First Thoughts (Penn Relays Edition): Jaeger's Breakout Steeplechase Effort & Big Wins For Michigan

The individual distance events for the Penn Relays are all wrapped up. However, it's the relays that will likely capture most of the headlines this weekend. Even so, there were some key results from Thursday afternoon/evening that we briefly wanted to highlight.

This article won't be quite as extensive compared to a few others that we have previously posted, but there are still plenty of headlines to chat about and breakdown!

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Samantha Tran Runs 4:15 (1500) to Earn Second Seasonal Win Over Solid Field

The Michigan ace is back at it, taking home her second win of the 2023 outdoor track season! In a field where she may have been viewed as the favorite to win, Tran ran a perfect race. She put herself at the front, maintained her position and never overexerted herself.

And with 200 meters to go, despite a large group of women still staying in contention with her, Tran threw down a great final surge to pull away for a comfortable win. Temple's Laura Nicholson was the only one to truly go with her.

Yes, it's true, Tran probably should have won this race. You could make the argument that Rutgers star Alex Carlson was the favorite, but she simply had a bad day in what was her season debut. It was also Carlson's first race back since her not-so-great showing at the indoor national meet.

Tran, however, ran 4:34 in the mile this past winter, took down a loaded 1500 meter field at the Duke Invitational a few weeks ago and had already run a 5k PR at the Raleigh Relays. And now, the Wolverine veteran continues to extend her momentum, putting together a seasonal resume that doesn't seem to have a single flaw or low point (yet).

As for everyone else, these results weren't too shocking. This is roughly what we expected with the exception of Carlson and maybe Kileigh Kane (Penn State). But as far as times go and where certain women were projected to finish, this is in-line with our expectations.

Gavin Gaynor's Surprise Move Leaves 1500 Meter Field Playing Catch Up, Runs 3:40 For The Win

The men's 1500 meter field at the Penn Relays, collegiately speaking, felt like it could have been won by anyone. Between Gavin Gaynor (NC State), Ray Sellaro (Rutgers), Tyler Wirth (Cincinnati), Robert Becker (Stony Brook), Sean Donoghue (Villanova), Rhys Hammond (Cornell) and Oli Raimond (Michigan), the gold medal in this race was completely up in the air.

But any thrilling finish between a mass crowd of contenders was ultimately spoiled by NC State veteran Gavin Gaynor. The Wolfpack standout made a massive move to the front with roughly 600 to 700 meters to go. And when he did, Gaynor continued to lay on the gas, inching away while the rest of the field went into a state of chaos.

With a move that aggressive and that early in the race, I just assumed that Gaynor would be caught by the field -- but he wasn't. Instead, he maintained his gap and simply powered across the line in a big mark of 3:40.24 (1500) while his competitors flooded across the finish.

When you look at his last few races, Gaynor has put together a quietly-excellent season so far this spring. The NC State ace ran 3:41 (1500) and 1:49 (800) at the Raleigh Relays earlier this year and is fresh off of a 1:48 PR over the half-mile distance from the Wake Forest Invite.

And now, with a 1500 meter PR where he nearly scared the 3:40 barrier (and took down a VERY deep field), I can't help but wonder if Gaynor could advance to the outdoor national meet this year.

This Raleigh-based standout is on a huge hot streak and is seemingly getting better with each passing week. And when you consider how he may be one of the more experienced men in the NCAA, it's hard to dislike anything that this guy is doing. Few men would be bold enough to make the move that he did and have it work out so well. That, however, is what happens when you understand your strengths and your competition as well as Gaynor does.

As for everyone else, it's impossible to look at these results with any level of urgency or seriousness. Places 2nd through 9th (in the overall standings where all heats are combined) were separated by 1.25 seconds and everyone except Steven Jackson was from that top heat.

Tactically speaking, this race was a free-for-all.

Kayla Windemuller Drops 9:51 (Steeple) Mark En Route to Five-Second Win Over BIG 10 Rival Katelyn Stewart-Barnett

It's admittedly easy to forget about how talented Kayla Windemuller is.

