First Thoughts: D1 NCAA Indoor Championships (Day One)

Well...how was that for a first day of action?

Below, I put together some thoughts on the preliminary rounds of the mile and the 800 meters, as well as the 5k and DMR finals. Did I think that this was going to be a short-and-sweet article that would be an easy read? Yes. Is that what ended up happening? No.

Let's begin...

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Women's Mile Prelims

Heat One

I'm not gonna lie, it felt like that first heat of the women's mile prelims was a little sloppy. From my perspective, there was a lot of movement from a handful of women that didn't really put them in many advantageous positions.

Even so, (most of) the main contenders ultimately got through.

Lindsey Butler did a really nice job getting to the front of this race and simply staying there. Sure, she had to muscle through those last couple of laps to stay in an automatic qualifying position, but she was never in any legitimate danger.

We still don't entirely know how Butler is going to approach the finals. I imagine that she'll lean a bit more on her middle distance speed when it comes to responding and reacting rather than just trying to get a top-four spot.

However, maybe the smartest runner in this heat was Izzy Thornton-Bott. She didn't necessarily put herself at the front of the pack, but she wasn't moving around the exterior and backend portions of the group, either. Instead, she found a spot in the middle of the pack along the inside rail and simply waited to strike.

And when it was time to go, she unleashed a huge burst of speed that was able to give herself a comfortable national qualifying finish. That was excellent patience and in-race awareness from the Oregon runner.

As for Amina Maatoug, she was moving pretty much all around this pack throughout the entire race. She went from the front to the back to then suddenly the front (again). Her surges were pretty sporadic, but given that she's simply better than everyone in this field, it's hard to be too critical of her.

Meanwhile, Margot Appleton continues to be a pleasant surprise. She had a huge last second move to snag the final automatic qualifying spot. Somehow, the Virginia talent just keeps getting better...

There weren't too many surprises in terms of national qualifying "misses" from this heat, although I'm sure many people (myself included) had Silan Ayyildiz going to the finals. That, however, is what happens when you're racing at your first NCAA Championship and you're also at altitude.

Heat Two

This would be the part where I talk about how great Lauren Gregory is and how her tactical acumen is exceptional and blah, blah, blah. All that you need to know about this Razorback veteran in this race is that she won her mile prelim and did so convincingly.

We'll talk about her more in a later section...

I am so happy to have called Olivia Howell my "dark horse" pick on the Blue Oval Podcast. She was easily one of the most experienced women in that prelim and it showed. She bided her time at the back of the pack and then only moved up exactly when she needed to. The Illinois runner gave herself a comfortable position at the front and just stayed there.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when a long-time mile veteran with TONS of national meet experience is in your prelim heat. Howell has always been tactically sound and it showed on Friday night.

As for Alabama's Flomena Asekol, she was just...solid. There really isn't much to say. While the race evolved around her, she just kinda stuck around in that 3rd place position. It wasn't an exciting race from her, but that doesn't really matter in the prelims. I can at least appreciate the poise and comfort that this Alabama runner showed in that scenario.

And then we come to Maia Ramsden...oh boy.

Here's a hot take: This might have been Maia Ramsden's best race of her career.

Just hear me out.

Yes, the Harvard superstar obviously struggled in this mile prelim. She was at the back of the pack for a heavy portion of the race and she looked like she was flat-out struggling in a lot of different moments.

And even when she did get past the faltering runners, I wasn't convinced that Ramsden -- a legitimate national title favorite in the eyes of many -- was going to hang on to advance. But she did, securing the fourth automatic qualifying spot and giving herself another day to race in the mile finals.

Nine out of 10 times, when you're at the back of the pack and (seemingly) struggling, your race is pretty much over. We've all been there, right? So for this Ivy League ace to rally like she did, at altitude, and barely edge Klaudia Kazimierska in the final moments of this prelim was beyond impressive.

That is easily one of the gutsiest races I've seen from anyone this season and it is extremely hard to pull off, especially when you're competing at 5000 feet.

As for Kazimierska and Reiss (the two time qualifiers), I can't say that I'm too surprised. The Oregon ace had proven that she was talented enough to make the finals and Reiss was a true miler who has been exceptional at altitude this year.

