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

The men's NCAA Division One Champions have been crowned. Here are our reactions from a wildly entertaining Friday night of collegiate stardom...

Men's 1500 Meters

I could try to cover every single detail of what happened in this race, but what you ultimately need to know is that this was largely a sit-and-kick affair, something that you could have picked up just by looking at the results.

For the most part, this race was simply Mario Garcia Romo taking the lead and doing anything possible to implement a leisurely pace. If someone went to the front, Garica Romo chased after them and essentially pushed them back into a tactical race.

And for the most part it worked.

That is, until the Washington men got involved.

Late in the race, the duo of Waskom and Houser made a combined effort to get to the front. There was some sporadic surging from the field, Garcia Romo included, but ultimately, Houser went into the last lap in the lead with Waskom and Green not far behind in the middle of the lead pack.

An increased pace and a jump to the front by Waskom put the Husky star at the front with 200 meters to go. And from there, despite the rest of the field hot on his tail, I thought, "Huh, where have I seen this before?"

And then I remembered...

Waskom won the PAC-12 title in the exact. same. way. that he won the NCAA 1500 meter title.

We knew that his kick was very strong and much better from 200 meters out than most men in this field. However, Garcia Romo had the more proven middle distance speed as well as a national title in the mile that was won in a tactical, sit-and-kick setting.

But when Waskom gets to the front, he doesn't relinquish the lead, and sure enough, that was exactly what happened.

This title can't be argued as a fluke. We should've seen this coming, or at the very least, we should've known that this was a possibility. There were plenty of signs showing us that Waskom could execute like this in a tactical setting and he did exactly that.

As for Garcia Romo, people are going to say that he waited too long to make his move / kick, but I only partially agree with that. I do think that Garcia Romo waited too long to execute his kick, but he would have needed to go around Waskom if he was going to win this race.

And when you look at where Garcia Romo finished, there just wasn't going to be enough room on the inside rail for him to sneak by. Plus, he got boxed in on the inside rail going into the last curve and he didn't get released until the final straightaway.

Either way, I have to commend the Ole Miss star. He knew how he wanted to run this race and he made every effort to control it. Sure, it didn't work out, but it was pretty darn close to working.

Gotta love the way Sam Ellis ran this race. The Princeton veteran was very active in both the prelims and the finals, not being afraid to make moves and often putting himself in a prime position. He executed incredibly well and it's nice to see a guy of his caliber get rewarded for what has been a very underrated 2020.

There admittedly wasn't a lot to observe about Thomas Vanoppen's race, but he was patient and smart, moving from the back-half of this field and using his proven tactical prowess to earn a 4th place finish.

We had said from the very beginning that a tactical race favored Vanoppen and although he may not have won, this race did benefit him in terms of his late-race finishing speed.

Luke Houser and Jonathan Davis have to be commended for being aggressive up front and mixing things up with Garcia Romo. Sure, maybe some of their timing could have been better, but I thought a faster race would have benefitted these guys. The fact that they both held their own and earned All-American honors in a tightly-knit field is still impressive.

Nathan Green, the Washington freshman, was SO good this year. He was so consistent throughout this spring, held his own in competitive fields, clearly refined his tactics as the year went on, ran a 3:37 PR in the prelims and was clearly fearless in this final.

Green made his move a little after 200 meters and while that may have been a touch early for someone who still has more speed development to do, it's hard to be upset with a true freshman placing 7th. He's going to be a massive problem for his competitors moving forward.

Adam Spencer, another freshman, finished 8th overall in this race. He also had a terrific season and was even the BIG 10 champion in this event a few weeks ago. This Badger star didn't have his best race tactically on Friday night, but he was still really darn good.

And given the tactical promise that we saw from him earlier this season, it seems fair to say that Spencer could be a problem on the national stage over the next few years.

As for the rest of this field, they may not have become All-Americans, but you can only say good things about them.