The Michigan veteran was so good throughout last spring in the steeplechase, running 9:47 in that event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. And even though she wasn't perfect during the fall months, the Wolverine standout had moments of brilliance on the grass.

But after an underwhelming indoor track campaign this past winter and a couple of of not-so-great results so far this spring, I did not have much stock in Windemuller coming into this weekend.

Of course, just like I mentioned last Sunday, there's a reason why I'm not trading stocks on Wall Street. Because on Thursday, Windemuller threw down a fantastic mark of 9:51 in the steeplechase, taking down in-state rival Katelyn Stewart-Barnett who ran a really strong 9:56 mark of her own. Helena Lindsay (Georgia Tech) finished 3rd overall in 9:59.

Windemuller ran a perfectly-executed race. She was very patient throughout most of the race and didn't really move into the lead until the last few laps. Her form looked incredibly clean and she proceeded to run away from a group of women who were simply not at her level.

Stewart-Barnett actually put together quite a finish, closing the gap between her and Windemuller a decent bit despite finishing five seconds back.

I love this victory and performance for the Michigan star. Windemuller was not having a great academic year as far as results were concerned. To get a win like this, and to post a time that was only four seconds off of her personal best, has to be a massive (and much needed) confidence booster.

Do I still want to see more from her? Yes, definitely. Windemuller might be one of those women who is simply a different runner over the barriers and water pits than she is in the regular distance events. But this recent effort was a clear divergence from what her results over the last six months have been showing us.

This is a significant step in the right direction and if last year was any indication about what this Michigan ace is capable of, then Windemuller's best performances could still be ahead of her with a month and a half to go.

As for Stewart-Barnett, this was also an awesome performance. She's had a really nice spring season so far, but this was undoubtedly the best result that the Spartan runner has posted over the last few months.

Earning a prior steeplechase PR of 10:07 was solid, as was running 4:43 in the mile this past winter. But truthfully, there just wasn't a whole lot on Stewart-Barnett's resume to suggest that she was a nationally competitive name -- until now.

I figured that this Michigan State runner had a lot of untapped potential. And that given the youth-based construction of this roster, it felt like she was one of many women in green and white who would eventually have a breakout race.

Sure enough, that seems to be the case.

Much like Windemuller, I still want to see Stewart-Barnett extend her success and build off of this result over the next month. But for the long-term outlook of the Michigan State women across all three seasons, this was a big-time performance.

Zach Jaeger Runs Massive 8:40 PR in Steeplechase to Barely Fend Off Thomas Seitzer For Overall Win

Wow. What an absolute thriller of a race!

On the same day where I said that the Georgia Tech men had been relatively quiet as a team this year (in our meet preview), we saw breakout runner Zach Jaeger throw down a monster steeplechase PR of 8:40 to win the Penn Relays.

Throughout this race, both Thomas Seitzer (Notre Dame) and Jaeger ran poised and controlled. They didn't overreact to certain moves and they initially let the race play out in front of them before advancing to the top group.

Once they were there, Jaeger and Seitzer would battle with Kevin Robertson (Syracuse) and Jack Spamer (Michigan), the latter of whom were doing most of the work for a good portion of this race. In fact, it was Jaeger who looked he was barely hanging with those three men at certain times.

But over the final two laps, Jaeger rallied and joined Seitzer as the two men gassed their competition and pushed each other to gap the field. And on the final lap, neither runner would give a inch, kicking hard down the final straightaway before Jaeger pulled away by a few strides to secure the win in 8:40.74.

Seitzer would settle for a steeplechase runner-up finish in a mark of 8:41.15.

Let's talk about Zach Jaeger first. This is a guy who had only ever run in ONE steeplechase race before this weekend. That event debut came at the Raleigh Relays earlier this season where he ran 8:56 over the water pits and barriers.

Since then, Jaeger has been respectable, running 3:43.99 for 1500 meters, but he hasn't produced any major results that would suggest that he could be nationally competitive.