But to see Washington's Anna Gibson falter and not advance...well, I feel a little bad for her. No women's miler in the NCAA this winter was more consistent than this Husky veteran was. In fact, Gibson even came to this exact track in January and thrived en route to a 4:31.00 mile conversion!

However, she was one of many Huskies who weren't at their best on Friday night.

Women's 800 Meter Prelims

Heat One

In what was arguably the most stacked heat of the two 800 meter prelims, Michaela Rose went straight to the front (which is something that we expected) and was quickly given chase by Juliette Whittaker.

Meanwhile, the rest of the field followed as Carley Thomas, Valery Tobias and Claire Seymour were trying to find the right spots for themselves.

And then...that was pretty much the entire race until the last lap.

Michaela Rose's aggressive front-running ultimately came back to hurt her, something that you can likely attribute to the altitude. She still hung on for 3rd place, but Whittaker was able to take command somewhat convincingly for the heat win (and a time of 2:01).

And very quietly behind Whittaker was Valery Tobias who ran a brilliant race. She got a solid spot somewhat near the front, stayed there the whole time and just followed the women who were in front of her. Once again, the Longhorn veteran proves to be one of the most clutch postseason half-milers in the NCAA.

But the only woman who was more clutch than Tobias was BYU's Claire Seymour.

The Cougar veteran was simply not great in the first-half of this season. She was fading in big-time races and largely not a factor in fields where she should have been the focal star. Of course, this is someone whose reputation has been built almost entirely by the fact that she peaks in the postseason -- which is exactly what happened.

Seymour ran a 2:04 mark over 800 meters in February and then capped off her regular season campaign with a strong, last-minute 2:02 effort. To then come to the prelims on Friday night (which were at altitude, an advantage to her) and run another 2:02 mark to advance to the finals on a time qualifier...that's just the definition of the clutch gene.

And behind Seymour, things got even more interesting.

Washington's Carley Thomas, viewed as a top All-American contender for the women's 800 meters, was likely a few strides away from advancing to the finals. But Bradley's Wilma Nielsen, who basically came back from the dead, got a few final steps on the Husky ace to snag the last time qualifier. That was a huge race for the mid-major standout who seemingly hasn't had her best half-mile effort yet this season.

Heat Two

Both Roisin Willis and Kelly-Ann Beckford went out pretty hard. And truthfully, that surprised me a bit. While it's imperative to put yourself in a good position early-on in an 800 meter race, seeing the risk that Michaela Rose took on by aggressively leading her heat would have made me a little more cautious, especially at altitude.

Of course, I am not (and never was) a national-caliber middle distance runner.

Beckford ultimately faltered, but generally speaking this race was just kinda...well, boring?

For the most part, this field stuck together for the first-half of this race and even for a good bit into the third lap. Obviously, it began to open up from there, but there really isn't a ton to talk about. Willis led valiantly, Aurora Rynda never wavered from her position and Sarah Hendrick continues to show so much exciting growth as a tactical runner.

You have to credit Katherine Mitchell for, yet again, showing great patience as she navigated the field. She doesn't have incredible raw speed or the ability to run from the front, but her understanding of positioning and when to move up in a field was solid.

She didn't advance to the finals, but finishing 4th in her heat was still a good result.

As for Imogen Barrett, she started off her season on fire. She was a premiere 800 meter runner who looked the best that she has ever been. But after struggling at the SEC Indoor Championships, she faltered on the last lap and was out of contention on Friday night.

Women's 5000 Meters

Finals (One Heat)

So...do we really have to analyze this race? In terms of predictability and even how this race played out, the final results were largely unsurprising.

Katelyn Tuohy was clearly the class of the field, but we already knew that. She stayed at the front and waited to make her move until she had to. It was masterclass running. From the gun, you knew she was going to win.

We also figured that the Alabama women were going to be the ones who pushed the pace and tried to control the field at the front -- and they did! Outside of Katelyn Tuohy, they did exactly that and were rewarded with 2nd (Olemomoi) and 3rd (Chelangat) place finishes, both at 16:11 (5k) marks.

