Earlier today, official start lists (which are not to be confused with accepted entries) for the D2 NCAA Outdoor Championships were released. Upon review, The Stride Report found that Stephanie Cotter (Adams State), Dillon Powell (Colorado Mines) and Oussama El Bouchayby (Angelo State) were all absent from the heat sheets.
The Stride Report would later learn that Oussama El Bouchayby, the D2 national title favorite for the men's 800 meters, was scratched from the meet due to a family emergency. TSR also learned that Stephanie Cotter, the D2 women's national title favorite for the 1500 meters and maybe the 5000 meters, has recently been battling a minor injury.
We have nothing further to note (at the moment) on Dillon Powell, the men's national title favorite over 10,000 meters and likely over 5000 meters as well.
Oussama El Bouchayby recently made headlines earlier this week when it was announced that he would be transferring to Alabama later this year. The current Angelo State standout is the indoor D2 record holder for 800 meters, is the reigning D2 indoor 800 meter national champion and has run a D2 NCAA #2 all-time mark of 1:45.31 for 800 meters this spring.
Stephanie Cotter, meanwhile, is in the conversation to be the D2 distance running G.O.A.T. She has secured two cross country national titles and seven national titles between the indoor and outdoor ovals. The Adams State juggernaut ran 9:06 for 3000 meters this past winter to not only win NCAA gold in that event, but to also set a new D2 record over that distance.
Dillon Powell, meanwhile, caught our attention back in January when it was announced that he was on the transfer portal as a graduate student. However, potential conflicts with future ROTC duties may make a transfer not possible this summer.
The Colorado Mines ace ran 13:28 for 5000 meters on the indoor oval this past winter at Boston University, breaking his own indoor D2 record in the event. He also ran 28:22 for 10,000 meters in the spring of 2022. Powell has won three individual national titles at the D2 level over the last year.