The PAC-12 Championships are starting this Friday and we are PUMPED to see some of the nation's most elite distance talents duke it out for conference titles. Below, Ben Weisel & Sam Ivanecky highlighted five of the biggest headlines to watch for this weekend's conference meet... Click here to see entries How Low Can Hurta Go? When Sage Hurta toes the line for the 800 prelim on Saturday, it will have been 21 days since she last raced. Originally slated to run an 800 at the Fresno State West Coast Relays, the Colorado senior has not toed the line for this distance since April 3rd when she ran a personal best of 2:00.62. With whispers of sub-2:00 out there, will she break the barrier this weekend? Look, barring an absolute disaster or miracle, Hurta will be racing the clock, not the field. The second-fastest seed time is 2:05.60. Given that this is her only race of the meet, there’s no reason to save herself for any other event. Even if she goes out on sub-2:00 pace and falls off, she should have plenty of breathing room before whomever finishes in 2nd place. If Hurta is able to run under 2:00 this weekend, there could be some serious implications for the coming month. She currently leads the NCAA in the 1500 and is listed at NCAA #2 in the 800. Only Athing Mu has broken 2:00 this year and is the current heavy favorite in the event. The odds are that Hurta would still focus on the 1500, but that may not be a guarantee. On The Beer Mile podcast, Hurta noted that she would be more likely to run the 800 at the Olympic Trials which surprised some given where she stands in the 1500. If she runs fast enough this weekend, it could cause some serious consideration around her NCAA plans. Men's 800: Hocker vs Hunter vs Jewett vs Peralta With Cole Hocker eschewing the 1500 to double in the 800 and 5k, the men’s 800 is much more interesting. USC's Isaiah Jewett has established himself as a possible national title favorite after recently running 1:45 and is an experienced runner in these championships. Additionally, the NCAA champion from this past winter, Charlie Hunter, lurks as another top contender in the event. These three, along with fellow Duck Luis Peralta, will be the key names to watch in this race. There are so many interesting storylines to follow in this 800. Can Hocker take down two title contenders in yet another event? After beating Kiptoo, Kurgat and Teare in the 5k, he seems to have the range to win a title in the longer event, but he has also run 1:46 this year in the 800. Could this be a preview of the NCAA Championships with him skipping the 1500? That seemed impossible after his dominance during indoors in the mile, but after losing to Nuguse and Teare, perhaps the plan has changed...or maybe it's just an effort to work on his speed. It's probably the latter, but our theory sounds more interesting. Hocker’s teammate Hunter entered this outdoor season as the favorite in the 800 after winning the title indoors and running 1:45. So far, we have not seen the Australian run nearly as well this spring. A win this weekend would be a great sign for the Duck and perhaps make him the NCAA title favorite once again. Lastly, the USC Trojan, Jewett is undefeated this season and has run 1:46 or faster twice this spring. He is the reigning PAC-12 champion in the 800 and just missed the finals in 2019 at the NCAA Championships. The consistency and experience make him one of the top names in the country, but he will face stiff competition this weekend. Keeping his undefeated record after this weekend will make him the favorite in the event going into the regional meet. Races Within a Race The women’s 1500 has phenomenal depth up-front, featuring eight runners who have gone 4:17 or faster this year. Micaela DeGenero of Colorado leads the way with her 4:12, good enough for the NCAA #10 mark and 1.5 seconds better than anyone else in the field. However, not to be outdone is Ella Donaghu of Stanford who was the 6th place finisher in this event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2019. Donaghu has notably entered in the 800, 1500 and 5k which could make for a big weekend if she indeed contests all three events. Adding to the Colorado contingent are Madison Boreman and Rachel McArthur. Boreman is slated to double in both the 1500 and steeplechase while McArthur is only entered in this event. McArthur has bounced across a number of events this spring, trying her hand at everything from the 800 to the 5k. It remains to be seen if she’ll focus on the 1500 or 5k at regionals, but her result this weekend could go a long way in determining that choice. Anna Gibson (Washington), Christina Aragon (Stanford), Hannah Reinhardt (Oregon) and Madison Hesiterman (Washington) all could be contenders for the women's 1500 title as well. Outside of the top names, a big area to watch will be what happens in the “second group”. As things stand, there are four women who sit just outside the top-48 in the West region who could be looking to make a final push for the regional meet. The current cut-off mark for the West regional women's 1500 meters is 4:20.01 by Grace Fetherstonhaugh of Oregon State. Four women entered this weekend -- Neema Kimtai (Washington State), Allie Schadler (Washington), Lucy Jenks (Stanford) and Jessica Lawson (Stanford) -- are all within 1.5 seconds of that mark. Given that this will be their last chance to run qualifying marks, it would not be surprising to see an honest attempt at the 4:20 barrier, especially with a slew of fast women also entered. This could also create some intra-race chaos as these four could be battling one another to the finish line not only for team points, but also for the last (automatic) spot for regional qualification. Distance Running Titans Collide Any race with both Cooper Teare and Cole Hocker is one to watch, even if it's their second race of the championship meet. The Ducks enter as favorites, but the field is stacked with candidates looking to take them down. For Hocker, a double win that includes the 800 might be nearly as impressive as the double he pulled off at indoors when he won the mile and 3k. Meanwhile, Teare will look to continue his momentum and prove that he is the clear favorite in the 5k going into the NCAA Championships. He will have his hands full in the 1500 against Sam Tanner and others, but he might need to be even better to win the 5k. Eduardo Herrera enters the 5k fresh, and, after taking down Conner Mantz and the BYU men earlier in the year, he will try to pick up another impressive win. While he hasn’t run quite as fast as the Oregon men, he has run 13:24 and has strong 1500 chops which bodes well for him in a tactical race. Behind him will be his teammate John Dressel who has run 13:36 this year and will be looking to stamp his mark on the PAC-12 Championships in his final season of eligibility. Lastly, Charles Hicks from Stanford has been on a tear this season. While he is entered in the 10k and will certainly not be completely fresh going into the 5k, he will have two days of rest and should be able to challenge the Ducks and Buffaloes this weekend. The redshirt freshman has gone undefeated this outdoor season with wins in the 10k and 5k in times of 28:25 and 13:34, respectively. We have seen Hicks rise to the occasion throughout this winter and spring and he will get a great opportunity to do that this weekend against some of the best in the nation. Veteran All-American Stars to Clash in Steeple The women’s steeplechase is set to feature a fantastic head-to-head battle between Colorado’s Madison Boreman and Washington’s Katie Rainsberger. However, the stories on how each woman got here are wildly different, but equally intriguing. Boreman has not run at the PAC-12 Outdoor Championships since 2017, all the way back in her freshman season. She won the steeplechase that year in a close race over her teammate and current NCAA 1500 leader, Sage Hurta. Boreman would go on to finish runner-up at the NCAA Championships that season, finishing as the second freshman behind Allie Ostrander. That race also happens to be Boreman’s steeplechase personal best of 9:46. Since then, she has only recorded three track races as a Colorado Buffalo prior to 2021, although she did compete in cross country a handful of seasons. In her first steeplechase in almost four years, Boreman picked up right where she left off, finishing in a clutch mark of 9:48. Although a number of women have run faster this season, it’s hard to count out Boreman when you look at the full picture. This weekend will be her second time racing the PAC-12 Championships with hopes of remaining undefeated in the steeplechase. In contrast, Rainsberger had never run a steeplechase until this season. As she entered this spring, the Washington Husky was coming off of an indoor season where she struggled to find the success that we were accustomed to seeing from her. Maybe all she needed was a change of pace because on April 2nd, Rainsberger (literally) dipped her toe in the water. At the Stanford Invitational, she made her steeple debut in a remarkable 10:00. Only adding to the strength of that run was the fact she was only racing one another woman who finished over a minute back. When facing real competition at the Fresno State West Coast Relays, Rainsberger smashed her personal best by clocking a time of 9:49 and moving up to NCAAA #7 position in the event. Given that she is not in the top-48 of any other event, all signs point to Rainsberger aiming for a nationals bid in this event. This weekend should be a great chance to see how she does in a true head-to-head race over barriers against yet another All-American standout. Both of her previous attempts were closer to time trials whereas this weekend should be somewhat more tactical. The veteran vs the rookie. Who comes out on top?

