First Thoughts: Messaoudi is the NCAA Distance King + Riggins & Barnett Impress in Non-Invite Heat

I can't remember the last time when a "First Thoughts" article on Sunday was shorter than a "First Thoughts" article that I posted on Saturday -- but that's what happens when all of the main action takes place on Thursday and Friday.

Although to be honest, it's not that much shorter than usual.

The Bryan Clay Invitational was as good as advertised, ultimately being capped off by some outstanding 1500 meter races on both the men's and women's sides. Not only that, but we also saw a pair of excellent results at Mt. SAC and at the UF Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, although those had to be pushed to our "Quick Hits" section.

But first, let's start with those metric miles...

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Fouad Messaoudi Runs 3:35 Over 1500 Meters, Nearly Upsets Cooper Teare While Joe Waskom Also Runs 3:35

Saturday night's 1500 meter races at Azusa Pacific were absolutely thrilling. The invitational section of the men's field lived up to the hype as the pacing was fast and the pro stars matched up nicely with the collegiate standouts.

The pacer, Charlie Grice, brought this field through 800 meters almost perfectly, splitting approximately 1:54 for the first-half mile. Behind him was former Oregon ace and current Nike star Cooper Teare who was closely followed by a long line of runners including Fouad Messaoudi (Oklahoma State), Grant Fisher (Nike), Noah Kibet (Nike) and Anass Essayi (South Carolina).

With a lap to go, Messaoudi approached Teare on the inside rail and made this 1500 meter battle a two-person race over the last lap. The Moroccan superstar put in a surge on the back straightaway, forcing Teare to respond. And going into the last straightaway, it looked like the Cowboy standout was going to pull off the upset.

Of course, it was Teare making one last surge, getting Messaoudi at the line with each man going 3:35 for the 1500 meter distance. Meanwhile, Joe Waskom put together a quietly great close of his own, settling for a 3:35 personal best.

Sure, he may not have won, but what Messaoudi just did was incredible. He took one of the greatest American distance runners in the country right now to the finish line in an ultra-fast race in a mark that now sits at NCAA #4 all-time over 1500 meters.

Off of the top of my head, I don't know if I've ever seen a distance runner more complete than Fouad Messaoudi. No, I'm not necessarily saying the fastest or someone with the most range. But in terms of skillset, tactics, raw talent and the ability to thrive between a variety of events, this Oklahoma State runner can seemingly handle any race scenario thrown at him.

Truthfully, I think Cole Hocker may be the best comparison for this sudden all-time star.

With elite firepower, tactical perfection and growing momentum, I don't see how anyone could pick against Messaoudi for the national title over 1500 meters this spring -- even if I think that the 3000 meters is his best distance.

Of course, to be clear, this is not to say that Messaoudi is a national title lock. That's simply because this year's 1500 meter field is too stacked.

And yet, at the same time, this result wasn't totally out of the realm of possibility. I thought Messaoudi could run 3:34 for 1500 meters on Saturday night and i even flirted with the idea of him going as fast as 3:32 over that distance (although I made sure to note the absurdity of suggesting that).

As for Waskom, I loved this result for him, although I can't say I'm shocked. We saw this past winter that he was capable of running a time like this, earning a 3:51 mile PR back in January. However, what I can appreciate is seeing how this Washington veteran approached his race.

The Husky ace actually ran a good portion of this race near the back of the pack before moving up in the final moments to snag a 3rd place result. That kind of patience in a field as fast and as chaotic as this was really promising to see.

We then come to Anass Essayi, the South Carolina runner who was, at one point, the top-ranked distance talent in our top-25 indoor track rankings. And after running 3:50 in the mile this past winter, there was very good reason to believe that he could scare the collegiate 1500 meter record on Saturday and contend for top collegiate honors.

The Gamecock runner was always in contention during this race, but never really found a way to get near the front in any legitimate way. Even so, running 3:36.89 for 1500 meters is still very solid and a really impressive result. I wouldn't dare to keep Essayi out of the national title conversation.

However, relative to expectations, you could say that the next-three collegiate finishers (in this heat) were actually more impressive.

For Isaac Basten, watching him run 3:36.99 at this distance was awesome! I was thrilled to see him post a time like that. In my mind, the Drake star wasn't going to run 3:34 or 3:35 on Saturday night. And frankly, I thought 3:36 was a best-case scenario for him.

That's why a 3:36.99 (1500) time is monumental. Basten is probably the best tactical runner in the NCAA right now. All he had to do was just run fast enough to keep himself in the conversation for a gold medal in June.

