Transfer Market (Part 31)

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An already-talented women's team at the University of Michigan just got better. Both Anna Juul (formerly of Harvard) and Danielle Page (formerly of Tufts) are listed as graduate transfers on the school's roster.

It should be noted that Juul is expected to have two seasons of indoor and outdoor track eligibility remaining (each). However, despite initial suspicions that she would be competing this fall, it appears that Juul does not have any cross country eligibility remaining.

Page, however, is expected to have one season of cross country eligibility remaining as well as at least two seasons of indoor and outdoor track eligibility remaining (each).

Both of these women are massive additions for the Ann Arbor-based distance program. While Juul may not have any more cross country eligibility remaining, her accolades on the track are exceptional. Her mile-centric talent has produced nationally competitive personal bests of 4:18 (1500) and 4:36 (mile).

Juul actually qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships during the winter of 2020, but the meet was ultimately cancelled due to the rise of the Coronavirus. The explosive middle distance veteran has also earned a national qualifying spot to the cross country national meet in the past.

The former Harvard runner will be an extremely clutch addition to the Wolverines' roster. The Michigan women have historically had great talents in the 3k and 5k. They have also been able to produce a promising 800 meter star in Aurora Rynda.

And while the Michigan women did produce one of the fastest DMR times this past winter, it was clear that they needed a home-run hitter on their anchor leg.

And that is (potentially) where Anna Juul comes in.

This former Ivy League standout also creates greater flexibility when it comes to setting BIG 10 conference meet lineups, theoretically allowing fewer longer distance runners to drop down in distance to the mile so that they can focus on other events.

So while Juul may not perfectly fit into the 3k/5k mold that we have seen from the Michigan women over the years, she still perfectly matches what this team needs.

As for Page, her cross country talent is second-to-none. The former Division Three superstar was absolutely incredible on the grass for the Tufts women. The 2021 NESCAC cross country champion finished 6th at the 2019 NCAA XC Championships and then 3rd at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships.

On paper, Page is a potential season-altering graduate transfer.

The Michigan women have a very strong core at the top of their lineup, sporting women like Ericka VanderLende, Kayle Windemuller and Katelynne Hart. Based on our preseason rankings, those are three of the 60 best women in the country.

Now, with Page set to don a Michigan singlet this fall, the Wolverine women appear to have a much more complete lineup.

Of course, trying to figure out how Page's success at the Division Three level will translate to the Division One realm is tricky to figure out.

Still, she doesn't necessarily need to be a superstar. As long as Page offers reliable and consistent scoring support within Michigan's top-five, then it will be hard to envision this team having any "off" days this fall.

Speaking of BIG 10 standouts from the state of Michigan, former Michigan State runner Melanie Helder will be venturing to Evansville as a graduate transfer. According to TFRRS, she is expected to hold one season of outdoor track eligibility as well as two seasons of both indoor track and cross country eligibility.

Helder was quietly one of the more underrated distance talents in the BIG 10 this past year. The former Spartan runner thrived in the 1500 meter and mile distances, posting times of 4:18 and 4:41, respectively. Helder also produced a solid 800 meter time of 2:07 this past spring and was a support piece in Michigan State's cross country lineup last fall.

Evansville just gained a monumental name who will be an instant star in the Missouri Valley Conference. For perspective, no one in the MVC came within four seconds of Helder's mile time last winter and didn't come within three seconds of Helder's 1500 meter time last spring.

Helder is the first addition that Coach Brooks LeCompte has added to the Purple Ace's program. LeCompte was recently introduced as Evansville's newest Director of Track & Field and Cross Country back in July.

The hiring of LeCompte has effectively led to the transfer of Helder -- and that's a big deal. After all, the Evansville women scored just two points at the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships (finishing last) and scored only one point 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships (finishing last).

However, it should be noted that Evansville's men's and women's indoor and outdoor track teams were only recently introduced as varsity sports back in 2017.

Luckily, with Helder now in the program, the Purple Ace's have a true conference star who can give them a true identity moving forward.

Is this the best depth that the Alabama men have had over the last few years?

It very well might be.

The Stride Report has confirmed that both Brady Grant (formerly of Texas A&M) and Jacob Harris (formerly of Toledo) will be joining the Crimson Tide this fall as graduate transfers. Grant is expected to hold two full years of eligibility across all three seasons of competition. Harris, meanwhile is expected to have two years of cross country eligibility remaining as well as three years of both indoor and outdoor track eligibility.

And that extra eligibility could be highly valuable over the long-term.

Now, on paper, Grant and Harris aren't exactly superstar low-sticks.

But here's the thing -- they don't have to be.

With Alabama flexing one of the best scoring trios in the country, all that the Crimson Tide men need is decent scoring support. And come October and November, both Grant and Harris may be able to offer exactly that.

Grant has posted times of 8:17 (3k), 14:29 (5k) and 9:00 (steeple). However, maybe more importantly, he finished 31st at the SEC XC Championships last fall. For perspective, that finish would have allowed the Crimson Tide to cut 22 points off of their team score at that same meet (although they still would have placed 4th as a team).

