Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Mar 2, 20235 min
Do you have an interest in writing for The Stride Report? We're looking for high school writers and potentially NAIA writers. Want to know more? Read this and send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com to let us know!
Have a transfer tip? Send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com and we'll look into it.
NOTE: The Stride Report is aware that there have been multiple transfer developments since our last update that we did not mention below. We do plan on releasing another Transfer Market piece after the completion of the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The Stride Report has confirmed that MIT's Ryan Wilson has entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer. According to TFRRS, the only season that Wilson has remaining eligibility in would be on the outdoor track. Before the upcoming 2023 spring season, Wilson holds two seasons of eligibility.
It is, however, unclear if Wilson could ultimately gain another year of eligibility back due to the pandemic as well as Division Three's rule which does not allow their athletes to extend their eligibility past four years.
Regardless, few men are expected to hold the value that Ryan Wilson has in the transfer portal. The Engineer ace has been beyond incredible this winter, running monster times of 1:46.61 (800) and 3:55.29 (mile), both of which shattered the previous D3 records.
Of course, Wilson has done more than just run super fast for a few-week stretch. The middle distance star also won the indoor and outdoor national titles in the 800 meters last winter and spring. He later came back in the fall of 2022 and produced an incredible 5th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
It is hard to put into words just how incredible Wilson has been. There's an argument to be made that he's not only the best middle or long distance talent in Division Three right now, but maybe even the best in Division Two (depending on how you feel about Dillon Powell).
Wilson's versatility is insanely valuable. He can be a legitimate three-season contributor for most Division One programs. And when you pair that dynamic skillset with his unreal fitness, it would be understandable if college coaches are knocking down his door trying to recruit him.
Yes, the current MIT megastar is currently based in the northeastern portion of the country. However, Wilson is a California native and when you look at the options for top-tier middle distance talents in the northeast, the options feel limited (until you get down to Pennsylvania).
So if this middle distance star wants to return to the west coast, then programs such Stanford and UCLA should be on the radar as potential landing spots for Wilson.
The Cardinal now have John Lester (1:46 for 800 meters, 3:58 for the mile) who is a nice long-term middle distance piece that the men of Palo Alto can rally around. Meanwhile, the UCLA men and women are in a complete rebuild. New distance coach Sean Brosnan has proven to be very active in the transfer portal and has found recent success with a handful of milers.
It should be noted that Stanford and UCLA are only speculative suggestions. It's not yet clear where Wilson intends to land or who is recruiting him.
The Stride Report has confirmed that Duke's Dalia Frias has entered the transfer portal as a regular transfer. According to TFRRS, Frias is expected to have three seasons of indoor track and cross country eligibility remaining. She currently has all four years of outdoor track eligibility and will likely retain that eligibility assuming that she does not race this spring.
It should also be noted that Frias, who has acted as a key member of Duke's DMR squad that ran 10:49 last weekend, is no longer listed among the Blue Devils' possible lineup options, per Duke's latest press release.
Frias, a superstar freshman from the Class of 2022, was one of the most highly-touted distance recruits in the nation last year. At the prep level, the California native ran times of 2:09 (800), 4:33 (1600), 4:35 (mile), 9:14 (3k) and 9:50 (two miles), all on the outdoor oval.
On the grass, Frias was arguably just as good, running a time of 15:43 for three miles during the 2021 cross country season. She won the California XC State Championships and placed 5th at the 2021 Garmin RunningLane XC National Championships.
She was also a Foot Locker National Championship qualifier in 2018.
Frias' first year with the Duke women hasn't necessarily blown us away, but she has been very solid and plenty valuable. Over the last three weeks, she has run times of 4:44 (mile) and 9:20 (3k) which, for her first-ever indoor track season, is respectable.
The true freshman also showed promise on the grass this past fall, placing 67th at Nuttycombe and 36th at the Southeast Regional XC Championships.
Few rookies hold the long-term transfer value that Dalia Frias does. She has a history of being a legitimately elite high school superstar and her lone year in the NCAA, while not amazing, has still been pretty good.
Given that she is a California native, it is impossible to ignore the idea of the UCLA women being in contention to land this current Blue Devil. After all, new distance coach Sean Brosnan has already landed a pair of young transfer standouts (Mia Barnett and Sam McDonnell) this year. It would be surprising if he didn't remain active in the transfer portal.
And when you consider how close Frias' hometown (Manhattan Beach) is to Los Angeles, it feels like destiny that this former high school star will venture home to build a distance running powerhouse with the Bruins.
That, of course, is just speculation...
The Stride Report has confirmed that Indiana's Camden Marshall has entered the transfer portal as a regular transfer. According to TFRRS, Marshall is expected to hold three seasons of outdoor track eligibility (assuming he doesn't race this spring), two seasons of indoor track eligibility and three seasons of cross country eligibility.
Marshall's expected/eventual departure from Indiana likely stems from the upcoming retirement of long-time Hoosier coach, Ron Helmer, who will be retiring at the end of this academic year.
One of the more pleasant surprises throughout the 2022 indoor and outdoor track seasons was seeing the rise Camden Marshall. While certainly an accomplished prep runner, holding a personal best of 4:07 for 1600 meters, the leap that this current Hoosier made in year one of his collegiate career was very impressive.
As a rookie, Marshall ran 1:49 for 800 meters on the indoor oval and won the BIG 10 title in that same distance. He also contributed to an Indiana DMR which ran 9:22 last winter and qualified for the indoor national meet. On the outdoor oval, Marshall ran times of 1:48 (800) and 3:42 (1500).
But it's been year two that has really seen Marshall go from "good" to "great".
The current sophomore has run outstanding times of 1:47 (800), 2:21 (1k) and 3:57 (mile) this season, emerging as one of the more complete middle distance talents in the NCAA. His consistency, from a time perspective, has also improved quite a bit.
Tactically, Marshall proved that he was light years ahead of his fellow NCAA freshmen last year. And although he hasn't been quite as consistent in that aspect of his racing this winter, the Hoosier sophomore still has the potential to be a lethal All-American threat one day.
It's not entirely clear where Marshall could land. He's an Indiana native and obviously stayed in-state when moving to the collegiate level. If he wants to remain in the Hoosier state, the only other team that could match his caliber of talent would be Notre Dame.
Of course, it's very possible that Marshall will want to branch out and see which programs would best fit his middle distance identity. Does that mean Texas? Virginia Tech? Iowa State? Penn State? Villanova? Ole Miss? Dare I say Washington or Virginia?
And what about the distance programs with new coaches who are trying to bolster their new squads sooner rather than later? Does that mean Oregon? Tennessee? Boston College? UCLA? Cal Poly? Florida?
Your guess is as good as mine...