First Thoughts: Bizimana's D1 Lead of 1:45, Plourde & Tanaka Go 4:09, Marshall & Spencer Run 1:46

Gosh, it's Monday and we're STILL writing First Thoughts articles! That's how you know that it was conference week this past Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Our updated D1 and D3 rankings are coming soon! But before we get into those revamped lists, we wanted to offer one more set of headlines and some accompanying analysis.

Let's begin, shall we?

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Yusuf Bizimana Runs 1:45 (800) to Defeat Loaded BIG 12 Field & Earn New NCAA Lead

The reigning the NCAA indoor champion over 800 meters has finally returned to title-favorite form. Texas superstar Yusuf Bizimana toed the line at the BIG 12 Outdoor Championships this past weekend against a field that, on paper, could have easily given him a ton of problems.

But for that group of men, nothing was more challenging than trying to handle Bizimana.

With a monster time of 1:45.82 for 800 meters, the British middle distance star took down a field which featured Mehdi Yanouri (1:46), Crayton Carrozza (1:46), Darius Kipyego (1:47), Peter Smith (1:47), AJ Green (1:47), Marco Vilca (1:48), Jason Gomez (1:48) and Hafez Mahadi (1:49).

That's a new NCAA lead in the event and the first time that anyone this season has gone under the 1:46 barrier for the half-mile distance.

Ever since winning the indoor national title in this event (following a Navasky Anderson DQ), Bizimana has had a fine season...but it hasn't necessarily been an exciting spring campaign, either.

Yes, the Longhorn did run 1:46.83 for 800 meters at the Texas Relays, but he finished 4th overall in that race and settled as the third-best collegiate finisher. And after running 49.16 (400) and 3:47 (1500) in his two meets since then, we had to start asking if Bizimana was in title-contending form.

Of course, after this past weekend, we've learned that this Texas ace is, in fact, back in the favorite spot to win the national title once more over 800 meters. A mark of 1:45 is definitively better than anything we have seen from anyone else this year (at the D1 level).

Navasky Anderson of Mississippi State feels like the only legitimate threat to Bizimana right now in that event -- just like he was during the winter months. But Anderson has only run one 800 meter race this year (in a time of 1:47) and didn't even toe the line for the SEC Outdoor Championships this past weekend (despite being listed in the entries).

As for the rest of this field, it's time to put some respect on Mehdi Yanouri's name.

The Oklahoma State middle distance specialist has been electric this spring. After joining the Cowboys from the JUCO ranks this past winter, Yanouri has evolved into one of the most consistent upper-tier 800 meter runners that the NCAA has to offer.

Earlier this season, the newest Cowboy star ran 1:46 for 800 meters. And while that was impressive, I still wanted to see more from him -- I wanted him to validate that effort. After all, his resume, at that point, didn't suggest that a 1:46 mark was coming.

But after running 1:46 in the 800 meter prelims this past weekend and then AGAIN running 1:46 in the 800 meter finals, barely getting the edge over Crayton Carrozza by four one thousandths of a second (0.004 seconds), it's time to start asking...is Yanouri an All-American favorite this season?

At this point, I think he has to be.

It's one thing to run a nationally competitive mark once. It's another thing to run a nationally competitive mark twice. It's another thing to run a nationally competitive mark three times. But then it's an entirely separate thing to run a nationally competitive mark that allows you to (barely) take down the silver medalist from the NCAA Indoor Championships in said event.

Yanouri is becoming a massive problem for his fellow competitors and I'm hoping that we can find room for him in our upcoming top-25 outdoor track rankings. I am, however, curious how he will handle the tactics and overwhelming nature of the regional, and more specifically, the national, meets.

As for Crayton Carrozza, the other 800 meter national title contender from Texas, this was an outstanding race. And yes, it may be easy to look at this result and see that he "only" finished 3rd overall. However, it's important to realize that a) Carrozza still ran 1:46.71 for 800 meters, and b) he was doubling back from the 1500 meter finals where he ran 3:43.

In fact, if you look at all four of his races from this past weekend -- the 800 meter prelims and finals as well as the 1500 meter prelims and finals -- then you'll see that Carrozza posted marks of 3:43, 1:47, 3:42 and 1:46...that's a heckuva weekend.

So despite settling for "only" bronze in his primary event, I would say that this past weekend was a massive success for the Longhorn standout.

Simone Plourde & Melissa Tanaka Battle to Pair of 4:09 Marks Over 1500 Meters at PAC-12 Championships

Alright, let me actually type it out instead of just saying it on the Blue Oval Podcast.

Simone Plourde is a national title contender.

