First Thoughts: Presley Weems' Grand Introduction, Herrera's Big Win & Historic 10k Depth

Another thrilling weekend of action is now all wrapped up and truthfully, the mass number of elite-level results is frankly overwhelming. While we can't necessarily touch on every notable performance, we'll certainly make an effort to give you a breakdown of the top results.

Instead of giving you fancy headlines and trying to segment each performance into it's own section, I'm just going to freestyle today's article and just ramble a little bit as I look through TFRRS. Of course, that's pretty much what I do every weekend...let's begin.

There was something about Eduardo Herrera's 5k performance that stuck out to me. Sure, there were plenty of exciting performances this past weekend, but something about his effort really struck me. The Colorado veteran masterfully battled with the BYU men, running a jaw-dropping time of 13:24 for 5000 meters en route to the upset win over the lethal Cougar trio of Conner Mantz (13:24.78), Casey Clinger (13:24.90) and Brandon Garnica (13:26.62).

There is so much to take away from this result, but let's start with Herrera. The Buffalo ace has been a rising star in the NCAA this year, consistently posting top finishes and taking down high-caliber distance talents. The problem, however, is that he struggled at the NCAA XC Championships and failed to deliver on his All-American potential that he has shown us for years now.

But this performance? A 13:24 (5k) win over a superstar in Conner Mantz? Well, that's quite the statement victory. It's a wicked fast time and a win over a gold medal contender which forces us to put Herrera in the national title conversation. No, he's not necessarily a title favorite yet -- that designation is reserved for Teare, Hocker, Grijalva, Kiptoo and maybe Kurgat -- but this was a career-defining win that could catapult Herrera into another tier.

Not only that, but does this mean that Herrera will only pursue the 5000 meters at the NCAA Championships? The only other logical race for him would be the 10k, but would he really race over six miles two days before his main race at the national meet? I find that unlikely unless he absolutely blows us away with an unbelievable 10k performance later this season.

As we look at the rest of this group, it's interesting to see Mantz not win a race. The reigning NCAA cross country champion tried closing the gap on Herrera in the final moments of the race, but made the move a little too late.

Should we look too heavily into this Mantz loss? No, probably not. Speed work has likely not been a priority for him (or his teammates) given BYU's presumed emphasis on the recent winter cross country season. Even so, this loss does show that Mantz is human and that he's not totally unbeatable. That said, the 10k is likely his best distance, which is a bit crazy to think about given that he just ran 13:24.

As for Clinger and Garncia, these results aren't super surprising. They both dipped under 13:30 this past winter on the indoor oval, so it was only natural that they ran a few seconds faster in a deeper field with someone other than Mantz to chase.

That said, Garnica is showing some incredible consistency on the oval despite struggling at the cross country national meet last month. His rise has been impressive, but his ability to consistently produce at this level is arguably just as important.

We also can't talk about this race without mentioning Arkansas' Luke Meade (13:34), Colorado's John Dressel (13:36) and Southern Utah's Nate Osterstock (13:42).

Meade has been a rising talent for a few seasons now and we saw him have an outstanding cross country season this past fall and winter. He recently finished as a cross country All-American, but I'll be honest, I did not expect him to run 13:34 this past weekend.

Meade is becoming an increasingly more dangerous name. He has refined (and underrated) mile speed, but is arguably a better long distance runner since moving to Fayetteville. With all of the tactical tools needed to be a successful collegiate standout and all of the momentum in the world, this Arkansas ace is becoming increasingly more dangerous. Who knows? He may be primed for an All-American position later this year.

Also, how about John Dressel? After so much time off and a history of battling injuries, the Colorado veteran was able to make a splash in his first real race. Running a time of 13:36 for 5000 meters is super impressive when you consider all of the rust that he has probably built up over the last year or two. In fact, that was a new personal best for Dressel.

This Buffalo ace can be really dangerous on the national stage. He knows how to position himself in top-level fields better than almost anyone in the NCAA. With two more months to build upon this momentum, he too may be a realistic All-American contender by June.

Finally, let's talk about Nate Osterstock. This is the kind of performance that we were expecting to see from a Southern Utah runner this weekend. His 13:42 is quietly impressive and it finally delivers on the potential that we've seen from him over the last few years. Osterstock has been a very steady and consistent talent who has shown glimpses of promise, specifically on the cross country course. However, this was a special result that validates those suspicions.

