"Did you ever think The Stride Report would become this? Who would have thought that it would become what it is today?" Truthfully, I always did. As I've said before, I always thought The Stride Report had the potential to be big, even when I was first starting out and the site could more accurately be described as a glamorized blog. Of course, part of that unfounded optimism was simply due to being a naive college kid. Heck, I didn't even know what "big" looked like or meant in this context. And yet, despite anticipating that The Stride Report would eventually reach it's current scale, I have to admit, our brand, our identity, our site, our content offerings -- none of that matches the vision that I once had for TSR back in 2017. That, however, may be a good thing. *  *  * My initial vision for The Stride Report was far more myopic than it is now. When I first started, I wanted to write analytical feature pieces similar to what you would see on The Ringer ...and that's about it. Nowadays, we offer in-depth analysis, the most extensive rankings in our sport, pre-race predictions, news and headlines, transfer and recruiting articles, we have expanded to every NCAA division, have begun to offer NAIA analysis and even offer analysis on high school results as well! All of that, of course, is reserved just to articles and pages found on our website. In 2025, we introduced a Social Media Admin in Lauren Cawley who, along with great help from Luis Flores and, for a few months, Anna Petr, began to dramatically alter our social media presence. On YouTube , our total channel subscribers rose 180% in 2025 compared to 2024. Our watch time rose 283% more and our total channel views rose by so much, that YouTube didn't even give us a specific metric other than >999%. This, in turn, has opened up a new form of revenue for us that makes it slightly easier to pursue new projects and areas of coverage (something you'll notice in 2025). And Instagram ? Well, the metrics don't go back far enough to properly measure, but we gained at least 10,000 new followers in less than a year and reached a month where we eclipsed over 10,000,000 views! The Stride Report Podcast ? Yep, that's grown too, enough so that we were able to partner with our friends at Bleav over the last few months! And TikTok ? Well we barely used that platform until this past year, but roughly 5,500,000 views in 2025 isn't too shabby considering that we're still growing in that area. Put simply, The Stride Report's brand and identity has seemingly evolved beyond just articles -- our audio and video space has grown extensively and is primed to be even more robust in 2026! *  *  * Of course, none of that means that we're ignoring our actual writing and our website -- if anything, our promising growth in audio and video has allowed us to make new investments to our written coverage in 2026! Whether that's introducing sprints analysis , placing greater focus on our NAIA space , producing more headline-based articles or further investing in our already-awesome D1, D2 and D3 teams, there hasn't been this much room to grow for our website in a handful of years. Even so, challenges will arise, hard decisions will have to be made and not everything we try will work (or even be popular). When you have as many facets to our content offerings as The Stride Report does, scaling doesn't always look pretty. But...isn't that how you evolve? Heck, isn't that how anyone and anything evolves? And in today's ever-changing landscape -- both within the NCAA and media in general -- evolving as a company and a brand feels necessary for survival. *  *  * At the conclusion of 2023, as we prepared to enter 2024, I penned an open letter to our audience explaining that TSR as a company was still " Learning to be Aggressive ." And while I knew what that meant, I would be lying if I said I entirely understood how I was going to implement that. But as we enter 2026, the vision seems clearer and the path forward is more pronounced. Maybe that's because most of our writers have shown far greater comfort in their roles and, as a result, their writing has improved in a major way. Maybe that's because our podcast continues to gain momentum and we now have the support of a partner in Bleav. Maybe that's because our social media channels have become dramatically stronger assets for us than they ever were before. All of those things "could be" the reason why we're optimistic about 2026. But at the end of the day, none of this is possible if my mom remained our only reader like she did nearly a decade ago (hi mom). It is all of you, our ever-growing audience and group of readers, who make The Stride Report so special and so worth it to build. The support, the investment in who we are -- that is the one aspect of our website that has evolved more than anything else, and it's only been for the better. Thank you to everyone who continues to support us in what we're trying to do. We want to be the best, because you deserve the best. And our ongoing pursuit of that goal will never stop. Cheers to a happy and healthy 2026. Your loyal admin, Garrett Zatlin The Stride Report

Production via Wyatt Barnsley On this week’s episode of The Stride Report Podcast, Garrett is joined by special guests Conor Daly and Rachel Hickey to break down a wave of NCAA headlines and major transfer news shaking up the distance running world. Conor and Garrett start with the NCAA denying Emily Venters’ appeal for a 2023 gold medal and Mohammed Bati being ruled ineligible for the 2026 track season before diving into a busy transfer cycle! Later, Rachel joins Garrett to discuss Justine Kipkoech’s move to Colorado, Bismack Kipchirchir heading to Alabama and Karrie Baloga entering the transfer portal, along with a string of notable moves involving Boise State, Duke, Kentucky, and more. It’s a packed episode full of debate and what these decisions could mean for the NCAA landscape moving forward. Be sure to listen, subscribe and review! (1:52) Emily Venters’ Appeal For 2023 Gold Denied by NCAA (8:13) Mohammed Bati Deemed Ineligible for 2026 Track Seasons (17:46) Justine Kipkoech Transfers to Colorado (21:19) Bismack Kipchirchir Leaves Akron For Alabama (25:30) Karrie Baloga Enters Transfer Portal (30:15) Meshack Kuyo Leaving Boise State For Duke (33:42) Chasen Hunt Heading Back to D3 Lynchburg (36:04) Ann Lemirisho Leaves Cincinnati For Kentucky (39:30) Sergio Del Barrio Enters Transfer Portal You can listen to that episode (and others) on our PODCASTS  page! You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Soundcloud. If you like it, be sure to leave us a rating  and a review ! Note: If you're having issues loading the episode on the site via mobile, try refreshing  the episode page. We will look into this issue for future episodes.

