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First Thoughts: Maia Ramsden Nearly Gets NCAA Mile Record, Handal Roban's Big Weekend, Peter Maru's NCAA Debut & Chloe Foerster's Shocking 4:28 Mile PR
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Feb 11, 2024
- 10 min read
It's only natural that the busiest weekend of the year for collegiate track and field (at least during the regular season) has numerous parts of analysis. You can read Part One of our weekend analysis by clicking here.
We'll also be aiming to offer one more analytical piece tomorrow before releasing our updated rankings. After all, the Millrose Games, a highly prestigious indoor track meet which will feature current collegians such as Adam Spencer, Liam Murphy, Maia Ramsden and Gabija Galvydyte, just wrapped up.
Alright, let's get to it...
Washington Sophomore Chloe Foerster Stuns the Country, Drops Nearly Eight Seconds En Route to 4:28 Mile PR
I feel like I have to start with this performance. No other result that we'll talk about today (or even tomorrow) holds the same shock and awe that Chloe Foerster produced on Saturday (relative to expectations, that is).
The Washington sophomore was a highly accomplished high school runner and has found early success during her time with the Huskies. She ended the 2023 cross country season in our top-50 individual rankings and began to post subtly-great times in the mile and over 3000 meters this winter.
However, on her home track this past weekend, Foerster dropped an unbelievably huge mile PR of 4:28 in a fairly deep field of collegians. Her prior mile personal best of 4:36 was effectively blown out of the water and in turn, she took down women such as Laura Pellicoro (Portland) and the BYU trio of Lexy Halladay-Lowry, Carmen Alder and Sadie Sargent.
Foerster's latest effort won't officially count towards the all-time collegiate record books due to her mile being run on a 300-meter track. Even so, when you factor-in all of the performances that happened this past weekend and look at the "all-conditions" list, Foerster is still the 12th-fastest collegiate women's miler to ever step foot in the NCAA.
I have no idea how I'm supposed to interpret this performance. I wasn't even confident that Chloe Foerster was going to make the national meet this year. But now, she holds a mark that, historically speaking, has been viewed as elite.
I'll admit, I still need to see a little more from Foerster before I start seriously considering her as a national title favorite. Compared to other top milers in the NCAA, she's fairly inexperienced. It's also fair to point out that her 4:28 mile effort was a massive outlier compared to the rest of her (still developing) resume.
But in the grand scheme of things, when we look at this result from a long-term point of view, it's hard not to be wildly encouraged. Saturday's performance told us a lot of things. It told us that Foerster is ahead of schedule in her fitness, that her ceiling is significantly higher than we thought it would be and she's able to be nationally competitive now on the track -- not a year from now.
As for the rest of this field, Laura Pellicoro ran 4:31 as did Lexy Hallady-Lowry. The other two BYU women, Carmen Alder and Sadie Sargent, both ran 4:33.
I can't believe I'm saying this (even though I basically said it on the Blue Oval Podcast), but I don't think Pellicoro is going to be able to qualify for the indoor national meet with that time. At the moment, the Portland star sits at NCAA #20 in the event on the national leaderboard (once you add in Ramsden's performance). And when you look at the women who would/could scratch from that event, it doesn't look like very many.
Regardless, Pellicoro looks great and she at least has some time left (but not much) to go after a mark that would more closely put her in national qualifying contention. As for the BYU women, Alder could contest this event at the NCAA Indoor Championships if she qualifies. She's a bit further out from qualifying in comparison to Pellicoro, but she'll likely have one more chance to advance over the next few weeks.
Penn State's Handal Roban Puts Together 1:47/1:46 (800) Weekend Double, Emerges as Top Collegian Twice
Throughout last year, almost no one peaked better for the postseason than Handal Roban did -- and that goes for both the indoor and outdoor track seasons. After having "just okay" regular seasons, the Penn State star snagged two bronze medals at the indoor and outdoor national meets over 800 meters.
And yet, despite a clear and obvious history suggesting that Roban would peak for the postseason this winter, I became a little hesitant about his recent form. The half-mile star had posted a handful of solid, but unexciting, 1:47 (800) marks and wasn't necessarily in the mix on his home track against Tinoda Matsatsa, Conor Murphy and Sean Dolan last month.
