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Transfer Market (Part 28)
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Jul 7, 2022
- 9 min read
Have a transfer tip? Send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com and we'll look into it.
Kassidy Johnson (Kansas State to Rutgers)
Rutgers has announced that Kassidy Johnson will be finishing her eligibility with the Scarlet Knights as a graduate transfer. The former Kansas State runner is expected to have one full year of eligibility remaining across all three seasons of competition according to TFRRS.
Johnson has been a long-time middle distance standout throughout her career. However, 2022 was when she truly broke out as a nationally elite talent. The Wildcat veteran ran a monster 800 meter PR of 2:02 this past spring and earned two national meet appearances earlier this year as well.
At the indoor national meet, Johnson stunned the field by qualifying for the 800 meter finals and placing 5th overall to earn All-American honors.
Johnson is undoubtedly an 800 meter runner first, but she has quietly great range as well. She's run 4:20 for 1500 meters and a very quick mark of 2:44 for 1000 meters back in 2020. Johnson is also sneaky-good on the grass, placing 30th at the Midwest Regional XC Championships this past fall. She has also placed as high as 20th at the BIG 12 XC Championships.
For someone who is primarily an 800 meter runner, those are fairly impressive results.
Johnson will undoubtedly be a major name to watch in the BIG 10 this year as she joins a Rutgers team that is not-so-quietly bringing in some strong middle and long distance talents.
Between Gavin Richards, Ray Sellaro, Justin Cornetta and Will Hare, the Scarlet Knights have bolstered their distance group quite a bit on the men's side. On the women's side, Alexandra Carlson has shown tremendous promise as just a freshman, proving to be nationally competitive almost instantly.
Coach Matt Jelley is clearly looking to make a statement to the rest of the BIG 10, signaling that Rutgers is no longer a program that can be walked on. With the addition of Kassidy Johnson, the Scarlet Knights now have a small handful of distance talents on both the men's and women's sides who can be amongst the best in the BIG 10.
In fact, Johnson is likely going to be viewed as the BIG 10 title favorite for the 800 meters in 2023. And if her breakout season extends into next year, then there is a small, but slightly realistic, chance that Johnson contends for a national title.
Sydney Steely (Mississippi State to Kentucky)
The Stride Report has confirmed that Mississippi State's Sydney Steely will be finishing her eligibility at Kentucky as a graduate transfer. She is expected to have two full years of eligibility remaining across all three seasons of competition according to TFRRS.
Steely, much like Johnson, just underwent an excellent breakout year on the indoor and outdoor ovals. The half-mile specialist showed promise earlier in her career, but didn't seriously compete on the track until the last years.
Steely ran 2:04 this past winter to place 5th at the SEC Indoor Championships. However, her indoor season would end there.
When it came to the spring months, Steely took her fitness up a notch. She ran a personal best of 2:03, replicated her 1500 meter PR of 4:19 and qualified for the national meet where she would finish 13th overall, missing the finals.
It's clear that Steely's best performances have either yet to come, or are just beginning to show in the final moments of her career. Regardless of which option you believe, Kentucky will greatly benefit as a result.
The SEC is loaded and trying to score points on the track is never an easy task, especially in the 800 meters. It also doesn't help that many of the best half-milers in the SEC are also returning in 2023.
But the Wildcats can now pair Steely with an up-coming-talent in Jenna Schwinghamer, giving Kentucky two women capable of making the finals at the SEC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. That, in effect, would take away valuable conference meet points from other teams.
Not only that, but Kentucky's DMR hopes also look promising. The departure of Jenna Gearing is a tough blow, but Tori Herman is a very underrated distance talent. Putting her on a relay with two 2:03 runners gives the Wildcats another relay that could earn All-American honors by March of next year.
Rebecca Story (Stanford to Virginia)
Virginia has announced that Rebecca Story will be finishing her eligibility with the Cavaliers as a graduate transfer. The former Stanford runner is expected to have at least two full years of eligibility remaining according to TFFRS.
Story may be one of the more recognizable names in this article depending on the demographic of our readers. That's because Story was a high school superstar during her prep days in Tennessee. The 2018 high school graduate posted marks of 2:10 (800), 4:43 (mile), 9:59 (3200) and 16:57 (5k XC) before coming to Stanford.
