Written by Aimee Morganti, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin University of North Carolina’s Vera Sjöberg has inked an NIL deal with On. She joins On’s collegiate NIL roster which includes Alabama’s Doris Lemngole, New Mexico’s Marion Jepngetich, Stanford’s Juliette Whittaker and West Virginia’s Joy Naukot, among others.   Vera Sjöberg announced the signing on her Instagram page... “Excited to announce my NIL partnership with On!! So grateful for the opportunity to continue this journey as part of the On family. #DreamOn” Sjöberg’s first year as a Tar Heel added her third All-American accolade to her collegiate career after an incredible 8th place finish at the 2025 NCAA XC Championships in Missouri. In December, Sjöberg’s indoor track season opener broke the University of North Carolina’s 22 year-old school record that was held by Shalane Flanagan after she posted a 3000-meter time of 8:43.06. That mark currently sits at NCAA #10 all-time and was set on her former home track at Boston University. Vera Sjöberg's collegiate career began at Boston University where she made four NCAA Championship appearances. Notably, she was the runner-up finisher at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships over 5000 meters in a time of 15:34.77. Her first All-American honor came at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships in the mile where she finished 8th place. Sjöberg's remaining NCAA appearances included an 11th place finish at 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships over the 1500 meters and a 42nd place finish at the 2024 NCAA XC Championships. As a Terrier, Sjöberg was a 13-time Patriot League champion between the 1500 meters, the mile, the 3000 meters, the 5000 meters, the 4x800-meter relay and cross country. Sjöberg holds Boston University’s school records over 1500 meters, the mile, the 3k, the 5k and the outdoor 4x800-meter relay.   Vera Sjöberg won two national titles at the 2025 Swedish National Championships via personal bests of 4:05.09 (1500) and 15:25.80 (5k). Her performances qualified her for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo where she represented Sweden. There, she finished 7th place in her 1500-meter heat.

Rankings crafted via Ellie Clark With the start of 2026 comes our commitment to (slowly) expanding our content offerings. That includes making an effort to cover more than just the distance events. As such, we're trying our hand at the sprints, both in terms of rankings and, throughout 2026, the occasional written analysis. Of course, our sprints coverage team is still very small, so it will take time for us to establish a base of consistency and more rigorous content. But for now, here are the top Division One men and top women who we have listed in our "fourth edition" at this point during the winter months.

Production via Wyatt Barnsley On this week’s episode of The Stride Report Podcast, Ben and Garrett break down an electric weekend of relay racing headlined by Sadie Engelhardt delivering a jaw-dropping comeback anchor leg to steal the DMR win for North Carolina! 🤯👀 The guys dive into Washington running 9:17.03 to take down Arkansas before chatting about Oregon’s bounce-back performance after a Friday night DQ. The guys also dive further into the growing debate over who should be favored for the men’s NCAA DMR title. 🏆🥇 On the women’s side, they analyze Billah Jepkirui anchoring Oklahoma State to a statement DMR victory and discuss which squads have the firepower to claim the national crown. 👑 The episode also highlights breakout middle distance performances from Avery Pearson and Maeve O’Neill, evaluates Sophia Gorriaran as a potential NCAA 800-meter champion, and recaps a pair of 1:45 performances from Rivaldo Marshall and Matthew Erickson. 🏃🏃‍♀️💨 (2:29) Washington Men Take DMR Win Over Arkansas With 9:17.03 Performance (8:45) Oregon Men Redeem Themselves In Boston After Friday Night DQ (11:44) Who is the Favorite to Win the Men’s DMR National Title? (22:05) Billah Jepkirui Anchors Oklahoma State to DMR Win Over Arkansas (24:30) Sadie Engelhardt Tracks Down Vera Sjoberg to Steal Win From UNC (30:08) Who is the Favorite to Win the Women’s DMR National Title? (36:48) Avery Pearson Breaks Out & Runs Converted 1:59.98 (800) Mark (40:22) Maeve O’Neill Continues Her Improvement, Runs 2:00.33 (800) (43:24) Can Sophia Gorriaran Win the 800m NCAA Title? (45:44) Rivaldo Marshall and Matthew Erickson Run 1:45 (800) 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.

Rankings crafted via Miguel Zacarias, Eleni Lovgren & Garrett Zatlin Welcome back to The Stride Report's NAIA rankings! This season, we'll be offering top-25 rankings for the men and women in the NAIA distance running scene, specifically for events 800 meters and up. This week, we have our "Third Edition" of these rankings. This is a new update which reflects the performances and momentum of the NAIA's best distance talents in the nation throughout the current indoor track season. Have any interest in contributing to our NAIA team? Be sure to check out our OPEN ROLES page and apply!