Quick Takes

Portland's Simon Grannetia is a legitimate contender to win the steeplechase title this spring

This past weekend, Portland's Dutch steeplechaser secured his 3rd consecutive steeplechase win of the season by running the fastest time of the day. His effort was enough to fend off Adams State's Kale Adams and Tulane's Emmanuel Rotich.

So far this season, Grannetia has yet to lose a single race and has recorded performances all under 8:50 with times of 8:49, 8:42, and now 8:43.

Right now, Grannetia has the characteristics of a steeplechase champion. He is running fast times, staying consistent with his performances, and earning win after win after win over some very strong competition. He even has the experience of running on the national stage. He is a three-time Dutch national champion in the steeplechase after all.

Some might argue that his personal best of 8:42 may need to improve if he wants to become a national champion. However, keep in mind that most of the sub-8:40 steeplechase performances don't come until the regional and national championships. Just look at last year for example. At the end of the regular season, only two men had broken the 8:40 barrier. Neither of them became the national champion. Instead, it was Louisville's Edwin Kibichiy who would end the season with the title. His personal best from the regular season? 8:42...

Robert Domanic is BACK

Last summer, we saw a HUGE breakout performance from Mississippi's Robert Domanic as he ran a 3:54 mile at the Adrian Martinez Classic to establish himself as a miler to watch in 2018. Unfortunately, Domanic would struggle throughout most of the indoor track season with season bests of "only" 1:50 and 4:06. He would finish last in the Millrose Wannamaker Mile and fail to anchor his Ole Miss DMR to an All-American finish at Nationals.

Luckily, Domanic looks to be back and primed for an All-American season in the 1500. He opened up his spring season at the Joe Walker Invite with a 3:42 1500 win and came back this past weekend to run an incredibly fast time of 3:36.33. That 3:36 is now the 10th fastest 1500 ever run in NCAA history.

I would like to see what Domanic can do in the 800, but his pair of performances these past two weeks have been very encouraging. The Ole Miss veteran has proven that he is not just a one race wonder.

We need to campaign for a Knight vs Gidabuday 5k battle at Payton Jordan

In case you haven't heard yet, Sydney Gidabuday of Adams State was the fastest collegiate 5k finisher at Bryan Clay this past weekend. His time of 13:29 isn't just a personal best, but it's also the fastest time in the NCAA regardless of division.

And to be honest, I think he can go even faster.

If you look back at the race video and skip to about 8 minutes into the race, you'll notice that there were a few moments where Gidabuday was in no-man's land, fighting to work his way up to the next pack while dropping an incredibly talented group of collegiates behind him.

Meanwhile, we saw Justyn Knight claim the 6th fastest 1500 in the NCAA history with a blistering 3:36. His speed has definitely developed, but he still has unfinished business in the outdoor 5k after settling for 3rd at NCAA's last year.

We know Knight has the wheels to run something fast (given his 13:17 PR), but it would great to see if he could go head-to-head with Gidabuday and potentially lead the Adams State star to an even better time.

Oregon has the best group of 1500/mile runners ever assembled

Remember that Life After Cheserek article we published a couple months ago? It detailed how the Oregon Ducks distance squad could be in a better position despite the loss of the greatest NCAA runner of all-time. After seeing their performances this past weekend, we may be right...

Oregon now has FOUR, I repeat, FOUR men under the 3:40 mark this season. That is absolutely mind-blowing. Not only do they have four men under that mark, but they even have Prakel and West running 3:36 and 3:37, respectively. Four men under 3:40 converts to (at least) a 3:56 mile if you're using a 17 second add-on. For perspective, the entire NCAA (D1) had four or less 1500 runners under the 3:40 barrier in 2017, 2014, 2013, 2011, and 2010. TFRRS data does not go later than 2010.

It's tough to put into words just how incredible that kind of depth is for just one team. Additionally, we haven't seen sub-4 Oregon milers like Cooper Teare, Blake Haney, or even Matthew Maton step on the track for a 1500 this season. The Ducks are just that dangerous...

This freshman class is really, really impressive...

As mentioned in the section above, the Oregon duo of Cooper Teare and Reed Brown have been spectacular additions to the Oregon roster. Brown ran 3:39 this past weekend while Teare threw down a personal best of 13:46 in the 5k.

Of course, they weren't the only ones with impressive performances. Ole Miss freshman Waleed Suliman is throwing down times that are close to what superstar Craig Engels was running during his senior year. After running a 1:47 two weekends ago and a 3:39 this past weekend, it's hard to dismiss the impressive results that we've seen from him so far this season.

Since 2010 (excluding this season) there have only been three freshmen to crack the 3:40 barrier. Those three names are Edward Cheserek, Justyn Knight, Matthew Maton. Prior to this season, there had never been a year where two or more freshmen had gone under the 3:40 mark. Thanks to Reed Brown and Waleed Suliman, that trend is now broken.

It would unfair to leave out Sam Worley who was sooooo close to breaking through that barrier after running 3:40.00 this past weekend at Bryan Clay.

The 800 is beginning to show some depth as well. Mississippi State's Marco Arop is running 1:47's while Georgetown's Rey Rivera ran 1:48 two weeks ago. Sam Worley and Washington's Devan Kirk have also gone under the 1:49 mark as of late.

Luis Grijalva also deserves some love after running 13:49 at the beginning of the season and then dropping down in distance to hit a 3:41 this past weekend at Bryan Clay. He was such an integral part of NAU's scoring during cross country and his times on the track are only validating his worth.

We could go on about the performances we've seen from these freshmen this season. However, we should probably give a shoutout to talented freshmen like Eduardo Herrera (Colorado) and Patrick Parker (BYU) as well as redshirt freshmen like Ben Veatch (Indiana), Connor Mantz (BYU), and Ehab El-Sandali (Iona). Much like the aforementioned names above, these five will be the future of NCAA distance running.