It's still unclear if Katelyn Tuohy will actually pursue the 1500 meters at the regional and national meets this year. But if she doesn't, and opts to run the 5k (or maybe 10k/5k double), then this Utah star has to be viewed as the national title favorite in the metric mile -- or at least, one of the few women who are in that conversation.

This past weekend, Plourde faced a loaded field in the 1500 meters at the PAC-12 Championships. That group featured Melissa Tanaka (Stanford), Izzy Thornton-Bott (Oregon), Sophie O'Sullivan (Washington), Mia Barnett (UCLA), Kaylee Mitchell (Oregon State), Maddy Elmore (Oregon), Klaudia Kazimierska (Oregon), Gwyn George (UCLA), Roisin Willis (Stanford) and Bailey Hertenstein (Colorado).

That group also finished in that exact order during Sunday's final round.

Plourde has just been fantastic this year. She ran 8:53 for 3000 meters during the winter months, finished 4th at the NCAA Indoor Championships in that event, proceeded to run 4:14 for 1500 meters in her season debut, ran 15:21 for 5000 meters, ran 4:10 for 1500 meters at the Drake Relays and just secured a monumental PAC-12 title in a 1500 meter time of 4:09.

This Utah star can do everything at an insanely high level. Her combination of speed and endurance is wildly lethal and with the exception of Katelyn Tuohy, may be unmatched. Plourde has also rapidly developed an understanding elite tactical racing and is able to run fast when she needs to.

In my mind, she is the national title favorite for 1500 meters this spring as long as Tuohy doesn't actually toe the line for that event.

But truthfully, in the grand scheme of things, the most impressive performance from Sunday's 1500 meter finals arguably came from Stanford's Melissa Tanaka. The graduate transfer from Penn (via the summer of 2021) has been viewed by both myself and my fellow podcast co-host, Ben Weisel, as one of the most underrated distance runners in the NCAA this year.

Tanaka ran 4:37 for 1600 meters this past winter, was a massively vital part of Stanford's DMR at both the NCAA Indoor Championships and the Penn Relays (splitting 3:19 in the latter race), ran 2:04 for 800 meters, and just posted an insane personal best of 4:09 for 1500 meters this past weekend!

The collegiate veteran, who actually qualified for the 1500 meter finals at last year's outdoor national meet, has always proven to be an exceptionally talented runner when it comes to tactical scenarios.

Her understanding of in-race positioning is quietly excellent.

But Tanaka's fitness had never fully caught up to her brilliant race IQ, something that was evident during last year's 1500 meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships when the race turned fast (and she faded to 12th place in a time of 4:21).

Of course, this past weekend suggests that things might be changing.

A 4:09 PR in the metric mile puts Tanaka in a different tier. Because if this Quaker-turned-Cardinal distance runner can blend her strategic talents with her newfound fitness, then she may be one of the most dangerous women in the entire NCAA this year.

Heck, she almost took down Plourde right? And just last week, we were talking about Izzy Thornton-Bott (and maybe Mia Barnett) as possible national title contenders, two women who she just (somewhat comfortably) beat!

Do not sleep on this result from Tanaka. This is a very, very big deal.

Let's talk about the bronze medalist, Izzy Thornton-Bott.

Would I have liked to see this Oregon ace run under 4:10 again for 1500 meters? Yes. Would I have liked to see her being slightly more competitive with Plourde and Tanaka? Yes. Do I think she just fell out of the national title conversation? No.

This was a loaded field, one that could potentially act as a preview for the outdoor national meet. And while it may not have been her best race of the season, it was hardly a poor effort.

I should also highlight the very nice runs that we saw from both Sophie O'Sullivan and Anna Gibson. The Washington duo ran 4:12 for 1500 meters, both of which were solid marks for a pair of athletes who have been VERY quiet since the indoor national meet. Hopefully this is a signal that they are peaking at the right time.

Not the best races ever for Mia Barnett (UCLA), Kaylee Mitchell (Oregon State), Klaudia Kazimierska (Oregon), Roisin Willis (Stanford) and Bailey Hertenstein (Colorado).

Barnett, admittedly, didn't necessarily have a poor race, posting a time of 4:13 (1500). However, I think we initially expected her to play more of a role in this race.

As for everyone else, these were just flat-out bad days. There's no other way around it. That, however, is what happens when your competition is so deep and so accomplished. Regardless of how talented the field is, at least one or two people are going to produce sub-par results.

Camden Marshall Runs 1:46 (800) to Take Home BIG 10 Gold Over Adam Spencer & Handal Roban

How can you not love what Camden Marshall has done this season?