Alright, I want to transition out of the men's 5k and talk about another Colorado star, this time on the women's 800 side. Update: Sage Hurta is still really good. What a surprise.

The Colorado star made a major splash on the indoor oval this past winter as she went on to drop times of 2:02 (800) and 4:30 (mile), the latter mark leading to a national title. Despite all of her time off, Hurta has made a statement that she is truly one of the nation's most elite middle distance talents.

The Colorado ran 2:00.99 unattached in the summer of 2019, but that time came so long ago that I questioned if she would every really be able to get near that mark again.

Well, that question was quickly answered this past weekend as the veteran dropped a statement mark of 2:00.62 in Arizona, fending off Saucony's Helen Schlachtenhaufen for the overall win.

That is a huge performance and a big statement which let's the rest of the NCAA know that no collegiate is better than Hurta when weighting the 800 and mile equally. Of course, even with this result, not much really changes.

The women's 800 is super deep and top-heavy this year. Aaliyah Miller just ran 2:00.68 at the NCAA Indoor Championships in a field without 1:58 runner Athing Mu. It also doesn't seem unrealistic that Mu would pursue the 800 meters at the NCAA Championships this spring after contesting the 400 meters during indoors and coming away with "only" a silver medal.

And the women's 1500 meters? Well, at the moment, it feels like that title is Hurta's to lose. Sure, there are a handful of talented women who could/will contest the 1500 meters and be in the national title conversation, but is anyone really going to take down Hurta? Right now, I don't see a reality where that happens, although someone from BYU may argue otherwise.

I want to stick with the 800 meters and talk about what we saw out of the event, nationally. However, I can't talk about the men's 800 without talking about Cole Hocker, and if we're going to talk about Hocker, then we might as well start with the 1500...so let's do that.

Oregon's sophomore superstar just continues to impress me in ways that I didn't think was possible. Yes, I was a bit aggressive in my estimate that he would take down the collegiate record this weekend, but can you really blame me based on how he has run as of late?

Hocker took down yet another high-level field at the Hayward Premiere meet this past weekend, throwing in a late kick to overtake the field with a time of 3:38.99. Admittedly, that mark seems relatively modest compared to what he has been running as of late, but the number of nationally-competitive names that he was victorious over was so wildly impressive.

BYU's Talem Franco (3:39) and Iowa State's Festus Lagat (3:39) would be the talk of the town this weekend if Hocker didn't exist in the NCAA. Seeing those two run 3:39 is some next-level stuff and it puts both men in the All-American conversation.

For Lagat, this is an interesting development. His 3:39 is very impressive, although many would argue that he's better suited for the 800 meters. At the moment, I would agree with that, although I can't help but wonder how dangerous Lagat would be with his 1:45 half-mile speed in a tactical 1500 meter race on a championship stage...

Colton Johnsen (3:40) and Reed Brown (3:40) posted solid results as well, but those results are hardly surprising. Running 3:40 is roughly equivalent to a 3:57 mile and that pretty much aligns with what we saw out of these two during the indoor season.

As for everyone else, the results were either roughly what we expected or just unexciting. No, they weren't necessarily poor performances, but everyone else in this field ran 3:42 or faster and based on their resumes, that's no surprise. That same logic applies to Alabama's Eliud Kipsang who ran 3:40 for 1500 meters in Florida this past weekend.

Also, quick shoutout to Oregon's Matt Wisner, the graduate transfer from Duke. He has been patiently waiting for his moment to make some noise and finish his outdoor track eligibility. He just ran 3:42 and won the non-invitational section of the 1500 meters. That's some scary-good strength for a guy who has predominantly been an 800 meter runner (with a PR of 1:48) and had never run faster than 3:49 for the distance.

Working our way back to Hocker, it's fair to say that his 1500 meter was impressive...but maybe not quite as impressive as his 800 meter victory.

I'll be honest, I didn't think Hocker was going to win the 800 meters on the second day of competition. He was facing a super deep field featuring an elite group of Iowa State middle distance talents. The half-mile felt like it required him to drop down in distance and I questioned if his legs would still have enough pop for the speedier middle distance race.

