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NEWS: Tori Herman to Washington (Transfer), Katie Doucette to Colorado (Grad Transfer)
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- May 6, 2023
- 4 min read
Have a transfer tip? Send us an email at contact@thestridereport.comand we'll look into it.
NOTE: The Stride Report is aware that there are multiple athletes who have announced their transfers who are not mentioned in this article. Those athletes will be highlighted in a future piece. The Stride Report is also aware that there are multiple top-caliber names currently in the transfer portal. However, out of respect for athlete privacy, TSR will not report on certain transfer portal entries until official decisions are established, commitments are made public or approvals of publishing are granted.
Tori Herman (Kentucky to Washington)
The Stride Report has confirmed that Tori Herman will be joining the Washington women starting next fall as a standard transfer. She is expected to have two seasons of cross country eligibility remaining, two seasons of indoor track eligibility remaining and one season of outdoor track eligibility remaining once she joins the Huskies.
Herman has proven to be an incredibly valuable distance runner across all three seasons, offering underrated range and consistency to a quietly great Kentucky team.
The current Wildcat ace first jumped onto our radar in the spring of 2021 when she qualified for outdoor national meet in the 1500 meters, running a 4:14 PR at the East Regional Championships. Fast forward to the 2021 cross country season, and Herman was electric, capping her fall campaign with an incredible 17th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
During the winter of 2022, Herman ran 9:00 for 3000 meters and helped her DMR squad finish 5th at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She would have another excellent cross country this past fall en route to a slightly more modest 56th place finish on the national stage.
The Kentucky veteran was also able to help her DMR squad return to the national stage this past indoor track season.
Simply put, Herman can do it all. At her best, she is a legitimate upper-tier cross country star who is far more consistent than some may realize. She has finished in the top-10 of the SEC XC Championships and the Southeast Regional XC Championships twice (each) during her collegiate career.
Last summer, she was listed at TSR #13 in our preseason top-50 individuals cross country rankings.
With the ability to effectively drop down all the way to the 1500 meters, Herman's resume makes her a perfect fit for the Washington women. The Huskies are a program known for their incredible success in the mile and the 1500 meter distances while still assembling nationally competitive lineups on the grass.
Naturally, someone with Herman's skillset makes would be an ideal prospect for this Seattle-based distance program.
The Washington women also have a bright future thanks to the recent addition of an elite recruiting class from last summer. And although both Anna Gibson and Madison Heisterman are set to be out of cross country eligibility, the addition of a true low-stick like Tori Herman largely negates those scoring losses.
But that's not where this transfer story ends.
As we mentioned in a recent article from earlier this week, Kentucky steeplechase and cross country standout, Perri Bockrath, is currently entered in the transfer portal (as a future graduate student). And based on an Instagram post from back in January, the veteran distance runner has already moved to Seattle.
In fact, one anonymous source told TSR that Bockrath has already made a decision.
All signs originally pointed to Bockrath joining the Washington women for the next academic calendar. And now that her long-time teammate, Tori Herman, is set to join the Huskies, it would come as a surprise to the outside world if Bockrath wasn't also donning the purple and gold by next fall.
Katie Doucette (Western Colorado to Colorado)
Earlier this week, Colorado announced that D2 superstar Katie Doucette will be joining the Buffaloes next year as a graduate transfer. According to TFRRS, she is expected to have one full year of eligibility remaining across all three seasons of competition once she ventures to Boulder, Colorado in the fall.
Doucette is one of the more experienced and accomplished distance talents in the Division Two ranks. The Mountaineer ace holds personal bests of 9:20 (3k) and 16:08 (5k). And with the 2023 outdoor track season still wrapping up, Doucette has amassed a total of six All-American honors across all three seasons, including a silver medal in the 3000 meters at the 2022 indoor national meet.
On the grass, Doucette has been excellent, consistently earning top finishes in the insanely loaded RMAC (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) and South Central region. However, despite her top-10 potential on the grass, the Western Colorado veteran has never finished higher than 37th on the national stage, placing 37th (2022), 37th (2021) and 42nd (2019) in her last three appearances.
The future Buffalo runner is undoubtedly stronger than what her cross country national meet finishes would suggest. However, it will be up to the Colorado coaching staff to make the necessary adjustments as Doucette looks to showcase her full potential on the NCAA's biggest stages.
But from a team perspective, Doucette's future addition to this roster is a big development.
The Buffaloes just landed a young distance running phenom in Natalie Cook. And with All-American stars such as Ella Baran and Bailey Hertenstein both set to return (per TFRRS), the Colorado women are primed to have an incredible three-headed low-stick scoring group come October and November of this year.
That contingent doesn't even include Emily Covert who, when healthy, is one of the best distance runners in the entire NCAA.
With Hannah Miniutti (hopefully) fully recovered from an injury by the fall months and a handful of top-tier recruits soon coming to Boulder, the Colorado women can only go upwards in 2023. And with Doucette, they'll have a realistic backend scorer who can add depth while partially making up for any uncertainty regarding the health of Covert, Miniutti and Cook.