And in my eyes, he did just that...and then some.

Eliud Kipsang is an interesting name to analyze here. The Alabama superstar and collegiate record holder in this event had a not-so-great indoor track season, so making his season debut in this race left me with a lot of uncertainty.

And sure, he didn't contend for the win or run all that close to his 3:33.74 mark that he ran for 1500 meters at this exact same meet last year. But the Kenya native did throw down a very strong 3:37 result -- and if I were him, I would be very happy.

We still have a month and a half to go until the outdoor national meet. And while Kipsang is very clearly not at his peak form (yet), he'll still have a chance to reach that point over the next few weeks.

For someone who has recently struggled quite a bit on the national stage across all three seasons, I think this could actually be the best thing to have happened to the Crimson Tide runner. Because if he peaks like I think he can, then his chances to contend for the national title could actually be the highest they've ever been, or at least since the spring of 2021.

The last name to mention in the top heat is Adam Spencer, the Aussie All-American from last spring who was able to match his 1500 meter PR on Saturday in 3:37...despite nearly falling on the final lap.

While it was tough to see in the replay, Spencer went into the first curve of the final lap and nearly took a tumble. And even if he didn't completely fall, his momentum had to be slowed dramatically.

The fact that this Wisconsin miler was able to salvage a 1500 meter time as fast as 3:37 despite that happening is actually super impressive. And in my eyes, his stock probably rose higher than what his final result would suggest.

But what if I told you that Anass Essayi, Isaac Basten, Eliud Kipsang and Adam Spencer actually finished one spot lower than where they placed within their heat? That's because Iowa State's Ezekiel Rop had the race of his life on Saturday. Out of the third-fastest heat, the Cyclone standout posted a jaw-dropping time of 3:36.92!

That's insane!

For perspective, Rop ran his mile PR this past winter, a relatively modest result (by comparison) of 4:01.92.

Truthfully, I have no idea what to think about this performance. Rop was undeniably talented before this race, running 13:36 for 5000 meters at this meet last spring, but he has NEVER been anywhere near this good before. And when you consider that this guy has been predominately viewed as a true long distance talent, seeing him run this fast in the metric mile is a true shock.

I simply don't have any more analysis to offer on his race. At this point in time, we just need him to produce greater consistency at/close to this level. Because when looking at the other marks on his resume, there isn't a whole lot to validate that this kind of time was coming.

In that same heat at Rop was Colin Sahlman, the Northern Arizona freshman and former high school all-time superstar.

As a rookie, the Lumberjack distance runner has been good, but up until the spring months, he hasn't necessarily been great. He was largely a non-factor during cross country and his indoor track season didn't leave us with much to be excited about.

But after a very solid time of 13:42 for 5000 meters at the Stanford Invitational, Sahlman took another step up, producing an outstanding result of 3:38 for 1500 meters.

This is the kind of performance that we've been looking for out of Sahlman for the last few months. We knew he was capable of earning this kind of result, but momentum for this NAU frosh felt somewhat stagnant until recently.

And if he can build on this momentum, then he could be an insanely key scoring asset for the Lumberjacks on the grass later this year.

Matthew Payamps (Georgetown) and Nick Foster (Michigan) were the top-two men in the second-fastest heat, each running 3:38 (1500) marks of their own. Time-wise, I don't think this is a total shock to see from either guy, although these performances were important for these men for different reasons.

Payamps has been struggling as of late, failing to produce nationally competitive times and falling behind in races where he should have been in contention to win. That's why a 1500 meter time as fast as 3:38 en route to a heat win over an insanely loaded field has to be huge for jump-starting his momentum.

Foster, meanwhile, has been on fire as of late. He had a fantastic indoor track season where he flexed solid versatility, great consistency, the fitness to be nationally competitive and highly underrated tactical prowess. And now, with a 3:38 (1500) PR on his resume, the argument for this Michigan athlete to be an All-American in June continues to grow stronger.

Melissa Riggins & Mia Barnett Emerge As Top Collegiates Out of Second-Fastest 1500 Meter Heat via 4:10 Marks

One of the biggest points of discussion that I made clear in our Bryan Clay Invitational 1500 meter preview (as well as a recent recording of the Blue Oval Podcast which is coming out on Wednesday) is that I didn't understand the seeding of these 1500 meter heats.

Mia Barnett was originally supposed to race in the top section, but was later moved to the second-fastest heat while Klaudia Kazimierska and Amina Maatoug were given spots with the "supposed" top women.

