First Thoughts: 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championship Reactions (Day Four)

The final day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships is now complete. The women gave us plenty to discuss, so let's breakdown these races event-by-event and see what insights we can pull away from these results...

Women's 1500 Meters

It's not often that you can point at a distance race on the national stage and say "Everyone actually ran pretty well." But in my opinion, I think that's exactly what could be said about the women's 1500 meters...well maybe not for everyone, but almost everyone!

There were a few sporadic moves within this race, but generally speaking, this race was pretty straightforward. The only move that I didn't expect was seeing Krissy Gear go to the front of this race and hold a lead for a fairly substantial amount of time.

One would think that given her overall season, her prelim race and her general skillset, that Gear would want to sit back and make this a more tactical race. Even Vissa said she wasn't expecting Gear to take the lead.

And while Gear didn't win, eventually falling victim to great finishes by Vissa, DeGenero and Aragon, the fact that she still settled for a 4th place has me shrugging and saying, "Well, I guess it worked out anyway."

I'm still not entirely sure why Gear opted to go to the front -- maybe it was to take the speed out of Vissa and DeGenero -- but I'm not going to be critical of a move when it works.

Vissa, meanwhile, just sat behind Gear and any of the women who decided to work their way the front. She was solid the entire race, never making an unnecessary move. Her move to the front in the last lap was strong and convincing. For her to hold off DeGenero, who seemed to time her move (almost) perfectly, was awfully impressive.

Vissa has shown great finishing speed before and has flexed plenty of strength. Her wins at the Tom Jones Memorial meet and the SEC Championships are good examples of that. If anyone was going to hold off a kick from DeGenero that was over 100 meters out from the finish, then it was going to be Vissa.

And sure enough, that's exactly how this Ole Miss star got a national title.

DeGenero, meanwhile, was COMPLETELY out of this race -- or so I thought. She was in the latter-half of this field for a while and I just assumed that she was done.

But no, this is what happens when one of the smarter distance runners with one of the best kicks in the NCAA is in a national meet.

It looks like she started her kick from 300 meters out. If she had started it from 250 meters or 200 meters, would the end result have been different?

Maybe, but when you consider where she was in this race and how close she already was to winning this title, it's hard to really say that she timed her kick poorly or anything like that. All things considered, she was brilliant.

And how about Christina Aragon? If there was any Stanford runner in this field who was going to be in the mix with a big kick, I thought it would be Heymach. But instead, it was Aragon, kicking past Gear at the very end and ending her collegiate career on a major high note.

It's hard not to root for Aragon, especially after she went through so many challenges and injuries throughout her career. For her to sustain season-long momentum, running one of the faster times or her career and earning bronze, is huge. She's been great at positioning herself in these competitive races and generally speaking, she just looks sharper.

As for the rest of this field, I gotta give credit for Heymach (5th), Mackay (6th), Flockhart (7th) and Chepkemei (8th).

Sure, maybe they could have been better positioned at certain points or had started their kicks at a different time. But generally speaking, they held their own, responded to moves and came away with All-American honors.

And if you had told me that Mackay, Flockhart and Chepkemei would ultimately get backend All-American honors, then I would have said that they had successful races.

Howell, Ramsden, Leather and Tanaka all fell out of the top-eight, but in a race that was this quick, early positioning did matter. Someone had to be left out of the top-eight and while I didn't think it would be Howell or Leather, I also can't say that they had a poor race given that three of these four women ran under 4:14.

Women's 3000 Meter Steeplechase

Look, I could try to go into the details and nuances of this race, attempting to give you intricate analysis about certain moves. But the fact of the matter is that this race was a strict test of aerobic fitness. Even running a PR did not guarantee you an All-American honor.

10 of the top-11 finishers in this race ran a new personal best, some of which were substantial improvements. To put it simply, you needed to have the best race of your career to be an All-American in the women's steeplechase...and even that wasn't a guarantee.

