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NEWS: Thomas Boyden & Yasna Petrova Enter Transfer Portal as Grad Transfers
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Jan 22, 2025
- 5 min read
Earlier today, The Stride Report received notice that both Thomas Boyden (currently at Stanford) and Yasna Petrova (currently at California Baptist) have entered the transfer portal. Both athletes are listed as future graduate students.
According to TFRRS, Boyden is expected to have one season of eligibility remaining in both cross country and indoor track. It also appears that the current Cardinal ace has only one season of outdoor track eligibility remaining, making it unclear as to whether or not Boyden will compete for Stanford this spring.
Petrova, meanwhile, does not have any cross country eligibility remaining, per TFRRS. She does, however, have one season of outdoor track eligibility remaining. California Baptist does not sponsor indoor track, making it unclear how much eligibility Petrova has for the winter months.
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Let's start our analysis with Thomas Boyden, a long-time veteran of Stanford's distance program with fantastic pedigree.
Once an elite recruit out of the prep ranks, Boyden has flashed multiple moments of brilliance throughout his NCAA career. This past fall was arguably the best cross country season of his career after placing 22nd at Pre-Nationals and then 9th at the ACC XC Championships. However, he would go on to struggle over the 10,000-meter distance in the postseason.
That said, Boyden did place 75th at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships after placing 7th at the PAC-12 XC Championships that same season.
On the track, Boyden has found a bit more success, specifically over the 5000-meter distance. In the spring of 2022, the soon-to-be-former Stanford star ran under the 13:50 (5k) barrier on four different occasions. He also finished 13th place in both the 5k and the 10k at the West Regional Championships that year. Unfortunately, not finishing amongst the top-12 in either race meant that Boyden missed out on a berth to the NCAA Outdoor Championships by one spot in both events.
And yet, despite his prior success, it's been his current indoor track season that has showcased his true potential.
At the Boston U. Season Opener back in December, Boyden dropped an excellent 5k PR of 13:33. And if that wasn't impressive enough, the Cardinal standout produced a tremendous weekend double at the UW Preview just a few days ago! At that meet, Boyden posted a fantastic 3000-meter personal best of 7:41 (en route to the win) before doubling back the next day to run 3:57 in the mile.
For years, it's been abundantly clear to many of us at The Stride Report that Boyden had some of the best natural talent in the NCAA. However, his lack of seasonal consistency has often made it challenging to properly gauge him over the course of multiple months.
Thankfully, at the moment, Boyden looks as healthy and as fit as he has ever been. After all, his aforementioned 3k performance currently sits at NCAA #26 all-time. And given the fact that he has run 3:57 (mile) in multiple races at different points in his career, it's fair to suggest that Boyden still has more to offer in that event.
It's admittedly a bit of a challenge to predict landing spots for Boyden. The Stanford veteran is a native of Utah, although the only upper-echelon men's distance program in that state is BYU. And without knowing if Boyden has any affiliation with the Church of Latter Day Saints (which is not necessarily a requirement), it's hard to know if the Cougars would be the ideal team for him.
As far as skillsets and roster needs are concerned, North Carolina could be the perfect pairing for Boyden. Coach Chris Miltenberg previously led the Stanford men until 2019 and has been known to add top graduate transfers to his roster in recent years. Plus, with both Parker Wolfe and Ethan Strand now out of cross country eligibility, the need for another low-stick ace makes Boyden a must-have target for the Tar Heels.
The Oregon men could also score the current Stanford ace. Coach Jerry Schumacher has been unafraid to add upper-tier graduate transfers to his roster since joining the Ducks. Former Stanford and Texas runner, Devin Hart, is a good example.
By joining the men of Oregon, Boyden would offer yet another low-stick-caliber runner to a fast-rising distance squad. He could stay on the west coast, train under one of the best long distance coaches in the country and join a program that, with him, could be a top-10 team in the NCAA come October and November.
Notre Dame also feels like a fairly obvious choice.
The Fighting Irish have been known to add strength-based graduate transfers from prestigious academic institutions over the last few years. That was plenty evident when they recently signed current Penn runner and recent cross country All-American, Dylan Throop, a couple of months ago. And based on who they return, adding Boyden to their roster could give the Fighting Irish an outside shot at making it onto the podium 10-ish months from now.
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We then come to Yasna Petrova, a true long distance runner who, despite a few struggles this past fall, has produced a handful of underrated results on the grass. The only issue, however, is that she doesn't appear to have any cross country eligibility remaining.
Thankfully, the Bulgarian distance standout is more than just a cross country runner. Over 5000 meters, Petrova owns a personal best of 15:45. And when it comes to the 10,000-meter distance, she's arguably better, having run a head-turning time of 32:36 (10k) last spring.
As we theorize about who Petrova could next sign with, one program immediately comes to mind: the University of Georgia.
Petrova was originally recruited to California Baptist by Coach Adam Tribble. And for years, the CBU runner developed into an excellent talent under his direction. But then Tribble departed for Georgia this past summer, likely to lead a distance squad that has seemingly been given greater resources to work with.
Luckily for Petrova, it doesn't appear that the Bulldogs have loaded up on top women's distance runners (yet). That, in theory, leaves an open spot for Petrova to reunite with her former coach. And despite not having any cross country eligibility remaining, Petrova's prowess on the track is undoubtedly the main aspect that a program like Georgia values the most.
Other SEC programs like Arkansas and Florida could also be in the mix to sign Petrova. Both of those programs place a heavy emphasis on track and field championships, making a lack of cross country eligibility slightly less important.
The Razorbacks are admittedly thin on long distance scoring behind Paityn Noe and Sydney Thorvaldson while the Gators are mostly leaning on Hilda Olemomoi in the longer distance events (for now). However, signing Petrova would give both programs a potential multi-time scorer at future SEC Championships as well as a possible individual national meet qualifier.
Be sure to look out for Ole Miss as well. The Rebels just signed former California Baptist star Greta Karinauskaite and have been open to adding names from the transfer portal. Could that be enough of an incentive for Petrova to land in Oxford, Mississippi?
