First Thoughts: Kurz's Impressive Weekend, Curtabbi's Altitude Mile & Cunningham's Season Debut

We'll admit, in comparison to the Division One level, the top of Division Two distance running felt relatively calm this past weekend. That, however, is likely because so many upper-tier talents ran so well back in December.

Even so, there were a handful of highly promising performances that deserve our attention. Let's break down some results and analyze the main highlights...

Hunter Kurz Posts Impressive 4:07 (mile) & 1:54 (800) Double En Route to Pair of Wins After Running 8:12 (3k) For The Win A Day Earlier

The men of Mississippi College produced some headlines this past fall, emerging as a nationally competitive team on the grass. A major reason for that was because Jan Lukas Becker, a transfer from Queens (NC), had joined the team, giving the Choctaws an elite low-stick to lean on.

Naturally, Becker garnered most of the attention on this team, and rightfully so. But behind him, we saw Hunter Kurz quietly assemble a complete cross country season full of strong results. He was 3rd at the UAB Blazer Classic, 5th at the Gulf South XC Championships and 70th at the NCAA XC Championships.

Those were all great finishes, but I'm not sure that we looked at his performances and thought that Kurz would be able to do what he did this past weekend.

On Saturday, Kurz toed the line for the 3000 meters at the UAB Vulcan Invitational. There, he ran a new personal best of 8:12, barely defeating fellow teammate Cole Benoit as well as the Lee duo of Will Stone and Aaron Himes. All of those men ran under 8:20 in that race.

But that was just one race.

One day later, Kurz ran a 4:07 mile time at the Emory Crossplex Showdown (which was still over a second off of his personal best) before coming back and running 1:54 in the 800 meters -- both of those times gave him the overall win, each somewhat comfortably.

It's one thing to pull off a successful double in one day. It happens all the time. But to do that a day after winning a 3000 meter race in a new personal best? That doesn't happen. And honestly, it's extremely rare for someone to race that much in one weekend.

Kurz is undeniably at a new level of fitness and he'll almost certainly run new personal bests over the next few weeks. Now, the question is if he can elevate his overall talent to a new tier so that he can have a shot at qualifying for the indoor national meet.

And even if he doesn't, it'll still be hard to argue that many men at the Division Two level are more durable, consistent and reliable than this Mississippi College standout.

Eleonora Curtabbi Runs Converted 4:51 Mile at Texas Tech

Last spring, we discovered that West Texas A&M star Eleonora Curtabbi was one of the most versatile and dynamic distance talents in all of Division Two. After all, she had run 2:08 for 800 meters and 10:07 in the 3000 meter steeplechase, winning a national title in the latter event.

And this past weekend, Curtabbi continued to flex the fact that she can be nationally competitive in essentially any race that she toes the line for. The Aggie superstar ran 4:55 in the mile at Texas Tech. And because that meet was held at altitude, Curtabbi earned a 4:51 conversion, giving her the NCAA mile lead for Division Two.

It's still too early to have any strong convictions about someone's overall fitness. But Curtabbi just ran a mile PR at altitude even without her conversion. And that's not even her ideal event!

When you pair that result with her recent 6th place finish at the D2 NCAA XC Championships, you begin realize Curtabbi is almost definitely at a new (and better) level of fitness right now.

I would be surprised if this West Texas A&M star doesn't attack the 5000 meters and the 3000 meters later this season, making those events her focus for the indoor national meet. And with improved turnover, I like Curtabbi's chances of being more of a factor in tactical situations.

Dillan Haviland Runs 4:07 in Mile Battle at Michigan

There isn't too much to talk about here, but we do have to give credit to Northwood's Dillan Haviland. He ran a 4:07 mile this past weekend in Ann Arbor, finishing 3rd overall in the second heat.

This is an encouraging early-season result for Haviland, but it's also somewhat unsurprising. After all, this is a guy who owns personal bests of 1:52 (800), 4:06 (mile) and 3:49 (1500). Even so, seeing this Michigan-based distance talent produce a time that nearly matched is mile PR in the second weekend of January is absolutely a step in the right direction.

Haviland has been slowly and steadily making progress over the last year or so. He's been running a handful of personal bests, has become slightly more consistent and he has also become more of a factor within the GLIAC (although Northwood has since moved to the GMAC).

It's still unclear what this Northwood runner will be able to do from here, but if he's able to capitalize on his current fitness like he did last year, then a handful of personal bests may be in store for him -- as well as a shot at qualifying for the indoor national meet in the 800 meters.

Vanessa Aniteye Runs 2:10 to Win Section Three of Women's 800 Meters at Washington Preview

I'll admit, I thought the fastest time in the women's 800 meters at the D2 level this past weekend was going to come from Western Washington's Marian Ledesma. The former Azusa Pacific runner holds a 2:07 personal best and was racing at the Washington Preview on a fast 300 meter track against some great competition.

What was there not to like?

But Ledesma ultimately settled for a solid, but modest, 2:14 mark over the half-mile distance.

Instead, it was Seattle Pacific veteran Vanessa Aniteye who dropped a huge time of 2:10 for 800 meters to win the third section of the women's 800 meters. She easily crushed her competition by almost four seconds and finished 9th overall in a field that featured collegiates and professional runners.

Aniteye has always been a fantastic middle distance talent, entering this season with personal bests of 53.64 (400) and 2:11 (800). In fact, she was an All-American in the former event last spring.

Based on last year's national leaderboard, there's a (very small) chance that Aniteye's recent 2:10 personal best would be enough for her to qualify for the indoor national meet in the 800 meters. However, given how strong she has proven to be at the quarter-mile distance, it's unlikely that she would move up that event.

