at SEC Championships on the track. And on the grass, Camerieri can act as a viable varsity piece -- although his spot in that lineup could be anywhere from "low-stick" to "backend scorer", two categories that Ole Miss will happily welcome.

But the best part about all of this is that the Rebels may have just landed someone who has yet to hit their peak.

As we mentioned earlier, Camerieri's best performances have come in the last six months, meaning that greater consistency and national-caliber track times could be on the horizon for him during the 2022-23 academic calendar.

The Stride Report has confirmed that Columbia's Linnaea Kavulich will be finishing her eligibility as a graduate transfer at Virginia later this year. She is expected to have a full year of eligibility across all three seasons of eligibility, plus an extra season of outdoor track.

Kavulich has proven to be a respectable distance during her time at Columbia, putting together solid marks of 9:39 (3k), 16:39 (5k) and 34:53 (10k).

Admittedly, Kavulich isn't necessarily a standout star, but she was a steady contributor for the Lions over the recent years. Her above personal bests have all come in the last six months and she was a three-time scorer at the Ivy League Championships on the track.

On the grass is where Kavulich's greatest potential lies. The soon-to-be Cavalier was a two-time top-30 finisher at the Ivy League XC Championships, earned a solid 38th place finish at the 2019 Roy Griak Invitational and has secured cross country national meet experience.

Kavulich still has work to do before she's going to be an impact name for the Virginia women. Even so, there is still plenty of room for improvement and her resume suggests that she is due for a breakout season, or at the very least, one or two breakout races.

And if that breakout happens this fall, then the Virginia women could be sneaky good in 2022.

The Stride Report has confirmed that Iona's Jordan Brannan will be finishing his eligibility as a graduate transfer at Eastern Washington later this year. He is expected to have two full years of eligibility remaining across all three seasons. He is expected to use all two year of his eligibility.

Securing a talent like Brannan is a major win for Eastern Washington. The former Iona talent has run marks of 8:08 (3k), 14:03 (5k) and 29:43 (10k). The 2019 MAAC indoor 5k/3k champion also has plenty of experience on the grass, making two appearances at the NCAA XC Championships with his team.

Although, historically, larger cross country fields have not favored him.

On paper, Brannan is clearly going to be the best name on Eastern Washington's roster for the upcoming year. In fact, Brannan's personal bests would make him the school record holder in the indoor 5k and the outdoor 5k (barely). He would also be No. 2 all-time in the 10k and No. 2 all-time in the 3k.

Now that Brannan will be donning an EWU singlet, the Eagles' next objective will be capitalizing on a team that returns everyone from last year's lineup which placed 8th at the BIG Sky XC Championships.

With that group now another year older and Brannan (potentially) acting as a front-runner for the Eagles alongside Justin Roosma, the question for Eastern Washington now becomes, how close to the top-five can the Eagles finish in the BIG Sky this fall?