Of course, I quickly came to the realization that I should stop doubting Hocker at any point ever. The Oregon sophomore patiently positioned himself behind the lead pack of the men's 800 meters, waited for an opening on the inside lane as he came off the turn. He then put in a shockingly strong surge on the final straightaway to give himself the win.

Sure, we can talk about his two national titles from the NCAA Indoor Championships or his 3:50 mile from earlier in the year. But that run? En route to a personal best of 1:46? Over established All-American talents? After running 3:38 for 1500 meters the day before? Well, truthfully, that feels like Hocker's most impressive performance yet.

It is beyond rare for someone who has run 7:46 for 3000 meters to also run 1:46 for 800 meters. That mix of speed and endurance just isn't normal. For Hocker to be so young, but to know how to patiently wait to make the right move, even when he's down to the final 100 meters of a race, shows maturity (racing-wise) beyond his years.

I know we've talked about this before, but Hocker has to go pro after this year...right?

As for the rest of this field, I'd like to give you a bunch of fancy analysis, but seeing Lagat, Peralta and Roomes all run 1:47 seems to be on par with our expectations. Peralta still needs to work on his positioning, but this was a nice rebound performance after a tough outing at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Also, if we're wrapping up our conversation on the men's 800, then we also need to mention USC's Isaiah Jewett. The long-time Trojan veteran has finally returned to the collegiate scene after patiently waiting to use the rest of his eligibility.

He just dropped a time of 1:46.99 this past weekend, a mark that currently lists him at NCAA #2. His personal best of 1:46.11 is within striking distance this spring despite Jewett still shaking off the rust. He's yet another name who should be considered for an All-American spot after COVID pushed back his spring season an entire year.

Ok, that's enough about the men for now. Let's move on to the women's 1500 from this past weekend which left us with a bunch to talk about.

Since we were already talking about the Hayward Premiere meet, I feel like it's only appropriate that we talked about the most stacked race of the weekend (but not the fastest).

The BYU contingent of Courtney Wayment, Anna Camp-Bennett, Kate Hunter and Olivia Hoj just made a statement over the Arkansas women. That group put together a 1-2-3-4 sweep, running 4:16-4:16-4:18-4:18, over a Razorback group that featured top-level talents in Kennedy Thomson (4:19), Carina Viljoen (4:19) and Krissy Gear (4:19).

This was beyond impressive for the BYU Cougars and a statement performance over the only other collegiate program that could truly match their distance accolades on the track this year. The women from Provo, Utah controlled the race from the front and overwhelmed Kennedy Thomson in the latter portion of the race, implementing a barrage of kicks that left the Arkansas women without an answer.

Now, admittedly, running between 4:16 and 4:18 isn't going to dramatically shake the foundation of this year's 1500 meters on the women's side. Still, it's an impressive display of depth for BYU.

As for Arkansas, what should we expect from this crew moving forward? Gear, Viljoen and Thomson are all capable of running faster and their past performances suggest the same. Were these bad results? No, not necessarily. Running 4:19 roughly translates to a 4:36 mile. Still, we would've thought that this group would've been flirting with the mid-4:10s rather than the high-4:10s/low-4:20s.

However, what really put the BYU women over the top this past weekend was seeing some of their women come back to run the 800 meters the next day.

Anna Camp-Bennett ran 8:52 for 3000 meters (unattached) this past winter, was the 11th place finisher at the NCAA XC Championships, ran 4:16 for 1500 meters on Friday (narrowly missing the win) and came back on Saturday to run 2:03 for 800 meters and secure the victory. Teammate Alena Ellsworth was runner-up with a 2:04 while Arkansas' Kennedy Thomson doubled back to run 2:05.

Is there anyone in the NCAA more versatile than Camp-Bennett? No, seriously, is there? Sage Hurta and Krissy Gear are up there, but I really don't know if those women would've been able to finish 11th at the cross country national meet and run 8:52 (3k) on an indoor track.

I'm sure there's a dynamic distance talent who I'm not thinking of, but Camp-Bennett is beyond special. On paper, one could argue that she's been just as good (dare I say better?) as Courtney Wayment...and that's saying a lot.

Between her unique mix of speed, endurance and top-tier level fitness, there aren't many women in the NCAA who I feel as confident about being an All-American this spring than Camp-Bennett.