But what happens if she runs another PR? Maybe around 2:08 or 2:09? Then what does she do? Former D2 half-mile superstars like Berenice Cleyet-Merle, Alison Andrews-Paul, Yasmine Hernandez and Kelly-Ann Beckford are all out of indoor track eligibility. Ukeyvia Beckwith is also not expected to race this winter.

And when you take those women off of last year's indoor national leaderboard, the top returners in the women's 800 meters are Taryn Chapko and Cami Streff. The former ran 2:07 at the indoor national meet and the latter ran 2:09 going into the season.

So if Aniteye carries this momentum into the rest of the season and continues to show improvement...then what does she need to do to be considered a contender for All-American honors in the half-mile? That may be something to monitor moving forward.

Dylan Burrows Runs Altitude Converted Time of 1:50 Over 800 Meters in Fastest Heat at Texas Tech

The men's 800 meters at the Division Two level feels incredibly crowded with multiple stars. Between Wes Ferguson, Butare Rugenerwa and Reece Sharman-Newell, it is very easy for other top half-mile talents to be overlooked.

In this case, one of those men is Dylan Burrows, a middle distance runner from Oklahoma Christian with a sneaky-good resume. Don't forget, this guy has run 1:49 multiple times over 800 meters and has even run 3:47 for 1500 meters.

This past weekend, Burrows toed the line for the half-mile at Texas Tech, a meet that sits at minor altitude. The Oklahoma Christian product ended up running a converted time of 1:50.84. And although he had to settle for last place in his heat, his result did make him a potential fringe national qualifier at the D2 level.

With that mark, Burrows is already ahead of his best time from last winter, but not by much. And for as strong as that result is, he'll (likely) need to do a bit more to firmly put himself in position to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Even so, Burrows is seemingly well ahead of schedule in terms of his fitness. A fairly small PR would comfortably put this middle distance talent in the national qualifying conversation. And luckily for him, he has a month and a half to do so.

Kaylee Beyer Runs Flat-Track Converted 4:57 to Fend Off MaKenna Thurston For The Win

We've been big fans of Winona State's Kaylee Beyer since last year when she emerged as a top-tier mile and 1500 meter threat during the winter and spring months. Beyer has proven to be fairly dynamic, has extensive experience on the national stage and her consistency has improved quite a bit.

This past weekend, Beyer toed the line for a mile battle against a rising star in MaKenna Thurston who is seemingly following the same trajectory that Beyer followed last year.

But Beyer proved to be the better talent last Friday, running 5:00 on a flat-track which gave her a 4:57 conversion. But the Winona State talent wasn't simply given the overall win. Thurston ran 5:01.96 which converted to 4:59, a time that kept things competitive with Beyer.

In the grand scheme of things, neither of these performances are going to have a dramatic impact on the overall landscape of Division Two middle and long distance running. Even so, these are solid results for the middle of January.

And given how well these two women have been running as of late, I imagine that their recent sub-five mile conversions will be a launch pad of momentum towards stronger performances in the fairly near future.

We should also note that Beyer won the women's 800 meters in a time of 2:20 which was later converted to 2:18. There's not really a whole to analyze about that performance, but I like that she secured a win as part of a double.

Lindsay Cunningham Solos Flat-Track Converted 9:30 (3k) Mark to Defeat Sister Emily Cunningham

Lindsay Cunningham continues to do Lindsay Cunningham things.

The Winona State superstar made her season debut this past weekend, soloing a mark of 9:35 on a 200 meter flat-track. That result ultimately gave her a conversion of 9:30 which now sits at NCAA #5 right now on the D2 national leaderboard behind Grand Valley State's Klaudia O'Malley and four Adams State women.

There's really not a whole lot to analyze here. Cunningham's goal was likely to run a fast enough time to qualify herself for the national meet -- and she did exactly that. We knew that she could solo absurdly fast marks on her own, so this is hardly surprising.

However, we should note that Cunningham's 9:35 mark, even as an unconverted time, was a new PR for this long distance star. She had only ever contested the 5000 meters on the national stage, something that will likely change come March.

Also in this race was Emily Cunningham, the sister of Lindsey Cunningham who attends Minnesota State. This past summer, Emily transferred to the Division Two level after running for UW-Stout as a freshman where she saw subtly promising results.

Emily ended up running 9:59 for 3000 meters on Friday, a time that gave her a comfortable runner-up finish and a conversion of 9:54. And while that time isn't necessarily going to be competitive enough for her to reach the national stage, it is a strong performance that, over the long term, could lead to her eventually qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

Quick Hits

• Hunter Hutton (WOU), Scott Arndt (SFU), Sebastian Brinkman (SFU) and Bailey Smith (WOU) all ran under 8:20 over 3000 meters at the Washington Preview this past weekend. That's a nice string of results and I imagine that one of those men will build on their performance and ultimately have a breakout season.

• Jordan Schmidt (SFU) and Will Henry (WWU) both ran 1:52 marks for 800 meters at the Washington Preview. That's roughly on par with our expectations, although it is a personal best for Henry. Watch out for him as the season unfolds.

• In just this past weekend alone, there nine women who ran under 5:00 in the mile (or received a conversion). A number of those results weren't crazy surprising, but I did like seeing Lee's Megan Adam and Lily Hare post a pair of 4:59 marks. For a team that lost Celine Ritter (she'll be back in the spring for one last season), the development of those two women feels fairly promising, especially as they work to complement Aria Hawkins over the long-term.