First Thoughts (Part One): All-Time Steeple Marks From Doris Lemngole & Nathan Mountain, Three Collegians Run 4:07 (1500) & Rynard Swanepoel Runs an Outstanding 1:45 (800) PR

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Despite being one week removed from the madness seen at the Bryan Clay Invitational, this past Fright night left us with a handful of excellent performances to discuss. And while this weekend wasn't nearly as extensive in terms of top-tier results as we saw last weekend, there were still a plethora of great marks that require plenty of analysis.

Oh, and don't forget, we'll have Part Two of our "First Thoughts" article coming tomorrow evening. So if you don't see a certain performance being discussed in this article, then just be sure to stay tuned for Sunday's analysis!

Alright, let's cut the chit-chat and get right into today's article...

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UVA's Nathan Mountain Posts Huge 8:20 Steeplechase PR, Now Sits at NCAA #13 All-Time

Coming into this season, Virginia standout Nathan Mountain was expected to be a top contender, and maybe even a national title threat, in the men's steeplechase. He did, after all, own an 8:32 PR, was the ACC champion in the event last spring and was a 4th place All-American at that same discipline a few weeks after that.

And with a resume that held sneaky-good value and versatility, there were a lot of things to like about Nathan Mountain.

However, seeing the Virginia star post an outstanding 8:20 (steeple) personal best on Friday night (at the Virginia Challenge) was not something that we were expecting. In a race that was won by pro runner Matthew Wilkinson in 8:18, Mountain took advantage of the top-flight field and willed himself to a 12-second personal best, rewriting our expectations for this Cavalier veteran in the process.

With Abdelhakim Abouzouhir and Victor Kibiego each running 8:25 in the steeplechase last week, and effectively establishing themselves as the national title favorites, Mountain needed a performance like this to join that conversation.

Sure enough, an all-time steeple mark of 8:20 does exactly that. Now, instead of being viewed as a heavy All-American favorite, Mountain has shown us that his ceiling extends just as high, and maybe even higher, than his fellow NCAA title contenders. Not only that, but his versatility between the 1500 meters (holding a 3:39 PR) and the 5k (holding a 13:32 PR) gives him a skillset that is undoubtedly more well-rounded than what Abouzhouhir and Kibiego have shown.

In theory, that kind of talent should allow him to thrive on championship stages that are more nuanced and tactically involved.

The next-best collegians in this race were Iowa State's Gable Sieperda and Georgetown's Parker Stokes, both of whom ran excellent times of 8:26.

This performance answers a lot of questions that we had about Sieperda after last weekend's race at the Bryan Clay Invite. The Cyclone veteran was ultra aggressive in that race last weekend against a field that was flat-out better than him. He still hung on to run 8:34, but it was clear from his approach that he was aiming for something much faster and that he thought he was at least fit enough to run under 8:30.

Well, sure enough, that was what we saw from him on Friday night. An 8:26 (steeple) PR changes the complexion of Sieperda's resume from "likely national qualifier" to "realistic All-American contender."

Admittedly, we still need to see more from Sieperda when it comes to racing at this level. Make no mistake, he's been great in the early-going of this spring campaign, but his latest 8:26 PR is a clear outlier on a resume that, in his defense, is still fairly strong.

Crossing the line next to Sieperda was Hoya veteran Parker Stokes, a guy who was battling for NCAA gold all the way back in the spring of 2022. During that year's outdoor national meet, the Georgetown star posted a huge 8:18 steeplechase PR and earned bronze to cap his sophomore campaign.

Since then, Stokes has been unable to match the caliber of his incredible steeplechase PR, even failing to make the steeplechase finals at last year's outdoor national meet.

However, Stokes has looked subtly strong over the last year or so. He recorded new personal bests of 2:19 (1k) and 3:57 (mile) this past winter and Friday was the fastest steeplechase time that he has posted since he ran that 8:18 personal best.

All signs are pointing to Stokes being closer to peak form than not. And if this Georgetown star can replicate the postseason peak that he exhibited back in 2022, then maybe, just maybe, he can be part of the national title discussion.

The last attached collegian to run under 8:40 in this field was Virginia veteran Yasin Sado who posted a strong mark of 8:34. That time is less than one second off of his PR. And given how much better he looked this past winter compared to prior seasons, there is nothing flukey about his latest effort.

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Sado dipped under 8:30 before June.

Harvard's Maia Ramsden, South Carolina's Judy Kosgei & Virginia Tech's Lindsey Butler All Post 4:07 (1500) Marks at Wake Forest Invitational

One of the main events to watch on Friday night was the top section of the women's 1500 meters at the Wake Forest Invitational. In a field that featured a handful of Puma pros and top collegians, it was Harvard's Maia Ramsden who was arguably the headline entrant.