But this past weekend, Roban took to Boston where he secured a strong 800-meter win at the BC Eagle Elite Invite in a time of 1:47.10. That was a strong mark, but in order to truly be safe from a national qualifying standpoint, he needed to run a bit faster.
Thankfully, Roban was also entered in the men's 800-meter at Boston University in a field that was much more competitive. And while he didn't get the overall win in that race, Roban still came through as the top collegiate with an improved time of 1:46.81. That mark should be enough to put him on the national stage.
Once again, Roban is beginning to peak for the postseason. His ability to double back and produce two impressive half-mile efforts is extremely encouraging from the perspective of getting through the rounds at the NCAA Indoor Championships. And with a valuable year of experience under his belt, his stock will only continue to rise.
As for the rest of the half-mile men at Boston University, there isn't a whole lot to talk about. Penn State's Olivier Desmeules had a great battle with Georgetown's Tim McInerney and Army's Luke Griner in the second-fastest heat with each runner producing 1:47-mid marks.
However, Iowa State's Jason Gomez couldn't quite close the gaps in the latter portions of his race against Roban and Tinoda Matsatsa simply struggled in his biggest challenge yet. But truthfully, I'm almost surprised that Matsatsa didn't have a poor race like that sooner. Up until Saturday, he had been performing just as well as most other middle distance stars despite being way more inexperienced than his counterparts.
If anything, I think this past weekend was a good "Welcome to the NCAA" moment which can give Matsatsa a small glimpse at what he can expect in March.
Harvard's Maia Ramsden Produces 4:24.83 Mile PR at Millrose Games, Now Sits at NCAA #2 All-Time
Did I think that Harvard's Maia Ramsden was going to run under 4:30 in the mile on Sunday at the Millrose Games? Yes, I did. But did I think that she was going to run 4:24 and nearly take down Katelyn Tuohy's mile record? No, I definitely did not think that, especially after she was coming back from anchoring Harvard's DMR to a 10:52 mark on Saturday.
Make no mistake, Ramsden is a highly accomplished miler with a highly dynamic skillset. She was a national title threat in the mile last winter and then delivered on her title contention hopes with a 1500-meter national title victory at the outdoor national meet. The Harvard star has often thrived in time trial environments and still ran a 4:30 mile PR in her first race back in December 2nd.
Even so, I didn't think Ramsden was going to be running 4:24 on Sunday. I though that, at the absolute maximum, she would run 4:26. Of course, I probably should've known better given how insane certain distance marks have been this year.
With this performance, Ramsden returns to a similar status that she held last year -- a national title favorite in the mile. And frankly, given her versatile skillset and past postseason success, I wouldn't disagree with anyone who said that Ramsden is the sole mile national title favorite.
Do I think Ramsden is unbeatable? No, not quite, especially with the women's mile never being as deep AND as top-heavy as it ever has been. But if you're looking at all of the women who you think could realistically win NCAA gold in the mile come March, none of them have as strong of an argument as Ramsden now does.
Arkansas' Newest Distance Star, Peter Maru, Makes NCAA Debut Over 5000 Meters at Boston University, Runs 13:17
If you're someone who read our meet preview, then you were likely aware of who Peter Maru was and what he was capable of. Even so, when someone of Maru's caliber -- he holds a 5000-meter PR of 13:07 -- comes into the NCAA, there are always plenty of questions as to how they will adjust.
Well, as of Saturday, Peter Maru seems to be having no issues with his adjustments to a new environment and setting. That's because the Razorback rookie just threw down a fantastic 5k time of 13:17 at Boston U. this past weekend.
Maru was a major contender throughout the entirety of the race, often leading or being right with the pacers. And while he didn't have the turnover to contend for the win on the final lap, it was clear that he was still a major focal point of that race.
There is still quite a bit that we don't know about Maru, mainly his racing tendencies and how he'll fare in an indoor track race that's faster or slower than what he was part of on Saturday. But at the very least, he looks like he'll be another aerobic-centric star who could also be a major player over 10,000 meters this coming spring.
As for the other collegiates, I'm not too shocked. In fact, I thought a lot of these men would be running a little bit faster.
