First Thoughts: Parker Valby Runs 8:42 (3k) in "Slow" Section, Kelly-Ann Beckford Upsets Galvydyte, Sean Dolan Defeat Matsatsa in 800m Rematch

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a wrap on the final weekend of indoor track before the NCAA Indoor Championships...well, sorta. A few conference championship meets are still wrapping, both today (Ivy League) and tomorrow (Missouri Valley).

Even so, we had a large handful of performances that we wanted to discuss and we couldn't wait much longer to offer some of our analysis. So with that, let's get into it...

---

Parker Valby Runs 8:42 (3k) in "Slow" Section at SEC Championships, Secures Overall Win

One of the most highly anticipated races of the weekend was the women's 3000 meters at the SEC Indoor Championships. However, it wasn't the "fastest" section with numerous top-tier stars that everyone had their eyes on. Instead, it was the first and "slower" section which featured the return of Florida megastar, Parker Valby, who didn't have a 3k seed time from earlier this season.

In that race, Valby went to the lead while being paced by two teammates, Elise Thorner and Amelia Mazza-Downie, who stepped off the track fairly early-on. And from there, it was just a time trial effort for the Gator phenom. That led to Valby running an outstanding time of 8:42 over 3000 meters, effectively taking the overall win as the top women in the "fastest" heat did not even crack the nine-minute barrier.

Video: Florida Track & Field via X.com embed

Valby's latest 3k performance now sits at NCAA #5 all-time, a headline that induces a shrug of the shoulders and thoughts of, "Well, yeah. What else did you expect?" Admittedly, I had predicted this Gator standout to run 8:46 for 3000 meters. In my eyes, trying to completely solo an 8:42 mark was a big ask.

Of course, as we have learned over the last year or two, there aren't many asks that are too big for Parker Valby to handle. She is truly that good.

However, there is now an entirely new question surrounding Valby: Does the Florida star go after the 5k/3k double at the indoor national meet? Historically, this Gator ace has adopted a very limited racing schedule and we've never seen her double on the national stage before -- something that was partially due to injuries.

On paper, it would make sense that she does the double. There aren't many reasons not to. Even so, I'm not totally counting out the possibility that she runs once and only once at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Kelly-Ann Beckford Upsets Gabija Galvydyte As Both Women Produce 2:00 (800) Conversions

The women's 800-meter field at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships this past weekend was incredibly stacked. The field was headlined by Oklahoma State veteran Gabija Galvydyte, but other women such as Kelly-Ann Beckford (Houston), Meghan Hunter (BYU), Makayla Clark (Iowa State) and Olivia Howell (Texas) were all legitimate threats.

Sure enough, the 800-meter final was headlined by Beckford who simply went to the front and never looked back. The Houston standout, who was a Division Two 800-meter national champion a few years back, looked unbelievably strong, leading wire-to-wire. And despite Gabija Galvydyte trying to put in one final surge on the last straightaway, Beckford seemingly had half of a gear remaining.

In the end, the Cougar talent ran an outstanding PR of 2:00.99 to secure the overall win in what some of us at TSR have considered to be an upset.

Video: Houston Track & Field via X.com embed

It's one thing to defeat Galvdyte in a head-to-head matchup and it's another thing to run a significant personal best in the process. But to simply take that race from the gun and outrun a highly accomplished Lithuanian conference rival is incredibly impressive.

After conversions, Beckford now holds a time of 2:00.65 while Galvydyte boasts a mark of 2:00.73 on the national leaderboard. And suddenly, the idea of Beckford being an All-American contender -- maybe even a favorite -- has become increasingly more realistic.

If Beckford had run as fast as she just did in a pro-laden field and settled for a backend result, then we would have a few more questions about her viability in the postseason. But the Houston star just ran a big PR entirely on her own terms and took down one of the NCAA's most established half-milers in the process.

Plus, Beckford already ran 2:03 (800) earlier this season, previously held a 2:02 PR from last winter, has been at the indoor national meet before and, as we mentioned earlier, is a Division Two national champion at this distance (spring of 2022).

