First Thoughts: Oussama El Bouchayby Runs 1:45 (800) at Texas Relays, West Texas A&M Duo Thrives

Yesterday, I asked one of our veteran contributors, Maura Beattie, to make some predictions for the men's and women's middle and long distance races for the Texas Relays (and the Florida Relays). Luckily, we got to see the accuracy of her results fairly quickly as a handful of the distances races in Austin, Texas were contested on Thursday night.

Now, I've been writing and covering this sport for about seven years. I may not have been around for as long as some of the other writers in the track and field media landscape, but I've done my fair share of predictions for a handful of meets that no one else will preview.

So believe me when I say that Maura may have had the most accurate set of predictions that I've seen in a VERY long time. Sure, not every time was exactly correct and not every placement was perfect, but all of the main contenders were roughly in the spots that she expected them to be and the times were identical in a lot of races.

Go back and check out her predictions here.

As for today, there were only a very small handful of results that I wanted to cover before we get into the rest of the weekend. So let's review a few performances from last night's races...

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Oussama El Bouchayby Stuns With Monster 1:45.31 Mark Over 800 Meters, Four Other Collegiates Go Sub-1:48

"Where in the heck is Angelo State?"

That was one of the comments that we received on our Instagram page when we posted a preview for our Texas Relays (and Florida Relays) predictions. And truthfully, for anyone who doesn't follow the Division Two scene, it's a fair question.

Oussama El Bouchayby, Angelo State's phenom half-miler from Morocco, has only recently begun to make some noise, making his collegiate debut this past winter in late January. And in the few instances where he has contested the 800 meters, El Bouchayby has been unbelievable. He broke the D2 indoor 800 meter record in a time of 1:47.11 and then went on to break his own record again with a result of 1:46.78 en route to a national title.

Nowadays, those who follow Division Two know all about Angelo State, a Texas-based university located near the central portion of the state. And after last night, everyone, regardless of division, is going to be more familiar with the university.

That's because El Bouchayby toed the line against a slew of 800 meter megastars on Thursday. Truthfully, the field he was entered in looked like it could have been a final round at the outdoor national meet -- the talent was simply that good.

This race went out FAST. The pacer (Brian Herron) went out in 50.04 seconds, although it was Jonathan Jones who came through the first lap in 51.34 seconds to lead the group. From there, the upper-half of the pack pulled away, keeping things close with each other going into the final 100 meters.

And when that curve was complete, you could tell that El Bouchayby simply had more momentum off the curve than Bryce Hoppel, a current Adidas pro and Olympian over the 800 meter distance.

In what had to be viewed as a major upset, it was El Bouchayby crossing the line in a time of 1:45.31 for 800 meters! That time was just 0.07 seconds off from the outdoor D2 record in this event, an incredible development considering that the D2 800 meter record of 1:45.24 has been held by Savieri Ngidhi since 1995.

El Bouchayby hasn't even run 10 half-mile races in his still-very young collegiate career (yesterday was his ninth try, collegiately, at that distance). And yet, despite that, we're now talking about this Angelo State superstar as one of the all-time greats, especially after what we saw him do on the indoor oval.

And sure, his time is wildly impressive, but there's so much more to his performance than just a big-time personal best. Coming into yesterday's race, El Bouchayby had established a reputation of being an aggressive front-runner. But in this kind of field, he couldn't be the guy to take control of the pacing -- his opponents are too refined and too talented for the D2 star to simply run away from them.

And El Bouchayby seemingly understood that.

That's why the Moroccan ace followed the top pack and then began to make a big move from roughly 150 meters out. He swung off the curve with the perfect amount of momentum and, as we already mentioned, caught Hoppel in the final straightaway.

El Bouchayby isn't just running fast. He's also running with a refined understanding of race tactics. He's executing his race plans to perfection despite incredible talents flanking him throughout each of his last two races.

Oh, and by the way, El Bouchayby is a freshman by eligibility.

Crazy, I know.

Of course, El Bouchayby wasn't the only collegiate in the field.

Let's talk about Tiarnan Crorken, an Ole Miss star who was an All-American at this distance during the 2022 indoor track season. He ran 1:47 for 800 meters this past winter, but that wasn't enough for him to advance to the national meet as an individual. And while he does hold a half-mile PR of 1:46.75, that mark came in June of 2021 when he was still in the UK. He hadn't run under 1:47 since then.

That's why a recent result of 1:46.82 is huge for Crorken. We knew that he had the talent, the range and the tactical refinement to be one of the best men in the NCAA over 800 meters. Like we said, he proved it two indoor track seasons ago. But to actually stick with an absurdly hot pace and put together a really solid finish is incredibly encouraging.

