Legacy Limbo

We have finally entered the last competitive season of the academic year. For some, this will just be another opportunity to build their resumes, improve their times, and move up the NCAA rankings.

However, for a select few, this season holds more importance than others. Whether they realize it or not, these five individuals/groups have a chance to cement their legacy this spring season...

Sean McGorty

In his final season of eligibility, Sean McGorty will attempt to do what his protege Grant Fisher has already accomplished: win an NCAA title. So far throughout his career, you would think he could have been a national champion by now.

His mile PR of 3:53 matched with his 13:24 5k makes McGorty a legitimate contender to win gold later this June, although that's assuming that he stays healthy and shows progress over the next two months. It's also important to note that this is his last season of eligibility...it's all or nothing.

After battling injuries and settling for back-to-back runner-up finishes at indoor and outdoor Nationals, McGorty now has chance to write one of the best comeback stories in the history of collegiate distance running. Can the Stanford veteran rebound and live out the prophecy of becoming a national champion? Or will McGorty be one of the greatest runners in the NCAA to never win an national title? We'll have that answer in two months.

Steve Magness & Brian Barraza

Houston coach Steve Magness isn't afraid of controversy. He was one of Nike Oregon Project's main accusers when allegations of doping and illegal infusion methods began to surface. During the very public feud between NOP coach Alberto Salazar and Magness, Salazar made jabs at Magness, arguing that the Houston coach "lacked the personality, inter-personal skills and drive to be able to coach elite athletes". He also pointed out that Magness had failed to qualify a single individual for the NCAA Championships during his first three years with the program, both indoor and outdoor.

The criticism, warranted or not, has now given Magness something to prove. In fact, some may argue that Magness has already proven himself after seeing rising distance star Brian Barraza place 7th in the 3k at Indoor NCAA's in 2017.

After soloing an 8:41 personal best in the steeplechase just two weekends ago, Barraza looks like someone who could realistically enter the national champion conversation for the steeplechase. With a personal best of 8:32 (which was run last spring, unattached), there may not be a steeplechaser more experienced, consistent, and dangerous than Barraza. Part of that success can be attributed to Magness, who executed well-planned redshirt seasons which preserved Barraza's eligibility and gave him more time to build his base.

In his final season of eligibility, Barraza not only has a chance to walk away with a gold medal around his neck, but he also has the opportunity to defend the reputation of the coach who helped get him to this point.

Zach Long & SEC Distance Running

Tennessee's Zach Long had the race of his life this past weekend at the Stanford Invite. The Volunteer senior dropped a huge PR of 13:39 to upset NAU's Tyler Day for the win. The time was enough to break the Tennessee absolute school record of 13:41 set by Todd Williams in 1991 while simultaneously putting Long at the top of the NCAA leaderboard.

Long may have a target on his back now, but the expectations for him are still unclear. Can he become an All-American? Place top three? Challenge Knight, Fisher, or Trouard for the national title? We're still trying to get a clear understanding of what his capabilities are. We (or maybe just me) need to see what else he can do.

Still, this is a good position for him to be in. If Long begins to struggle or fails to match his most recent performance, he wont garner a lot of attention. Unless you're a superstar, poor performances in the NCAA rarely get criticized. People are human and bad races happen.

However, there is a lot of upside for Long in this situation. If he can build off of this performance by establishing consistency, securing more wins, and advancing to Nationals, he could have one of the greatest breakout seasons since the emergence of Cristian Soratos during the winter of 2015.

In addition to that, the SEC is beginning to gain more and more relevance in the distance events. Some would argue that the conference is going through a distance running renaissance of sorts. Alabama may have the best trio of distance runners in the nation. Kentucky's Jacob Thomson is a consistent All-American threat. The 800 has been dominated by runners from Mississippi State and Texas A&M. Arkansas and Ole Miss have entered (and stayed in) the status of powerhouse programs.