When you aggregate all of the best aspects of her resume, it's hard not to like the potential noise that this Cougar ace could make on the national stage.

As for Galvydyte, she may have lost, but I was still encouraged by her effort. She was smart to stick behind Beckford for most of the race and more times than not, Galvydyte's kick off of the final curve usually gets her the win in that scenario. Tack on the fact that the Cowgirl star ran an indoor 800-meter PR and it's hard to dislike where her fitness is at going into the national meet.

Villanova Duo of Liam Murphy & Marco Langon Run 7:42 & 7:43 For 3000 Meters, Position Themselves For a National Qualifying Spot

Sooner or later, Villanova star Liam Murphy was going to run a 3k. Of course, we didn't think it would be until this late into the season.

But when he did toe the line for the 3000 meters at the BIG East Indoor Championships, we had every expectation that this 'Nova standout would produce a nationally competitive mark, one that would ultimately put him in the national qualifying conversation.

And sure enough, that's exactly what happened.

After Devan Comber stepped off of the track as a pacer, Liam Murphy went to work in what became a time trial race. And in the end, he took home the win with a fantastic 7:42 mark. That effort should get him into the national meet, but frankly, there isn't anything to discuss when it comes to Murphy. We knew that he was capable of running this time.

Video: Villanova Track & Field via X.com embed

However, someone who we haven't mentioned yet is Marco Langon! The fellow Villanova talent, who has predominately been viewed as a miler, was also in this 3k race. And even when the pacer stepped off, it was Langon -- not Murphy -- who continued to keep things honest.

Murphy would ultimately take over in the final moments of that race, but Langon was still rewarded with a huge 7:43 (3k) PR! The redshirt freshman not only beat expectations by a hefty margin, but he also placed himself at the NCAA #16 spot on the national leaderboard in that event. As long as something insane doesn't happen over the next 24 hours, Langon should be able to book his ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Not only that, but the final name who Langon effectively removed from an automatic 3k national qualifying spot is Drew Bosley, someone who returned to racing this past weekend (albeit, not that well).

In terms of the nuances of that BIG East 3k race, there isn't a lot to chat about -- it was basically a time trial effort for the Wildcats. However, Murphy solidifying a spot to the national meet introduces another realistic All-American contender to the fold. And while Langon may not be at that stage of his career yet, putting himself on the national stage should give the redshirt freshman extremely valuable experience over the long-term.

Sean Dolan Takes Down Tinoda Matsatsa for BIG East Title Over 800 Meters, Each Producing 1:46 Marks

Ok, before we get into the actual race, I have to show you all something...

Here is what our D1 writer, Finn Birnie, predicted for the men's 800 meter-final at the BIG East Indoor Championships:

And here are the actual results:

Anyways, as you can already see, Sean Dolan took home a narrow win over Georgetown rookie Tinoda Matsatsa, 1:46.90 to 1:46.98. That race would essentially act as revenge after the Hoya freshman took down Dolan near the beginning over the season as both men ran 1:46-high marks.

However, the approach that Dolan took this past weekend was one that I don't think I had ever personally seen from him before.

Instead of staying with the rest of the pack, he went to the front of this field and hit the gas. And by coming through 400 meters around 51-ish seconds, Dolan was clearly going to make this race a test of fitness which, in my eyes, was pretty bold given how strong Matsatsa has looked this winter.

But in the end, Dolan hung on, optimally timing the exertion that he needed to maintain his lead, barely out-leaning the DC-based rookie.

Dolan is a true veteran who boasts extensive national meet experience and even owns two All-American honors. However, this may be the best that he has ever looked going into a national meet. The Villanova star has run under 1:47 for 800 meters not once this season, not twice this season, but three times! And that number could be four or even five after March 9th!

In nearly every race that he's been part of, Dolan has put himself in a position to win. And even if he didn't emerge victorious in all of those efforts, his execution was sound each time. In a year where the men's 800 meters feels a little thin, Dolan has arguably been the most consistent. That gives me a lot of encouragement about him for the national meet.

We then come to Tinoda Matsatsa. This is his second collegiate loss over 800 meters this season, but the difference between his latest performance and his Boston U. effort is striking.

