First Thoughts: VanderLende Earns Mile PR, Purdue Men Flex Young Depth, Holmes Earns Strong 3k Win

Rejoice! NCAA action has returned...sorta.

With certain colleges still on winter break (which has been extended for some universities) and many schools just beginning to come back from the holiday hiatus, it is still too early in the month to expect major fireworks or jaw-dropping results on the indoor oval.

Even so, fans of NCAA distance running were still treated to a few respectable results this past weekend. That, of course, gives us at The Stride Report an excuse to post our favorite kind of content: overanalyzing early-season results.

Let's jump right in!

Michigan's VanderLende Earns Mile PR in Season Debut

The biggest and best name to make a legitimate effort on the indoor oval this past weekend was Ericka VanderLende. The Michigan star threw down a respectable 4:46 mile effort on her home track this past weekend, earning a win, a personal best time and an NCAA #2 ranking in the event.

VanderLende has been a marquee name for Big Blue over the past few years, although she has had numerous ups and downs on her resume during that time.

She was a superstar on the cross country course as a freshman and has qualified for numerous national meets on both the grass and the track since then.

At the same time, VanderLende has also struggled to capitalize on her national meet opportunities since earning All-American honors during her rookie year of cross country. It also feels incredibly obvious that the Wolverine ace is at her best when she's on the grass compared to when she is racing on the oval.

That, however, shouldn't take away from her encouraging start to this indoor track season. Earning a personal best in her "off" distance in her very first race of the winter season is a quietly impressive result.

Running a minor PR in early January may not seem like a big deal, but that kind of performance could spark a nice burst of confidence for someone who is predominately at her best in a different setting. It's also a nice display of improved speed for VanderLende who is clearly a long distance ace, specializing in the 5000 meters on the indoor and outdoor ovals.

We shouldn't look too heavily into this performance, but we should at least be encouraged about what VanderLende can do throughout the rest of the winter months.

Purdue Puts Three Freshmen, Four Men Total Under 4:10 in Mile via Conversions

Let's be honest, the Purdue Boilermakers are in a tough spot in terms of their roster structure.

Over the last year or two, they have lost star All-American Jaret Carpenter to expired eligibility, key cross country scorer Brody Smith to a graduate transfer situation and will soon lose standout distance runner Curt Eckstein to expired eligibility after this year.

In other words, it's time for the Boilermakers to start looking towards the future.

Luckily for them, their future (over the long term) looks incredibly bright.

This past weekend, we saw the Purdue men put not one, not two, not three, but four different men under the 4:10 barrier in the mile via flat-track conversions. Not only that, but three of those men have freshman eligibility and two of those three are considered to be true freshmen.

In other words, those true freshmen are fresh out of high school and have not been given extra eligibility because of a redshirt or because of the pandemic.

True freshman Nathan Walker was the star of the show, earning a 4:08 flat-track conversion while teammates Caleb Williams and Brady Yoder each ran 4:09 flat-track converted marks of their own.

Senior teammate Alec Fleming was the last man with a conversion under 4:10, coming in with a 4:09 flat-track converted mark of his own. Andrew Brandt, who also has freshman eligibility, ran a flat-track converted 4:10.20, barely missing the 4:10 barrier in the process.

Overall, this was an incredibly strong rust-buster and it was a collective team performance that should leave us excited about the future of this Purdue roster. That's an impressive young core and the Boilermakers were in a position where they needed to see their youth step up and show signs of promise.

Now, admittedly, the season is still young and there is still plenty of room to improve. We also need to see how these men translate their success to other distances, specifically in the longer races.

In the grand scheme of things, this mile effort from this past weekend won't drastically alter the NCAA landscape, but it could be the starting point for something promising over the next few years.

Anne Forsyth Continues Her Comeback Tour

While Ericka VanderLende was the one catching our attention with her mile victory and personal best, it was teammate Anne Forsyth who continues to post encouraging bounce-back performances after a respectable cross country season.

The Wolverine distance talent ran 9:33 for 3000 meters this past weekend, earning a win on her home track in the process.

Forsyth was a strong talent during her freshman year of cross country. During the fall of 2018, the Wolverine standout placed 3rd at the Great Lakes Regional Championships before finishing 46th at the NCAA XC Championships, just six places out from All-American honors.

However, after respectable, but quiet 2019 indoor and outdoor track seasons, Forsyth essentially vanished from collegiate competition. The Michigan runner didn't post a single result (according to TFRRS) from the spring of 2019 to the fall of 2021.

Luckily, Forysth made a comeback this past cross country season, posting respectable results such as a 13th place finish at the Penn State Open and a 27th place finish at the BIG 10 XC Championships. However, her season ended after the regional meet.

That's why it's encouraging to see Forsyth back on the track and earning wins, even if those wins are coming at an early-season rust-buster on her home track.

Momentum is a very real thing and that seems to be the biggest racing aspect that Forsyth should aim to find right now. We know that when she's at her best, she can be a problem for her fellow competitors.

With a 9:33 result now on her resume, Forsyth should be able to build upon her most recent performance and carry any gradual improvements she makes with her into the spring season.

Kaley Richards Moves Up in Distance to 3000 Meters

The UMass Lowell superstar caught our attention last year after she posted top-tier marks in the mile and eventually earned All-American honors at that distance. Richards, of course, has also proven that she can move up in distance fairly well.

That's why it should come as no surprise that Richards ran 9:33 for 3000 meters at the Beantown Challenge this past weekend. In fact, it should actually come as a surprise that she didn't run faster.

Of course, her personal best in the event is "only" 9:24 and this was also an early-season rust-buster where her biggest competition came from her teammates.

In other words, it's best that we don't overanalyze this result.

Is Derek Holmes Due For a Breakout Season?

The UMass Lowell men are one of the more underrated distance programs in the NCAA. They have produced quietly strong depth and a few standout talents who can occasionally hold their own against national-caliber competition.

Veteran Chris Alfond has often been considered the main star of this UMass Lowell program, although teammate Derek Holmes just put together a very strong 3000 meter effort that likely puts him in the same tier as Alfond. The River Hawk distance talent shook off the rust this past weekend and posted a time of 8:14 for 3000 meters en route to a win over a few other northeastern teams.

Despite the promising performance, it's important to keep in mind that Holmes' actual 3000 meter personal best isn't all that close to his recent 8:14 mark. In fact, Holmes has run 8:04 for 3000 meters before, a mark that pairs incredibly well with his 4:04 mile PR from the 2021 indoor track season.

The runner-up at the 2021 America East XC Championships this past fall is showing a lot of encouraging signs. Holmes seems like he is primed for a breakout season or, at the very least, a breakout race.

Even if that doesn't happen this winter, make sure to keep an eye out for this UMass Lowell distance talent as you scan results throughout the year.

Sooner or later, he's due for a big-time performance.