Collectively, SEC competition is rapidly improving. If Zach Long can continue his success throughout the rest of this spring season, then he will be remembered as a key contributor in the revolution of SEC distance running. It would also be huge a recruitment pitch for Tennessee who has been a sprint-oriented program for a heavy portion of their history.

West Coast Conference Steeplechasers

One of the more pleasant surprises in the few early weeks of spring have been the steeplechasers. Specifically, the steeplechasers in the West Coast Conference (WCC).

Between Portland, BYU, Gonzaga, and San Francisco, the West Coast Conference holds 15 of the 35 steeplechasers that are under 9 minutes so far this season (~43%). Of those 15, BYU has seven (!!!) men under the 9 minute mark. Six of those seven men have the eligibility of either sophomores or freshmen. Daniel Carney is considered a junior.

Those are excellent numbers when you think about it. What makes these numbers even more impressive is that Gonzaga's 8:39 man Troy Fraley has yet to run this season (he did not run during indoors). With Fraley yet to run and two months of competition left, we could see even more strong performances out of this group of four.

With that in mind, I do have some minor concerns. BYU is relatively young (although they do have experience) and they failed to have a single All-American last spring despite sending three individuals to Nationals in this event. Other teams like Gonzaga and USF don't have much of a history at NCAA's. In the 62 year history of recorded NCAA finishes (during outdoors), USF and Gonzaga each have only one recorded All-American performance ever.

In regards to history, BYU and Portland are a little different. The Pilots have had four steeplechase All-Americans over 62 years of recorded results while BYU has had a remarkable total of 19 All-Americans.

Despite this impressive history and display of depth, when you look over these results, you rarely see the West Coast Conference with multiple All-Americans in the same year. In fact, there has never been a year where the WCC had multiple All-Americans in the steeplechase. That could change in 2018 when you look at how dominant each team is... BYU has endless options in this event. It wouldn't be a surprise if they sent three (or more) individuals to the Big Dance like they did last year. Gonzaga's Troy Fraley also looks like an easy pick to return to Nationals after earning All-American honors in 2017. Portland's Noah Schutte has experience on the big stage after making it to the steeplechase finals last year. Even if he doesn't qualify, new teammate Simon Grannetia seems primed to do so. San Francisco will need to develop their steeplechasers a bit more, but it wouldn't be too crazy if they were able to find a national qualifier of their own.

When you look at the big picture, it is very possible that the WCC sends six or more individuals to Nationals and maybe even takes half of the available All-American spots. Essentially, the West Coast Conference has a chance to make a huge statement. A major year in the steeplechase paired with the monster cross country seasons from Portland and BYU could make the 2017-2018 academic calendar "the year of the West Coast Conference". A small conference comprising of just nine teams could become one of the most dominant groups for a single event in the NCAA.

Robert Brandt

One of the most shocking transfers from this past summer was rising PAC 12 star Robert Brandt transfer from California to in-state rival UCLA. The move was a surprising one, especially when you consider the success Brandt had during his time with the Golden Bears.

For the most part, Brandt had a successful first season with the Bruins during cross country. He placed 3rd at Roy Griak, 7th at Wisconsin, and 6th at PAC 12's. Unfortunately, his performance at NCAA's was lack-luster after finishing 66th overall and missing All-American by a considerable margin.

Brandt went on to have a quiet indoor season. He ran 8:01 for 3k and later produced a very solid time of 13:54 in the 5k. Still, the recent Cal transfer left something to be desired.

We have now transitioned to the outdoor season and with that transition may come a good bit of pressure for Brandt. He recently threw down a very respectable 29:02 10k this past weekend, but that still leaves a relatively large gap from his personal best at Cal (28:48). His 5k of 13:45 won't be easy to match either.

Simply put, transferring to a rival school is a big move which may not have sat well with his former teammates (although that's just speculation). For a fan's perspective, the pressure will be on for Brandt to perform at a high level, improve his personal bests, and even fight to finish as an All-American. Doing so could very easily justify his transfer from Cal and send a clear message to those who questioned his decision. With that much motivation behind him, don't sleep on what he could do this spring.