No, Ramsden wouldn't win this race (that honor went to Puma pro Dorcus Ewoi), but the two-time NCAA champion did post a strong 4:07 mark to emerge as the top collegian. And frankly, that kind of result is very much on par with what we expected. As long as Ramsden got a quick time under her legs, that was all that mattered. The postseason, even beyond the NCAA Outdoor Championships, is undoubtedly the bigger area of emphasis for this Kiwi ace.

However, the more notable development was seeing South Carolina's Judy Kosgei and Virginia Tech's Lindsey Butler each run 4:07 for 1500 meters as well! That is a pair of huge performances that comfortably surpassed our expectations.

When it comes to Butler, her 4:31 mile PR from the winter of 2023 suggested that she could have run under 4:10. However, running that far under the 4:10 (1500) barrier leaves us with a question that I didn't think we would need to ask this spring: Could Lindsey Butler eschew the 800 meters and pursue the metric mile on the national stage?

Yes, Butler is the 2022 indoor national champion over 800 meters and yes, she was just an All-American over that distance this past winter. But this is also someone who contested the mile at the 2023 indoor national meet. And frankly, Butler was a whole lot closer to the women's 1500-meter national title favorite on Friday night (Maia Ramsden) than she has been to Michaela Rose and Juliette Whittaker over the half-mile distance.

Not only that, but the women's 1500 meters is usually more tactical on the national stage than the 800 meters is. In theory, that makes Butler that even more dangerous given her proven turnover and speed.

Even so, Butler has built her reputation over the half-mile distance and it is clearly the event that she is more experienced and comfortable in. She'll likely stay with her marquee race, but I wouldn't be surprised if she moved up in distance for late May and early June.

And then there's Judy Kosgei, the South Carolina freshman who was actually one step ahead of Butler in that same race on Friday night.

This past fall, Kosgei put the NCAA on notice with excellent efforts on the grass. She was a top finisher and a multi-time winner at a handful of meets. The Gamecock talent even finished 19th at the NCAA XC Championships! That's why, given her clear aerobic-centric lean, we were surprised to see her focus on the middle distance events during the winter months.

Make no mistake, Kosgei still ran very well over the 800-meter and mile distances on the indoor oval, posting times of 2:04 and 4:34, respectively. Even so, it felt like the longer distances would be her forte and that she could have even more of an impact in an event like the 5000 meters (although her two lone 3k efforts weren't quite as exciting).

But after recently running an outstanding 2:01 (800) PR at the Florida Relays and now boasting a massive 4:07 (1500) PR, we have begun to see the same middle distance potential that South Carolina's coaching staff very clearly saw in Kosgei when they recruited her.

It's important to remember that Kosgei is still a freshman and is in her first year in the NCAA. Inexperience and the ongoing refinement of race tactics will need to be a point of emphasis once we get closer to championship season.

Of course, as we saw in the fall, Kosgei has proven that she can find success on the biggest stages. And while the track is usually more tactical than the grass, owning a 4:07 PR for 1500 meters could give her enough fitness to simply will her way into the national meet -- and maybe even the 1500-meter finals.

NC State's Sam Bush was also in this race, posting a solid 4:10 mark for 1500 meters. It will be interesting to see which event she contests in the postseason, although history suggests that it will be the 5000 meters.

Also, great running from Princeton's Mena Scatchard, Columbia's Nicole Vanasse and Toledo's Laura Nicholson. Each of those women ran 4:11 personal bests. Look out for Scatchard who has run PRs of 2:43 (1k), 2:04 (800) and 4:11 (1500) in three of her last four meets (earning three wins in five individual races along the way).

North Carolina's Makayla Paige Continues Breakout Season With 2:00.97 (800) PR

I'll fully admit, when UNC middle distance runner Makayla Paige ran 2:01.92 for 800 meters at the Duke Invite last week, I wondered how much that time really meant for her future. On paper, that was a substantial PR. Prior to that race, Paige's personal best in the event was 2:03.92 -- it was her only time ever breaking 2:04.

Naturally, I questioned if Paige's 2:01 effort was a borderline fluke.

But on Friday night, Paige silenced any doubts that I may have had about her. The North Carolina standout popped a massive 2:00.97 personal best for 800 meters. In turn, she finished as the top collegian, was the runner-up finisher and took down top names such as Harvard's Sophia Gorriaran and Georgetown's Melissa Riggins (each of whom ran 2:01) in the process.

With each passing week, the women's 800 meters becomes increasingly more top-heavy -- and Paige is only contributing to that trend. She has proven that her recent glimpses of nationally competitive talent are legit and despite making a big jump, she continues to improve. That's really hard to do!