Petruno was probably one of the most underappreciated 1500 meter runners in the country this season. Tactically, he was (usually) awesome.

Basten made things interesting in the last lap of this race and although it didn't work out for him (he probably should have waited longer), he was still the reason why this field responded like it did.

Kusche had a rough indoor track season, but he rallied incredibly well in the spring. He put himself in the mix on Friday and admittedly, a faster race probably would have benefitted him more than the racing style that he had to employ.

Schoppe was never really in this race, but after running 3:37 twice this season, it's fair to say that this Oklahoma State star is putting himself near the elite tier of the mile/1500. Now he just needs to refine and control his fitness so that he can be competitive in these kinds of fields.

Men's 3000 Meter Steeplechase

Honestly, you really only need to know three things about how this race played out.

The first is that Duncan Hamilton went straight to the front and led 97% of this race with an aggressive pace.

The second is that most of the main favorites in this race went with the top group.

The third is that Jaziri pulled away from Hamilton and Stokes in the final 100 meters, but it was close for the entirety of that final straightaway.

So while I could certainly offer some fancy race analysis, the fact of the matter is that the steeple final was a simple test of fitness. If you were talented enough and fit enough to hang on to a fast pace, then you were rewarded.

Jaziri, in my mind, was always the national title favorite. I could have understood arguments for six other names, but in my personal opinion, no one in this field held the same raw firepower and potential upside that Jaziri did.

In fact, I have been saying that since last year!

Duncan Hamilton is the true hero in this race. If he doesn't come out and hit the gas, then I personally believe that Jaziri becomes slightly more vulnerable in this race. Because while Jaziri does have some decent speed, other guys like Stokes, Hamilton and (depending on where he's at) Johnsen, simply have better speed.

But either way, Jaziri was the best steeplechaser in this field and I like having a national title as validation...especially since my Blue Oval Podcast co-host Ben Weisel wasn't in agreement.

At the line, Hamilton BARELY edged out Stokes, 8:18.878 to 8:18.880.

I just have to take a moment to really commend Hamilton. He has been outstanding all year long, reaching a completely new tier of fitness and becoming a superstar this spring. His versatility is some of the best in the country and his firepower is amongst the best.

I figured Hamilton was fit, but I didn't think he was THIS fit.

Of course, if you had told me that Hamilton was going to be the third-fastest steeplechaser in NCAA history after this season, I'm not sure most people would have believed you.

As for Stokes, it is scary to think that this guy is only a sophomore. A sophomore! Running the fourth-fastest steeple time ever!

But the best part is that Stokes is more than just an elite all-time steeplechaser. He has outstanding sub-four mile speed and even boasts a quick 2:22 PR for 1000 meters.

On paper, Stokes is almost the perfect the steeplechaser. He also plenty of intangibles, tons of raw fitness and outstanding speed. Oh, and the best part is that he has a ton of time left in the NCAA to continue improving!

Stokes' relative youth may have played a role as to why some of us didn't pick him to win, but after that kind of performance against numerous veterans who haven proven to be faster, Stokes deserves a lot of credit.

If one or two strides were different in this race, then we could have been talking about him as the national champion in this event and not Jaziri.

As for Smeeton (4th), Trippas (5th) and Rooks (6th), you have to applaud those guys for being unafraid to stick their necks into the lead group at certain points. All three of these men have shown tremendous firepower and outstanding consistency since last year. For them to thrive in an aggressively paced field is far from a shock.

Basten and Wilkinson gave Minnesota the final two All-American spots in this race, but honestly, that's not really a surprise, either. Both men were outstanding and super consistent all season long, but I'm not entirely sure if they were our first picks for the national title...even if we did believe that they were at least capable of winning it all.

Basten always peaks in the postseason and the fact that he finished 7th in this top-heavy field should ultimately be considered a good thing. Wilkinson, meanwhile, was a massive wild card, but salvaging an 8th place All-American finish after previously competing at the D3 level is also impressive in its own right.