NOTE: The listed eligibility for these athletes takes into account the eligibility extension granted by the NCAA to make up for the discontinued 2020 outdoor track season. KEY (Unranked): Was not ranked in our last update. (#/#): First number indicates how much the individual has moved in the rankings. The second number indicates where they were ranked in our last update. 15. Dalton Martin, Sophomore, Wartburg (Unranked) Dalton Martin ran a very impressive mark of 1:50.94 for 800 meters at the Augustana Meet of Champions, finishing runner-up to Loras ace Mike Jasa. That was enough to put Martin at NCAA #3 on the TFRRS leaderboard for the distance. He has been a mid-distance force to be reckoned with since he first came to Wartburg, finishing 5th in the 800 at Indoor Nationals in his first collegiate track season in 2019. He has also run 3:54 for 1500 and 14:38 for 5000, proving that he has some strength to go along with his speed. The national meet will likely provide a highly anticipated rematch between him and Jasa, and it should be a tight battle. 14. Matt Heinzman, Junior, Wartburg (Unranked) One of three Wartburg men that made our rankings, Matt Heinzman ran 3:50.15 at the Wartburg Friday Night Lights meet for the win. This performance was the third-fastest 1500 in D3 this season and a five-second PR. Heinzman has also run solid times in the 800 (1:53.18) and 5000 (14:29). Those marks put him at NCAA #33 and NCAA #11 on the national leaderboard, respectively. For someone whose primary event is the 1500, these are pretty good results which show that versatility is a strength of his. While TSR #5 runner Gabriel Pommier will likely go in as the title favorite in the 1500, Heinzman should be one of his strongest challengers who makes it an honest race. 13. Ryan Cutter, Junior, U. of Chicago (Unranked) Ryan Cutter has been good for a long time, but this season it feels like he’s taking another significant step forward. The two-time cross country All-American is finding another level of success on the track compared to previous years. He has raced three times in 2021, all of which have been personal bests. He opened the spring with a 3:54 effort for 1500, where his only loss of the season occurred to Gabriel Pommier, then followed that up with a 29:43 (10k) and finally a 14:20 (5k). He is on the top-five of the national leaderboard in both the 5k and 10k. He can certainly score some points at Nationals in both events, but the 10k seems like his best shot at pulling off an upset to win a title. 12. Ben Kuxmann, Sophomore, Millikin (+1 / 13) After his 1:51 performance that got him ranked in our last edition, Kuxmann only bettered his 800, running an astounding 1:50.12, getting just within a hair of sub-1:50. He’s proven that he’s capable of running even faster than previously, along with bringing his 400 speed down as well, running 48.75, which is not far off from Mike Jasa. He poses one of the most serious threats to Jasa’s dominance of the 800 in D3 this year. 11. Travis Martin, Freshman, Trinity (CT) (Unranked) Travis Martin has some serious range. So far this season, he has run 1:51.27 for 800 (t-NCAA #5 on the national leaderboard) and 3:50.18 for 1500 (NCAA #4). He also holds an indoor 3k best of 8:27, and if the season ended today he would get into the 5k at Nationals with his mark of 14:32 as he sits at NCAA #16. That 8:27 (3k), where he gave Connecticut College alum Danny Aschale all he could handle, was where he began to establish himself on the national scene, but the mid-distance speed that he has displayed this season has been a pleasant surprise. He could be a dark horse pick in either the 1500 or the 800, and can comfortably earn All-American honors in both. 10. Hunter Moore, Junior, Otterbein (0 / 10) The OAC has been filled with talent this year, and Moore is one of the names making this conference rise up in national prominence. Right along with Alex Phillip and Jamie Daley of John Carroll, Moore has run impressively this year, posting a mark of 14:21 in the 5k, along with an impressive 14:30 / 29:46 double, finishing right behind Phillip in both races. He will be a strong threat for All-American finishes in both the 5k and 10k at Nationals. 9. Nicholas Hoffman, Junior, Hope (Unranked) Hoffman, the breakout star from this past indoor season, has continued to show that he’s here and ready to compete with the best of D3. He’s now run 3:49 twice this season, putting him at NCAA #2 in D3 currently. He’s also run a few 800’s here and there, but hasn’t quite ran it fresh yet. He’ll be an exciting name to watch come Nationals given his role as a national contender in the 1500. 8. Frank Csorba, Freshman, Lynchburg (0 / 8) Another breakout star on the D3 scene this year, Csorba continued to build off of his mind-blowing 10k by running 14:22 in the 5k, putting him at NCAA #7 in D3. His improvement from last year is still mind-boggling and yet he’s still on a tear, showing race after race that he’s a completely different runner than before. The fruits of his labor will certainly be recognized as he gets the opportunity to run at Nationals very soon. 7. Matthew Sayre, Junior, SUNY Geneseo (Unranked) Sayre ran a 5k PR of 14:17 a few weeks ago that was the third-fastest time in all of Division 3. He has also run 30:01 for the 10k, sitting at NCAA #10 on the national leaderboard. Sayre hasn’t lost a race longer than 800 meters since February of 2020. Last weekend at the SUNYAC Championships, he easily pulled off the 10k/5k double and it was never really in doubt. As the postseason progresses and he faces a higher level of competition, it will be interesting to see where he fits in. He looks to be a step off of Wilkinson and Freiburger in the 5k, but having only one 5k effort where time was a focal point, one would imagine that he is a lot closer to those two men than his resume suggests. 6. Mike Jasa, Junior, Loras (-1 / 5) Jasa has held the D3 lead in the 800 for quite awhile now, as his oh-so-close sub-1:50 mark of 1:50.00 still sits at NCAA #1. Along with nearly (and we mean nearly) breaking 1:50, Jasa’s 48.5 400 speed is also to be reckoned with when it comes to his overall prowess. His 4x400 team also sits as NCAA #1 in D3 so far, giving him multiple scoring opportunities when it comes down to the NCAA Championships. 5. Gabriel Pommier, Junior, North Central (-2 / 3) Panned as D3’s top 1500/mile runner this year, Pommier has stuck with middle distance races all season long, rarely stepping outside of the 800 or 1500 events. His 3:47 mark from last month still holds out as the NCAA #1 mark in D3 while he also ran 1:51 in the 800 which sits him at NCAA #11. He has yet to lose a 1500 this season (sans the Drake Relays) and has continually proven himself to be a top talent. Don’t forget, Pommier also has a 5k best of 14:34, so the strength is there, too. Between that, his experience and consistency, it's hard not to like what he brings to the table. 4. Jared Pangallozzi, Junior, Johns Hopkins (0 / 4) After throwing down some crazy fast times earlier this outdoor season, Pangallozzi has changed gears a little bit, winning a conference title in the 5k as well as stepping down to the 1500, running 3:52 in the process. For as strong of a 10k guy as he is, that 1500 is pretty impressive, taking 6th in a very stacked field. He still holds the top 10k mark in D3 (29:20), as well as the NCAA #12 mark in the 5k (14:27), and NCAA #19 mark in the 1500. 3. Alex Phillip, Freshman, John Carroll (-1 / 2) Phillip continued his reign of dominance over the OAC these past couple of weeks, throwing down a 14:17 (5k) in addition to his wild 29:30 (10k) earlier in the season. Just this past weekend at the OAC conference meet, he ran an impressive 14:30/29:45 double, edging out standout distance talent Hunter Moore by a slim margin in both races. Per conference rules, he hasn’t been allowed to race outside of the OAC quite yet, but when he does at the NCAA Championships, then he should be a top contender in either the 5k, 10k...or both. 2. Joe Freiburger, Junior, Wartburg (-1 / 1) Who would have guessed that running 14:00 (5k) gets you a TSR #2 spot in our D3 rankings? Certainly not us. After re-validating his 10k qualification, running 29:56, Freiburger ran a wildly impressive time of 14:00 at the Drake Relays. He has not lost to any D3 competition so far this outdoor season and is one of the favorites for a national title in either the 5k or 10k. 1. Matthew Wilkinson, Senior, Carleton (+11 / 12) There’s two words to say about Matthew Wilkinson this season: He’s back. After a few rust-buster efforts to start the season, he’s been on an absolute tear through D3 on completely solo efforts. First, an 8:56 steeplechase mark, destroying the national lead. Then, a time of 13:58 in the 5k, also taking over the national lead, along with capturing the NCAA #7 all-time fastest time in D3’s history. Did I mention those races were solo? Imagine what he could do getting pulled along by some faster guys… He’ll be competing for Minnesota next year as a graduate transfer and could definitely make a difference for the Gophers.

The D2 season has been a thrilling one so far. With the NCAA Championships fast approaching, and our understanding of the collegiate landscape now growing stronger, we thought now would be a good time to review the division as a whole and answer some prompts... We've talked about Colorado Mines athletes receiving some large altitude conversions and with that comes controversy. Over the weekend, Luke Julian and Loic Scomparin both ran 13:52 (non-altitude). Does this change how you feel about some of the Orediggers' performances this season? John: I’ll be the first to say that Julian's and Scomparin’s result from this past weekend do make me feel better about how the Orediggers will compete at the NCAA Championships. Scomparin ran faster than that on the indoor track at the indoor national meet which was good enough for 3rd place. It’s nice to see him race well at sea-level once again. As for Julian, this is a very good indication of what type of fitness he is in. I think he’s moved back into the conversation of title contender in the 1500 as his newfound strength has resulted in an 18-second personal best. Kyle Moran posted a mark of 14:09 for 5000 meters and that’s nowhere near what his altitude mark says he can run. He’s proven that he can run faster than that, so this might be chalked up as a poor race with hopes that he bounces back in time for the NCAA meet. However, outside of those three, no one else really ran that well in California, so I’m leaving with mixed feelings about their future races. Eric: I agree with John. These performances by Julian and Scomparin validate those altitude conversions and give them merit. However, even with the altitude conversions saying that you are in a certain fitness, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you race that way. Either way, the RMAC is still the best conference top-to-bottom in all of Division 2 and you can count on their runners to show up in a big way at the NCAA Championships. I just wish that it was an easier topic to discuss as the RMAC schools don’t necessarily ever have to race at sea-level, so most of the time they will always have inflated numbers going into the national meets. Anyway, the best runners show up in the biggest moments regardless of geography and there's a reason why the best runners are in the RMAC. Garrett: Their performances certainly validate the prior conversions, but I feel like we’re at a point where we should already know just how talented the Colorado Mines men truly are. Sure, maybe not everyone on that team is able to translate their regular season success to the national stage every time they toe the line, but plenty of non-altitude schools could receive the same criticism. The Orediggers are a major powerhouse at the D2 level and have been for quite some time. Their history of success and recent results were already enough for me to not really be all that surprised by their non-altitude marks. The Flanagan sisters have put on a show this season and have reiterated a point that some of us have seemingly forgotten: Adams State is one of the best distance groups in the nation. How do you view their performances this season and where do they stand in the historical D2 hierarchy of distance talents? John: The first thought I have here is that Eilish Flanagan is the best steeplechaser in D2 history. That seems like a “Captain Obvious” statement, but I don’t think people understand how good her 9:40 in the steeplechase is. First, she ran away from the field at the Oregon Twilight meet, winning by 35 seconds. Second, that steeple time is seven seconds better than former record holder and current On Running athlete, Alicja Konieczek. Meanwhile, Roisin Flanagan ran 15:47 for 5000 meters, which is good enough for NCAA #7 on the All-Time record list for outdoor competitions. If we back-tracked to December, when these two ran 15:38 and 15:40 outside of collegiate competition, then we’d be talking about the NCAA #2 and NCAA #4 All-Time marks in D2 outdoor history. I think we are witnessing two of the very best all-around runners in the history of D2 and they’re somehow going under the radar while doing it. I think we’ll be in for some fireworks at the NCAA meet and it’ll be because the Flanagan sisters might walk away with three NCAA titles and two runner-up spots as well. Eric: Not very often will you have two star athletes on the same team. Even less often are those two athletes related. Enter the Flanagan sisters who have really taken advantage of running in the thin air in Alamosa. When records fall and championships are won, then you really start talking about where these two women rank amongst the all-time greats. Well, Eilish now has the steeplechase national record and both women have a golden opportunity to win their first individual national titles. John is absolutely right, what we are witnessing is rare and I don’t think people fully appreciate it. Sometimes you can’t fully appreciate what you have until it’s gone and sadly, I think that’s the way it’s about to be in the world of Division 2 when the Flanagan sisters leave. Garrett: Before our audio was corrupted, I basically echoed the same sentiments that Eric just said on our latest podcast attempt. I truly don’t think people realize just how good these two have been. They’ve been flat-out incredible and what Eilish just ran in the steeplechase should really be a major starting point for how great she has been in so many other distance events. The fact that her