Transfer Market (Part 34)

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Aaron Ahl (Simon Fraser to Washington)

Washington has announced that Simon Fraser's Aaron Ahl will be joining the Huskies starting this winter. He is expected to be a graduate transfer. According to TFRRS, Ahl holds one full year of eligibility across all three seasons of competition.

The former D2 star turned out to be one of the more dangerous middle distance talents in the entire NCAA last winter and spring, regardless of division. The future Husky runner boasts personal bests of 1:48 (800), 3:38 (1500), 3:57 (mile) and 7:53 (3k), showcasing rare versatility.

Ahl, who is a two-time All-American from the 2022 NCAA D2 Indoor Championships, has been plagued with a string of old fashioned bad luck on the national stage throughout his collegiate career.

The former Red Leaf ace finished last in the mile at the 2019 indoor national meet, was a surprise miss from the mile finals at last year's indoor national meet and was controversially disqualified in the 800 meter finals during last spring's outdoor national meet.

But despite those season finale miscues, Ahl's raw talent is undeniably some of the best that Division Two has ever seen -- or at least from this era. The 23-year old Canadian will now venture to Seattle, Washington where he will join a juggernaut distance program that was, unquestionably, the best producers of mile and 1500 meter runners throughout last year.

Ahl will be joining Division One 1500 meter All-Americans Sam Ellis (formerly of Princeton), Nathan Green and Luke Houser, as well as the 2022 NCAA D1 outdoor national champion in the 1500 meters, Joe Waskom. Former Division Three megastar, Aidan Ryan, has also joined the Huskies this year as a graduate transfer with a 3:56 mile PR.

However, what Ahl brings to the table that many of those men do not is middle distance range. While certain men such as Waskom and Houser have often stepped up to the 3000 meters, none of those mile-centric talents, with the possible exception of Green, have come close to Ahl in the 800 meters.

It should be noted that Elliott Cass, a 400 meter hurdler, ran 1:48 for 800 meters last winter.

It's not entirely clear how Ahl will be utilized in the Huskies' future plans, especially with so many men on this roster being capable of qualifying for the indoor national meet in the mile this year.

Will he continue to emphasize the mile which is his primary event? Will he step down to the 800 meters to avoid national qualifying conflicts with his new teammates? What does his ceiling look like in the 3000 meters? What kind of role could Ahl have for Washington in the DMR?

Of course, it's important not to confuse questions with doubts. On paper, Ahl will be one of the most valuable distance talents that Coach Andy Powell will have on this year's roster regardless of the depth of this team.

Kelly-Ann Beckford (Lincoln (MO) to Houston)

Earlier this summer, Kelly-Ann Beckford ventured to Houston. And although it's unclear whether she joined the Cougars as a regular transfer or a graduate transfer, the language used on Houston's roster suggests that Beckford is, in fact, a regular transfer.

According to TFRRS, Beckford has one season of cross country eligibility remaining, two seasons of indoor track eligibility remaining and potentially no eligibility remaining for outdoor track.

Beckford is a true veteran who become a middle distance superstar at the Division Two level of the last few years. With personal bests of 55.91 (400), 2:04.36 (800) and 4:28.05 (1500), this former Lincoln Blue Tiger was a problem for her opponents, especially at the half-mile distance.

The current Houston runner stunned the nation last spring when she upset heavy favorite Alison Andrews-Paul for the women's D2 outdoor 800 meter national title. Beckford also finished runner-up to Andrews-Paul in the 800 meters at the 2022 D2 indoor national meet and was a 4x400 meter relay national champion during that same weekend.

With a separate All-American honor to her name, Beckford has joined the Cougars with massive potential to be a legitimate threat in the women's 800 meters at the Division One level this winter. While her 2:04 personal best will need to improve, the newest addition to the self-proclaimed "Speed City" program has been finding many of her best performances coming in the past year.

Houston's history in the women's 800 meters is admittedly limited. The Cougars' indoor school record for the event is a modest 2:08 mark (from 1999). Their outdoor school record is a much-stronger mark of 2:03, but Houston hasn't had anyone run faster 2:09 on the outdoor oval since 2012 (when Ciera Johnson ran 2:08).

With Cincinnati's Ellie Leather now racing at the pro level, the women's indoor 800 meter title at the American Athletic Conference Championships this year is seemingly wide-open for Beckford's taking.

Of course, we'll be monitoring her improvement to see if she can reach that next level and potentially emerge as a contender for an indoor national qualifying spot.

Anna Kostarellis (New Mexico to Baylor)

Baylor has announced that Anna Kostarellis, formerly of Xavier and New Mexico, will be joining the Bears this winter. She is expected to be a graduate transfer. According to TFRRS, Kostarellis holds at least one full year of eligibility across all three seasons of competition with the potential for an additional season of eligibility remaining in the spring.