However, there is one overlooked middle distance talent who just had an explosive weekend on the track. No, she isn't from a powerhouse distance program and hasn't had a significant level of past success. That, however, hasn't stopped her from making major waves.

Allow me to introduce you to Auburn's Presley Weems.

The Tiger junior just put together a massive weekend, one that validated herself as a true contender and a future problem for her SEC competitors. The Auburn ace, who had run modest times of 2:09 (800) and 4:40 (mile) this past winter, just earned herself some significant national recognition on the outdoor oval.

Weems ran a MASSIVE personal best of 4:14 for 1500 meters this past weekend, beating out rising Florida miler Imogen Barrett (4:15), Alabama distance ace Esther Gitahi (4:16) and Florida middle distance runner Gabrielle Wilkinson (4:16).

That is quite the field to take down, especially in what was a breakout race. Weems didn't just let the field carry her to a fast time. She took advantage of the opportunity in front of her and came away with a time that currently leads the NCAA.

And if you thought that was all she did this past weekend, think again.

Weems then came back to run 2:04 for 800 meters. 2:04! That was an overall personal best by roughly five seconds and an outdoor personal best by roughly six seconds. She finished 2nd overall in that race to the aforementioned Wilkinson who ran a time of 2:03.88 for the win.

There are always breakout stars each and every spring season. Some are more predictable than others, but I'm not sure anyone (outside of maybe Weems and her coaching staff) saw this coming. Her 2021 indoor track season isn't that far removed from her most recent weekend double. Her times on the indoor oval were solid, but they weren't even close to suggesting that Weems would/could run this fast.

All eyes (well, at least our eyes) will be on Weems over the next few months of competition as we look to see what else she can do. Consistency and progression are key, but seeing her post that weekend double makes it hard to doubt what this Auburn runner can bring to the table.

While we're talking about the 1500 meters, we should also highlight a few other key performances in the event.

Texas A&M's Athing Mu ran 4:16 this past weekend to take home the win in a duel meet against Texas. That's a solid result, but it largely won't matter when it comes to her postseason plans.

Penn State's Danae Rivers moved up to the 1500 meters this past weekend after making her season debut in the 800 meters. This distance could actually be an event that Rivers contests in the postseason. With the 1500 meters seemingly more wide-open than the 800 meters, Rivers may want to move up in distance and try this race in the postseason. Her time of 4:16 was solid and she just took down a very solid Indiana veteran in Kelsey Harris who also ran 4:16. Harris is another name who could/should consider running the 1500 meters in the postseason rather than the 800.

Alright that's enough for the middle distances right now. Let's go back to the 5000 meters and take a closer look at that distance.

We already spoke about the men's 5000 meters in Eugene, Oregon, but the Stanford Invitational gave us plenty of promising results to talk about.

Stanford's Ella Donaghu stepped on the track ready to showoff how her cross country fitness translated to the outdoor oval. Sure enough, she ran 15:36, a time that currently sits at NCAA #2. While I want to be surprised by this result, I can't say that I am. Donaghu was a stud on the grass this past fall and a 15:36 was well within the realm of her capabilities.

No other women at the Stanford Invitational produced a sub-16 minute result. We did, however, see a handful of women run under that barrier at the Hayward Premiere.

Whittni Orton got the job done in the women's 5000 meters, running a time of 15:42 to give herself a semi-comfortable win over Utah's Poppy Tank who had an excellent race of her own, finishing runner-up in a time of 15:45.

It's really hard to get a gauge on Orton right now. A foot injury held her out from competition this past winter and despite being a cross country All-American, she didn't appear to be the title contender that we thought she could be. That, of course, puts her on a great trajectory to regain her peak form by June.

This past weekend was a great three-second win over a handful of talented distance runners, but I can't help but wonder which event(s) Orton should pursue this season, specifically when it comes to the national meet.

Historically, the 1500 meters has been her bread and butter. Would Orton's recent limitations to build mileage push her to pursue an event like the 1500 which, right now, may not be as deep as the 5k? Or would her ability to build up mileage over the next two months and potentially peak in the postseason make the 5k her most logical event choice?