sister Roisin can run 15:47 for 5000 meters and be overshadowed by her sister is unbelievable. We’re witnessing greatness and the D2 level has been so much better because these two women are in the NCAA. Like Eric said, I don’t think people fully appreciate what the Flanagan sisters have brought to the table. Not just this year, but over the past few years. That said, in order to undoubtably be considered as two of the best to ever do it, winning an individual national title this spring will be a must. If teammate Stephanie Cotter wasn't around, that may not have been an issue at this point in their careers, but the current lack of individual gold is an interesting caveat to consider when talking about all-time D2 greats. Ezra Mutai reminded us of how good he is with a solo effort in the 10k at the Northeast-10 Championships. His time of 28:44 is the best time in the country by five seconds, and 18 seconds faster than the next raw time. He’s the 15th man with an auto mark in the event. Where does he stand amongst the other title contenders at this distance? Eric: Mutai is built for this event. Just look at the 2019 NCAA cross country race and you’ll see why. If he’s smart, he should be able to dictate this race and run it the way that he wants to. I could see him taking this race from the gun like Iowa State’s Wesley Kiptoo did at the 2020 NCAA XC Championships. I’d say he’s easily the favorite. John: It’s hard to argue with Eric here. I was slightly worried about Mutai when he ran 14:29 (5k) in mid-April. He followed suit with a 3:45 mark in the 1500 meters. However, running 28:44 in a 10k, setting a new personal best by 58 seconds (prior PR of 29:42) and winning a race by more than two minutes tells us plenty of things. One of those things is that Mutai has to be the favorite out of the 15 men who have auto qualifying marks this season. If he can run that fast by himself in a championship setting, there’s no telling what he can do when he gets to a race with some competition. Garrett: I love the comparison to Wesley Kiptoo. I would agree that Mutai's aggressive front-running and raw fitness makes him an ideal fit for a 10k field that may end up forming a strength-based race at the NCAA Championships. However, I’m not sure he’s at that same level of dominance where he can just run away from his competition. I absolutely believe that he can be a title contender, but this was one heck of a performance that took me by surprise. Can he do it again? He’ll have to fend off Marcelo Laguera and the Colorado Mines Orediggers which is no easy task, even if he chooses to make the pace aggressive. Addy Townsend’s season has recently ended due to Simon Fraser being unable to participate at the national meet. This has opened up the 800 meter title for the rest of the field and has taken a contender away in the 1500. Give me a name that is best suited to take advantage of Townsend’s absence. Eric: I think this is great news for CSU-Pueblo’s Yasmine Hernandez in the 800 meters. Townsend just recently ran a 2:04 at the Oregon Twilight and has been looking dangerous, so with her out of the field, it opens the door for Hernandez to win her first NCAA title. Yes, there is RMAC rival Bailey Sharon standing in her way, but I really liked how Hernandez ran the 800 at the indoor national meet. She showed a lot of composure and maturity even in her runner-up finish as Cleyet-Merle was just better that day. John: Again, it feels like Eric hit this right on the head. While I think it benefits Hernandez the most immediately, I think the race is relatively wide-open at this point. The 800 is arguably the weakest field out of all the distance events this season (men and women) as only 26 women have achieved the provisional standard. A name that I’ll throw out that should benefit from Townsend's absence is Natalia Novak of Academy of Art. She has run 2:09 this season and with Townsend out of the picture, she now has the real possibility of being able to double in the 800/1500 and have a shot at a national title. Her 4:18 for 1500 is faster than any of the girls currently ahead of her in the 800, meaning she’s got a solid shot at running a tactical race and holding on at the end. Of course, Novak would have to opt for both races, and that might not be part of her plans this season. Garrett: Hernandez is the clear favorite based on what we saw during the indoor track season. She’s an experienced veteran who has sustained her success from the winter months. Between her consistency, experience, wins, times and progression, she has simply been at an elite D2 level. Novak is great and Chapko is a young talent, but nobody has been quite as proven as Hernandez...with the possible exception of Bailey Sharon. Christian Noble has been relatively quiet after his exciting indoor season. Is this in preparation for a bid at an Olympic Trials qualifier or has the rest of the field caught up to the Lee (Tenn.) senior? Eric: I really think Noble has been focusing on the steeplechase and doing what he needs to do in order to be on the line at the Olympic Trials. The indoor oval is where he made a name for himself, winning two national titles, but he’s been content at three races this season, which is the same amount of races that he had during the indoor season. He’ll show up at the national meet when it matters the most, I can assure you that much. John: The quiet season from Noble is likely in preparation for the Olympic Trials when they roll around in June. They’ll be a month after the D2 NCAA Championships and there is no reason for Noble to race all that much this season. That being said, it is odd that we haven’t seen the same kind of racing schedule from him during outdoors. He broke multiple records and made himself the clear favorite in multiple events (even the ones he didn’t declare for). That’s not really the case here. I wouldn’t say that he’s a lock for the steeplechase NCAA crown given how well Taylor Stack and Reece Smith have looked in recent weeks. And his 5k mark, while it was the first one under 14:00, is almost an afterthought at 13:55 now. I’m hoping that we see him jump in a race and try to go after Tabor Steven’s steeple record (8:26) or even Michael Aish’s 5k record (13:22), but as we get closer to the NCAA Championships, the odds of that happening become rather slim. Garrett: I think it’s a little bit of both. I do think the rest of the NCAA has caught up to him a bit. In fact, if you look at the NCAA Indoor Championships, it’s not like he won in dominating fashion. Others have run incredibly fast times this spring and his 13:37 (5k) isn’t a mark that is so wildly out of reach anymore. At the same time, it’s clear that the steeplechase is his his main event and his goal for making it to the Olympic Trials has to be a top priority. That fact has likely forced him to readjust his training and meet schedule, so it may be slightly unfair to say that others have caught up to him when he simply hasn’t been pursuing certain events as seriously as he could be. Which runners have improved their stock the most this season? And why? Eric: Starting off with a woman from Norway, Ida Narbuvoll returned this spring after not racing since the 2020 Northern Sun Indoor Championships. After her initial race back, a 10k in which she set a new personal best, we were unsure if she was really that fit or if that race was just a fluke. In her two subsequent races, those performances, which were both wins, proved to us that she’s gone from someone who could be seen as an All-American to someone who was going to be in the mix to win a national title. Talk about progress... Hailing from the Emerald Isle, Saint Leo’s Shane Bracken has reinserted himself into the national title conversation in the 1500 meters. In case you forgot, he does have previous experience at the national level, snagging the eighth and final All-American spot at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 1500 meters, but his success since that race has been minimal. That’s why his progression in the 1500 from a 3:51 to a 3:41 has been so wildly impressive this spring. With the 1500 usually being a very tactical race at the national level and often coming down to a sprint finish, don’t count out the St. Leo senior as he’s also run 1:50 for 800 meters earlier this year. John: I think on the men’s side, Reece Smith is the man who has improved his stock the most this season. It’s largely because we had no idea how good Smith would be at the 3000 meter steeplechase. The fact that he dropped 19-seconds from his first steeple (9:10) to his second steeple (8:51) was impressive. The idea that he dropped three more seconds (8:48) in a largely solo effort is what really caught my attention. When you add on the fact that he ran a PR in the 5k (14:14) and 1500 (3:47) this season, he also gives us reason to believe that he’s trending in the right direction. Smith has never competed individually at an NCAA Championships, but he’ll do just that later this month with a very strong chance to take home the national title. Of course, Noble will be in his way... On the women’s side of things, I think PJ English is the woman who’s impressed me the most this season. The Augustana athlete started the season with a new personal best in the 1500, running 4:31, only to better that mark this past weekend when she ran 4:27 at the Maverick Classic. At the Drake Relays, she ran 16:37 for 5000 meters, an overall personal best by 57 seconds. The following weekend, she dropped another 17 seconds off of that mark and ran 16:20 at the GVSU Extra Weekend Meet. Those times are both currently top-20 marks and she has a chance to double at the NCAA meet with a strong probability of succeeding in both of them. Garrett: I’m going with Josh Pierantoni. Yes, his teammate Ryan Searle has the faster 10k time this spring, but Pierantoni was strong during cross country and carried that success to the indoor oval where he emerged as a true contender. To see him maintain that consistency and earn a top-10 nationally in the 10,000 meters of 29:04 (NCAA #9, converted) is really encouraging. He continues to rise up the national ranks and it looks like he has finally found an event that really favors his true talent. On the women’s side, it has to be Fatima Alanis for me. She’s relatively inexperienced when it comes to competing at the highest levels of D2, but this Queens runner has been flat-out incredible this spring. She recently ran 16:20 (5k) at the Portland Twilight meet which complements her 35:17 (10k) effort from earlier in the season. Alanis has yet to have a bad race this year and is only getting better. She may be the last person anyone wants to see at the NCAA Championships when thinking about momentum.

Special thanks to alumni Shawn Gmurek and Reid Sharkey, as well as current athletes Sam Llaneza, Frank Csorba and Brennan Straits for offering their insight to TSR for this piece. Who would’ve thought? That a school nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains would be capable of producing national-level times on par with the marks that the blue blood programs crank out every year? Historically speaking, Lynchburg is known more for their lacrosse team than any other sport. However, they did qualify their men's cross country squad to the national meet during the fall of 2012. But since then, success has been elusive. And maybe that's why this "new wave" of talent coming from this Lynchburg program feels so impactful. Maybe that's why today's team feels like they have started a new chapter in the history of Lynchburg's distance program. They have, after all, already seen two of their runners compete at the national meet for cross country and are anticipating a few others to make an appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships later this month. This team now boasts athletes who have nationally ranked times ranging from the 800 to the 10k. In fact, just a few weeks ago, Coach Jake Reed watched as his team rattled off times that were once considered rare for this distance program. On that day, Sam Llaneza posted the school’s second-fastest 1500 meter time while his teammates Max Sparks and Frank Csorba nailed the school’s third and fourth all-time marks in the 5000 meters. Simply put, this team is now in a dramatically better place than they were just a few years ago. But to fully understand how Lynchburg has arrived to this new and exciting level of competitiveness, we have to take you back to the year 2017, the year when Coach Reed was promoted to the head cross country / distance coach of the Hornets. * * * The newest leader of Lynchburg's distance group had a vision, and a long-term vision at that: Make the men in red and grey a distance-oriented juggernaught And why not? After all, nearby rival Washington & Lee was a distance-heavy D3 stalwart and was finding massive success in their own right. Why couldn't Lynchburg do the same? However, in order to be a strong program that matched this grand vision, Reed needed kids who were willing to buy into what he was trying to preach. His coaching tactics emphasized open communication between him and his athletes. He wanted to hear if they thought the training was working while accepting potential tweaks or training aspects that could be changed. His ideal recruits were people who were committed to the craft, but were also upstanding people in the classroom. He was looking for the right kids with the right beliefs for his program, not just those were focused on individual success when they laced up their spikes. At first, Coach Reed didn’t have many takers, although he did find two possible candidates in Reid Sharkey and Shawn Gmurek; two youngsters who were part of his first recruiting class. Then there was Tristan Lucy-Spiedel, a distance talent who was a year older than Sharkey and Gmurek, who seemed to be hanging with that youthful duo in workouts. Maybe, he could join Sharkey and Gmurek in making a “big three” of sorts. Neither Gmurek, Sharkey nor Lucy-Spiedel came in with crazy-fast high school marks. In fact, none of them had broken two minutes in the 800 meters or 4:30 in the 1600 meters. They would be “projects” in Coach Reed’s eyes, but with the right training, they could one day be national qualifying hopefuls. Admittedly, things were not going smoothly midway through the 2018 indoor season. Neither Gmurek nor Sharkey had truly run the way that Coach Reed knew they could. They had both finally broken two minutes in the 800, and Sharkey flashed some potential in the 1500 by running 4:02, but Gmurek was still missing the mark. Gmurek