But outside of the top-eight, I don't really have a whole lot to say.

For the most part, TSR had a really good read on the structure of this field. Coming into the national meet, we said that there were seven title contenders in this event. It just so happens that all seven of them of became All-Americans.

We also said that the one non-title contender most likely to be an All-American was Kenneth Rooks -- and we were also right!

That's pretty rare for us in an event that is this crowded...

Men's 800 Meters

For the most part, this race was pretty straightforward.

Brandon Miller got out hard from the gun, but Princeton's Samuel Rodman, a freshman, was on his outside shoulder until 350 meters into the race, fading from a hot pace. Moad Zahafi hugged the inside rail right behind Miller while Anderson eventually followed Zahafi going into the back straightaway of the second lap.

The pace was simply too fast for anyone except the three obvious title favorites, and it showed as the second lap began. Miller, Zahafi and Anderson formed a single file line going into the back straight, but Zahafi took over on the final curve with Anderson now shoulder to shoulder with Miller.

By the final curve, it was apparent that Zahafi was probably going to win the race and that Anderson and Miller would battle for silver.

And that is exactly what happened.

In the end, Zahafi won this race with a semi-predictable 1:44 mark while Anderson just edged Miller (barely), each man running 1:45 marks in the process.

When it comes to this top-three, there's admittedly not a whole lot of new insights to discuss. As long as Zahafi was healthy and at 100%, he was going to win this race -- and he did. That was our only uncertainty.

Miller proved to be in better shape than I thought after his strong prelim performance, but it was also clear that he just didn't have the same edge that Anderson and Zahafi had. When watching him, he just seemed to be missing half a gear. Maybe not even that much.

But when Anderson can stick with a hot pace AND continue to show strong finishing speed, that's a combination that's really tough to defeat, especially if you don't outrun him like Zahafi did.

So can you really blame Miller for placing 3rd? If anything, he should be commended for rebounding after a tough spring season in general.

Villanova's Sean Dolan secured a huge 5th place finish. He moved up in the back straightaway for that 4th place position and held his own surprisingly well until he got caught by Jason Gomez...who we absolutely need to talk about.

If you had told me coming into this spring season that Jason Gomez would have placed 4th in this race, I'm not sure I would have believed you. This guy was flat-out not good during the indoor track season and he didn't give us a lot of encouragement in terms of his results.

And while his outdoor track season has been better, there was just too much past inconsistency to trust him in some of our predictions. But Gomez turned out to be a completely different runner when he got to Eugene, Oregon.

Earning a 1:46 mark is finally the elite PR that allows us to look at Gomez in a different, more encouraging light. Now the only question is, how much further can he build off of this result?

Carlson and Rodman each running 1:46 marks, but getting 6th and 7th place, seems like a crime, but that's just how deep the men's 800 meters has become this year.

At the very least, this was an encouraging learning experience for both men who have shown tremendous poise this year. They've been flat-out excellent despite their youth and if their ceiling really is as high as I think it is, then they'll be back on this stage in 2023.

But for now, they were just a little too inexperienced to major play a role in this final.

Schwind just didn't have his best day and the same can be said for Bizimana. Although, admittedly, Bizimana didn't have his best season as whole (but it was far from bad). At the end of the day, someone had to finish in these last two spots. Generally speaking, these two men are still some of the better 800/1500 runners in the NCAA.

Men's 5000 Meters

I won't lie, I thought this race was kinda ugly to watch.

There were constant lead changes, numerous surges, a fairly consistent fluctuation of the pace and numerous positions where many of the top men in the field struggled with being boxed in.

And honestly, you didn't really have a good idea of who was actually in contention to win this race until the last lap.

Clinger, Young, Pereira, Bienenfeld, Kemboi, Wildschutt, Muhumed and maybe a few others, all put themselves near (or at) the front of this race at certain points. And yet, by the time the last mile approached, you could clearly see most of the main contenders who we expected to see emerging at the front of this race.