Am I overthinking this? Absolutely. Do we need an answer right now? Definitely not. Still, it's just something to thinking about moving forward.

As for the rest of this field, I really love what we saw about Arkansas' Abby Gray. She didn't get the same recognition that some of her teammates got this past winter despite making consistent improvements, earning a 5th place All-American finish on the indoor oval and now running 15:48 for 5000 meters.

Few women in the NCAA are on the same hot streak that Gray is. During a weekend where a handful of Arkansas women faltered a bit, Gray was the bright spot who validated her scoring from the indoor national meet.

Alright, now to the men.

Cole Sprout is the real deal, huh? I mean, we already knew that coming into this season, but this is a guy who just has so much confidence right now. He runs without fear despite being a true freshman and exudes confidence that other rookies don't have.

Running 13:43 in his outdoor debut to take down a top All-American talent in Ehab El-Sandali (13:44) is quite the result. I can't help but wonder how fast he would've run if he was in that 5k field in Oregon where Herrera and the BYU men could've dragged him to a potential sub-13:40 mark.

However, just like we saw this past winter, Sprout wasn't the only Stanford standout in this field. Fellow freshman Thomas Boyden erupted for a time of 13:45. That's one heck of a performance, especially for a first-year who couldn't even crack the Cardinal's varsity lineup this past winter. Truthfully, I thought the Utah native was going to need a year to develop to get this level of fitness, but his instant impact has been a pleasant surprise.

The future is so unbelievably bright for this Stanford roster. Not just because Stanford had two freshmen run 13:43 and 13:45, but because they also had five other athletes in that 5k field, with the eligibility of freshmen and sophomores, run under 14 minutes.

Devin Hart (13:48), DJ Principe (13:49), Ky Robinson (13:51), Callum Bolger (13:54) and Evan Burke (13:58) showed off an unreal level of team-running and depth, especially for a group that is still so remarkably young. That said, Principe and Bolger are much older than their sophomore eligibility on TFRRS suggests, so take that with a grain of salt.

Even so, the future of Stanford distance running looks incredibly bright. We knew that the Cardinal men had a super young roster and a lot of depth, but I'm not sure we expected to see all of this talent materialize over the same year.

We also have to give a quick shoutout to Iona. The Gaels had El-Sandali (13:44), Jamie Dee (13:46) and Josh DeSouza (13:54) all put together some really solid efforts. This is an important development for the 2021 cross country season as the Gaels attempt to put together a complete top-five which may also include Johnjack Millar, Jack O'Leary and Ed Goddard.

Moving to the 10k, there is a TON to talk about, so strap up for this portion.

Let's stick with the men in Palo Alto. The main name we need to talk about at the Stanford Invitational is Charles Hicks, the 14th place finisher from the NCAA XC Championships this past winter. The redshirt freshman has had a meteoric rise this past year, emerging as one of the best true long distance talents in the NCAA.

The Stanford star just ran 28:25 for 10,000 meters, beating out Hofstra's Alex Masai (28:27) and a slew of other names including teammate Alek Parsons (28:31), Washington's Tibebu Proctor (28:31), Utah State's Luke Beattie (28:33) and Iona's Jack O'Leary (28:37).

The men's 10k looks like it's going to be historically deep this year. For perspective, 30 men have run under 29:00 so far this season with two months left until the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

In 2019, we saw 33 men run under 29:00 during the entirety of the season. And in 2018? Only 18 men accomplished that. And in 2017? Just 25 men ran under that barrier. And in 2016? Only 12 men ran under 29:00 for 10,000 meters.

Admittedly, I haven't looked past those years, but the fact of the matter is that with two months of competition to go, we're looking at a historic rate of depth in the men's 10k. A time that once got you a top-12 position in the country can now be largely negligible when talking about national contenders and All-American candidates.

Not only that, but the top-level of the men's 10k is looking stronger than ever. Robert Brandt ran 27:39 back in December in the same race as Wesley Kiptoo who ran 27:37. Now, just this past weekend, we saw Kiptoo team up with teammate Edwin Kurgat to run a pair of 27:58's. It's one thing to see a college athlete run under 28 minutes, but we've got three men who have already done that this year and we're not even five days into the month of April.