Wayment and Kimeli hit the gas from the gun and tried to create some immediate separation. However, after the first few laps, it was Kimeli who had fallen off the pace and Wayment who was pulling away.

DeLay did an outstanding job of giving chase all things considered. I'll admit, when I saw DeLay initially go after Wayment, I questioned if she was being overly aggressive. But no, she wasn't! The Yale superstar continued to hold her own, even though there was ultimately a 20 to 30 meter lead between her and the BYU veteran.

Ceili McCabe also deserves plenty of credit for leading the chase pack behind DeLay. The West Virginia runner flexed her strength and acted as the one woman would not relent in her pursuit for the leader(s).

Truthfully, McCabe might be the biggest reason why so many of these women ran new PRs.

But by fifth lap, it was fairly obvious that Wayment wasn't going to touched. In fact, it was becoming increasingly more apparent that she was going for a time that would not just destroy her PR, but the collegiate record as well.

And sure enough, as she charged down the final straightaway, Wayment recorded a mind-boggling time of 9:16. That mark destroyed the original collegiate record of 9:24.

At this point, it's time to question where amongst the all-time greats Wayment should rank. She won an indoor 3k title, a DMR national title and a steeplechase title. She has one of the faster 5k times in NCAA history between both seasons and she just eviscerated a very good steeple record.

As for DeLay, she now sits at NCAA #3 all-time in the steeplechase, something that will likely be overlooked. And the craziest part is that she's only a junior by eligibility. If she does choose to come back -- and due to Ivy League rules, that *might* be at a new school -- then DeLay has a chance to do something very special in the steeplechase next year.

Would it be enough to pass Wayment's record?

Well, that's asking a lot, but I suppose it's not totally out of the question.

As for the rest of this pack, McCabe finished 3rd, Boreman finished 4th, Thorner finished 5th, Mitchell finished 6th, Jolly finished 7th and Cohen finished 8th. Everyone in this field except for Kimeli ran under 9:40.

And honestly, that's all I really have for this section. Everyone had good seasons and if they were able to peak better than their competitors, then they were basically given an All-American honor.

Women's 800 Meters

My Blue Oval Podcast co-host, Ben Weisel, wasn't (initially) able to watch the women's 800 meters. But when he did look at the results, he simply asked, "So is it fair to say that Miller took the race out hard and then Schoffield caught her with 200 meters go?"

Sometimes the results do tell the full story.

Aaliyah Miller somewhat unsurprisingly took out this race very quickly, something that we've seen her do multiple times before. She came through 400 meters in 57-ish seconds with Schoffield and Galvdyte giving chase. Barrett was also in the mix behind those two women.

Miller's lead was sustained through 200 meters, but it was clear by that point that the field was going to catch her.

By the final straightaway, Schoffield was the one being rewarded for her pursuit while Barrett and Galvdyte also looked strong in the final stretch, showing great turnover. And with 50 meters to go, it seemed fairly obvious that the Boise State star, the woman known for peaking in the postseason, would win the national title.

But then, almost out of nowhere, the always reliable veteran of McKenna Keegan dropped a stunning kick when no one was expecting it, ultimately getting 2nd place while Galvydte placed 3rd, Barrett placed 4th and Hendrick placed 5th.

I have so many notes about this race, let's break them down one by one...

I can't remember too many women who peak better in the postseason than Schoffield. She was just a completely new runner over the last month, going from complete afterthought to easily one of the most elite 800 meter runners in the nation.

She's done this before, having her best races in championship settings, but taking down a LOADED 800 meter final and running 2:01.09 was wildly impressive. She was the one who went after Miller and she wasn't penalized for leading the chase pack. That doesn't always happen.

Keegan is the unsung hero in this race. I have said for a VERY long time now that she is probably the most underappreciated star in the women's national 800 meter picture. She was viewed as a reliable All-American pick, but I don't think I was expecting her to take down certain women in this field.

I was convinced that Keegan would be a backend All-American, an assumption that I was very clearly wrong about. And it wasn't just her poise, tactics, experience and kick that got her to this point. Her newfound level of fitness just produced a 2:01 PR, a mark that seemed necessary to place as highly in this field as she did.

