First Thoughts: Quick Friday Reactions

The Stride Report will begin the process of implementing our BOOST plans on the site today. However, while we're doing that, we wanted to provide you with a little bit of analysis and one last (temporarily) free article.

Below are a few quick reactions that we had from a handful of results that we saw on Friday. Keep in mind that these are reactions only from the races that took place on Friday (1/15). We also don't have every set of live results (at least not yet), so if you see a notable Friday result missing, feel free to shoot us an email and let us know!

So with that, let's jump right in...

Karl Thiessen Gets Off to Hot Start, Wins 5k in 14:14

The Tennessee junior had a very encouraging 2020 cross country season, putting up top finishes at the Blazer Classic and SEC Championships, placing 11th in both of those races. He showed off great consistency, was able to stay competitive with some of the better distance talents in the SEC and just seemed like an entirely new runner.

Thiessen wasn't setting the world on fire, but we were finally beginning to see his true talent after a few consecutive seasons of relatively quiet performances.

Sure enough, the distance ace from Rocky Top got off to a great start on Friday as he made his season debut in the 5000 meters, posting a strong time of 14:14, a personal best by nine seconds. In the process of running that time, Thiessen took down fellow teammate Conner Hawkins (14:29) and Alabama runner Noel Rotich (14:44) by fairly heavy margins.

This isn't an unbelievable, other-worldly result, but it is a clear step in the right direction for Thiessen who seems to have a lot of momentum right now. Keep an eye on him as the season goes on.

Jessica Drop Throws Down 4:39 Mile, Easily Defeats Fegans

The Georgia star has finally returned to competition, making her season debut this past Friday at Clemson University where she contested the mile. Jessica Drop toed the line for the women's mile against her sister Samantha Drop as well as fellow in-state rival Nicole Fegans.

If you had told me going into this race that Jessica Drop would soundly defeat Fegans, a Georgia Tech runner with a ton of momentum and proven fitness, I truthfully would have been skeptical. That, however, is exactly what happened.

Based on the live results, Drop simply ran away from the field over the first two laps and then clicked off metronomic splits of 34 seconds throughout the rest of the race (although her last lap was a 35). In the end, Drop would give us our first sub-4:40 result of the season and it would land her a new personal best.

We know Drop is incredibly talented, but she hasn't always been the most consistent. That's why this is such a key performance. Seeing her score a new PR at the beginning of the season and taking down a top-ranked name in Fegans should give her plenty of confidence moving forward.

As for Fegans, this wasn't her best race as she recorded a time of 4:51 to finish 2nd. While she is certainly capable of running faster, we should note that Fegans is more of a 3000 meter runner. She is fresh off of her cross country fitness and may be maintaining that XC fitness as she prepares for a winter season on the grass.

Either way, I wouldn't read too much into this result if I were her. She's still one of the better collegiate distance runners in the southernmost portion of the country.

CarLee Stimpfel Earns Two Strong Wins

The SVSU Classic was essentially just a race between Saginaw Valley State and Oakland. That, however, didn't stop D2 standout CarLee Stimpfel from producing a pair of encouraging wins on Friday.

On a 300 meter indoor track, the Cardinal distance standout took home victories in the men's mile (4:16) and 3000 meters (8:50). Do either of those times blow us away? No, they don't, but it was still nice to see him take home two respectable wins in his season debut.

Stimpfel is an underrated talent and has been for a while now. He's been outstanding during cross country and now just needs to have similar success on the indoor and outdoor ovals.

It's not going to happen overnight, and this performance doesn't have any huge implications on his future fitness, but I thought it was a nice start for a D2 distance talent. He doesn't always get enough respect given what he has accomplished.

Curtis-Collins Keeps Momentum, Throws Down 4:52 Mile

The Malone veteran had an excellent cross country season this past fall, earning top finishes at a handful of competitive meets and emerging as one of the better D2 distance talents on the grass. She actually ended her season with a G-MAC title, one of the deeper D2 conference meets that took place this past fall.

Now, Curtis-Collins is back at it, this time throwing down a strong personal best of 4:52 in the mile. That's a big performance for someone who had never broken the five minute barrier before Friday. With that mark, Curtis-Collins now has a legitimate, top-tier mile time that she can pair with her 9:42 (3k) personal best.

For perspective, her official time of 4:52.61 would have ranked Curtis-Collins at NCAA #14 in the women's mile during the 2020 indoor track season. Watch out for the Malone ace moving forward, she is clearly riding high this winter after transitioning her momentum from the grass to the track.

Virginia Tech Women Flex Middle Distance Prowess

The most recent cross country season was admittedly not a great one for the Hokies of Blacksburg, Virginia. However, there seemed to be a universal acknowledgement that this team was better suited for the track.

And sure enough, they proved that this past weekend.

In the women's 1000 meters at the Virginia Tech Invitational, the Hokies had three women run 2:50 or faster for the event, with another three unattached runners (who all appear to be out of indoor eligibility) also under that mark.

The winner was sophomore Lindsey Butler who ran an incredible time of 2:46, the fifth-fastest 1000 meter time in Virginia Tech history. That's a super impressive stat when you think back to the middle distance superstars who have come through this program.

Virginia Tech always produces some of the better 800 meter runners and milers in the county and it looks like this year is no exception. Not only do they have Butler at an incredibly high level of fitness right now, but they also have Grace Boone (2:49) and Hannah Ballowe (2:50) showing plenty of promise as well.

Could the Hokies put together yet another nationally competitive DMR? That seems to be well within the cards after the performance that we saw from their middle distance contingent on Friday night.