Transfer Market (Part 30)

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If you read our rankings, then you already know about Christian Allen leaving Weber State and joining the BYU Cougars as a graduate transfer.

According to TFRRS, Allen has at least one full year of eligibility across all three seasons of competition. It also appears that Allen may have a second year of eligibility in both indoor track and outdoor track.

In theory, this might be the second-biggest men's transfer of the year behind Dylan Jacobs.

Allen has continuously proved doubters (such as myself) wrong throughout his career. In 2019, Allen came out of absolutely nowhere to finish 14th at the NCAA XC Championships, blowing away expectations following a regular season which suggested that he wouldn't even be in the top-60 or top-70 names of the national meet.

An underwhelming winter cross country season wasn't great, but Allen would thrive in the fall of 2021. The distance veteran placed 6th at the loaded Joe Piane Invitational and later finished 32nd at Pre-Nationals. After a pair of top-five finishes at his conference and regional meets, Allen would advance to the NCAA XC Championships and drop a monumental 16th place finish, validating his breakout All-American finish from two seasons prior.

The soon-to-be Cougar would also translate his fitness to the track, running 13:36 for 5000 meters and 28:26 for 10,000 meters this past spring.

Landing someone like Allen is game-changing for the BYU men. The Cougars have a very solid team entering the 2022 cross country season, but TSR had questions about whether or not they had enough firepower to return to the podium.

But now, upper-echelon scoring potency is arguably the best aspect of this team.

On paper, BYU's Brandon Garnica (TSR #38) is more than talented enough to be an All-American, but he has yet to deliver on that potential. However, with Allen on this squad, the Cougars can pair their newest graduate transfer with Casey Clinger, giving the men from Provo one of the more reliable 1-2 punches and one of the best scoring trios in the NCAA if Garnica performs like we think he can.

And with a history of elite depth, Coach Eyestone's group now enters a podium conversation which looks extremely crowded and limited to only a handful of teams.

The Stride Report has confirmed that Fearghal Curtin, formerly of Charleston Southern, will be finishing his eligibility at Florida State as a graduate transfer. While it's unclear what seasons of eligibility Curtin has, The Stride Report is expecting the soon-to-be Seminole to hold at least one year of eligibility across all three seasons of competition.

Fearghal Curtin recently secured a preseason D1 XC Top 50 ranking from The Stride Report, earning a spot at TSR #46. Last fall, he placed 5th at the FSU XC Open, 21st at Pre-Nationals and 82nd at the NCAA XC Championships.

However, his true breakout season came this past spring. On the outdoor oval, Curtin threw down some of the best performances of his career. He ran 13:35 for 5000 meters, 28:25 for 10,000 meters and qualified for the outdoor national meet in the latter event.

Curtin will now join a Florida State team that recently lost Adriaan Wildschutt and Ahmed Muhumed, but has also brought in numerous high-potential scorers.

Curtin, who we project to be a true low-stick, will team up with former BYU runner Matt Owens (who placed 45th at the 2019 NCAA XC Championships) as well as Kansas State transfer Cooper Schroeder.

With the addition of Michael Toppi, a national-caliber recruit, and the return of Paul Stafford, the Florida State men could be sneaky-good this fall.

Now, admittedly, a lot needs to go right in order for the Seminoles to reach their full potential. Still, Curtin gives this team an elite scoring spark that we couldn't convincingly say was going to be there later this fall.

But now Florida State looks like a complete team that could surprise anyone who isn't familiar with their new-look lineup.

Portland has announced that Ahmed Sado, formerly of Adams State and Trinidad State, will be joining the Pilots as a regular transfer. According to Portland Athletics, Sado is expected to hold sophomore eligibility, although he has been in the NCAA/JUCO circuit since the fall of 2020.

One of the more underrated D2 distance runners of the last two years, Sado had major success early-on in his career at Adams State. The former Grizzly star finished 8th place in the mile at the 2021 NCAA D2 Indoor Championships to earn All-American honors. Her also ran a 4:07 mile PR in the prelims of that meet, although an altitude conversion has given him a 4:04 mark.

As successful as Sado was in the winter, he was even better the following spring.

The distance ace ended up running outstanding times of 3:49 (1500), 14:07 (5k) and 8:52 (steeple). Sado would later go on to finish 6th in the steeplechase at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning his second All-American honor in the process.

On the grass, Sado got better as his season progressed. He placed 18th at Paul Short, 7th at the RMAC XC Championships, 4th at the South Central Regional XC Championships and then 18th at the NCAA D2 XC Championships.

Sado was having great success at Adams State -- but then he left. The former Grizzly would join Trinidad State, a junior college, that winter. During the 2022 outdoor track season, Sado would nearly match his 1500 meter PR, his 5000 meter PR and his steeplechase PR...all at the same meet.

At Bryan Clay, Sado posted times of 3:49 (1500), 14:08 (5k) and 8:53 (3k steeplechase), putting together one of the most impressive triples of the year.

Sado wouldn't win a national title at the NJCAA Outdoor Championships, but he would score points in a mind-boggling total of four different events (1500, 5k, steeple, 4x800).

Now, Sado will be joining a Portland team that is revamping their roster following the departure of key cross country scorers. And in theory, Sado could be a top-seven contributor as soon as this fall.

On paper, the former Adams State and Trinidad State star holds massive value. His versatility, reliability, consistency and ability to double/triple/quadruple suggests that he can be a high-impact name at the Division One level.

Admittedly, there is still some uncertainty as to how quickly Sado will elevate his fitness and his times to match the necessary scoring potency that Portland needs in order to be nationally competitive.

Even so, it's hard to imagine a scenario where Sado doesn't have some type of varsity presence on this team later this fall or in the winter and spring of 2023.

Drury's Claire McCune and Katie McCune, two top talents at the D2 level, have announced via Instagram that they will be finishing their eligibility at Arkansas as graduate transfers.

According to TFRRS, Claire McCune has one season of indoor track and one season of outdoor track eligibility remaining. However, she is not expected to hold any remaining eligibility in cross country. Her sister, Katie McCune, is expected to have one year of eligibility remaining in all three seasons of competition.

The McCune sisters had fantastic success at the national level while competing in Division Two. On the grass, Claire has secured two GLVC titles as well as two All-American finishes. On the track, she has made two appearances at the national meet, one in the mile and one in the 1500 meters, both of which came this past year.

Claire's personal bests sit at 4:25 (1500), 4:46 (mile), 9:40 (3k) and 16:51 (5k).

Katie is the inverse of her sister when it comes to her event specialty. While she has never competed at an NCAA Championship on the grass, the soon-to-be Razorback has toed the line for multiple national meets on the track.

This past winter and spring, Katie qualified for the first two national meets of her career, both in the 800 meters. In both instances, she walked away with All-American honors. She leaves Drury with personal bests of 2:07 (800), 4:30 (1500) and 9:48 (3k).

Members of the GLVC can now breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the McCune sisters are out of their conference. The Arkansas women will also happily welcome a dynamic pair or middle and long distances standouts, both of whom have had their best performances in the past year.

It's possible that neither McCune sister has hit their athletic peak yet, and that's an exciting prospect to think about, especially if they're about to train within a historically elite Arkansas program.

Admittedly, both women will need to elevate their fitness even further to be competitive in the SEC. However, the potential is certainly there for these two veterans to build upon their exciting streak of momentum from the last seven months.