As for Harris, his experience on the track is nearly non-existent. However, his cross country performances are promising. Last fall, Harris placed 4th at the quietly competitive Mid-American Conference XC Championships. He also placed 11th in the "Open" race at Pre-Nationals with a time of 24:26. That time would have put him around 130th place in the "Garnet" race which would have been a top-half finish.

When pairing Grant and Harris with returners like Wiggers, Burian, Hawes and Saacke, the Alabama men suddenly have some respectable depth this year.

Of course, significant improvements need to be made by at least one of these men in order for them to have a legitimate scoring impact within this lineup. That's hardly a guarantee and simply replicating their 2021 results won't be enough to make a noticeable difference.

Still, the options are now plentiful for a team that has the foundation for what could be a very promising 2022 cross country season.

And when you consider how young Alabama's current low-sticks and backend support pieces are right now, you'll begin to see that this program could be a major problem for SEC rivals in 2023 and beyond.

Dylan Jacobs and Yaseen Abdalla have understandably caught all of the attention when it comes to Tennessee's latest transfer hauls.

However, Coach Sean Carlson hasn't stopped there.

That's because Jacob Lewis, a former runner for Grand Canyon, will be joining the Volunteers as a graduate transfer starting this fall. According to TFFRS, he is expected to have one full year of eligibility remaining across all three seasons of competition.

Lewis is one of the more underrated middle distance talents from out west who brings differing levels of value in each season that he toes the line for.

The former Grand Canyon ace boasts excellent personal bests of 1:49 for 800 meters and 3:41 for 1500 meters, giving the Tennessee men a greater injection of speed to complement the aerobic-based strength of fellow transfers Dylan Jacobs and Yaseen Abdalla.

Lewis was also the Western Athletic Conference champion in the 1500 meters and the mile this past winter and spring. Lewis also won the outdoor 1500 meter conference title in 2021.

Based on his resume, Lewis is clearly better on the track than he is the grass. That, however, is not to suggest that Lewis can't bring at least some assistance to the Tennessee men this fall.

During the 2021 cross country season, Lewis placed 50th at Roy Griak and later 51st at the West Regional XC Championships. And while those results don't necessarily jump off the page, it's reasonable to think that the former Grand Canyon ace will translate (some of) his recent improvements on the track to the grass.

Don't be surprised is Lewis ends up as a sixth or seventh runner for the Tennessee men this fall.

In April of this year, Wright State announced that they would be adding men's indoor track and men's outdoor track as varsity sports offerings at the beginning of the 2022-23 academic calendar.

And before they've even competed, the Raiders appear to already have a conference-level star on their roster.

That's because Ian Johnson, formerly for Ashland, will be joining the Wright State men starting this fall as a graduate transfer. He is expected to have only one season of outdoor track eligibility remaining.

Initial suspicions from The Stride Report were that Johnson's graduate transfer would keep him in the state of Ohio, resulting in him joining a school like Akron or Ohio State. After all, those two programs have a very respectable history of producing 800 meter runners.

And while we were right about Johnson staying in-state, the former Division Two middle distance standout has gone in a slightly different direction. The 2021 All-American appears to be taking a leap of faith in a program that has not yet ventured to the Horizon League Championships on the track before.

Even so, with personal bests of 1:49 for 800 meters and 4:05 in the mile, Johnson will be viewed as one of the marquee middle distance talents within the conference, especially now that Youngstown State's Sean Peterson is out of eligibility.

To say that Johnson will be the overwhelming favorite within the Horizon League would may be a slight stretch -- but not by much. At the very least, given his personal bests, Johnson will be viewed as the clear favorite to win a conference title come the spring of 2023.

However, the real question is, how much better can Johnson become relative to the highest ranks of Division One? I suppose we're about to find out...

One of the more under-the-radar moves of the summer is Seth Simonson going from Nebraska-Kearney to Drake as a graduate transfer.

According to TFRRS, Simonson has one year of eligibility remaining in both outdoor track and indoor track. He also has two years of cross country eligibility remaining, although Simonson's speciality mainly lies in the middle distances.

Simonson emerged as one of the better 800 meter and mile talents throughout Division Two last winter and spring. The former UNK Loper has produced multiple high-quality marks, running times of 1:50 for 800 meters, 3:47 for 1500 meters and 4:07 in the mile.

The two-time individual national qualifier has predominately built his reputation in the 800 meters, qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships in that event. This past winter, he placed 9th overall at the indoor national meet, being the first man out from qualifying for the finals as well as earning All-American honors.

Simonson did, however, earn an 8th place All-American finish with this DMR squad earlier this year.

As Simonson ventures to Drake, he will be joining a program that has earned national attention for the development of 1500 meter stars such as Adam Fogg (now with Under Armour) and Isaac Basten.

While Simonson typically favors the 800 meters over the mile, there is clear potential for him to be much stronger in the longer of those two distances. And with an exceptional training partner in Isaac Basten now beside him, the question now becomes, how close can Simonson get to the four-minute mile barrier?

But even if the former Nebraska-Kearney ace wants to keep his postseason focus on the 800 meters, his potential scoring potency will still be welcomed. On paper, Simonson could emerge as a high-end scorer in a conference that is currently headlined by Illinois State in the half-mile distance.