Photos via Sara Diggins & Austin American-Statesman (left) // Joe Hale (right) Written by Conor Daly, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin NCAA documents (page 19) reveal that Everlyn Kemboi, formerly of Utah Valley, has had her 10k national title from the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships revoked by the NCAA Committee on Infractions (COI). Her runner-up finish over 5000 meters at the same national meet has also been removed. The 2023 national meet runner-up over 10,000 meters, Utah alum Emily Venters, claimed in an Instagram post that Kemboi had tested positive for a banned substance from a test conducted by the NCAA at the 2023 outdoor national meet. While The Stride Report has not been able to directly confirm the reason for Kemboi's title revocation, Venters told TSR that Matt Mikrut, the Managing Director for the COI, verbally confirmed to her family over the phone that Kemboi had tested positive for a banned substance. Venters says that she was also tested by the NCAA at the 2023 outdoor national meet. The Stride Report reached out to Matt Mikrut via phone and email on December 22nd, 2025 and sent up a follow-up email on December 27th, 2025, but received no response. In addition to Mikrut, 10 other members of the COI were also contacted for further comment. TSR received no response from any COI member who served on the case. The Stride Report also reached out to Utah Valley's coaching staff for comment on December 22nd, 2025, but has not yet received a response. Since the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Kemboi has not competed in the NCAA. She has, however, competed in 18 professional track and road races, including marquee meets like The TEN, the Portland Track Festival and the Falmouth Road Race. In their initial decision, the COI chose not to upgrade the placements of the runners in the aforementioned 10k and 5k races that Kemboi competed in. Separate appeals by both Venters and the University of Utah were rejected by the COI. While the COI has the power to reorder the final results, they opted not to deviate from their 50+ year approach without a clear direction from its members, an NCAA spokesperson told the University of Utah. There are no further opportunities to appeal through the COI. Put simply, there is no 2023 NCAA 10k champion now that Kemboi’s result was vacated and the committee elected not to upgrade the rest of the athletes. Similarly, there is now no runner-up finisher for the 5k. In that same Instagram post, Venters expressed her disappointment with the NCAA’s decision to not upgrade the placements of the women in those 10k and 5k races from the 2023 national meet, “This sets a dangerous standard for the next generation of NCAA athletes. It tells them that cheating can happen, that athletes can test positive, and yet the right thing still will not be done. It sends the message that clean athletes who do things the right way may never be protected or rewarded. That is not the sport we love.” - Utah alum and Nike pro, Emily Venters

Spend a day with World Championship qualifier and steeplechase superstar, Angelina Napoleon! 🔥 Follow along with the 2025 breakout star as she walks us through a day in the life while she's on break at NC State! Napoleon walks us through her training, meals, home life and more. 🏃‍♀️💨

Written by Conor Daly, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin Mohammed Bati, one of Division Three’s premier long distance runners over the last few years, has been deemed ineligible to compete for the 2026 indoor track and outdoor track seasons due to a recent ruling from the NCAA. In a Strava post from December 24th, the Augsburg star explained that he had accepted approximately $6,000 from members of his community to pay for his spring 2025 tuition. Bati explicitly stated that the accepted money was solely spent on his schooling. "Last semester I was struggling a lot with money. I didn't want to drop out or stop going to school, and the community around me came together to support me. People helped me with around $6000 so I could pay for that semester. I'm still grateful for that it was love, it was support, not anything big or business or something bad. Just people helping someone who needed" - Mohammed Bati via Strava Upon learning of Bati's crowdfunded education payment, the NCAA ruled that his acceptance of those funds was a violation. That, in turn, forfeited Bati’s track and field eligibility for the upcoming semester. However, with "Name, Image & Likeness" (NIL) opportunities available, Bati could have theoretically protected his eligibility if the $6,000 was deemed for a, “legitimate business purpose.” To pay for tuition, Bati works from 11:00pm to 7:00am five nights a week at a local assisted living facility . The Augsburg distance standout does all of that while running 150 miles a week and completing his academic obligations. It is not yet clear to The Stride Report whether there is an opportunity for Bati to appeal should he choose to do so. Mohammed Bati (center) competing over 5k at the NCAA Indoor Championships // Photo via Owen Ferrell Bati has been a key figure in the Division Three long distance scene for years. Most notably, he was the Division Three cross country national meet runner-up in 2024 and in 2025. On the track, he holds personal bests of 8:18 (3k), 14:15 (5k) and 30:10 (10k). Just a few weeks ago, Bati clocked a phenomenal mark of 2:12:28 at the California International Marathon (CIM) to qualify for the 2028 USA Olympic Trials. In response to the decision, Bati made a promise to himself and his community, “I’m not disappearing, I’m still here, still training, still smiling, still fighting for my dreams.”

Join us for another episode of Beyond the Stride featuring Northern Arizona's dynamic distance star, Colin Sahlman! 🪓🪵 On this episode of Beyond the Stride, Lauren sits down with Sahlman to talk about a little bit of everything! Whether it be the distance program at Northern Arizona, Sahlman's incredible range or the coaching change that he's gone through, this episode covers everything that you're looking for. 🔥👀 Does Sahlman himself think he has the best range in the NCAA? What were his thoughts and reactions to NAU's coaching change from Mike Smith to Jarred Cornfield? What are Sahlman's goals for this year on the track? How did he feel about his exciting summer on the track when he ran 1:44 for 800 meters? 🤔 Sahlman answers all of those questions and much, much more on our latest episode of Beyond the Stride! Be sure to watch, like and subscribe! 🏃💨 🗣️ Hosted by Lauren Cawley Be sure to like/follow/subscribe/comment on all of podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube! You can find our other episodes there as well.