First Thoughts: Valby's Return, Kemboi's Converted 1500m Time, DMR Wins For Wisconsin & Stanford

Due to some time constraints today, I'll only be able to offer a small handful of quick headlines from the last couple of days. And with most of the top athletes racing at the Penn Relays, largely in the 4x1500 meter relay, the 4xMile relay and the 4x800 meter relay, there are only so many national qualifying marks to actually discuss (for now).

Regardless, we still have plenty of performances to dive into. And don't worry! We will have a ton more to chat about on Sunday as well.

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Parker Valby Returns, Runs 15:32 (5k) in Solo Effort

Rarely does a performance mean so much, but also require such little analysis. Of course, nothing about Florida megastar Parker Valby is ever easy to truly break down.

After sitting out of the postseason this past winter for largely unknown reasons (other than being a medical scratch at the national meet), it was unclear whether or not this Gator ace would run at all during the spring months. Valby has a history of injury, but has also been known to rebound incredibly well from said injuries.

And sure enough, at the East Coast Relays (hosted by North Florida), Valby soloed an incredible mark of 15:32 for 5000 meters, firmly reestablishing herself as a national-caliber contender.

On paper, no one should be surprised that Valby just ran this fast. She posted a 5k PR of 15:20 at the outdoor national meet last spring and is coming off of an indoor track season where she ran sub-8:50 for 3000 meters (after dominating the 2022 cross country season).

All that we wanted to know about Valby was...is she healthy? And luckily, this exact performance suggests that she is. This kind of result now dramatically shifts our postseason expectations for the women's 5k. Not just in terms of All-American favorites, but in terms of how the race will be run on the national stage, how many national qualifying spots in the East region are available in that event and how much work Tuohy will have to do to win gold.

But outside of those developments, there are still plenty of massive unknowns with Valby. Is she healthy enough to attack the 10k this season? Will she just stick to the 5k like she did last year? How much better can she get between now and mid-June?

I don't have the answers to any of those questions, but we asked the same exact things about her around this time last year and her spring campaign ultimately ended on a high note.

Everlyn Kemboi Runs 4:17 For 1500 Meters at Altitude, Projected to Earn 4:12 Conversion For the Distance

What can this Utah Valley star NOT do?

Everlyn Kemboi has been on an absolute tear this year. She was excellent during cross country, clearly built up her aerobic base during a quiet indoor track season and has since erupted as a national contender during the spring months.

Earlier this season, Kemboi posted a shockingly strong mark of 32:03 for 10,000 meters and later came back to run 15:20 for 5000 meters, taking down Simone Plourde in the process.

In my eyes, few women in the NCAA are on the same kind of hot streak that Kemboi is. She continues to make dramatic leaps in fitness while taking down some juggernaut names. Her aerobic prowess leaves me to believe that she can handle most paces on the national stage and I sincerely believe that she could be a double All-American come June.

However, what I wasn't expecting was for Kemboi to step down in distance and have so much success over 1500 meters.

Running 4:17 for the metric mile, especially when you're an endurance-based star like this Wolverine runner has proven to be, is no joke. And when you realize that her mark gets a conversion of 4:12, then our already-strong perception of this distance ace continues to grow even sturdier.

Now, admittedly, both myself and my writers have been fairly clear that in our opinion, fast converted 1500 meter / mile times are largely indications of aerobic strength, not speed-based turnover. And given what we already know about Kemboi, that seems to hold true.

But even if you take out her conversion, running 4:17 for 1500 meters while still flexing 15:20 (5k) and 32:03 (10k) fitness is wildly impressive. At the very least, she should be just as competitive as Chelangat, Olemomoi and Venters at the end of a championship race.

Do I think Kemboi is going to be one of the better kickers and finishers over those distances on the national stage? No, maybe not, but I do feel increasingly more comfortable that she can hold her own.

Wisconsin Men & Stanford Women Take Home DMR Wins at Penn Relays Over Loaded Fields

I am lumping these two sections (men's and women's) together because, a) I'm on a time constraint as I mentioned above, and b) the DMR doesn't count towards national qualifying during the spring months.

If I'm the Badger men, I'm absolutely thrilled right now. This has to feel like a great win, taking down the likes of Oklahoma State and Ole Miss, the top-two relays in this event at the indoor national meet, in the process.

Wisconsin as a team collectively had a solid race, but the hero of this relay was Abdullahi Hassan. The Madison-based men weren't totally out it by the 800 meter leg, but it was clear that Oklahoma State, Villanova, Ole Miss and Virginia had the advantage.

Splitting 1:47.13 split on the half-mile leg was the fastest mark of any 800 meter leg in this field by nearly a second and a half. And while Adam Spencer did put together a masterclass showing on how to run tactically and with patience, it was Hassan who saved the day and allowed that finish to be possible.

Right now, if you forced me to make my All-American predictions for the men's 800 meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, it would be VERY hard for me to leave Hassan out of my top-eight.

As for the Stanford women, I can't say I'm too surprised about their win and finishing DMR time of 10:50. In fact, no one really should be. That, however, doesn't make their performance any less impressive.

I cannot say enough good things about Melissa Tanaka. It's so easy to overlook her given the dominance of Roisin Willis and Juliette Whittaker (who were fantastic as always on Friday). But Tanaka doesn't get enough respect for what she contributes. She is the perfect 1200 meter leg for this lineup and she has improved A TON this year in order to make the Cardinal's DMR as dominate as they have been.

And sure, she may have "faded" to 2nd place at the exchange, but trying to take down Katherine Mitchell (Boston College) at a distance that is theoretically her best is not easy to do by any means. Plus, the Golden Eagles just weren't going to be threats for the win after Mitchell (although they still held their own for 8th place).

Splits of 52.15 seconds for 400 meters (Valmon), 2:04 for 800 meters (Willis) and 4:33 for 1600 meters (Whittaker) make sense. And as long as this group ran up to expectations like they did, they were going to win, especially with a 3:19 lead-off split from Tanaka.

When it comes to the other teams in this field, I gotta admit, I don't think that many teams had a bad race! Oklahoma State (10:53), Georgetown (10:58) and Virginia (10:58) were carried by monster anchor legs and I thought the relay orders they chose were essentially perfect.

I also like that the Cowgirls opted to place Taylor Roe on the 1200 meter leg and Billah Jepkirui on the anchor leg. Roe's 3:22 split was fine, but Jepkirui's 4:32 split more than made up for that and then some.