recalls a conversation with Coach Reed and volunteer coach Coach Litz. Their discussion centered around three things in particular: training, mentality and the team. When it came to the training, Gmurek stubbornly campaigned that he knew how coordinate and approach training for middle distance athletes...even though he had never coached anyone in his life. Naturally, debates and arguments between himself Coach Reed were apparent when it came to workouts. If Shawn didn’t believe in the workout, he wasn’t going to give his all. “You have some talent, but your ego is getting in the way of what we are trying to build here" is what Gmurek recalls Coach Litz explaining to him. Coach Reed didn't let up. “Either do the workouts we assign like everyone else or get out.” * * * It was at that point when Gmurek truly understood that those facets were, in fact, the causes of his struggles. If he could fix them, then the sky was the limit. After some serious self-reflection, the promising youngster became fully invested in the program with the understanding that he was going to change his mentality to be a “team first” kind of guy, running the prescribed the workout that his coaching staff had outlined for him. The decision for Gmurek to stay the course, as well as the constant hard work exhibited by Sharkey and Lucy-Spiedel, was eventually put on full display, most notably at the 2018 ODAC Outdoor Championships where each finished as the respective runner-up finishers in their events. Gmurek ran 1:56 in the 800 meters to place 2nd overall, Lucy-Spiedel took silver in the 3k steeplechase (as well as bronze in the 5000 meters) and Sharkey lowered his personal best that year by a second, earning a mark of 4:01 in the 1500 meters. But that year? Well, the Hornets were more than a team made up of just Gmurek, Lucy-Spiedel and Sharkey. In fact, Lynchburg took home three of the top-four spots in the 800 meters, went 2-4-6 in the 1500 meters and placed 3rd and 7th in the 5000 meters. Slowly but surely, things were coming together and the emphasis on team cohesion was yielding results, not just from the "big three", but from numerous others on the team. And soon the program would take another step forward in its rise to prominence. As the semester came to a close, Coach Reed really emphasized a summer filled with miles, knowing that he had a promising freshman in Max Sparks who would be ready to dominate on the grass. The 2018 cross country season came with so much promise. At the Inter Region Border Battle hosted by Rowan University, every Hornet who scored broke 27 minutes for the 8k distance, a feat that showed the true depth of the program. Things were starting to click...and yet, even with everyone seemingly bought in, the Hornets still finished as the ODAC runner-ups despite eventually improving three spots in their region to take 6th place overall. It just seemed like they were a year away from Coach Reed’s “ideal” lineup, although that didn’t stop Lucy-Spiedel or Sparks from punching their tickets to the national meet. A substantial amount of progress had been made, but to get to where Coach Reed knew they could be, a lot more had to be done. But their momentum? Well, it was very real and it was very much growing... As the team transitioned to the indoor oval, we saw many of the same characters in Tristan Lucy-Spiedel, Max Sparks, Reid Sharkey and Shawn Gmurek enjoy the same success that they had recently experienced on the grass and the oval. At the ODAC meet, Gmurek was the runner-up in the 800 yet again while Sharkey took home his first ODAC title in the mile. Sharkey, Sparks and Lucy-Spiedel took 2nd, 3rd and 5th place in the 3000 meters while Lucy-Spiedel and Sparks doubled back to finish 2nd and 4th in the 5000 meters, respectively. While it did seem like the Hornets were slowly taking over the distance events of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, their depth outside of those four men seemed to be growing thin. In other words, it was time to find new blood. * * * Frank Csorba was an in-state product from nearby Bluestone High School. He was a promising young recruit and someone who Coach Reed spoke to about the culture of the Lynchburg team that he was working to instill. Reed explained that he had a few takers in Gmurek, Sharkey, Sparks and Lucy-Speidel. However, what stood out to Csorba wasn't just Reed’s obvious goal of producing top distance talents, but it was also his emphasis on ensuring that his athletes were going to be successful outside of running. Reed emphasized that his team could talk with him about anything. The door was always open. This, however, wasn’t what Csorba was used to. According to him, he never had a coach be so open and willing to lay down their personal agenda for an athlete -- and that turned out to be a winning factor in his recruitment. In fact, the Virginia native decided that he wasn’t going to look anywhere else. He committed to Lynchburg the following day. The next new piece to join the Hornets' roster was Sam Llaneza, a winter transfer from Wilmington University. Llaneza wasn't entirely happy during his only semester with the Wildcats and instead opted to look elsewhere in an attempt to find a more team-oriented program. And given how well the Hornets were running as a team, that likely made Llaneza's decision a bit easier. The 2019 cross country season resulted in Lynchburg finishing runner-up to Washington & Lee yet again, although the difference this time around was that they lost by only eight points. In years past, the title was never close. W&L had won by 33 points in 2018, 58 points in 2017 and 31 points in 2016. The margin between the Generals and Hornets was getting noticeably smaller, a major achievement when you consider how strong Washington & Lee has been as a distance program over the years. Fast forward to a regional race that Lynchburg would’ve loved to have back, the Hornets secured a 4th place finish in the Southeast region, coming ever-so-close to qualifying for the national meet as a team. Despite the narrow miss, their growth as a team was evident -- something that Llaneza was looking for. It was ultimately an easy call for the former Wildcat after he saw the pieces that were slowly falling into place for the Lynchburg men. As a result, he joined the track and field team in the winter of 2019-2020. However, that 2019 ODAC cross country race turned out to be more than a promising result which ultimately landed a transfer. In fact, that meet proved to be a breakout race for the entire Lynchburg team as the depth of the Hornets truly began to flourish. That 2019 ODAC meet was sophomore Brennan Straits’ best performance in a Hornet singlet. He was the last one to complete Coach Reed’s group of up-and-coming runners which featured Csorba and Llaneza. Until that point, he hadn't found much success, often finishing well outside the top-five on his team. The 2019 ODAC XC Championships, however, were different. In that race, he was the fourth runner across the line for the Lynchburg men and earned second-team All-ODAC honors. Straits recalls the feeling he had when he heard that the Generals had won by a mere eight points, “It felt like we couldn’t have run any better with those guys I toed the line with. However, if we were to get a transfer or someone else to step up, then we’d be ODAC champs next year for sure, no doubt”. * * * Jump to the 2020 indoor season where both Gmurek and Sharkey were on the verge of earning national qualifying times in the 800 and 3000 meters, respectively. They headed to Wittenberg College to chase fast times at the track known as “The Steemer”, hoping to leave Ohio with two national qualifiers in hand. It would be extra special if they qualified on their former coach’s indoor track. Coach Litz left Lynchburg in 2019 after the outdoor track season to take the head job for cross country at Whittenberg. Now, here they were, trying to make it to the NCAA Championships on the track of their former assistant coach. In the end, Gmurek and Sharkey left with two personal bests, but didn’t run fast enough to be considered for the national meet. The ensuing response from their teammates is what really stuck out to both Shawn and Reid as they returned back to campus. The team was steadfast in consoling them the day after the race, but Coach Reed had a different mentality. “Your seasons aren’t over. You’ve still got the ODAC Championships to win.” And win they did. The ODAC Championships marked yet another milestone in the ongoing rise of this Lynchburg program. The Hornets took home the gold in the 800 meters, the mile, the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters. Gmurek won his first indoor ODAC title in the 800 meters with up-and-comer Llaneza taking 3rd place. Sharkey won his second-straight ODAC title in the mile with Gmurek and Lucy-Spiedel rounding out the top-three. Sharkey and Lucy Spiedel went 1-2 in the 3000 meters while Lucy-Spiedlel took secured gold in the 5000 meters. It didn't happen overnight, but that 2020 indoor conference meet was what Coach Reed had truly envisioned when he took the reins as head coach: total domination. Yes, the Hornets didn’t have anyone going to the national meet, but he was content to take it one step at a time. That mass collection of gold medals was still a very nice prize. However, just when the team's momentum had reached its peak, they were forced to a halt. The pandemic had hit. * * * The seniors and aptly named “big three” (Gmurek, Sharkey, and Lucy-Spiedel) were devastated. No more chances to compete at a national meet, no more team long-runs or no more chances to rack up ODAC titles. All of it was gone in an instant. The sudden stoppage of competition and the dramatic end to the college careers of the long-time veterans who helped shaped the program was a massive hit to the Lynchburg men. The team that had risen to national prominence had Gmurek, Sharkey and Lucy-Spiedel to thank for leading the way. Yet, in a way, maybe this was a sign that the Hornets were ready for life after their "big three". It may have come sooner than expected, but if any team was going to be prepared for a rebound after the pandemic, it was going to be Lynchburg. In fact, this led to Csorba, Llaneza and Straits to campaign for a summer of training at altitude. “Guys, I think this is our chance to finally show everyone what we’re made of,” said Llaneza. Csorba agreed. The chance to train at altitude during the summer months would certainly elevate this team to the next level. However, the real question for the rest of the team would be: were they in or out? The answer? It would be a team affair. Six other Hornets, in addition to Csorba, Llaneza and Straits, made the trek to Flagstaff, Arizona for two months of the summer. They took this time to get everyone on the same page as they agreed that the trip was to accomplish two goals. The first being to live like a pro runner. The second being to get the most out of their training in the thin air. “Even though we weren’t going to compete in the fall, we were still juiced to be able to continue to train together. We knew that once we could compete, we would surprise a bunch of people,” Llaneza told The Stride Report. With the cross country season essentially gone and the indoor track season acting more as more of a springboard for outdoor track, it admittedly took a while for the Lynchburg men to showoff their newfound fitness. But the wait proved to be well worth it. * * * In their first meet of the outdoor track season, a home invitational on the same weekend that the NCAA Indoor Championships would've been, the Hornet's showed out. Csorba doubled in the 1500 and 5k, running 3:55 and 14:53 while Sparks and Llaneza ran 14:38 and 14:52, respectively. In just that meet alone, Lynchburg had three guys under 15 minutes. And let's not to forget about Jonathan Cobb and Brennan Straits who both ran just under 15:15. That gave the Hornets a solid five runners under 15:15, a development of depth that matched some of the better D3 programs in the entire NCAA. Frank Csorba put it best. “After that first home meet of the year...I just knew that we had finally arrived”. The team was firing on all cylinders which made their performances at the Colonial Relays, hosted by William & Mary, less of a surprise. Csorba went on to set the school record in the 10k, running a huge mark of 29:37, which was good for NCAA #3 at the time of publication. We also saw Llaneza emerge as one of the best middle distance runners in Division III, doubling in the 800 and 1500 with times of 1:52 and 3:54. Not only that, but Sparks, Cobb and Straits took the 5k head-on, finishing with marks of 14:39, 14:54, and 14:55, respectively. On paper, it was a massively successful weekend for the Lynchburg men who had displayed a level of firepower, range and depth which allowed them to be competitive with many of the NCAA's better distance programs. The real test, however, was seeing if they could finally win an ODAC team title -- a goal that Coach Reed had set out to accomplish from the beginning of his head coaching tenure. Knowing it was going to take everyone’s best to win the ODAC title, Coach Reed sat the team down and encouraged them to think about two memories from their Lynchburg careers: One from when they first joined the program and one from this past week. He did that to show them the progress they had made along their journey and to give them confidence. “If we race like we know we are capable of, then we’ll be in a good spot” Coach Reed explained. And he was exactly right. At the 2021 ODAC Outdoor Championships, the Hornets went 1-2-3 in the 5000 meters with Sparks taking the win and Csorba and Straits taking the silver and bronze medals, respectively. In the 10k, it was the reverse, as Csorba took the victory while Sparks earned silver. Llaneza was another big point-scorer, winning the 800 meters and taking 2nd place in the 1500 meters, earning 18 points for the team. The distance squad racked up enough points to give them a lead, and the field events eventually sealed the deal. Lynchburg had finally done it. The Hornets were your 2021 Men’s ODAC Outdoor Track & Field team champions. With the national meet still on the horizon, the most talented Lynchburg distance runners still have plenty to prove. Still, this wasn't a position that many D3 fans would have expected the Hornets to be in a few years ago. What was once a quiet and unexciting program has since been revitalized as a producer of top distance talent. And it doesn't look like that will end anytime soon.