And in my mind, that didn't make sense.

Don't get me wrong, both Kazimierska and Maatoug were actually just as deserving of being in that top section as Barnett was. However, half of the "fastest" heat all held 1500 meter or mile resumes that were significantly/notably slower than what Barnett has produced.

It's not that certain women didn't deserve to be entered in heat 12, but I didn't know how Claire Seymour, Michaela Rose, Gracie Morris, Bailey Hertenstein and Caroline Timm were given preference over Barnett.

Regardless, the top collegiate times in the women's 1500 meters came from the heat which featured Mia Barnett (UCLA) and Melissa Riggins (Georgetown).

Barnett was the only one who opted to follow the pacer and go after a fast time, seemingly looking to make a statement after being omitted from the top section. And going into the last lap, she had a solid 20 meter to 30 meter lead on the rest of the field, looking to make her race a complete solo effort.

And while the newest UCLA star held her form for most of that final lap, it was Georgetown's Melissa Riggins who had the race of her life. The still-rising Hoya talent slowly closed the gap on her west coast counterpart before barely getting a few strides on Barnett in the final few meters of the race.

In the end, Riggins secured the heat win (and eventually top collegiate honors) while Barnett would settle for being the second-best collegiate, each running 4:10 over 1500 meters.

For Riggins, this is a huge result. We knew that she was exceptionally talented after running top 800 meter times over the last year (owning a PR of 2:03.50 in that event) and securing a huge upset 1500 meter win last spring at the Joe Walker Invitational over Sintayehu Vissa and Taylor Roe (in a time of 4:17).

But running 4:10 for 1500 meters -- utilizing her speed in a race that was fast from the gun and upsetting a star-caliber talent in Mia Barnett -- is flat-out phenomenal. This is undoubtedly the best race that we've ever seen from Riggins and we are now forced to view her as someone who may be more of a miler than an 800 meter runner.

And with the women's half-mile field so loaded, nationally, I can't imagine a scenario where Riggins doesn't pursue the metric mile at the regional and national levels. Because with her 800 meter speed, she can thrive in positional-centric battles.

If you don't believe me, just rewatch Saturday's race.

As for Barnett, you have to give her a ton of credit. Sure, she didn't come out with the win or top collegiate honors, but I loved the message that she was trying to send. The UCLA ace looked incredibly strong and despite getting caught in the last straightaway, she didn't really falter in terms of pacing/strength.

4:10 is a new 1500 meter personal best for Barnett who is still lightyears beyond where she should be for a sophomore. Her racing IQ, overall poise, raw talent and willingness to be aggressive when allowable is so admirable.

And in a year where All-American spots in the women's 1500 meters seem far from set in stone, I can't help but view Barnett as a favorite to earn a top-eight spot on the national stage come June.

Grace Fetherstonhaugh (Oregon State) and Lorena Rangel Batres (LSU) each ran 4:11 for 1500 meters in that same heat while BYU rookie Taylor Rohatinsky ran 4:12 for that distance as well.

For Fetherstonhaugh, this result isn't a total shocker. She was very good on the indoor oval this past winter and earned a mile PR of 4:34 a few months ago. After running a monster 5k PR of 15:30 at the Stanford Invitational, it was plenty reasonable to think that her still-improving fitness could give her a 4:11 mark for 1500 meters -- although that was certainly on the better end of the possible times spectrum for her.

It's a somewhat similar story for Rohatinsky. Despite her youth, she has been unbelievably reliable and consistent this year. She was a true miler during the winter months and just hasn't given us any reason to doubt her fitness. On paper, a 4:12 (1500) PR is plenty reasonable for someone of her caliber, but it's still incredible to actually see her produce that kind of time, mainly because she just shouldn't be this good yet -- and that's a big compliment!

However, I didn't have Lorena Rangel Batres running 4:11 for 1500 meters on my bingo card. The LSU runner is often competing in the shadow of teammate Michaela Rose, but she has brought tons of middle distance value to this roster.

The Tiger ace ran 2:03.53 for 800 meters the other week and just threw down a huge 4:11 mark for the metric mile. And sure, we knew she was talented and that she was improving, but Batres had never run faster than 4:40 in the open mile before.

Heck, her prior 1500 meter PR was 4:16!

Batres is on fire right now. And while I don't know for sure which event she'll contest on the regional/national stages, I have to imagine that the 1500 meters will be her best option.

Not only is the women's 800 meter field insanely deep this year, BUT not having Batres in the 800 meters would give Michaela Rose one less woman to worry about from a qualifying standpoint (only if something catastrophic were to happen in those regional rounds).

