Transfer Market (Part 60): LSU Adds 3:36 (1500) Man Emedy Kiplimo Ruto, New Mexico Signs XC Star Pamela Kosgei, Providence Lands Kenzie Doyle, Samantha Tran to Washington & Elon Duo Ventures to Duke

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As most of your know, overseas recruiting and the NCAA transfer portal never sleep...and nowadays, it feels like none of us at The Stride Report sleep, either.

We've got another batch of transfer updates now on tap! However, this time, we have a pair of a highly important overseas talents to highlight. Those two names, along with a few underrated pick-ups, left us with plenty to analyze.

So with that, let's not waste any more time and jump right into it...

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NOTE: Graduate transfer scenarios can often be anticipated by certain schools/coaches. Those moves are not always a reflection of a program's ability to retain (or not retain) talent.

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Pamela Kosgei (Kenya to New Mexico)

Back in early May, the University of New Mexico announced that they were signing Kenyan cross country and steeplechase superstar, Pamela Kosgei. At just 19 years old, Kosgei has entered the NCAA with freshman eligibility and could soon evolve into a legitimate national title contender.

On the grass, Kosgei secured a bronze medal with her showing at the 2023 U20 World XC Championships. She is also the U20 Africa champion and the Kenyan (senior) national champion in the steeplechase. The newest Lobo superstar came into the NCAA with a personal best of 9:35 over the barriers and water pits, a time that was run at altitude. However, she recently posted a new PR of 9:28 two weeks ago at the Portland Track Festival.

In the grand scheme of things, it makes sense that Pamela Kosgei is as talented as she is. After all, her sister is Brigid Kosgei, a multi-time champion in major marathon races and was the silver medalist in the marathon at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

On paper, the New Mexico women had a promising distance group in the fall of 2023. However, inconsistencies, injuries and limited depth on the team proved too much for low-stick ace Nicola Jansen (a 36th place All-American last fall) to carry on her own.

Thankfully, Jansen is set to return in 2024. And when pairing her with the elite low-stick talent of Kosgei, the Lobo women will seemingly have one of the better 1-2 punches in the NCAA.

If other key returners such as Peyton Schieppe, Sarah Eckel, Semira Mebrahtu Firezghi and Klara Dess are able to stay healthy and raise the floor of this cross country squad, then it is fairly realistic to think that the New Mexico women will be on the national stage in November.

We should also acknowledge that Kosgei's value extends to the outdoor oval, something that Alabama will be keeping a close eye on. Despite rising sophomore Doris Lemngole recently winning the NCAA steeplechase title in a collegiate record of 9:15, Kosgei seems like she could be a very realistic threat to the Crimson Tide ace 11 months from now.

That, of course, is dependent on whether or not Kosgei is able to deliver on the expectations that come with her steeplechase altitude conversion of 9:22.

Kenzie Doyle (UMass Lowell to Providence)

Earlier in the year, Kenzie Doyle announced that she would be joining the Providence women as a graduate transfer. According to TFRRS, the now-former River Hawk star is expected to have one season of cross country eligibility remaining and at least one season of outdoor track eligibility remaining. Doyle is not expected to have any remaining indoor track eligibility.

When it comes to the longer distances, Doyle's resume has tons of sneaky-good value. She ran a 15:27 (5k) PR back in December, qualified for the 2023 outdoor national meet over 10,000 meters and finished a quietly great 85th place at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships.

In other words, she could be a critical piece to a nationally competitive cross country program for the upcoming 2024 season.

However, it's also fair to mention that Doyle's performances have fluctuated at times. Following her breakout 5k performance in December, Doyle continued to produce personal bests, although she was unable to match the caliber of her earlier effort. She later raced only twice during the spring months, producing a respectable 33:21 (10k) PR in the process.

We will admit, Doyle's commitment to join the Lady Friars was hardly surprising. In fact, in an earlier edition of our "Transfer Market" series, we said the following about the seemingly inevitable pairing...

"When thinking about potential landing spots for Doyle, one school jumps off the page: Providence.

The Lady Friars have quietly emerged as one of the top cross country teams in the nation, placing 16th at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships before returning to the same meet in 2023 where they admittedly struggled. However, with six of their top-seven women from last year's lineup set to return, adding a potential low-stick to this squad would make Providence a much stronger team than some may realize.

If she joins the Providence women, then Doyle, a Massachusetts native, would be able to stay local to the northeast region and be part of a nationally competitive distance program should she venture to Rhode Island. Pairing Doyle with Kimberley May and a key veteran in Shannon Flockhart would give the Friars far greater stability and more of an up-top scoring edge that would allow them to be more competitive with Georgetown in top-heavy fields like the BIG East XC Championships."

Truthfully, not much more analysis needs to be said when it comes to Doyle and her impending fit with Providence women. Coach Ray Treacy's team was already going to be a nationally competitive squad in 2024, but Doyle raises their floor by quite a bit.

If May and Flockhart can evolve into the All-Americans that we think they could be, and Doyle replicates her best results on a more consistent basis, then it's certainly feasible to think that this group could scare a top-15 ranking (and maybe even top-10) come October and/or November.

With only one woman departing from last year's lineup, the overall depth and structure of this projected lineup looks like it can reasonably support the firepower of their main stars.

Samantha Tran (Michigan to Washington)

Last week, the University of Washington announced that Michigan veteran Samantha Tran would be joining the Huskies as a graduate transfer later this fall. According to TFRRS, the now-former Wolverine is expected to have one full year of eligibility remaining between indoor track and outdoor track (each). She is also expected to have up to two years of cross country eligibility remaining.