Usually, when I sit down to write these in-depth analytical pieces, I find myself overwhelmed with the mass number of elite-level performances that we typically see over the span of a weekend. That, however, wasn't the case during these last few days. With our analysis on the Oregon Twilight meet already complete, this week's First Thoughts article will admittedly be a bit more thin. That, however, doesn't mean that there weren't some great results to review... Diego Zarate Goes 3:39, Earns Promising Win 36 men have now run under 3:40 for 1500 meters this season. 36! Does anyone realize how insane that is? During a normal indoor track season, we typically see 32 to 40ish athletes run under the four minute barrier in the mile. That's why it's wild to see 36 men run under 3:40 for 1500 meters in a single season. That's a mark that roughly converts to a 3:58 mile. Either way, the amount of depth in the 1500 this year shouldn't take away from what Virginia Tech's Diego Zarate recently accomplished. The Hokie veteran, who ran a huge 3:57 mile (unattached) this past winter, has effectively translated that fitness to the outdoor oval, running 3:39 this past weekend to take down a few Under Armour athletes. Zarate has been slowly attacking the middle distances this year, but has also run the 5000 meters where he dipped under 14 minutes. However, based on his progression, it's obvious that he has been working to peak for the postseason and that seems to be exactly what is happening as of late. The Virginia Tech runner is quietly dynamic, boasting a great skillset in both the middle distances and longer distances. We saw him run 2:19 for 1000 meters this past winter, so we know that his ideal racing distance is somewhere between the 800 and the 5k. I would've thought that Zarate would more seriously pursue the 800 meters this year given how deep the men's 1500 is, but it's also tough to ignore the fact that his best event is the metric mile. Maybe we see him run something in the 1:47 or 1:48 range at the ACC Championships which ultimately sways him to chase the half-mile at the regional meet. Also, really nice run from Liberty's Ryan Drew. His 3:43 may not have garner a bunch of attention, but it's a solid mark and he has been making steady progress this year. If you're looking for a deep sleeper pick at the regional meet, be sure to keep him in mind. Lindsey Butler Moves Up to 1500, Finds Success Virginia Tech's Lindsey Butler is probably best known for her accomplishments in the half-mile this past winter. She ran 2:01 to narrowly win the ACC crown over Laurie Barton and later placed 4th at the NCAA Championships. This Hokie standout is truly one of the nation's best middle distance talents, but she has admittedly been a bit quieter this spring when it comes to the 800 meters. Her fastest mark in the event is only 2:04 this season, a respectable time, but not one that will put her in the national contender conversation. However, instead of aggressively pursuing the 800 meters, Butler has instead shifted her focus to the 1500, a distance where she has made substantial improvements. The Virginia Tech runner has posted times of 4:17 and (most recently) 4:14 this spring, leading us to believe that the 1500 may be her best option. She's making notable progress in the event and the women's 1500 isn't quite as intense as the 800 meters is this year. Butler's experience better suits the half-mile, but she hasn't built up any momentum in that event this season. That, of course, could very easily change at the ACC Championships which are rapidly approaching. That is, after all, where Butler began to peak this past winter and it would make sense for her to take that same approach. Seven Men Improve 800 Leaderboard Times With Sub-1:50 Marks, Not Including Oregon Twilight Results Were there any super electric results in the men's 800 meters this past weekend? No, not quite, but the event continues to grow in depth as we saw seven men dip under the 1:50 barrier and improve their spots on the national leaderboard for the event, not counting those who we saw at the Oregon Twilight meet. Santa Clara's Alex Scales, a transfer from Colorado, is beginning to find some significant success at the college level with his new team by running 1:49. He'll probably get into the regional meet, assuming a mass number of athletes don't suddenly crowd the leaderboard next weekend, but it looks like he'll be extending his postseason racing. That's a promising sign for someone who was fairly quiet during his time with the Buffaloes. Hopefully he can build upon this result and carry his success into next year. How about Dartmouth's Tim Zepf? He once again ran 1:49, giving his resume a bit of a spark after staying absent from competition for so long. He'll be attending Notre Dame next year and will be teaming up with Jackson Storey and Samuel Voelz. The current Ivy League runner clearly has more in the tank than his 1:49, but now it's just a matter of whether or not he can realize his full potential with the Fighting Irish. Nice display of range for Arkansas' Amon Kemboi. Running 1:49 isn't anything new or surprising, but I like that he's working on his speed before going into the postseason. He hasn't always been amazing in tactical races, so it's good that he's working to refine his turnover before the SEC Championships. We also had a massive 800 meter battle at West Point this past weekend as Luke Coulter (Stony Brook), Peter Smith (Army), Denis Gallagher (Boston College) and Luke Griner (Army) all ran under 1:50 in the same race. Coulter was the big winner, posting a very strong time of 1:48 while everyone else settled for marks of 1:49. For the Stony Brook standout, this was a clear breakout performance. The America East champion at 800 meters was already an accomplished athlete, running 1:49 earlier this season. However, posting a mark of 1:48.21 is something that really separates him from the other fringe contenders. Coulter now has some very real momentum and seems to be peaking perfectly as we approach the mid-to-late portions of May. Giesing Continues to Impress, Simiuc Drops Down to 800 Isabella Giesing is a middle distance talent from UMass Lowell who has been on my radar since the beginning of the season. After seeing all of the success that teammate Kaley Richards had during the winter months, it's been less of a surprise to see Giesing follow a similar trend of peaking near / in the postseason. After running a huge personal best of 2:05 earlier this spring, and later earning the America East title in the 800 meters, Giesing was able to prove that her recent jump in fitness was no fluke this past weekend. The RiverHawk standout just ran a personal best of 2:04, making her an increasingly realistic threat at the half-mile distance. The women's 800 meters is beyond stacked this year, but that's something that you already knew if you're reading this article. However, because there is so much talent in this event, I'm led to believe that some top-tier names will be ending their seasons early, whether that be to a crowded prelim or tactical errors. Giesing may not be at the same level as a few other East region stars like Amber Tanner, Laurie Barton, Sarah Hendrick, Gabrielle Wilkinson and Michaela Meyer, but I think she could sneak her way into the national meet. I like her progress and how she has trended in the right direction this spring. As for Simiuc, the Toldeo standout has been running really great times, but I can't help feeling like she still has more in the tank. Running 4:13 (1500) and recently 2:05 (800) are very solid marks. In fact, I'm led to believe that someone of her caliber is aiming to peak in the postseason. Maybe that's why I think she still hasn't hit her ceiling yet. If my suspicion is correct, then it's possible that she'll end up as an All-American come June. Other Key Results to Note Keep an eye on Army's Marshall Beatty moving forward. He's been a great talent since his early days as a freshman and he seems to be having the best season of his career this spring. Beatty just ran 29:12 for 10,000 meters this past weekend, a mark that pairs well with his 14:03 (5k) personal best. Am I saying that he's going to make the national meet? No, I'm not ready to make that declaration just yet, but he is a quietly great name and someone who I wouldn't overlook. Really nice performance in the steeplechase from North Carolina's Alex Milligan. The Tar Heel veteran has typically been at his best in the 800 meters and the 1500 meters, but he just ran 8:51 in the steeplechase on May 3rd. After running 8:59 earlier this season and finding minimal success in the 1500, it feels like the steeple will be the event that Milligan pursues at the regional meet. I don't love his lack of experience in the event, but it definitely feels like that race is his best chance of making it to the NCAA Championships. We saw a few Arkansas veterans attack the 1500 meters this past weekend at the Arkansas Twilight meet. Overall, the results weren't anything too crazy as Katie Izzo took home the win in a respectable time of 4:16. This is a nice display of middle distance speed for someone who has traditionally been a 5k runner. However, this also isn't some grand surprise as Izzo does own a mile personal best of 4:34 from this past winter. Teammate Lauren Gregory finished in 2nd place with a mark of 4:18. These aren't necessarily poor performances, but I think most of us at TSR were expecting to see some big-time fireworks from these two this spring and so far, we haven't really seen that from them.

Click here to see our ranking criteria. Despite our research, it is possible that certain names have been erroneously omitted. Did we miss someone? If so, send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com & let us know! #5 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays Written by Brett Haffner Hailing from out east, Johns Hopkins was looking to be one of the most lethal teams in D3 last fall after their 5th place finish at 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships...then a pandemic got in the way. Even so, the Blue Jays have established themselves as an up-and-coming team that their foes will have to continue to deal with and this year’s recruiting class only helps them become even stronger. Jonas Larson from Jesuit High School (Oregon) was an NXN qualifier with his high school team, placing 167th at the national meet. He also boasts impressive personal bests of 9:29 (two-mile) and 15:41 (5k), taking 19th in the OSAA 6A State Championship. Gavin McElhennon (Gonzaga College High, D.C.), Matt Sandifer (Germantown Academy, Pennsylvania), and Valdis Slokenbergs (Geneva Community High, Illinois) have all established themselves as strong milers in high school, each running 4:23, 4:26 and 4:24, respectively. Not only that, but McElhennon has also run 9:25 in the two-mile while Sandifer and Slokenbergs have run 9:36 and 9:45 in the 3200 meters, respectively. Charles Teeter of Webster Groves High in Missouri is another quality recruit for Johns Hopkins, running 9:34 (3200) and 16:11 (5k XC), as is Sean Enright of Sherwood High in Maryland who has run 9:45 (3200) and 15:59 (5k XC). This is a recruiting class that would be competitive with some of the better D2 recruiting classes in the NCAA. There's a good chance that multiple men from this freshmen group could have an impact on this team sooner rather than later. There doesn't appear to be a ton of "developmental" recruits or "projects" who will require the full length of their collegiate eligibility to be competitive. On paper, this class consists of recruits who can be realistic contributors in the next few years. The Blue Jays were already looking to be a dark horse for a podium finish in the fall of 2020, but this recruiting class will only strengthen their chances at taking home a trophy in 2021 on the grass. #4 North Central Cardinals Written by Brett Haffner Is it really a surprise that North Central landed on this list? I think not. With the reputation that the Cardinals have as a historic D3 powerhouse, they will naturally land a good deal of talented recruits. With a large roster capacity, North Central managed to land 22 freshmen this year. TWENTY-TWO?!? That has to be one of the biggest recruiting classes in the nation, regardless of division. The Cardinals often do a great job of bringing in recruits with a large range of abilities to help continue their running careers at the collegiate level, especially from their home state in Illinois. Instead of talking about all 22 rookies, we have opted to highlight only a handful of the guys who could be making an impact for North Central in the somewhat near future. One thing to note about most of these Illinois recruits is that they run three-miles (not 5k) in cross country, so we’ll be making use of their three-mile times. We’ll start off with a few guys who made a major difference on their respective high school teams at the Illinois State Championships. Jacob Kluckhohn of Wheaton Warrenville South was a pivotal member of WWS’ state title (2018) as well as their runner-up performance (2019) at the IHSA 3A state meet where he has placed 14th (2018) and 28th (2019). Kluckhohn also ran at the NXN Championships in 2018 and 2019, placing 123rd and 94th, respectively. With promising personal bests of 4:23 (1600), 9:34 (3200) and 14:43 (3mi XC), it's hard to view Kluckhohn as anything but the full package when it comes to his recruiting value. Max Svienty, teammate of Josh Methner at John Hersey High School, is another solid contributor like Kluckhohn. He placed 20th at the 2018 IHSA 3A state meet in cross country and earned an impressive 26th place finish at NXR Midwest Championships to cap off his senior year. His personal bests are 4:28 (1600), 9:26 (3200), 14:46 (3mi XC) and 15:39 (5k XC). Ryan Arnold (St. Charles North) and John Heneghan (Downers Grove South) are two more freshman Cardinals who ran in the 9:30’s (3200) in high school, with Arnold running 9:30 and Heneghan running 9:38. Their cross country times were also no slouch either, with Arnold running 15:02 and Heneghan 15:00 (again, for three miles). Matt Shiminetto (Downers Grove North), Jonathan Olenek (St. Charles East), and Logan Tanttu (White Bear Lake, Minnesota) are three more guys who ran some solid times in high school and could be key names to watch out during their times with the Cardinals. The great thing about North Central is that they are able to develop guys -- whose personal bests wouldn’t even be mentioned in these rankings -- into multiple time All-Americans (and even National Champions), citing the great work that goes on in Naperville, Illinois. This class is not only deep, but they are super experienced and their top talents have very few weaknesses when it comes to their overall resumes. They could be quite dangerous over the next few years. #3 Washington U. Bears Written by Brett Haffner Next up on our list are the perennial contenders from St. Louis. Year in and year out, Washington U. finds themselves challenging for a podium spot. With this year’s recruiting class, along with their already talented roster, good things appear to be in the works for the Bears. The interesting thing about this class is their low time spread when looking at their 1600 and mile times between most of their recruits -- all of which are pretty speedy, as well. The one exception to that low spread is Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff. Hailing from Princeton, New Jersey, he’s run some impressive times in his career, posting times of 1:57 (800), 4:01 (1500) and 9:06 (two-mile). He looks like someone who could step into the Bears’ starting lineup right away and be an instant contributor. Those are some top-tier times that should not be overlooked. As for the other recruits, the Bears managed to score a whole slew of guys who have run between 4:24 to 4:32 in the 1600 or mile. Let's take a look at a list of those times and names... 