NC State veteran Kelsey Chmiel continued to do what she did throughout the fall months. She let Tuohy work with the leaders and then made up the gaps on her own over the second-half of the race. Chmiel is a true aerobic distance star who was perfectly suited for a race like this. A 4th place finish isn't at all surprising.

Emily Venters in 5th place and Gracelyn Larkin in 7th place should make us shrug our shoulders. It's only right that those two women who train at altitude thrived in this scenario. I did think that if any New Mexico woman was going to be an All-American that it would be Amelia Mazza-Downie, but Larkin has been plenty strong this season as well...plus, she was racing on her home track.

There are truly on two All-Americans in this field who we really need to talk about.

I am, of course, referencing Amanda Vestri and Sydney Seymour.

For years, Vestri has been the face of Syracuse's distance program. She has given the Orange a true national-caliber runner to lean on while younger women such as Savannah Roark continue to develop.

However, the Syracuse veteran has had her fair share of struggles. She had never earned an All-American honor in five of her national meet appearances in any season (some of which were during her time at Iowa State). She also sustained an injury in the fall of 2021 which kept her out of what would have been her sixth national meet appearance.

But on Friday night, Vestri finally came through. In a race where a lot of women ran up to (or exceeded) expectations, it was the long-time veteran who placed 6th overall.

And frankly, no one deserved that All-American honor more than her.

Let's now talk about Sydney Seymour. The Volunteer-turned-Wolfpack runner has had a very up and down year with the NC State women. Truthfully, I was never quite sure what we were going to get from her.

A season-opening 5k time of 15:35 at Boston University (in December) was a very pleasant surprise and it gave us at TSR hope that Seymour would match the expectations that we had for her in the fall.

But the rest of her season simply wasn't great, something that she even admitted in her post-race interview. That's why seeing her secure an 8th place All-American finish, the first of her career, was a bit of a surprise -- but a good one, at that.

We never really know what we're going to get from Seymour, but this is the kind of result that we knew that she was capable of. Based on her results from last year, she's just as talented as some of these other All-Americans.

But to have one of the best races of her career when seasonal momentum wasn't in her favor...well, that's something that you just have to commend.

Women's DMR

Finals (One Heat)

I have so many different thoughts on this race and if I tried to type them all out, then this article wouldn't be published until Tuesday. Let's just review the main things that I took away from this race...

If I had told you a year ago that a team would have two true freshmen run the 800 meter prelims and then double back an hour later, at altitude, en route to a national title, you probably wouldn't have believed me, right?

It doesn't really matter how good we thought Roisin Willis and Juliette Whittaker were coming into this race. What they did on Friday night is something that even the most accomplished veterans would struggle with.

But maybe the biggest hero of this relay is Melissa Tanaka, the lone relay veteran who gave Stanford the lead through the first leg. She's always been a solid talent, and the 1200 meter distance did theoretically suit her skillset, but I don't think I would have bet on her being the first to hand off the baton.

And ultimately, that may have been the difference between the Cardinal winning national title and settling for a runner-up finish.

Speaking of a runner-up finish, I am so in awe of Lauren Gregory. She's just incredible. What she brings to the Arkansas women in terms of overall value is hard to put into words.

Truthfully, this Razorback lineup just didn't have a ton of proven talent to work with. They had a true rookie on their lead-off leg and a still-developing half-miler on their 800 meter leg. Paris Peoples did a nice job to keep Arkansas in contention with her 400 meter split, but it didn't really change the dynamic of this race, either.

Gregory got the baton in 6th place. She was behind Stanford by nearly EIGHT seconds. And when you looked at the lead that the Cardinal women had, it just felt impossible that anyone would catch them, especially a team as far back as Arkansas.

But Whittaker began to feel the challenge of doubling back from the 800 meter prelims and did everything she could to hang on. Meanwhile, Lauren Gregory put together what may have been the most courageous anchor leg I have ever seen in the women's DMR despite doubling back from the mile prelims.

And although Whittaker had an extra gear in the final straightaway, it was Gregory's 4:31 split (at altitude) that left me, and probably the rest of the country, in complete awe. Gregory may have been two strides away from completing the greatest DMR comeback that I have ever witnessed.

Alright, let's quickly chat about a few others...