This was a monumental breakout race for the unexpected distance talent out of Georgia Tech. It's not just that Jaeger ran a super fast time that has us so impressed. It's the fact that he beat a handful of established steeplechasers such as Thomas Seitzer and Kevin Robertson who have, up until yesterday, proven to be better.

There is still so much that we don't know about Jaeger. We don't know what his ceiling in this event is and we don't know how this result will translate to other events (and vice versa). But there can be races that completely alter the trajectory of who a runner is/can be -- and maybe that's what we're seeing with Jaeger.

As we said earlier, there are plenty of runners who are just completely different fitness-wise when they reach the steeplechase. And while I still want to see more from Jaeger before I making any major proclamations about how good he is/can be, it's hard not to lump him into that, "he's just built different when he races in the steeplechase" group.

We then come to Seitzer, a guy who probably has to be a bit frustrated that he barely missed out on the win after doing so much work throughout this race.

Even so, Seitzer should still be happy with an 8:41 steeplechase PR, even if it was "only" a one-second improvement. Let's not forget, this is a guy who has proven that he will get better as the season goes, something that was evident throughout last spring. And if he's already ahead of schedule from when he ran his prior 8:42 steeplechase PR (which came at the 2022 East Regional Championships), then I would be thrilled if I were Notre Dame right now.

In terms of tactics, form and experience, Seitzer is good enough to maybe contend for an All-American honor, although his raw times and fitness in this event will simply need to improve in order for him to reach that spot. But despite losing this race, he is still very much on track to do exactly that.

Erin Strzelecki (15:51) Defeats Eleanor Mancini (15:52) Over 5000 Meters, Jone Zabaleta-Larranaga Runs 33:55 (10k)

There truthfully isn't a whole lot to talk about when it comes to these results. There were very few surprises in this field and the times didn't necessarily blow us away. Still, there were a few solid highlights from the women's 5k and 10k races.

Erin Strzelecki running 15:51 for 5000 meters is a very positive development. Not necessarily for this season, but for the fall months. The Fighting Irish had a very strong 2022 cross country season this past year. And despite losing two or three key names, they will return a solid core of scorers come September, October and November.

And yes, Strzelecki did have a great performance at the cross country national meet, placing 54th overall, but that was clearly the best race of her season. And with ongoing improvements in the 5k, as well as the possibility of her dipping into the 15:40s range by season's end, then the Irish women may have an improved scorer on their team throughout the fall months.

As for Zabaleta-Larranaga, her time is unsurprising, but it's a nice win. The top-five women in those 10k results were all fairly respectable. That, however, is all that I really have to say about that race.

Villanova Duo (5k), Providence Duo (10k) Go 1-2

It's hard to get super excited about predictable results, but the Villanova duo of Josh Phillips and Haftu Strintzos did a heckuva job in the 5000 meters last night. Toledo ace Dennis Mutai is not an easy name to take down by any means, but Phillips (13:45) and Strintzos (13:47) were still able to do enough to go 1-2.

For Strintzos, I don't really have any analysis to offer, but Phillips continues to put together a very respectable season. He ran 28:41 for 10,000 meters at the Raleigh Relays and now has a new 5k PR by three seconds.

If Phillips can continue to progress, then he MIGHT be able to earn a surprise national qualifying spot later this year. That still seems unlikely, but momentum is in his favor and his resume has become increasingly more well-rounded as of late.

As for the 10k, the Providence duo of Marcelo Rocha (28:53) and David McGlynn (28:59) took care of business with relative ease. Villanova's Ryan Cutter (29:02) turned out to be somewhat competitive, but the Friars seemed to have good control of this race.

Rocha has never fully translated his cross country fitness to the oval like I thought he would, but he's had moments where he's looked really strong. He holds a 13:39 (5k) PR and just ran 13:41 for that same distance two weeks ago. And yes, his 10k PR is faster than what he just ran, but that's still a respectable mark and no one is going to complain about a win.