4:24: Karsin Dass (Ann Arbor Huron, Michigan) 4:26: Cullen Capuano (Gonzaga College High, D.C.) 4:26: Rishi Sharma (The Hotchkiss School, New Jersey) 4:26: Will Houser (Glenbrook South, Illinois) 4:27: Kyle Puckett (St. John’s School, Texas) 4:32: Micah Benson (Lexington, Connecticut) 4:32: Jack Maranz (Westfield, New Jersey) It also helps that four of these seven men have also broken 9:40 in the 3200 meters or two-mile. That list includes names such as Benson (9:27 two-mile), Capuano (9:30 two-mile), Maranz (9:36 3200) and Sharma (9:32 3200). This contingent of rookies creates a very deep and very strong recruiting class for the Bears. In fact, they couldn't have joined this program at a better time. Washington U. will certainly welcome some of this younger firepower to their roster after losing top ace Nick Matteucci to graduation. #2 Pomona Pitzer Sagehens Written by Hannah Thorn While 2020 may have stopped the Sagehens from defending their national title, the 2019 cross country champions did not let the loss of a season stop them from bringing in a strong recruiting class. This freshman class is headlined by the 2019 Wisconsin DII state champion, Lucas Florsheim. The Shorewood native has personal bests of 4:33 for the mile, 9:41 for 3200 meters and 15:45 for 5000 meters. Florsheim made a big jump during his junior year after finishing 8th in DII at state cross country and then 5th in the two-mile later that spring. He was set to be the one of the fastest returners in that race before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted spring sports. Florsheim does have some championship experience as he raced NXR Heartland coming off his state meet performance. He finished a quietly impressive 25th place in that race with a PR of 15:45, missing national qualifying by less than 20 seconds. He will be a strong runner that the rest of this class can key off of in the future. Pomona Pitzer is one of few schools in DIII that recruits international talents. A native of New Zealand, Colin Kirkpatrick is a unique case as he comes to Pomona Pitzer with some overseas experience as well as some California high school racing experience. In March, Kirkpatrick raced at the New Zealand National Championships, advancing to the final in the 1500 meter during his gap year before entering the collegiate realm. That is some wildly valuable experience for a freshman to carry into a national championship caliber team. Kirkpatrick holds personal bests of 1:57 (800), 4:01 (1500) and 8:49 (3k). While he seems to be better on the speed side of things, there is no doubt that he will fare well in cross country. He placed 12th in Division 5 at the 2017 California State XC Championships and ran a eye-catching time of 15:17 (5k) at the New Zealand National Championships last March. Joining Florsheim and Kirkpatrick are a number of other strong runners. Ian Horsburgh from Massachusetts, Derek Fearon from Colorado and Bennett Booth-Genth from Pennsylvania are just a few of the 10+ recruits that Coach Jordan Carpenter, 2019 DIII National Coach of the Year, brought in. Those freshmen have run times under 4:30 for 1600 meters and/or have other great times in events like the 3000 meters or two-mile. In fact, Horsburgh has run 8:43 (3k) and 9:27 (two-mile) while Booth-Genth owns one of the fastest 800 meter times among all D3 recruits with a personal best of 1:54. On a team that is loaded with long-distance talent, Booth-Genth will give Pomona Pitzer some key scoring diversity in the middle distances. The Sagehens are building a team that is likely aiming to be at the top of the podium year after year. Their national title from 2019 was huge from a recruiting perspective and so far, it has yielded multiple individuals who can offer scoring value in all three seasons right away. #1 Williams Ephs Written by Kevin Fischer Williams were arguably the favorite to win the national cross country title in the fall of 2019, but ended up finishing 3rd in muddy conditions in Louisville. Other than Aidan Ryan, the team’s core was filled with seniors and it looked as though that was their last shot at glory for a while before going into a (minor) rebuild of sorts. However, the Ephs’ 2020 recruiting class will give this team a chance to reload instead of rebuild. The talent they brought in this fall was unmatched by any other DIII program in the nation. We’ll start with Luke Tichi. The Durango HS (Colorado) standout ran a cross country 5k personal best of 15:22 and performed incredibly well at the championship level, finishing 4th at the Colorado 4A meet before placing 40th at the NXR Southwest Championships. On the track he has displayed great range with notable times of 1:58 (800) and 4:21 (1600). John Lucey from Newburyport ran a personal best of 15:51 on the grass, but his 16:18 on the absolutely brutal Gardner Golf Course, where he finished 2nd at the Massachusetts Division 2 State Championships, was probably a more impressive performance. He also came within nine spots of a trip to San Diego with his 19th place finish at the Foot Locker Northeast Championship. He owns track times of 4:32 (mile) and 9:34 (two-mile). Pat Theveny ran a cross country personal best of 15:36 (5k) and recorded a 40th place finish at the Pennsylvania 3A State Championships. He has also run times of 4:28 (1600), 8:53 (3000) and 9:30 (two-mile) on the track. Christopher Ratcliffe, the younger brother of D1 distance star Thomas Ratcliffe, comes to Williamstown after spending a postgraduate year at Andover Phillips Academy during the 2019-20 academic year. He brings with him personal bests of 15:38 (5k XC), 4:07 (1500), 4:27 (mile) and 9:33 (two-mile). If the success of his brother is any indication for how Christopher will fare at the collegiate level, then Williams may have landed an absolute steal. Nathaniel Lentz had his outbreak season during the 2020 indoor campaign where he ran his most impressive time of 9:34 for 3200 meters at the New York State Championships. That's a very strong time for most D3 recruits, but Lentz ran that time on an indoor oval, making his performance arguably more impressive. Jinwoo Kang of Phillips-Exter (NH) only has a listed 5k best of 17:12, but it should be noted that NEPSTA athletes often do not have many cross country results posted online. His foot-speed, however, is without question. He has run 1:56 over 800 meters, a time that makes him one of the faster middle distance runners among this year's group of D3 freshmen. Jacob Lehman-Duke, who boasts personal bests of 4:27 (1600), 9:28 (3200) and 15:43 (5k XC) will also be a big factor for Williams in the years to come. He does not shy away from the big meets as his best cross country performance came at the 2019 California's D5 State Championships where he finished 2nd overall. The loss of key veterans will be tough to overcome, but this recruiting class will allow the Ephs to stay in the upper-echelon of the best D3 programs in the NCAA for the next few years.

Top 10 Most Viewed Articles of 2020 NOTE: Does not include any news articles 10. TSR's "If Everything Was Normal" D1 Top 50 XC Rankings: 40-31 (Men) 9. TSR's 2020 Rankings Update #1: D1 XC Top 25 Teams (Men) 8. TSR's "If Everything Was Normal" D1 Top 50 XC Rankings: 50-41 (Men) 7. TSR's "If Everything Was Normal" D1 Top 50 XC Rankings: Just Missed & Honorable Mentions (Men) 6. What To Watch For: The Track Meet Preview 5. Transfer Market: Part Seven 4. TSR's 2020 D1 XC End of Season Awards 3. The Voices of Brown XCTF 2. TSR's "If Everything Was Normal" D1 Top 50 XC Rankings: 10-1 (Men) 1. The Trials & Tribulations of Emily Venters TSR's Favorite Content We asked our writers to tell us which articles that they contributed to were their favorites. Here were their picks... Eric Baranoski: 2020 ACC XC Championship Preview Maura Beattie: April Anarchy Championship: All Regions (Men + Women) John Cusick: The Group Chat: 2020 Vision (D2 Edition) Kevin Fischer: TSR's "If Everything Was Normal" D3 Top 20 XC Rankings: #5-1 (Women) Brett Haffner: 2020 American Rivers XC Championship Preview Sam Ivanecky: Most Likely To... Nate Lopez: TSR's 2020 D2 XC End of Season Awards Hannah Thorn: The Run Down: Carina Collet Michael Weidenbruch: The Group Chat: U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials Ben Weisel: Run The Numbers: Cross Correlation Garrett Zatlin: The Bienenfeld Boost

Click here to see our ranking criteria. Despite our research, it is possible that certain names have been erroneously omitted. Did we miss someone? If so, send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com & let us know! #4 Oklahoma State Cowboys Written by Maura Beattie After not qualifying for the NCAA XC Championships in 2019, the Cowboys have reloaded with healthy veteran returners and a freshman class that checks off numerous boxes in terms of roster needs. When looking at Oklahoma State's recruiting class, Coach Dave Smith has landed a talented group of Texas youngsters, two men from out west, a strong competitor from England and a standout rookie from Australia. Ryan Schoppe headlines this recruiting class as he was a consistent Texas star during his high school career. He has tremendous range all the way from the half-mile to the 5k in cross country. Truthfully, based on his resume, it's hard to figure out what events he'll focus on when it comes to the indoor and outdoor track seasons. On the track, Schoppe has run times of 3:52 (1500), 4:07 (1600), 8:52 (3200) and 14:27 (5k track). He has also run 14:14 for 5000 meters on the grass. Not only that, but the Oklahoma State runner boasts personal bests of 4:00 in the mile and 8:48 in the 3200 meter from this past summer when he competed in a pair of time trials. He also finished 15th at the 2019 NXN Championships. As you can see, this guy can do it all. Schoppe has already proven to be a massively impactful recruit for the Cowboys. He was a consistent top five scorer this past fall on a varsity lineup that is now considered to be one of the best in the nation. The Oklahoma State men didn't have a ton of depth after their top five, so it was huge from a scoring perspective that this freshman standout was as reliable as he was this past season. Of course, this recruiting class is more than just Schoppe. He'll also be joined by Jonas Price and Christopher Middleton-Pearson in the longer distances. Price arrives in Stillwater, Oklahoma from Washington where he has run 8:57 for 3200 meters and 14:50 for 5000 meters on the grass. He's also a solid steeplechase runner (owning a strong personal best of 6:24 for 2k) and boasts a mile PR of 4:10 from this past summer. Price was also rumored to have run a 4:08 mile via a time trial earlier this year. As for Middleton-Pearson, he has recorded marks of 9:09 for 3200 meters and 15:02 for 5000 meters on the grass. Together, Price and Middleton-Pearson could eventually challenge for a top seven spot in this Oklahoma State varsity lineup as they progress through their time as Cowboys. It may not be this year, but it could be sooner than some people realize. Will Muirhead and Grant Wilcox are two more distance runners to watch out for. They might not make a lot of noise from the get-go, but their potential to grow will provide them with opportunities to succeed when they are veterans of the program. Muirhead boasts personal bests of 4:15 (1600), 9:21 (3200) and 14:59 (5k XC). Given his 6:03 personal best for the 2k steeplechase, he could become a key member of the Cowboy's steeplechase crew alongside fellow recruit Jonas Price and upperclassman Ryan Smeeton. As for Wilcox, he has run comparable times to Muirhead, owning marks of 4:18 (1600) and 9:19 (3200). He has also had the opportunity to compete in a 5k on the track where he recorded a personal best time of 15:10. We should also expect to see Englishman Kian Davis joining the