And how about the most recent Sound Running Collegiate Invite? Eric Hamer looks like he will be thriving in this year's national field after running 28:08 en route to a win over Aaron Bienenfeld (28:10) and Alec Sandusky (28:40).

Hamer is someone who has been at his best when the pace is fast. He knows how to position himself in these races and when to make his moves at the right time. The Colorado State veteran looks like an All-American lock this year in the men's 10k. With guys like Kiptoo in the field, he'll likely hang on to the fast pace and make the most of his opportunity at the national meet.

And gosh, this year's 10k field is so deep that we haven't even talked about Tulsa's Patrick Dever who ran 28:28 this past weekend at the new Hayward Field!

As we move over to the women's 10k, we've got a handful of star talents to talk about. Rice's Grace Forbes continues to showcase her fitness in a way that has been beyond impressive. She just ran 32:24 at the Sound Running Collegiate Invite, easily taking down San Francisco's top ace Aoibhe Richardson who ran 32:56.

What's even crazier is that this was Forbes first 10k. She's technically still a freshman after the pandemic gave her another season of eligibility, but Forbes didn't let her inexperience stop her from running an Olympic Trials Qualifying time.

If the Rice underclassman was able to do that in her first-ever 10k, what can she do when she has more experience under her belt? Or has competition that isn't 30+ seconds behind her? Forbes is rapidly rising in our mind and the scarier thing is that we have every reason to believe that she hasn't even come close to her true ceiling.

However, the real depth in this event came at Hayward Field as we saw 15 different collegiates crack the 34 minute barrier. This effort was led by Boise State's Clare O'Brien, a long-time Bronco veteran who took home the win in a time of 32:43. That was a clutch victory over a field which featured key names such as Carmela Cardama Baez (Oregon), Aubrey Frentheway (BYU), Cailie Logue (Iowa State) and Katie Izzo (Arkansas).

Admittedly, there were a few women in this field who I thought could've run a bit faster. Cardama Baez was on her home track, but settled for bronze. Katie Izzo ran 32:28 this past December, but finished almost 50 seconds slower this past weekend. Similarly, Cailie Logue ran 32:19 during that December 10k, but also ran 50 seconds slower. These weren't necessarily bad performances, but many of us at The Stride Report felt like those women would be the ones in contention for the win.

That said, how about Lexie Thompson? The Weber State talent hasn't earned a lot of attention given the recent success of teammate Summer Allen, but she was quietly great during cross country. Thompson was slowly on the rise and has finally been rewarded with a huge personal best of 32:49 and a runner-up finish over a plethora of high-level talents.

Alright, let's wrap up our conversation with the steeplechase. I won't go too crazy with the details here, mainly because I'm a believer that the steeplechase doesn't get super serious until later in the season.

That said, BYU's Clayson Shumway continued to prove that he is one of the NCAA's most elite steeple talents. He won the Hayward Premiere title in a time of 8:47.48, barely holding off Iowa State's David Too who ran 8:47.58 for runner-up.

Shumway is an experienced veteran who, on paper, should be in the national title conversation. He still needs to peak at the national meet, but he's a stalwart in this event and is a very challenging name to race against.

Also, how about John Rice? The Texas veteran is back and just ran 8:49 for this event at a duel meet against Texas A&M. That's a very solid time and I'll be eager to see how his experience translates throughout the rest of this season. Rice is super underrated, quietly consistent and has been to the national stage before. Keep an eye on the elder Longhorn steeplechaser.

On the women's side, Charlotte Prouse did her thing and took home a fairly comfortable win in an NCAA-leading time of 9:54. She took down a very solid field which featured Oregon's Aneta Konieczek who ran 9:59 for runner-up.

I'd like to give you some fancy analysis, but this was a fairly predictable race. Prouse was the heavy favorite to win and she did just that. She's likely the national title favorite unless teammate Adva Cohen has anything to say about that.

We also need to highlight Washington's Katie Rainsberger who ran 10:00 in her first-ever steeplechase. I absolutely love this decision for Rainsberger to pursue the water pits and barriers this year.

The UW veteran struggled a bit this winter and truthfully didn't seem to be at her peak fitness. However, seeing her try the steeplechase and run a very fast mark in her first-ever go at the event, is super encouraging. That likely has to give her a new spark and create a ton of forward momentum as she enters the spring months.