Despite not racing this past spring (likely to preserve eligibility), Samantha Tran has developed a reputation at TSR as one of the more underrated milers in the NCAA. While her personal bests of 4:14 (1500) and 4:34 (mile) are highly encouraging, it's Tran's tactical know-how and strong racing IQ that have often allowed her to find success.

In the spring of 2023, Tran secured an upset 1500-meter win at the Duke Invitational and earned yet another win at the Penn Relays shortly thereafter. However, her postseason endeavors did not go quite as well.

Even so, with separate marks of 9:19 (3k) and 15:52 (5k), Tran's resume is filled with great value. And now that she's joining an established mile-centric powerhouse in Washington, it feels plenty reasonable to say that Tran could qualify for the indoor and/or outdoor national meets in 2025 over the mile and/or 1500-meter distances.

However, what makes Tran such an excellent pick-up for the Washington women is her cross country prowess. At the 2021 NCAA Winter XC Championships, the Michigan talent earned a very strong 90th place finish. And if you thought that was a fluke, then Tran made sure to dismiss those doubts with a 100th place finish at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships.

If Tran can replicate her best cross country performances while she's donning a Washington singlet, then the Huskies could become a potential favorite for the podium this fall. With a superstar low-stick in Amina Maatoug set to join the team and three top-60 finishers from last year's national meet squad set to return, the best version of Tran gives the UW women a complete and balanced top-five void of any noticeable flaws.

Emedy Kiplimo Ruto (Kenya to LSU)

Earlier this month, LSU announced that they have signed Kenyan middle distance star, Emedy Kiplimo Ruto. Upon entering the NCAA, the future Tiger talent is expected to hold four years of cross country eligibility, three years of indoor track eligibility and two years of outdoor track eligibility, per LSU Athletics.

Ruto, who is roughly 27 to 28 years old based on his World Athletics profile, is an absurdly strong metric miler. The Kenyan ace boasts a monster 1500-meter PR of 3:36.91, a mark that he ran in April of 2023 (in Nairobi, Kenya). For perspective, only seven collegiate men ran faster than Ruto's personal best this past spring (during the official NCAA season).

The future LSU runner also boasts times of 1:50 (800) and 8:07 (3k).

To say that Ruto's introduction to the NCAA is a big deal would be an understatement. The incoming SEC talent could immediately compete for conference titles despite having to face Florida's Parvej Khan in the coming years and he could immediately be a contender for All-American honors.

Admittedly, we still don't know how the overseas superstar will perform in more tactical and strategic affairs. In collegiate championship battles, in-race execution is arguably just as important as pure fitness.

However, in an era where races are seemingly becoming more and more honest, Ruto's raw talent could carry him to a decorated college career on the track. And if his talent translates to the cross country course, then we could be talking about one of the most valuable all-around distance runners in the entire NCAA this time next year.

Jette Beermann (Elon to Duke)

Hattie Reynolds (Elon to Duke)

Last week, Duke announced that they have signed two transfers from Elon.

Hattie Reynolds, an English distance talent, is a standard transfer who is expected to have three full years of eligibility remaining across all three seasons of competition. Jette Beermann, a German distance runner, is joining Duke as a standard transfer with one full year of eligibility remaining across all three seasons of competition.

The moves of both Beermann and Reynolds from Elon to Duke is hardly a surprise. That's because Elon's former head coach, Kevin Jermyn, was recently hired by Duke to lead the Blue Devils' distance program (men and women).

When it comes to Hattie Reynolds, it's hard to know exactly what kind of runner the Duke women are getting. That is simply because Reynolds has only been in the NCAA for one year and is clearly still in development. However, what we do know about this British distance runner is that she has tons of potential and has already showcased some of that upside during her rookie year.

Last fall, Reynolds secured a surprisingly strong 52nd place finish at the Virginia Invite. That effort allowed her to be the second scorer for a 13th place team in a very talented and very deep national-caliber field. She also boasts a 10:20 PR in the steeplechase from the summer of 2023.

Admittedly, Reynolds has yet match that Virginia Invite performance in any of her races since then. Even so, there is no denying that the best version of this still-young talent is enough for her to be an impact scorer for Duke as soon as this fall.

However, the story is a bit different for Jette Beermann, an experienced veteran who has established promising consistency at a competitive level over the past year.

Last fall, Beermann placed 56th at the Virginia Invite, 105th at the Nuttycombe Invite and 18th place at the Southeast Regional XC Championships. At the latter meet, she was nine spots out from qualifying for the NCAA XC Championships as an individual.

But Beermann's true breakout didn't happen until this past spring. On the outdoor oval, the former Elon runner dropped a huge 15:42 (5k) PR to win the Penn Relays. She also ran 4:16 for 1500 meters.

The introduction of both Reynolds and Beermann is likely a welcomed development for the Duke women who just lost their focal superstar, Amina Maatoug, to a graduate transfer scenario. In fact, according to TFRRS, Duke is expected to lose their entire top-four and five of their top-six women from the Southeast regional meet. Tack on Charlotte Tomkinson's entry into the transfer portal and that means that Duke lost six of their top-seven runners.

Rising sophomore Thais Rolly is expected to be the only returner.

Admittedly, Reynolds and Beermann won't be able to make up for all of the scoring that Duke has lost from last year. They do, however, stop the bleeding (somewhat) and give Coach Kevin Jermyn a small core of women to build around. And while Beermann won't be in Durham for much longer, Hattie Reynolds will likely be a nice long-term name to have.

Now, the real question moving forward for the Duke women is, who else can they add between now and the start of the 2024 cross country season?