And conversely, LSU wouldn't have to worry about Batres getting left out of the national meet in the 1500 meters from someone on her own team.

But let's now move our conversation to the top section, heat 12.

The top collegiate in a race that was soloed by Nike's Elise Cranny in 4:07 was Oregon's Polish superstar Klaudia Kazimierska who ran 4:11 for 1500 meters. She was joined under that 4:12 barrier by Flomena Asekol (Alabama), Laura Pellicoro (Portland) and Michaela Rose (LSU).

For Asekol and Pellicoro, these results are far from surprising. We've seen them post similar times over this distance before. In fact, I even predicted Pellicoro to run 4:11 for 1500 meters on Saturday.

But for Michaela Rose, I gotta give credit where credit is due, that was one heckuva run.

Rose was an insanely versatile and dynamic superstar in high school. It felt like she could contest any event from the long-sprints to the hurdles to certain jump events to the longer-ish distances at a competitive level.

Naturally, the LSU ace has become more firmly focused on her speciality events (specifically the 800 meters) since joining the NCAA. I always viewed this second-year talent as a 400/800 meter runner, but I may have to rethink that after seeing her run 4:11 over 1500 meters.

Of course, in the grand scheme of things, this result probably doesn't mean a whole lot for Rose. She just ran 1:59 for 800 meters and will focus on that event at the regional and national levels instead of the 1500 meters.

The only thing that this 1500 meter race told us about Rose is that she has a deceptively large amount of strength, although we probably could have deciphered that given her front-running racing style over 800 meters.

Quick Hits

• I sincerely can't believe that I'm putting this in our "Quick Hits" section, but that's just how this weekend worked. The Stanford rookie duo Roisin Willis and Juliette Whittaker were fantastic this past weekend at Mt. SAC. In the 1500 meters, Whittaker ran 4:12 while Willis ran 4:13. Over 800 meters, each woman ran 2:01 with Whittaker getting the edge. But truthfully, for as good as that weekend double is, none of those results should surprise us in the slightest.

• Imogen Barrett threw down an insane 2:00.96 mark over 800 meters at her home meet. And while that is wildly impressive, we should note that her prior PR in this event sat at 2:01.23 from this past winter. In other words, this development isn't exactly shocking and it doesn't entirely erase her not-so-great effort from the NCAA Indoor Championships from March. But to be clear, this Florida ace should have a lot to be proud of right now -- 2:00.96 now sits at NCAA #24 all-time in the women's 800 meters on the outdoor oval.

• In the same race as Barrett, we saw Kassidy Johnson (Rutgers) and Sylvia Chelangat (South Carolina) run 2:02 for 800 meters. For Johnson, this result isn't too shocking. We know that she's been a nationally competitive name for a while now. But Chelangat? Well, I'll be honest, I've never heard of her before and it now seems like the Gamecocks are making a concentrated effort to bolster their middle distance group with top-tier overseas talents. First it was Essayi, then it was Ayyildiz and now it's Chelangat.

• The Clemson duo of Tarees Rhoden and Aman Thornton produced a pair of 1:46 marks for 800 meters at the University of Florida, a fairly unsurprising pair of results, but this Tiger duo still deserves your respect. Thornton is also far better than some people may realize and this performance will hopefully help his case.

• In that same race, we saw Mehdi Yanouri (Oklahoma State) run 1:46 while Sam Austin (Florida) and Marco Vilca (Texas Tech) both ran 1:47 for 800 meters. Yanouri is the big story here. The Cowboy ace previously competed at the JUCO level, but seemingly came over to Oklahoma State this past winter. And after running 1:48 for the half-mile distance a couple of times, he seemingly thrived with the new upper-tier competition. We still have to monitor him for a little longer, but the Oklahoma State men may have a nationally competitive middle distance name on their roster now...

• Nico Young (Northern Arizona) and Valentin Soca (California Baptist) each ran 13:30 for 5000 meters in the second-fastest heat of the men's 5000 meters at Bryan Clay. I'm not sure why Young wasn't in the top section (maybe that was intentional), but given his recent indoor track campaign, I thought that was an interesting decision.

• On their home track, the Virginia duo of Nathan Mountain and Derek Johnson ran 8:34.99 and 8:38 in the steeplechase, respectively. Although, admittedly, neither of those results were shocking. We knew Mountain was more fit than he was last year and Johnson has actually run 8:32 in the steeplechase before. Still, these are really solid results in this event for the middle of April.