Kostarellis is one of the more experienced distance runners in the NCAA who is now venturing to her third school since leaving Xavier for New Mexico in the summer of 2020. She is also a true distance-centric talent, a clear deviation from the hurdles and sprints-heavy focus that we have often seen from Baylor over the years.

At her best, Kostarellis was viewed as a top-50 runner in the nation for cross country depending on who you asked. During her time with Xavier, she won the Louisville XC Classic, finished 16th at Pre-Nationals, was runner-up at the 2019 BIG East XC Championships and placed 66th at the 2019 cross country national meet.

The future Baylor graduate student also raced on the grass three times for New Mexico during the altered winter cross country season. However, that trio of performances were admittedly a bit quieter in comparison to her prior results.

And after two indoor track races for the Lobos during the 2022 indoor track season, Kostarellis never toed the line again according to TFRRS.

While Kostarellis isn't the traditional kind of runner that Baylor often pursues, her talent could be enough to score points for the Bears at future BIG 12 Championships on the track. In a conference where the distance events are dominated by Oklahoma State, Iowa State and West Virginia, Kostarellis could be one of the few women to break up (parts of) that three-team contingent.

However, maybe more importantly, Kostarellis could be a top contender in the South Central region during cross country.

The South Central region is historically the weakest region in the NCAA, lacking upper-tier firepower outside of Arkansas and, recently, a healthy Grace Forbes. If Kostarellis is firing on all cylinders by that point, then we could see a Baylor runner qualifying for the NCAA XC Championships as an individual.

Lindsey Peters (Air Force to New Mexico)

New Mexico has announced that Air Force's Lindsey Peters will be joining the Lobos starting in the spring. She is expected to be a regular transfer. According to TFRRS, Peters has two years of cross country eligibility remaining as well as three years of both indoor track and outdoor track eligibility remaining.

During her first year with the Air Force women, Peters posted admittedly modest times, although her 3000 meter mark of 9:21 did show promise.

However, Peters jumped up to an entirely new level this past fall, securing a strong 30th place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree and then validating that performance with a monumental 20th place finish at Nuttycombe.

Following her regular season campaign, Peters was thrusted into our 2022 top-50 cross country individual rankings. However, a comparatively underwhelming postseason forced us to leave Peters off of our list as she did not advance to the national meet.

Despite the tough end to her fall campaign, Peters has shown us on more than one occasion that she can be a nationally competitive name on the country's biggest stages. And while it's not yet clear how her newfound talent will translate to the track, the New Mexico women can still take solace in the fact that they have a new name who can be a legitimate top-five scorer on their powerhouse team.

It should also be noted that Peters ran the 5000 meters at the Boston University Season Opener earlier this month, posting a time of 16:15 (unattached). However, in a recent Instagram post, the future Lobo announced that she had actually competed with two fractures in her foot during that race.

Laura Taborda (Ole Miss to Arkansas)

Arkansas has announced that Ole Miss' Laura Taborda will be joining the Razorbacks starting this winter. She is expected to be a graduate transfer. According to TFRRS, Taborda holds one full year of eligibility across all three seasons of competition.

Taborda's move to Arkansas admittedly comes as a shock. The Portuguese distance talent recently left Eastern Kentucky to join Ole Miss this past summer. However, after just one cross country season with the Rebels, Taborda has opted to join an SEC rival for the start of the indoor track season.

Taborda is best known for her accolades in the steeplechase. The newest Razorback runner owns a nationally competitive personal best of 9:58 and qualified for the outdoor national meet in the event last spring.

On the grass, Taborda has slowly improved her value as a scorer. This past fall, she placed 22nd at the Panorama Farms Invitational, 18th at the SEC XC Championships and 24th at the South Regional XC Championships.

Landing a talent of Taborda's caliber is big news for an Arkansas program that was in a rebuild of sorts this past fall. While the ladies from Fayetteville were still able to qualify for the NCAA XC Championships where they finished 21st as a team, it was clear that the backend of their scoring lineup needed greater support.

With everyone except Gracie Hyde returning from Arkansas' 2022 cross country squad in 2023, Taborda's future injection into this varsity group raises this team's ceiling and will potentially cut-down on excessive backend scoring.

And with many of the women on Arkansas' roster still being young and in the developmental stages of their careers, the Razorbacks were only going to get better next fall regardless of Taborda's recent introduction.

On the track, Taborda gives Arkansas another nationally competitive name in the steeplechase. Although truthfully, she may not be able to fully replicate the steeplechase value that current Hoka pro runner Krissy Gear previously brought to this team.

However, Taborda's talent does effectively fill a projected scoring vacancy in Arkansas' 2023 SEC Outdoor Championship lineup for later this spring.