middle distance contingent at Oklahoma State. Davis has run 1:53 for 800 meters and 3:51 for 1500 meters, but he has also run 30:40 for 10k. Despite having some experience in the 10k distance, one could argue that Davis will likely be more of a more middle distance specialist. He'll be joined by fellow recruit Triston Read who has run 1:54 for 800 meters. Finally, the last name who we need to mention is Alex Stitt, the Australian distance standout. Stitt was set to join the Oklahoma State men this past fall, although the pandemic delayed his arrival. Instead, he'll be joining the team during the start of the spring semester and he'll be bringing with him some big-time personal bests. The 19-year old owns incredible personal bests of 3:47 (1500), 8:10 (3k) and 14:28 (5k). If he is able to translate that fitness to the cross country course, then the Oklahoma State men could better solidify their position as true podium contenders. The extra depth could come in handy, especially if someone in their current top five has an "off" day. Each of these recruits have shown off their potential in a variety of different ways and will have an ample amount of opportunities to bolster Oklahoma State's historically strong distance program. With the way that the Cowboys are competing right now, following a successful abbreviated 2020 cross country season, we could expect a couple of these youngsters to put the finishing touches on already-loaded varsity lineup while also preparing for a future that looks to be incredibly promising. #3 Wisconsin Badgers Written by Eric Baranoski To say that Wisconsin’s freshman class is loaded would an understatement. They have brought in a plethora of top-ranked high schoolers who flat-out crushed (most of) their high school competition prior to joining the Badgers in the NCAA. Let's begin with Evan Bishop. The harrier from Michigan comes to Madison, Wisconsin with two All-American finishes from the Foot Locker National Championships on his resume, as well as a Michigan state title in cross country. Bishop has extensive championship experience. He has always been willing to race against the best of the best as evidenced by his multiple appearances at the New Balance National Championships and Foot Locker National Championships. Given his wildly impressive 5k personal best of 14:30, Bishop should be a “plug and play” kind of guy who can have some kind of role in this varsity cross country lineup as soon as this winter. The next name who we need to mention is the Canadian Abdullahi Hassan...and my goodness what a talent he is. Hassan is arguably the most polished runner of this Wisconsin recruiting class as he could have been in contention for a couple of BIG 10 titles on the track during his time as a prep star. With a jaw-dropping personal best of 1:47 (800) and a very strong mark of 3:52 (1500), this Canadian phenom adds lethal speed to a roster that has typically been long distance-oriented. Let’s not forget that his times put him as the U18 Canadian national record holder for the indoor 600 meters (1:20) as well as the U18 Canadian national record holder in both the indoor and outdoor 800 meters. On paper, he's someone who can contend for a national qualifying spot, as well as an All-American finish, all during his freshman year. An extremely gifted runner, Caleb Brown committed to the Badgers before entering the transfer portal this past fall. Yes, we know that he is on the transfer portal, but he was on the Wisconsin roster at the start of this year. So, for that reason, he's being factored into these rankings. Let’s talk about all of the things that Brown has accomplished during his time in high school (spoiler: it was a lot). He was absolutely dominant in the state of Ohio, winning seven state titles either individually or in a 4x800 relay. He only lost twice all season during his senior cross country campaign to Josh Methner (Notre Dame) and Nico Young (NAU), two superstar talents. Not only that, but Brown also cracked the nine-minute barrier for 3200 meters (twice) during the 2020 indoor season, running a blazing fast personal best of 8:54 to win the Spire Showcase. He finished 3rd at the 2019 NXN Championships, ran 14:51 for 5000 meters this past summer and was the 2019 New Balance two-mile national champion. With quite the high school career, Brown would have given this Wisconsin roster lethal firepower and a future star that the team could have rallied around. However, it is technically possible that Brown stays with Wisconsin and opts not to transfer. Joining the three recruits mentioned above is Bob Liking from Illinois. A Foot Locker and NXN national qualifier, Liking also helped his St. Charles Saints teammates capture the state title in a very competitive 3A race which included runners such as Josh Methner (Notre Dame), Tyler Cushing (Illinois), Jake Allen (Kentucky) and Ian Geisler (Iowa). In his two national meet appearances, Liking placed in the top-25 of each race, showing off underrated consistency and poise against some of the nation's best distance talents. With a personal best of 14:23 for three miles and plenty of championship experience, one could argue that Liking is the most underrated distance recruit of this Wisconsin class. He has shown that he is better suited for the cross country course and he will hopefully enjoy cruising through the renowned Thomas Zimmer XC Course just off campus. Speaking of underrated recruits, Oliver Paleen is certainly one of them. The Minnesota native was the first to cross the line at two big cross country meets during his senior year, solidifying his status as one of the better distance runners in the midwest. His first victory was at the Roy Griak Invitational where he finished in front of current high school superstar Parker Wolfe (who has committed to North Carolina) as well as Emmet Anderson of Staple-Motley (who is currently uncommitted). Paleen's other big win came at the Minnesota state meet which he won despite placing 10th the year before. To top it all off, the Minnesota native then qualified for the NXN Championships after placing runner-up at the NXR Heartland race. However, his prowess on the cross country course isn’t everything as he has also run times of 4:16 (1600) and 9:19 (3200). With Mick Byrne's history of development and Wisconsin's identity as a true cross country program, both Paleen and Liking perfectly fit the mold and roster structure that has made the Badgers so great for so long. Our final name who we need to mention is Nick Hruskoci. Coming from the Hoosier state, he brings times of 1:56, 4:20, and 9:28. Hruskoci has been billed as more of a team player, having been a part of Indianapolis Cathedral’s indoor and outdoor DMR teams. His lead-off split of 3:04 for 1200 meters helped set the tone for his teammates as they eventually took home the New Balance national title on the outdoor oval. This recruiting class has everything that you could want if you're Wisconsin. It's deep, features guys with extensive championship experience, is loaded with established stars and seems to match Wisconsin's cross country identity. The Badgers may have lost a handful of top talents over the past two years, but don't be surprised when they continue to have major success in the BIG 10 and the NCAA. #2 Princeton Tigers Written by Michael Weidenbruch When prospective student-athletes are looking to take their talents to the collegiate level, they often search for teams that have a history of success, a strong culture, top-level coaching and good academics to top it all off. Princeton checks all of those boxes. In recent years, the Tigers have won Ivy League team titles on both the cross country course and the track, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional titles in cross country which have led to NCAA Championship berths. Part of that success has to do with great coaching while the other part of it has to do with excellent recruiting. When we look at this freshman group of Princeton distance recruits, Matthew Farrell is the clear headline star given his impressive slate of personal bests. Farrell has run 3:57 for 1500 meters, 4:15 for the mile, 8:27 for 3000 meters and 14:25 for 5000 meters on the track. He was 13th at the 2019 Foot Locker National Championship, a result that truthfully speaks for itself. Farrell's consistency and star power can't be overstated. This is a deep recruiting class that is joining a deep roster, but it would come as no surprise if he was able to emerge as a scorer in the Tiger's varsity seven whenever they next toe the line. He's someone who seemingly gets better the longer the racing distance is, so his move to the NCAA may actually benefit him in the long term. The next recruit who we need to mention is the aptly-named Joe Fast who has arrived on campus as a two-time Canadian Provincial Cross Country Champion in Ontario. However, despite his success on the grass, Fast is just as strong when he drops down in distance. He owns a personal best of 3:52 for 1500 meters and has made the Canadian U20 1500 meter final twice in his young career. Championship experience is always beneficial for an athlete entering the NCAA and Joe Fast should feel perfectly comfortable toeing the line for those kind of races. It also doesn't hurt that he is a true three-season threat given his credentials. Let's transition to talking about Jordan Kaplan who comes to Princeton from just down the road in Monroe Township, New Jersey. He will be looking to reignite the Tigers' 800 meter crew which has been a bit on the quieter side since Noah Kauppila graduated a couple of year ago. Kaplan has a 1:52 800 meter personal best to his name and has been one of the top runners in New Jersey for a couple years. He has also run 49.00 for 400 meters, often doubling off of the 800 in the same meet. Keep an eye out for Kaplan on Princeton’s DMR in the next few years. The Tigers already have some talented milers scattered throughout their roster, meaning that a relay lineup which includes Kaplan isn't just possible, but also probable. Following up on Kaplan’s middle distance prowess, we come to Jack Kenkel. The Colorado native has run 1:53 for 800 meters and while he generally specializes in the shorter distances, he has also run 15:35 for 5000 meters in cross country. Together, Kenekl and Kaplan can establish a new foundation for Princeton's middle distance group and put themselves in positions to compete for top Ivy League finishes. That, however, will be a challenge as the Ivy League has quietly produced a handful of talented 800 meter runners over the past decade. However, let's put aside the middle distances for the time being and swing back to the longer distances. This is where things become a bit overwhelming when it comes to elite-level firepower on Princeton's roster. Jarrett Kirk is a strong all-around distance talent who could fit into a variety of different roles during his time with the Tigers. Kirk has run 4:15 for 1600 meters, 9:07 for 3200 meters and 14:40 for 5000 meters on the track. Kirk has also run 14:40 on the cross country course and is a two-time NXN qualifier. Funny enough, fellow recruit Anthony Monte is essentially a clone of Kirk if you were to look at their personal bests on paper. Monte has run 4:15 for 1600 meters, 8:36 for 3000 meters, 9:03 for 3200 meters and 14:39 for 5000 meters on the track. Just like Kirk, Monte’s cross country personal best over 5k is the same as his 5000 meter time on the track at 14:39, just one second faster than Kirk. And, just like Kirk, Monte also has experience racing at NXN, securing a clutch 12th place finish at the 2019 championships. With nearly identical times, Jarrett Kirk and Anthony Monte should be great contributors towards Princeton’s long distance potential. Their ability to replicate their fastest times on more than just one occasion should not be overlooked. That consistency could come in handy for a team that had a few up-and-down performances during the 2019 cross country season. The last big-name distance talent who is joining this roster is Daniel O'Brien who boasts personal bests of 4:14 for 1600 meters and 9:07 for 3200 meters. Those are strong times, but those marks aren't necessarily what make him a "big-time distance talent". Where O’Brien really stands out is on the cross country course as he has run 14:57 for 5000 meters. Not only that, but he has also finished 12th and 7th at the Foot Locker National Championships in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Those finishes show that O’Brien was consistently one of the best high schoolers in the country, and if he can translate that success to the 8k/10k distances of NCAA cross country, then he could become one of Princeton's top scorers in just a few years time. Rounding out this Princeton recruiting class is Nathan Tavakolian who comes in with personal bests of 8:49 for 3000 meters and 15:43 for 5000 meters (XC). Tavakolian’s times may not be quite as strong as some of his teammates’, but he will at least add valuable depth and be a developmental name who could contribute in the future. Year after year, Princeton raises the bar with the recruits that they bring into the program. The Ivy League has only become more competitive over the past few years with multiple programs sending their teams to the NCAA Championships. This class of recruits will be critical in Princeton’s quest to not by only the best team in the conference, but one of the best in the NCAA. The good news for this class is that they are arguably better than the crop of distance recruits that the Tigers brought in last year (we ranked that 2019 class at TSR #9). After seeing that group of freshmen have such incredible success during the 2019 cross country season and act as the backbone of Princeton's varsity lineup, we are incredibly eager to see what this year's rookies will be able to accomplish whenever they next toe the line.