Wow, what a race by UCLA. They are so far ahead of schedule, but I suppose that's just the "Sean Brosnan Effect". Sure, having a true star like Mia Barnett on the anchor leg was crucial, but this team had to have more than just her. And sure enough, Gwyn George kept the Bruins in contention for the win through the first leg and they never really relinquished a top spot.

Kudos to you if you're not from Los Angeles and had the UCLA women finishing in 4th place overall...because I certainly did not.

A lot of people are wondering what happened to the Washington women, the NCAA record holders in the DMR. They were so far back that you're almost led to believe that something unconventional happened (such as a trip, dropped baton, etc.).

I have no idea what the case was, and maybe there was something that we missed, but the Huskies were super far back from the gun. They were almost immediately out of contention. And from that point, it looks like the Seattle-based women just focused on getting their race wrapped up.

It was a tough Friday night overall for the Husky women...

But the bigger question may be...what happened to Oregon?

The Ducks were legitimate contenders in this race for the longest time. Izzy Thornton-Bott put together a strong lead-off leg to keep her team in contention. And through the first three legs, Oregon had a shot at a top finish.

Truthfully, we don't know what happened to Klaudia Kazimierska on the anchor leg. A 5:01 anchor split suggests that something outside of her control might have happened, but from what I could see (which was not very much), it may have just been a flat-out tough day.

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Men's Mile

Heat One

Back in high school, you would have to run the mile in gym class and there would always been a few people who just kinda shuffled their way through it. And that's probably the best way to describe the first half of this race.

It was almost comical as no one wanted to be the aggressor.

But then Luke Houser and his contingent of Washington teammates surged to the front, aiming to control the race while catching the field off guard. And to some extent, it worked, but Anass Essayi was relentless in trying to match that move. Meanwhile, Drake's Isaac Basten was probably thrilled to be in a race scenario that matched his skillset.

In the end, a barrage of men -- Houser, Green, Basten and Essayi -- came across the line together, giving a top-four group that should have basically surprised no one. On paper, those four runners were the best men in the field.

Yes, you could have argued that Ronan McMahon-Staggs (UCLA) or Adam Spencer (Wisconsin) had legitimate shots at making the finals as well, but it's not necessarily a complete shock to see them end their seasons early, either.

And...yeah, that's kinda it. I don't really have a whole lot to talk about with this group.

Heat Two

Seeing Brian Fay initially get to the front of this race was a little bit of a surprise. He has some great turnover, so I thought he would maybe want to take advantage of that in a more tactical setting rather control from the front.

In fact, the rest of his Washington teammates, Joe Waskom and Aidan Ryan, were at the back of the main pack at the beginning of the race. That, of course, changed when Ryan went straight to the front 600 meters in. Waskom eventually took over with 400 meters to go.

I could sit here and try to analyze all of the small subtle moves that were made between then and the end of the race. But the only thing that you really need to know is that almost everyone was in contention during the race's final moments.

This extremely crowded prelim ultimately led to a mad dash to the finish. Waskom clearly had his automatic qualifying spot locked down, but Fay made a wildly bold move to pass on the inside rail over the last 100ish meters. And despite some minor contact with his own teammate (Aidan Ryan), that move likely saved the Husky veteran's hopes of qualifying for the finals.

If that lane doesn't open up, then I'm not sure if Fay advances.

Lost in the shuffle of this race was Conor Murphy. The Virginia standout has been excellent this winter and he was also very active in this prelim. Usually, a lot of the movement that we saw from Murphy would hurt someone's late-race chances. But in this case, the Cavalier star just held his ground and was able to snag a spot to the finals.

Meanwhile, Nick Foster's prelim race epitomized how his indoor track season has gone. He didn't make any flashy moves or even have a huge kick, but he showed incredible poise and perfectly positioned himself for the end of the race.

He may not have had the most exciting resume in the field, but as my fellow Blue Oval Podcast co-host, Ben Weisel, said on our latest episode, Nick Foster felt like a "safe" pick to make the mile finals.

And sure enough, he was right.

Elliott Cook (Oregon) and Thomas Vanoppen (Wake Forest) both earned time qualifiers to the finals from this heat, but it was also recently reported (by TSR) that Vanoppen broke his toe in that mile prelim race and that he has scratched from the finals.