However, Michigan's Tom Brady was the next-best collegiate, posting a very strong personal best of 13:24. That feels like a very well-deserved result for someone who has been so reliable and so consistent for the Wolverines over the last few years.
However, maybe more importantly, Brady now sits at NCAA #11 on the national leaderboard. And with very few opportunities remaining for other men to run a faster 5k time, this Michigan veteran is in a very good spot to extend his season to March.
South Carolina's Anass Essayi Throws Down 3:51 Mile Mark, Drake's Isaac Basten Earns 3:53 Mile PR
The men's mile was a race that a lot of distance running fans were watching, especially us. That's because South Carolina star, Anass Essayi, was seemingly primed to go after the NCAA mile record of 3:50.39.
He had, after all, run 3:50.46 in the same event at the same meet last year.
But despite a gutsy effort and a willingness to lead the pack on the final lap, Essayi settled for a 3:51 mile effort and a runner-up finish (he was also the top collegiate).
I would love to give you some deep analytical breakdown of Essayi's performance and what that means for the postseason. However, in the grand scheme of things, we didn't learn anything new about this Gamecock star. We knew he was more than capable of running this time and it didn't strike me as a surprise that he was contending for the win.
As for Isaac Basten, the story is slightly different.
The Drake veteran had struggled with an extended illness in the fall and through December. That ultimately explains his delayed start to the season and why he didn't race (excluding pacing duties) until February when he ran 3:56 in the mile as his seasonal rust-buster.
But to come away with a 3:53 mile PR in a race that was essentially a time trial -- a setting that Basten has admitted that he doesn't prefer -- is pretty impressive. The Bulldog standout simply had to be fast enough to contend for NCAA gold on the national stage. And as we all know, the mile is a historically tactical race, something that Basten strongly prefers.
We should also note as a disclaimer that Isaac Basten works for TSR as our Lane Nine host.
Also, excellent efforts from Nick Foster (Michigan) and Abel Teffra (Georgetown), two men who both ran 3:54 in the mile. Both of those men should be able to advance to the national meet as individuals in those events.
Foster continues the trend of silencing any doubts that I may have about him while Teffra delivered on the potential that I had been consistently highlighting in past articles.
Billah Jepkirui Throws Down Fantastic 4:29 Mile PR
It's extremely hard to dislike anything about Billah Jepkirui. She had an incredible end to her cross country season (placing 7th at the national meet), threw down a monster 8:46 (3k) PR at the Boston U. Season Opener and now has a 4:29 mile PR on her resume from this past weekend.
Make no mistake, that mile time is extremely impressive, but it's everything else about Jepkirui that we can't help but love. That mile PR came after running on her team's NCAA #2 all-time DMR the day before. And when she did run 4:29, Jepkirui took down Oregon's entire army of milers, including Klaudia Kazimierska and Silan Ayyildiz.
But securing top finishes and responding to high-level competition isn't exactly new for Jepkirui. Throughout her freshman year, specifically in the spring, Jepkirui seemingly knew exactly what her strengths and weaknesses were. She was smart to often begin her late-race surges from a bit further out than most traditional kickers would have. And if you recall the 1500-meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Jepkirui placed 5th overall.
Oh, and she owns a 2:04 PR for 800 meters.
Usually, I wouldn't be too big of a fan of a sophomore, who is seemingly aerobic-centric, contesting the mile at the indoor national meet after not qualifying for an individual event last year (although she did run on the DMR).
However, Jepkirui has showcased enough consistency, range, raw talent, growth and tactical awareness for me to say that she's an All-American mile favorite -- and dare I say All-American lock -- for this year's NCAA Indoor Championships.
As for the aforementioned Oregon duo of Klaudia Kazimierska and Silan Ayyildiz, they were close behind Jepkirui, each running 4:30 in the mile. They now sit at NCAA #11 and NCAA #12, respectively, on the national leaderboard in that event.
That should be enough for them to get into the national meet, although given what has happened so far this season, I don't feel as comfortable saying that as I thought I would.
Regardless, I've come to really admire Kazimierska's recent consistency and Silan Ayyildiz has looked excellent with the Ducks, also running 8:56 over 3000 meters this past weekend.