By the last lap, it was Young, Hacker, Beadlescomb and Robinson emerging as the top-four names, pulling away from the rest of the field.

But by that point, it's not like their kick was that much better than some of the other men in this field. It's also not like they had outrun the entirety of the chase pack throughout this race.

Instead, their rise to the front felt simply stemmed from being better positioned than anyone else in this field -- and then they capitalized on that.

In the final turn, it was clear that this race wasn't fast enough to favor Young's aerobic dominance. Instead, it was Hacker slingshotting himself off the curve and ahead of Beadlescomb, giving fans a thrilling BIG 10 battle of two masterclass athletes.

And in the end, it was Hacker who was just a little bit sharper.

I won't lie, I hated that it was Hacker and Beadlescomb going head-to-head in the final moments of this race. That, however, is only because these are the two most likable guys in the NCAA and because both of them deserved a national title to end their collegiate careers.

But such is life...

Generally speaking, this race wasn't that fast. Sure, 13:27 isn't exactly slow, but it wasn't fast enough to shake off certain names. And on paper, a faster pace would've benefitted Young much more. The aerobically dominant runner ran 13:11 this year, but didn't really have the turnover to actually keep pace with a few of these guys in the final moments.

Now, in fairness to Young, he had to do a lot of jostling to reposition himself at the front of this race. That likely required a lot of energy, although it felt like Hacker and Beadlescomb took a much less involved approach until the last mile or so.

Young is capable of winning a national title. In fact, I'm almost certain that he eventually will. That isn't a hot take. But not every race scenario is going to be optimal for his skillset and that's something that he'll need to address going forward.

Robinson, much like Beadlescomb and Hacker, was very conservative with his race plan and really wasn't a factor in this race until the last few laps. A 4th place finish was strong, but when the leaders and the rest of the field began to quicken the pace and start their kicks, it looked like Robinson could have used just one more lap to better position himself with that top-three.

Even so, he ran a great race that wasn't super flashy or exciting, but plenty effective.

After that top-four, it felt like this race was a little bit of a free-for-all.

Sam Gilman had one of the better races of his career, utilizing his turnover and giving himself a key 5th place finish. However, as long as he was properly positioned in this race, it wasn't going to come as a surprise that this Air Force ace would utilize his speed and find himself with a great result.

Tulsa's Michael Power was a name that we had been told to keep an eye on and sure enough, he delivered with a great 6th place finish. He positioned himself fairly well late in the race and took a fairly measured approach.

Brian Fay was a national title favorite in the eyes of The Stride Report. In fact, multiple writers had Fay winning this race. He had run 13:16 earlier this season, flexing an insane kick to beat Beadlescomb. Not only that, but Fay has elite middle distance speed and elite versatility.

On paper, this guy had it all and this race seemed like it would benefit him.

But Fay just didn't seem to have enough energy to get himself out of the backend of this field. He eventually did, but by that point, the leaders had broken away and Fay's lethal kick was rendered inconsequential when it came down to the national title.

Still, for him to rally and place 7th was encouraging, all things considered.

And then we have Alex Ostberg, the North Carolina star and former Stanford veteran. There is no doubt that he has been an exceptional runner throughout his career, but it's surprising that he doesn't have more All-American honors.

Although, it also doesn't help that the NCAA as a whole has become all-around faster...

But Ostberg delivered on Friday night. The race was fast, but it wasn't out of his striking distance. The race didn't rely too heavily on running hard from the gun and you didn't necessarily HAVE to have a kick to be successful in this field.

Kudos to an outstanding career from Ostberg.

Sprout (9th), Clinger (10th), Iverson (12th), Kemboi (15th), Wildschutt (16th), Jacobs (17th) and Kioko (19th) all seemed like reliable or semi-safe picks to be All-Americans in this race, specifically Sprout and Kemboi.

But the catch? Every. single. one. of these men were doubling back from the 10k.

And when you look at the All-Americans, every. single. one. came into this race completely fresh.