Men's 800 Meters

Heat One

Clemson's Tarees Rhoden is such an interesting runner. He immediately hammered the pace right out of the gate just like he did at the ACC Indoor Championships, this time coming through 400 meters in 51 seconds which, at altitude, is pretty bold.

Florida's Sam Austin was really the only one to go with him through 200 meters, but then Texas ace Crayton Carrozza decided to make his move as well. He eventually joined the leaders and later took the lead on that third lap.

Carrozza looked incredibly poised. He ran with such great maturity and understanding of how this race was playing out in front of him. He was the class of the field and it showed.

Meanwhile, Sam Austin was relentless in his pursuit to make the finals. It felt like the second-year Gator was working incredibly hard the entire way. But it's also clear that he's just more fit than he was as a rookie and that he could ultimately take that approach if he wanted to.

But that's not where the race got interesting.

Entering that final lap, it looked like Rhoden was in trouble. The field was passing him and he was clearly paying the price for an aggressive opening move.

And then he just...found another gear.

Almost out of nowhere.

It wasn't the prettiest race ever, but that doesn't really matter. Rhoden was able to employ his 400 meter speed over the final 150 meters and was able to hang tough for the final automatic qualifying spot. It will be fascinating to see how he approaches the finals...

And how about Penn State's Handal Roban? The breakout runner from Penn State was quietly in a great position the entire time. He never made a dramatic or crazy move, but that's ultimately what allowed him to easily navigate that final lap and stay in contention.

With the last time qualifier, I'll be interested to see if Roban's pleasantly surprising racing poise can be utilized in the finals.

Oh, and everything we said about Roban? Well, it can basically be repeated for Ole Miss' Baylor Franklin who actually got the edge on his BIG 10 counterpart. It was just really smart racing from Franklin who has clearly learned how to approach these prelims after a few up-and-down national meet appearances.

Heat Two

The first 400 meters of this race was a jog.

We could talk about how Georgia freshman Will Sumner was in the "lead" through that point, but the race didn't actually start until 400 meters in. And at that point, it was Bizimana who took over while Navasky Anderson quickly followed.

That was pretty much the rest of the race up top as the field then began to fight behind them.

Princeton's Sam Rodman probably made his move a little too early while Iowa State's Jason Gomez either made his move too late, or just wasn't in a good enough position going into that final lap.

In the end, it was Will Sumner who went from the back of the pack to an automatic qualifying position, perfectly utilizing the final curve to snag the last spot to the 800 meter finals.

We all know how great Bizimana and Anderson are. I don't think we have to endlessly talk about them. But Will Sumner? Let's break down his race for a bit...

Yes, he was a high school superstar, but to win the SEC title as a true freshman and then showcase a brilliant understanding of tactical racing is so beyond impressive. Guys as young and as talented as Sumner are almost never this refined as first-year talents. They just aren't.

Sure, true freshman have had success in the past at this distance, but that's largely because they were just insanely talented. Tactically, I don't think I've ever seen greater patience from a rookie half-miler like Will Sumner.

I do feel bad for Gomez. He was someone who understood how to attack this race. And truthfully, he made the right moves. His final kick was awesome.

But the Iowa State veteran just couldn't time his final surge quite right and he wasn't able to immediately react to Sumner's final move. Still, just because he didn't advance to the finals doesn't mean that he didn't have a great race.

Men's 5000 meters

Finals (Heat One)

Much like the women's 5k, I'm not sure there is a ton to talk about here.

Generally speaking, we didn't see a ton of surprises. The main title contenders proved to be the most impactful names in this field and the overall race played out roughly how we thought it would.

Oh, and pretty much every altitude-based distance talent ran very well.

Northern Arizona's Drew Bosley was the man who attacked the front of this field for most of the race. After seeing early-on that no one was going to make this 5k final an honest effort, the Lumberjack star decided to take things into his own hands.

And he pretty much stayed at the front for almost the rest of the race.

Right behind Bosley through the entirety of the race was Casey Clinger, Nico Young and of course, Dylan Jacobs. And while we could talk about the nuances of who moved up and who moved back, the only thing that you need to know is that over the final two laps, it was that same group of men who were still in contention.