Keep an eye on Paige moving forward. The ACC Championships will likely be a good indicator of where she sits in the All-American conversation.

As for Gorriaran and Riggins, they both ran 2:01 in the same race. And truthfully, there isn't much to say. Both of these women had already proven that they were capable of running times like this, leaving our impression of them largely unchanged as we inch closer to the second-half of the season.

Also, great run for South Carolina's Sylvia Chelangat. She ran 2:02 (800) which more or less matched her personal best. The postseason hasn't always been kind to her, but at least her fitness is in a good enough spot to advance to Eugene when the East Regional Championships roll around.

Columbia's Phoebe Anderson (15:29.02) Earns Narrow 5k Win Over Georgetown's Chloe Scrimgeour (15:29.87)

Going into this weekend, I suggested that Georgetown's Chloe Scrimgeour and NC State's Grace Hartman were the two collegiate favorites in the women's 5k at the Wake Forest Invitational. And in my mind, I feel like that pre-race narrative was justified.

Scrimgeour has been excellent over the longer distances this year and was fresh off of a pair of 7th place All-American finishes at the indoor national meet. Hartman, meanwhile, had earned 8th place All-American honors at the indoor national meet in the 5k and was coming off of a very strong 10k victory at the Raleigh Relays in a time of 32:28.

However, I also made sure to say the following about Columbia's Phoebe Anderson...

"Lost in the crowded mass of star names is Columbia's Phoebe Anderson, one of the NCAA's more underrated distance runners...at least in the eyes of The Stride Report. After a great cross country season, the Lion veteran continued to thrive on the indoor oval. She ran 15:33 for 5000 meters to gain a conversion of 15:26 which eventually put her on the national stage. While her competition will be tough, I wouldn't be totally shocked if Anderson ended up defeating all of the women who we just spoke about."

And sure enough, that's what we saw on Friday night.

You could argue that this was the best race of Phoebe Anderson's career -- and that's saying something considering that she was 29th at the NCAA XC Championships. Running a 15:29 (5k) PR to defeat top-tier talents such as Chloe Scrimgeour, Grace Hartman, a doubling-back Maia Ramsden, Amaris Tyynismaa and Emily Covert is huge.

Friday's race felt like it was the first time that Anderson has truly gotten over the proverbial hump of being a national-caliber threat in fields like this. She's been nationally competitive for a while now, but her fitness has seemingly reached a point where she's firmly in the same tier as many of the women who she just beat.

As for Scrimgeour, it wasn't a win and it wasn't a PR, but this was still a solid result for her. I don't think our opinion of her changed in any dramatic way. If anything, this was a really nice performance that she can build off of as she prepares for May and June.

Amaris Tyynismaa was the 3rd-place finisher in this race, an encouraging development after a challenging last few months of returning to top form. Sure, a 15:40 (5k) PR isn't going to alter the NCAA landscape, but it is a great step in the right direction for someone who was an All-American in this event last year. She is beginning to gather more and more momentum, making her someone who you may want to avoid in the postseason.

Alabama's Doris Lemngole Runs NCAA #2 All-Time Steeple Mark of 9:22 in Convincing Win Over Olivia Markezich

The women's steeplechase at the Wake Forest Invitational seemed to be the marquee event of the entire meet. That was because two NCAA superstars, Doris Lemngole and Olivia Markezich, were going to go head-to-head over the barriers and water pits.

In an ideal race, the final times had the potential to be historically fast. Sure enough, "historically fast" turned out to be the best way to describe this race, although that only applied to one runner -- Doris Lemngole.

Without a live stream, it's hard to know exactly how this race unfolded. However, what we do know is that Doris Lemngole showed us that she is more than just a great 5k and cross country runner. The Alabama rookie posted a massive steeplechase time of 9:22 on Friday night. That mark now sits at NCAA #2 all-time (in-season) behind only Courtney Wayment's 9:16 record from 2022.

Olivia Markezich, meanwhile, didn't have her best race. According to the splits, the Notre Dame veteran and defending NCAA steeplechase champion didn't necessarily fade from the initial pace, but rather, wasn't able to match the barrage of 72, 73 and 74-second laps that Lemngole had thrown down.

Alright, so...what does this all mean?

Well, for Lemngole, it may be time to start viewing her in a similar light as Maia Ramsden, Michaela Rose and, of course, Olivia Markezich (Parker Valby is in her own tier). Lemngole now owns an NCAA #2 all-time mark which is also something that Ramsden, Rose and Markezich also say. The catch? Lemngole also ran the NCAA #2 all-time indoor 5k mark of 15:04 this past winter.

In other words, in just her first year in the NCAA, this Alabama superstar has put herself in elite territory as far as her times are concerned. And while she is still chasing her first national title, you could argue that she has the most natural distance running talent in the NCAA outside of Parker Valby.