Unfortunately, Story hasn't found much success with the Cardinal. She has posted modest marks of 4:52 (mile), 9:37 (3k) and 16:32 (5k) since coming to Palo Alto.
Despite that, Story's history of success is too good to ignore. Although her 5k and 3k marks don't jump off the page, they are still fairly respectable. It also doesn't hurt that her last race(s) in a Stanford singlet came this past winter when she ran the fastest mile and 3k marks of her collegiate career at the same meet.
Tack on an appearance at the cross country national meet, and you can begin to find bits and pieces of Story's college career that hold promise.
Virginia will be the perfect place for Story to hit refresh. She'll be going to the complete opposite side of the country (closer to home) to a completely different program that is currently in a very different stage of their roster life cycle compared to Stanford.
It's hard to know what we'll see from Story when she dons a UVA singlet, but at the very least, she'll provide the Cavaliers with solid depth and a veteran presence.
And on a team as young as Virginia, that should only help the women in Charlottesville.
Siena Palicke (UCLA to Texas A&M)
UCLA's Siena Palicke has announced via Instagram that she will be transferring to Texas A&M. She is expected to have four seasons indoor track eligibility left, three seasons of outdoor track eligibility and at least three seasons of cross country eligibility remaining (with the possibility for more).
Palicke is a well-known name who we previously reported was on the transfer portal earlier this year. The rising sophomore has a large online presence when looking at platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
That, of course, is only a small part of what Palicke will bring to College Station. The soon-to-be Aggie ran times of 2:14 (800), 4:54 (1600m) and 17:57 (5k XC) in high school. Palicke was also the 4th place finisher at the 2019 California State XC Championships.
At UCLA, Palicke only ran the 1500 meters on the track and ended up earning a personal best of 4:38 in the process.
Texas A&M isn't necessarily the first team that we would have suggested for someone who has Palicke's skillset. Even so, she is a nice piece who could eventually develop into a promising runner later in her college career if everything goes right.
Veronic Boire (Virginia to Utah)
The Stride Report has confirmed that Virginia's Veronic Boire will be finishing her eligibility at Utah as a regular transfer. She is expected to have four years of outdoor track eligibility, at least three seasons of indoor track eligibility and three seasons of cross country eligibility remaining according to TFFRS.
Boire was considered to be one of the marquee recruits of Virginia's distance recruiting class this past year. Prior to joining the Cavaliers, Boire held outstanding prep marks of 4:28 (1500), 9:28 (3k) and 16:34 (5k). That 3k time was especially encouraging and her collective resume put the youngster in the "she could be really dangerous one day" category.
But the Canadian distance talent wasn't much of a factor on the grass this past fall and she only recorded one result during the indoor track season, a respectable time of 9:34 for 3000 meters. Boire did not run on the outdoor oval this past spring.
Without knowing anything about Boire or her time at UVA, her recent results suggest that Charlottesville may not have been the ideal place for her. That's why it makes sense for this Canadian to do a complete 180 and choose a Utah program that is very different compared to Virginia.
The Utes have had a respectable distance group for years now, but only recently has the team stepped into a truly nationally competitive tier, qualifying for the national meet as a team and placing runner-up at the 2021 PAC-12 XC Championships.
The Utah women should still be competitive this year despite Bella Williams being out of cross country eligibility and Cara Woolnough likely not returning. However, those two departures do signal that the Utes need to prepare for the future when Venters and Barger move on.
Luckily, it looks like Boire can be that next long-term piece.
However, maybe more importantly, Boire could step into a crucial role for the Utah women as soon as this fall as they look to close out their scoring and limit some of the lost points that Woolnough and Williams will leave behind.
And when it comes to her prowess on the track, Boire can attack most distances, although she seemingly favors the 1500 meters and the 3000 meters.
Many of Utah's best women, at least as of late, have leaned towards the longer distances like the 5k and the 10k, meaning that Boire could offer valuable scoring diversity if she develops into a top scoring threat.