Kudos to Keegan, it was hard not to root for her.

Galvdyte had a great race. She stuck with Schoffield when the field was chasing Miller and she simply maintained her position all the way to the line. She was strong throughout the entirety of the race and maintained that strength when she needed it the most -- during a crowded final straightaway.

A few quick notes...

Imogen Barrett had a solid effort of her own and placed 4th. She didn't have a bad performance, but if she put herself in a better position earlier in this race, then she may have been closer to the win than not.

Seeing Sarah Hendrick stay back with the pack and not be more aggressive with her tactics was surprising. She usually likes to hit the gas from the gun, but she didn't do that this time around.

It's easy to say that she should've been more aggressive, but had she gone all-out and then faltered, we would be saying that she needs to try something else. It's no a no-win situation from an analysis standpoint.

I'm pretty confident that I saw Valery Tobias in last place earlier in this race, but she rallied to run 2:02 and placed 6th overall. If my eyes weren't deceiving me, then that was a wildly impressive rally by her.

Women's 5000 Meters

The women's 5000 meters was somewhat similar to the women's steeplechase in that it was fairly fast somewhat immediately.

Tuohy went to the front of this race early-on and Florida's Parker Valby sat right on her shoulder. Chelangat and Nichols tucked in behind that duo while Roe was basically near the back of this field before moving up after 2k.

For the most part, things stayed that way for the entirety of the race. However, with a little over a mile to go, I saw something that caught my attention: Parker Valby took the lead.

The fearless redshirt freshman tried to outrun Tuohy which is one of the boldest strategies I could imagine. Of course, then again, there isn't necessarily any good way to beat Tuohy.

At this point, Roe had fallen back and although she was still within striking distance, it was clear that the rising Florida star and the young NC State phenom would be battling for distance superiority.

In the end, Tuohy eventually broke away from Valby, putting down a lethal kick over the last lap and winning the national title in 15:18.

However, I couldn't get over how incredible Valby was. The Gator ace finished runner-up in 15:20, showing off so. much. strength. that I just didn't expect to be there. She was fearless and convicted in her moves. She looked poised and in control. She simply looked like one of the best women in the nation.

If I had to choose an MVP for the woman who didn't win a national title, it would unquestionably be Valby.

But in fairness to Tuohy, she deserves some kudos of her own. I think we have all grown used to her dominance. The expectation is that she'll win every time she toes the line and for the most part, it's been that way for her since high school.

I'm not totally convinced that she'll use all of her NCAA eligibility -- she might go pro in the next year or two -- but I like to appreciate greatness when it's in front of us. And that is exactly what we should doing with Tuohy.

As for the rest of this field, I can't say I'm too surprised about Roe (3rd) or Chelangat (4th). They had been great all season long and on paper, this field favored their strengths, especially Chelangat who typically does well in these fast-paced settings.

Seeing Lauren Gregory bounce back for a 5th place finish was awesome after she was a DNF in the 10k. That does, however, make me wonder what caused her to jump out of the 10k but still run this race...

Abby Nichols finishing 6th place is far from bad, but it's also not her best performance. She ran 15:15 earlier this season and this race seemed like it would simply be a test of her aerobic fitness -- which one would expect to be very high right now.

I'll never understand why she went for the 5k over the 10k, but such is life...

Larkin's 7th place finish was impressive, running 15:33 in the process, but she was capable of doing something like that all year long. New Mexico always seems to deliver...

Isabel Van Camp placed 8th with a time of 15:35 and I'm stunned. This is someone who had never run faster than 15:51 coming into this race! She picked an awfully good time to have the race of her life, especially since I thought she was closer to a mile/3k runner than a 3k/5k runner...

The NC State women had Starliper, Bush and Steelman take the next three spots. I don't have a whole lot to say here, but seeing the Wolfpack women produce so much top-end depth has been so much fun this year. It's hard not to be a fan of this team.