And of course, it's safe to say that she is now the NCAA steeplechase title favorite.

But just because Markezich settled for a (truthfully large) loss, we still shouldn't dismiss this Fighting Irish veteran from the national title conversation. She's run 9:17 in this event before and she's run times on the indoor oval which suggests that she can run WAY faster than her latest 9:35 effort would lead you to believe.

Make no mistake, she's going to have her work cut out for her when she see's Lemngole on the national stage, but Markezich is also someone who peaked beautifully for the postseason last spring.

Wake Forest's Rynard Swanepoel Has Race of His Life, Runs 1:45 (800) PR to Earn Statement Win

Was I high on Rynard Swanepoel coming into this weekend? Yes.

Was I under the impression that he could potentially run a new PR? Yes.

Did I think he could have won this 800-meter race on Friday night? Yes, but I didn't think he was all that close to being favored (and at the time, he wasn't).

But did I see this Wake Forest veteran skipping the 1:46 (800) range altogether and running a 1:45 personal best in what was undoubtedly the biggest win of his college career? Nope, I gotta admit, I definitely did not see that coming.

Throughout the last year, there have been plenty of signs that Swanepoel has been due for a new 800-meter personal best. Last spring, he ran 1:47 not once, not twice, but THREE times. And just last weekend at the Duke Invitational, this Wake Forest standout produced a strong 3:41 personal best over 1500 meters -- a three-second PR.

If the Demon Deacon runner had posted a 1:46 mark on Friday night, then I wouldn't have been shocked by any means. But a 1:45 personal best is a leap to an entirely new level of fitness that, frankly, we just haven't seen from him before.

And maybe more importantly, Swanepoel took home the win over Atlanta Track Club pro Lucian Fiore (who was victorious at the Raleigh Relays) and Indiana's Camden Marshall who ran 1:46 and was the pre-race collegiate favorite.

The good news moving forward is that we at least know that Swanepoel has enough raw talent to get out of the East region and maybe put himself in the 800-meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Of course, actually executing on that potential, employing proper tactics and replicating his ultra-fast PR when it's needed will be the biggest determinants in how far he goes in the postseason.

As for Camden Marshall, it's hard to be critical of his 1:46 mark. That's a new 800-meter and the third-straight race this season where I had a positive takeaway from his efforts. Actually getting to the national meet has been a challenge at times for this Indiana veteran, but his recent consistency has been encouraging to say the least.

It should also be noted that Alabama's Oussama El Bouchayby ran 1:46 (800) in this race! That's a major development considering that the Crimson Tide middle distance runner was a Division Two juggernaut last year and owns a 1:45 personal best. In fact, there was one point in time where we questioned if El Bouchayby was the best 800-meter runner in the NCAA regardless of division!

But after a quiet and unexciting indoor track season, the transfer from Angelo State is seemingly returning to form. If that's the case (and it seemingly is), then he'll have a month and a half to return to his peak level of fitness, an ideal timeline considering that the NCAA Outdoor Championships kick-off at the beginning of June.

Anass Essayi & Nick Plant Each Run 3:38 (1500) to Emerge as Top Collegians at Wake Forest Invitational

I'll admit, I thought this race was going to be a bit faster than what we saw. Sure, Nike's Josh Thompson was still plenty fast with his winning time of 3:37 and 3:38 is no slouch of a mark for any collegian. But I did think that 3:35 or 3:36 was in play given the talent in this field.

Regardless, whether the time was 3:36 or 3:39, I don't think I have much to say about South Carolina's Anass Essayi and Virginia Tech's Nick Plant. Both men ran 3:38 for the metric mile on Friday night and we're more than capable of running these kinds of times coming into this race. And frankly, this 1500-meter performance was likely an attempt for Nick Plant to work on his strength before dropping down to his ideal distance, the 800 meters, where he was an All-American last winter.

Iona's Damien Dilcher was the next-best collegian with a mark of 3:39. And while he's not necessarily a national-caliber standout like Essayi and Plant are, this Gael veteran has still been quietly great this year. He was 28th at the Nuttycombe Invite this past fall, ran three PRs in three different events this past winter and just posted an excellent personal best.

Tyler Wirth is a Pennsylvania native who I have followed since he was in high school. He's an aggressive and ambitious middle distance talent who is surprisingly versatile and an absolute pain to shake in races (which is a massive compliment).

Sure enough, the Cincinnati veteran came up big once again, running 3:39 for 1500 meters on Friday night. He continues to build strong momentum after posting a 3:57 mile PR in the winter and a 13:49 (5k) PR at the Raleigh Relays a few weeks back.

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First Thoughts (Part Two) Coming Tomorrow!