Ivy Gonzales (Colorado State to Syracuse)
The Stride Report has confirmed that Colorado State's Ivy Gonzales will be finishing her eligibility at Syracuse as a graduate transfer. She is expected to have one year of both outdoor track eligibility and indoor track eligibility remaining, as well as two seasons of cross country eligibility remaining according to TFFRS.
Gonzales is a respectable runner on the track, although her greatest highlight is probably her 16:30 (5k) personal best. But when we look at her results on the grass, that's where her greatest value lies.
Gonzales has made two appearances at the NCAA XC Championships, both times with her team. She finished in the top-150 in both races (145th and 140th). At the quietly deep Mountain West XC Championships, the Colorado State standout earned two top-20 finishes and her best regular season result was a respectable 82nd place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational.
None of those cross country results blow you out of the water, but they do show career-long consistency. They also show us that Gonzales, on the right team, can be a legitimate scorer, potentially in the fourth or fifth spot for a team like Syracuse.
If TFRRS is accurate, then Syracuse is losing their top-two scorers from the ACC XC Championships in Amanda Vestri and Annie Boos. Those departures are likely going to cause a small reshuffle of Syracuse's varsity lineup.
And as the Orange attempt to close gaps, Gonzales's introduction to this team couldn't have come at a better time.
Kathryn Nohilly (George Washington to Florida)
The Stride Report has confirmed that George Washington's Kathryn Nohilly will be finishing her eligibility at Florida as a graduate transfer. She is expected to have at least one year of eligibility across all three seasons of competition (with potential for more) according to TFFRS.
I really thought that Florida was going to land Bailey Hertenstein or Sydney Seymour this summer, specifically the former name. The Gators have tons of promising young pieces and just needed one more national-caliber star to add a spark to this lineup.
Even so, this varsity group now looks more complete with the introduction of Kathryn Nohilly.
The former George Washington runner isn't a standout star, but she has had a few encouraging moments throughout her college career. On the track, Nohilly has run 2:53 for 1000 meters and 4:24 for 1500 meters.
On the grass, Nohilly has also had a few decent results, earning two top-10 finishes at the A-10 XC Championships and placing 47th at the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships.
It seems fair to say that Nohilly could be a contributor in Florida's top-seven this fall. That, however, isn't necessarily a guarantee. And if she does make it into the Gators' top-seven, then how high up in that lineup will she be?
Low-stick scoring potency is likely the bigger priority for Florida this fall, but Nohilly's addition to this roster will provide the Gators with valuable depth and underrated upside.
Samantha Friborg (Transfer Portal)
The Stride Report has confirmed that Yale's Samantha Friborg is on the transfer portal as a graduate transfer. She is expected to have one season of outdoor track eligibility and one season of cross country eligibility remaining.
One could argue that Friborg is one of the most underrated middle distance runners on the east coast right now. The Yale veteran waited 21 months since the pandemic to compete at the collegiate level again and when she returned, she came back as a different (and better) runner.
Friborg has been excellent in 2022, running 2:51 for 1000 meters (her high school PR is 2:49) before chipping away at her 800 meter personal until she scored a new PR of 2:04. The Yale ace advanced to the finals of the East Regional Championships in the 800 meters, but did not make it to the national meet.
With the Ivy League not allowing extended eligibility, veteran runners within the conference like Friborg have been forced to look elsewhere if they want to use their extra eligibility.
So where would be a good option for a recent breakout middle distance runner like Friborg?
On paper, programs like Penn State and Villanova would be ideal landing spots. Both programs allow Friborg to stay fairly close to home and both programs have an excellent history of middle distance success.
Penn State currently boasts one of the best collections of half-milers in the nation and Friborg could theoretically thrive in a setting where she is pushed by other high-level individuals.
If location isn't an issue, then it would be easy to list off a traditional power like LSU, Texas A&M or Florida...but what about Rutgers?
Rutgers would allow Friborg to stay in the northeast region and she would also get to train alongside the aforementioned graduate transfer Kassidy Johnson who has run 2:02 for 800 meters before.
Coach Jelley has been very active on the transfer portal as of late and a lot of aspects favor Rutgers in this scenario when trying to recruit someone like Friborg.
That's only speculation, but where there's smoke, there's usually fire...