The Indiana middle distance star has gone from "good" to "great" this year. After running 1:47 (800), 2:21 (1k) and 3:57 (mile) on the indoor oval this past winter, Marshall has since posted times of 3:39 (1500) and 1:46 (800), the latter mark coming this past weekend.

In a race that featured middle distance stars such as Handal Roban (Penn State) and Adam Spencer (Wisconsin), it was the Hoosier standout who ran his new 800 meter PR and earned a BIG 10 title in the process.

Marshall's value has skyrocketed. And for a guy who is on the transfer portal, coaches have to be knocking down his door to get him on campus for a visit.

What I love about Marshall's latest race -- and this is something that Ben pointed out in our upcoming podcast for this week -- is that he went out through the first 400 meters in 51.91 seconds (just behind the Penn State duo) and then hung tough to close in 54.62 seconds.

On the national stage, the pace for the men's 800 meters will likely be fast, somewhere in the 51-second range through the opening lap. For anyone who wants to be in contention for an All-American finish, going out that fast while still running 1:46 is a necessity.

And now, Marshall has proven that he can do exactly that -- something that his 3:39 strength for 1500 meters suggested was possible.

When it comes to Adam Spencer, he didn't win, but running 1:46 for 800 meters in your non-primary event is super impressive. This season, Spencer has run 3:37 for 1500 meters, settled for a narrow silver medal result over 800 meters in a time of 1:46 and has a Penn Relays victory in the DMR from a few weeks back.

In terms of raw talent and on-paper accolades, this Aussie middle distance star is among the best of the best. He is flexing far greater range than he ever has before and he's becoming nationally competitive in nearly every race that he has toed the line for.

I'll be curious to see how his surprisingly-great half-mile speed will translate to a tactical setting on the national stage...

As for Handal Roban, the Penn State star, who earned a bronze medal at the indoor national meet in this event, settled for 3rd once more, but this time at the BIG 10 Championships.

Roban has been good this year -- really good. He's been very consistent and hasn't really given us any reason to doubt him entering this past weekend. And truthfully, this past weekend wasn't even all that bad for him!

However, it seems clear that a time of 1:47 seems to be his ceiling, at least as of right now, over 800 meters. Roban has yet to run 1:46 for this distance, something that he'll likely need to do at the national meet to return to his All-American ways.

Still, this wasn't a life or death performance. Roban still has the chance to be plenty competitive over the next month or so. And right now, I would still keep him in my All-American mix...I think.

Juliette Whittaker Runs 2:01 (800) to Win PAC-12 Title

Nice result for Juliette Whittaker! The Stanford rookie threw down a very solid 2:01 mark over 800 meters to secure the PAC-12 title over Washington's Carley Thomas (who ran 2:02 for runner-up honors).

I truthfully don't have much to say about Whittaker or this performance. We truthfully didn't learn anything new about her after this weekend. That doesn't mean that she ran poorly by any means (she was great), but there isn't a whole lot of analysis to offer.

As for Thomas, I really like this result for her. A 2:02 mark is one of the faster 800 meter times that she has ever thrown down. And as we saw last spring, she has a tendency to post some of her best results in the postseason.

After the Washington women seemingly peaked too early for the indoor national meet, it seemed like the Huskies took a much slower and much more conservative approach this spring.

But after this past weekend, in their first postseason meet of the season, we began to see their patience pay off -- the women from Seattle, for the most part, ran fairly well this past Saturday and Sunday!

Sam Ellis, Nathan Green, Brian Fay & Ed Trippas Sweep Distance Titles At PAC-12 Championships

The Washington men won the overall team title at the PAC-12 Championships this past weekend -- and a big reason why was because the Huskies literally won every middle and long distance conference title (800 meters, 1500 meters, 5000 meters, 10,000 meters and the steeplechase).

Sam Ellis won the 800 meter title in 1:46 over a field that he was clearly favored to defeat. Nathan Green won the 1500 meter title in a mark of 3:42 thanks to a great kick to hold off Stanford's Ky Robinson. Brian Fay, after outkicking Charles Hicks for the 10k title, came back in the 5k to outkick another Stanford ace, Cole Sprout, for gold in that event. Then, Ed Trippas comfortably earned gold in the steeplechase via a five-second win.

We've already talked about Fay in detail via an earlier First Thoughts article, but as for everyone else...this was all pretty much expected! We should note, however, that Nathan Green was actually making his season debut and looked great while doing so.

But also...thank goodness Green ran as fast as he did!

Running 3:42.22 for 1500 meters has him tied for the NCAA #40 spot in the West region. If he was literally a second or a second and a half slower, then this Washington sophomore probably wouldn't have qualified for the West Regional Championships.

Talk about clutch...