Sure, he'll need to keep up the momentum throughout the rest of this season, but this was exactly what we were hoping to see out of him.

We then come to the Texas duo of Yusuf Bizimana (1:46.83) and Jonathan Jones (1:47.28). The Longhorn's long-sprints/middle distance stars were expected to be major factors in this race. And to some extent, they were! The Texas men controlled this race, but were overwhelmed in the final moments by a group of men who were simply more patient.

It feels absolutely absurd to say that Bizimana and Jones underwhelmed. Just look at those times! But despite what Maura's predictions suggested, Bizimana was probably the collegiate favorite in this field given that he is the recent NCAA champion for the indoor 800 meters.

Jones, meanwhile, probably had a 1:46 mark in him (he holds a 1:45 PR). But for someone who hasn't finished a race at this distance in a full year to date, it's understandable why he may not be in PR form right now.

Cameron Herron, another Texas talent, was the next guy across the line, putting together a big PR of 1:47.97 (800) after he quietly stuck around with the top group and kept fighting to the line.

Prior to this season, Herron had never run faster than 1:49 over 800 meters. But then he ran 1:48 for this distance two weeks ago before posting a sub-1:48 result for a new PR. Watch out for this former University of Arizona runner, he seems to be building some nice momentum.

Tough days for Dayton Carlson (Arizona State) and Jason Gomez (Iowa State). The pace was simply way too hot from the gun and both guys were out of the race fairly on, each recording times of 1:49 (800).

In terms of their actual fitness, that pair of results was just a fluke. Obviously, both of those men can be far faster later this spring. Yes, Gomez does need to be a bit more consistent when looking at his resume as a whole, but this is the first "off" race that Carlson has had over 800 meters in quite some time.

Teammates Valery Tobias (2:03) & Brooke Jaworski (2:05) Go 1-2 in Women's 800 Meters at Texas Relays

This race, compared to the men's invitational section of the 800 meter was...well, far less surprising and very predictable.

Truthfully, there isn't much to talk about here. Tobias was an All-American on the indoor oval this past winter and ran 2:02 multiple times for 800 meters. Seeing her cruise to a 2:03 mark on her home track where she was favored to win doesn't really give us anything to analyze.

This is just business as usual for the Longhorn veteran who likely wanted to get a regional qualifying mark out of the way early in the season.

As for Jaworski, it's nice to see her shake off the rust with a solid time of 2:05 (800). She'll need to improve upon that result, but she's someone who is a) experienced, and b) has no issues building momentum as the season progresses. She'll almost certainly a post a 2:03 or 2:04 mark before the West Regional Championships.

West Texas A&M Duo of Eleonora Curtabbi & Florance Uwajeneza Secure Two Key Wins & Top D2 Marks

If you're new to the Division Two scene, welcome! Hopefully this article will allow you to realize how talented some of the athletes are at this level.

Eleonora Curtabbi is coming off of a fantastic indoor track season. She ran 4:40 for the mile, briefly held the D2 record over 3000 meters with a 9:08 mark and is the defending D2 steeplechase national champion, previously holding a personal best of 10:07 in the event.

Oh, and for a bonus, she has also run 2:08 for 800 meters.

Curtabbi is arguably the most dynamic distance talent in Division Two...or at the very least, among the top-three. Even so, it's the 3000 meter distance, both with obstacles and without obstacles, where she's at her best.

In her season debut, Curtabbi took down a field that, frankly, she was supposed to dominate. The West Texas A&M star ran a very impressive mark of 10:02 in the steeple on Thursday, giving her an excellent early-season PR that comfortably eclipses what she ran last year.

For perspective, that time now sits at NCAA #10 all-time in Division Two for the women's steeplechase. And unless one of the other D2 megastars like Brianna Robles or Lindsay Cunningham decide to be really, really good in the steeplechase this year, it seems fair to say that Curtabbi will be the very clear national title favorite in the event this spring.

As for Florance Uwajeneza, running 16:07 for 5000 meters isn't necessarily a stunning result given that she ran 9:14 for 3000 meters on the indoor oval AND ran 16:06 (5k) at the NCAA Indoor Championships en route to a bronze medal.

Regardless, seeing this long-time Buffalo veteran essentially match her personal best after just running it three weeks ago is very encouraging. To me, that signals that a) she may still have more untapped fitness within her this season, and b) her expected move up to the 10k should benefit her in a major way.