That's because Matsatsa ran a very smart race on Saturday. He didn't immediately follow Dolan when he began to see separation, but he did start chipping away at that lead with two laps to go. And at the very end, the Georgetown star swung off the curve, nearly matching Dolan down the final straightaway.

In a handful of instances, that tactic usually gives Matsatsa the overall win.

No one has been questioning how talented and fit Matsatsa has been this winter. However, this was the first time where he has been racing for place and not time. And for his first-ever collegiate championship showing, I thought his tactical understanding was very strong.

Stanford's Juliette Whittaker Throws Down Outstanding 2:00.09 (800) Mark at University of Washington

It admittedly took a bit longer than we thought it would, but Juliette Whittaker has now returned to the upper-tier of the women's national 800-meter leaderboard.

That's because the Stanford star posted an excellent 2:00.09 mark over the half-mile distance this past weekend. Following Brooks Beasts pro, Nia Akins, Whittaker leaned on mile strength to help her through the time trial-esque race en route to one of the fastest marks of the season.

Admittedly, there's not much to discuss when it comes to this performance. The Cardinal sophomore has been fairly steady all season long. However, it seemed increasingly more likely that the mile would be the best option for her at the national meet -- and maybe it still is.

Even so, we have seen that when Whittaker is at her very best, she can contend for a national title over this distance. That will be even harder to do with Michaela Rose looking borderline unstoppable right now, but I like her chances for postseason success more in the half-mile rather than the mile.

In that same race was Washington's Wilma Nielsen who posted a fantastic 2:02 mark! It should be noted, however, that she is listed as a duplicate on TFRRS (specifically on the national leaderboard over 800 meters).

In other words, you can take her out of the NCAA #18 spot that she is still listed in.

Does that recent result tell us anything new about Nielsen? No, not really, but it is encouraging to see how consistent she has been this season. And in a women's 800-meter field that looks to be incredibly variable, I like the stability of this Husky veteran.

Quick Hits

• Tarees Rhoden (Clemson) took home his third ACC title over 800 meters, once again employing a front-running approach en route to a 1:47 mark. That kind of racing will need to be tweaked on the national stage, but the Tiger standout looked strong. Not only that, but Virginia Tech's Nick Plant is now in a national qualifying position for this event after finishing runner-up. That, however, now complicates the Hokies' DMR plans at the indoor national meet.

• In what turned out to be a tactical mile race, Florida freshman Parvej Khan swung off the final curve at the SEC Indoor Championships to storm past Anass Essayi for the upset win. This Gator rookie, who ran 3:55 a few weeks back, has been absolutely brilliant this winter. It's admittedly tough to see how he'll qualify for the national meet this season, but I would argue that he's one of the 16-best milers in the country when analyzing all factors.

• Sneaky-great run from Texas Tech rookie Ernest Cheruiyot. The Red Raider talent ran a converted time of 13:31 (5k) at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships to secure a win that could probably be called an upset.

• Absolutely incredible mile race from Adams State star Gracie Hyde. She ran 4:30 in the mile on Saturday, the fastest D2 mile time ever among all track sizes. The Grizzly star may not have the longevity at the Division Two level to be considered the G.O.A.T., but I struggle to see how a D2 woman has ever had a better singular season than Hyde has had (distance-wise, that is).

• In that same race as Hyde, we saw Maddy Elmore (Oregon) and Laura Pellicoro (Portland) each post 4:31 mile marks. Those are both solid efforts, but these two west coast standouts will still remain on the fringes of national qualifying in the mile.

• We didn't touch on this yesterday, but Molly Born posted a converted 5k time of 15:23 at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships. The Cowgirl veteran hung behind fellow teammate Taylor Roe before crossing the line with a 15:35 mark (unconverted). Born has been looking quietly great this season and her consistency, as well as her recent postseason peak, makes it hard to dislike her.

• A 4:26 anchor leg from Maia Ramsden on Harvard's DMR is very impressive, especially considering that she had already run the 3k the day before. Just something to keep in mind for when she reaches the preliminary rounds of the national meet.