With roughly 300 meters to go, it was clear that Jacobs had another gear. He looked like he was itching to go. Bosley looked fine as well, but on the final lap, it was clear that no one could touch the incredible turnover that the Tennessee superstar was very clearly working on throughout the entirety of the winter months.

But even more impressively was Casey Clinger sneaking by Bosley at the end to secure a silver medal, the best-ever finish he's had on the national stage.

For Clinger, this feels like the jump that we always knew he could make. Granted, everything about this race played into his favor, but in the past, I don't know if he would have always taken advantage of this opportunity like he did on Friday night.

The BYU star has also been smart to recognize that although his turnover has improved, he's still better suited to make his final move from a bit further out than most men. We saw the same thing happen earlier this season in a 3k race against the Stanford men.

Bosley and Young finishing 3rd and 4th, respectively, is probably not what they wanted, but those are hardly bad results nor are they surprises. It was plenty realistic for Bosley to earn bronze in this race. And for Young, this was actually a great performance considering that his season had been relatively unexciting leading up to the national meet.

Parker Wolfe (5th), Patrick Kiprop (6th), Ky Robsinon (7th) and Alex Maier (8th) closed out the All-American spots. Sure, we thought Robinson and Maier would finish a bit higher up, but this race also played out very favorably for Wolfe and Kiprop. It was fast and honest (for an altitude race), but the pace was still within reason and it didn't require them to lean heavily on speed to earn an All-American honor.

After those eight men, there was a clear drop-off to 9th place runner, Charles Hicks. He admittedly hasn't looked amazing this winter, but the indoor oval has never been his marquee area of competition. He's likely going to light up the 10k leaderboard this spring.

Men's DMR

Finals (Heat One)

I mean, what more can we really say about Oklahoma State that hasn't already been said?

They were just the better relay. It wasn't even close. When Fouad Messadoui made a MASSIVE surge to open up a gap during the lead-off leg, we could have just crowned the Cowboys as the national champions right there and then.

Yes, the Wisconsin men did erase the gap on the 800 meter led, but Abduhalli Hassan was probably the best half-miler in the field (depending on how you feel about Sean Dolan and Sebastian Fernandez).

Oh, and did we mention that the Canadian Badger ace reportedly opened up his first 400 meter split in 48 seconds?

That's ultimately why Juan Diego Castro was able to hand off the baton to Ryan Schoppe with their original lead largely intact. And from there, the rising distance star basically completed his leg as if he was running eight victory laps.

The problem, however, is that because Oklahoma State was so far ahead, it was challenging to see how the rest of the field was playing out. But what we did see was a massive wave of top anchor legs flooding the finish line.

That group included Ole Miss, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Washington, in that order. But the Vols, despite an incredible effort from their middle lineup runners and a sub-four split from Abdalla (which is great at altitude), were ultimately disqualified.

As Abdalla was fighting for another spot, he seemingly interfered with Kieran Lumb of Washington and fell across the line. That, in the eyes of the officials, was enough for a DQ.

Generally speaking, no one should be too surprised by these results. Ole Miss was perfectly built for the DMR and it showed with their silver medal. Wisconsin probably had one of the more complete lineups in the field which yielded them bronze. Washington had their lead-off and 800 meter legs doubling, making their narrow 4th place finish not terrible despite us having higher expectations for them.

Sure, there were a few modest surprises after that such as Indiana placing 5th (sorry Hoosiers, I know I keep doubting you) and Arkansas placing 7th. But the rest of these results weren't too surprising. Texas may have had the best relay on paper, but with their two most crucial legs doubling back from the 800 meter prelims, the odds were against them.

Let's also chat about Villanova. On paper, they had one of the best lineups in this field. I actually had huge expectations for them. But on the opening leg, it appears that Charlie O'Donovan was actually bumped by Princeton pole vault star Sondre Guttormsen who had to start at the curve for his vault.

From the looks of it, O'Donovan didn't really seem to be affected too much from that bump over the next few laps. But with roughly 600 meters to go, the Villanova lead-off began to fade hard. And from an outsider's perspective, something just looked off.

Maybe I'm making things up. Maybe he just had a really bad day (which happens to all of us). But it is something to note as the Wildcats are clearly much better than what their final result suggests.