Click here to see our ranking criteria. Despite our research, it is possible that certain names have been erroneously omitted. Did we miss someone? If so, send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com & let us know! #4 California Baptist Lancers Written by Garrett Zatlin I'll admit, trying to find the right spot for this CBU recruiting class was a challenge. A plethora of talented international athletes headlined their recruiting class when we initially started collecting data during the summer. We later found out that two of CBU's original commits weren't joining the team, but also realized that a couple of other athletes were joining the program at the start of this spring semester. If that sounds confusing, that's because it is. Even so, this is an odd year and the weirdness of 2020 doesn't make these current freshmen any less talented or any less accomplished. Let's start our analysis with Emilia Mikszuta, a distance ace from Poland. On paper, Mikszuta is someone who can have an instant impact in the NCAA. She boasts a personal best of 9:51 for 3000 meters, but one could argue that her best event is actually the 3k steeplechase where she owns a PR of 10:38. That's a fairly competitive mark and if she is able to improve upon that time in the next year or two, then Mikszuta may be able to position herself for a national qualifying spot on the track. Not only that, but the current Polish freshman has represented her country on multiple occasions at the U20 European Championships, both on the track and the grass. Although the Lancers aren't yet immediately eligible to compete at NCAA championship meets due to their recent move from D2 to D1, they have gone on to race against nationally-ranked teams during the cross country season. In theory, Mikszuta's experience and distance prowess on the track should translate to her being a key scorer for CBU in the near future. Speaking of valuable experience, let's talk about Greta Karinauskaite. The distance runner from Lithuania is a talented athlete in her own right, boasting strong personal bests of 4:37 (1500) and 17:21 (5k) -- times that would typically put her among some of the better distance recruits in the United States. However, Karinauskaite's experience in championship races is too extensive to ignore. She has represented Lithuania at the U20 European XC Championships not once, not twice, but three times, placing as high as 40th in 2019. She also competed at the U18 European Athletics Championship as well. Karinauskaite has solid times, but her championship experience gives her an edge when she is compared to other American recruits of her caliber. Our next international recruit is Helen Pacurariu-Nagy. Hailing from Romania, she also has experience competing in championship races, placing 44th at the 2019 European U20 XC Championships. Although her new teammate Greta Karinauskaite did get the best of her by four spots in that same race, Pacurariu-Nagy has the edge on the track as she owns an eye-catching personal best of 9:54 for 3000 meters (she has also run 17:31 for 5000 meters). Tired of hearing about the longer distances? Don't worry, California Baptist has some top-ranked middle distance runners joining their program as well. Liudmila Rudzko is set to join the Lancers from Belarus. The accomplished middle distance ace has shown extremely impressive consistency when it comes to the 800 meters and has run a personal best of 2:08 in the event. However, one could argue that Rudzko is just as good in the 1500 meters, owning a personal best of 4:29. If you tack on a very rough 19-second conversion, then her mile equivalent is around 4:48. Having a sub-2:10 800 meter runner and a 4:29 1500 meter runner is a nice luxury to have...but having two women with those same credentials is even better. Sure enough, that's the case for California Baptist as they will be adding South African standout Anneken Viljoen to their roster. The rookie middle distance runner boasts personal bests of 2:09 (800) and 4:29 (1500), acting almost like a carbon copy of Rudzko (on paper). With both Rudzko and Viljoen, CBU is gaining extremely valuable scoring diversity for a few shorter races on the track. That's a promising development for a program that is a bit long-distance heavy in terms of their personnel. And no, we're not done yet. One final name who we need to mention is Karen Gosek from Slovenia. Arguably the most well-rounded distance recruit of this entire CBU class, Gosek could end up being the best three-season threat out of any of these freshmen. The Slovenian ace has run personal bests of 2:12 (800), 2:51 (1k), 4:27 (1500), 9:51 (3k), 10:33 (3k steeplechase) and 17:43 (5k). She can replicate the middle distance success of Rudzko and Viljoen while also being just as effective as Emilia Mikszuta in both the 3k and the steeplechase. When we finalized these recruit rankings, we were expecting to also talk about Beatriz Rios (9:48 3k) and Klaara Leponiemi (17:04 5k). Those women are no longer joining the Lancers and, admittedly, those absences would have made these rankings a bit lop-sided. However, when we factor in the spring semester enrollees (and we didn't necessarily make a self-imposed rule barring those athletes from consideration) it seems fair to say that the Lancers have once again landed an elite-level recruiting class. #3 Stanford Cardinal Written by Sam Ivanecky Stanford is another team that appears to have gone for the “quality over quantity” route, bringing in only four new women to their roster in 2020. However, those four recruits, Tori Starcher, Zofia Dudek, Lucy Jenks and Ellie Deligianni, are some of the absolute best from the Class of 2020. This group is composed of both middle distance and long distance talents and should provide an immediate boost to a Stanford team that could soon lose numerous top veterans depending on what they choose to do with their additional eligibility. Zofia Dudek was an absolute star in high school. She first broke onto the national scene when she claimed a victory in the Brooks PR Invitational mile, running an incredible time of 4:41. That big moment would set off a chain of performances elevating Dudek to the elite status amongst prep stars. Dudek claimed the Michigan state cross country title and came back a few weeks later to finish runner-up at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional Championships. Despite already having a phenomenal season, Dudek had a huge race at the Foot Locker National Championships where she won the title. She would go on to also win the 3000 meter title at the European U20 Championships and finish 5th in the European U20 XC Championships. On paper, Dudek is a stud. Her personal bests of 4:24 (1500), 9:29 (3k) and 16:45 (5k) are already bordering on her becoming a varsity scorer for this Stanford squad. On top of that, her experience in national meets likely gives her enough of an edge to remain competitive at the collegiate level. In short, the Michigan native looks like one of the next great NCAA stars. Stanford doesn’t necessarily need Dudek to be a superstar on day one, but she could still certainly have an impact name whenever she next toes the line. Similar to Dudek, Tori Starcher is another name who comes into the NCAA with elite-tier personal bests. Starcher was the fastest high school miler in 2019, running 4:38 for the distance. She has also run 4:20 for 1500 meters and 2:07 for 800 meters. On paper, Starcher reminds us of Stanford standouts Christina Aragon and Ella Donaghu when they first came to Palo Alto. Like Dudek, Starcher should not have any immediate pressure placed on her shoulders. Stanford still has a group of veteran studs and are already one of the favorites to win the NCAA Championships in cross country should a national meet happen in March. Looking at the bigger picture, Starcher is a runner who could easily become a top NCAA star in time. It is hard to say whether Stanford will look to force that sooner rather than later, but intuition says she will have some leeway here in terms of development. This roster is already stacked. As we move on, it might not be a stretch to say that Lucy Jenks has the most natural talent of any recruit in this group. The Massachusetts native won the Massachusetts state cross country title in only her third cross country race ever. Yes, ever. Jenks comes to campus having run 4:45 for the mile and 10:17 for the two mile. She also won the mile state title in her only track season. A former soccer player turned runner, Jenks likely has a massive pool of untapped talent and could quickly develop into a star if she is able to carry even a little bit of her momentum into the NCAA. Now, admittedly, the biggest concern with Jenks is how she may handle the training load in college. In her only cross country season, she won a state title, but also spent five weeks sidelined with an injury. Her lack of experience means that she likely has a much higher ceiling, but the learning curve could also prove to be a challenge. Finally, we have Ellie Deligianni. The runner from Greece was predominantly focused on the 400 and 800 meters prior to Stanford and comes in with a personal best of 2:05 for the half-mile distance. While Deligianni may not have the same range of her other recruits, she might have a chance to make a more immediate impact. On paper, her 800 meter time is good enough to fit somewhere in the Stanford DMR on the indoor oval. As a whole, Stanford brings in a stellar recruiting class. Dudek and Starcher were two of the best runners in the country last year and could immediately contend for a roster spot in cross country. Jenks is a bit of an unknown, but her ceiling appears to be well beyond “state champion”. Deligianni is a name who will likely show up in a big way when the indoor season rolls around. This group is poised for both immediate and long-term success at Stanford and could be looking to follow in the footsteps of runners like Fiona O’Keeffe and Ella Donaghu. #2 North Carolina Tar Heels Written by Eric Baranoski In just his second year at Chapel Hill, Coach Miltenberg has built and developed a roster that is filled with top distance talents who have begun to mold the team into his vision. This is precisely why we ranked the Tar Heels at TSR #2. With five women who have achieved great heights at the high school level, these UNC rookies are primed to do big things for this program in the future. In fact, they already got a jump start this past fall. Let's start our conversation with Ava Dobson, a South Carolina native. A 2019 Foot Locker national qualifier, a three-time Gatorade Player of the Year and a multi-time South Carolina state champion are just a few accolades that this distance ace brings to the table. Dobson has proven that she can run with the very best of them as shown by her 23rd place finish at the Foot Locker National Championships. Her development is also plenty evident, especially at the state cross country championships where she blew her competition out of the water, wining by a larger margin in each successive state title. With personal bests of 4:58 (mile), 10:33 (3200) and 16:55 (5k), it's scary to think that Dobson may not even be a top-three distance recruit in this class. As we move further down this list, we find Kelsey Harrington, hailing from the Old Dominion state (Virginia). A relatively late bloomer, Harrington didn't truly start to throw down fast times until her junior season in outdoor track. Since then, she has burst onto the running scene. 2019 was a huge year for the Virginia native as she ran personal bests in both the 1600 (4:57) and 3200 (10:37) and later went on to win her first cross country state title while also earning bids for both Foot Locker and NXN. At those national meets, Harrington finished 20th at NXN and 21st at Foot Locker. Not bad for her first appearances at any national meet... Harrington went from a relative unknown to a top national-caliber runner over the course of just 12 short months. With a 5k personal best of 16:55, Harrington is someone who seems to have a ton of room to grow. If she can carry her momentum with her to the collegiate stage, she'll be a problem for her ACC competitors. And after seeing her place 19th at the ACC Championships this past fall, that initial suspicion seems to be plenty valid. We now come to Taryn Parks who has entered Chapel Hill with quite the resume. A four-time Foot Locker national qualifier and a six-time PIAA state champion, Parks will surely go down as one of the best distance talents to ever come out of the state of Pennsylvania. However, by far her most memorable race will be the 2019 PIAA 1600 where she ran 4:37 and beat out NC State signee Marlee Starliper at the line. Parks can do it all, both on the grass and the track. The ACC is plenty deep when it comes to the middle distances, so while Parks will surely be a valuable piece during cross country, it's her mile prowess that makes her the best recruit of this class when it looking at value for the indoor track and outdoor track seasons. Speaking of accomplished track runners, it's not too often that you see someone with a personal best of 2:08 in the 800 and a personal best of 6:31 in the 2k steeplechase. Well, that’s exactly the case for New York native Sarah Trainor who has a tremendous amount of strength and may just need another year or two to get accustomed to college training. She had a couple of decent performances this past fall, but much like Parks, Trainor seems poised to be a more effective weapon on the track, especially with her underrated middle distance prowess and her very rare steeplechase experience. Last but certainly not least is Sasha Neglia, the freshman superstar from this past fall. Neglia was a two-time NXN qualifier who finished 15th and 24th in her two appearances at Glendoveer Golf Course in Oregon. With three cross country state titles, as well as a state title in the 3200 meters, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to see her running so well at the collegiate level this past fall. Of course, I don't think anyone could have predicted that Neglia would be the most dominant freshman in the NCAA during the altered and limited cross country season. She took home multiple wins, battled with some of the top talents in the ACC and secured a huge 6th place finish at the ACC Championships. Just seeing the success that she had this past fall instantly gave this Tar Heels recruiting class an edge in our rankings. North Carolina is on the come-up and this past fall was evidence of that after the women finished 5th overall at the ACC Championships with a plethora of freshmen scorers. Watch out, Chapel Hill may soon be another distance running hub in the United States.

Earlier today, Ehab El-Sandali (currently of Iona) announced that he will be finishing his eligibility as a graduate transfer with the Arkansas Razorbacks starting in the fall of 2021. Earlier this month, TSR reported that El-Sandali was on the transfer portal. He is expected to have all three seasons of eligibility remaining upon arriving in Fayetteville, Arkansas. On the track, El-Sandali owns personal bests of 4:07 (mile), 8:03 (3k), 13:52 (5k) and 29:16 (10k). He has also run 29:02 (10k) on the roads after competing at the 2019 Northeast Regional Championships in cross country. One could argue that the current Iona standout is at his best when he is on the grass. El-Sandali was ranked at TSR #27 in our "If Everything Was Normal" preseason individual cross country rankings earlier this summer. He finished 6th at Pre-Nationals last year and was just one spot shy of earning All-American honors at the 2019 cross country national meet, placing 41st. The Canadian distance runner will soon join one of many top distance talents who have transferred into the Arkansas program over the past year. Recent transfers include Amon Kemboi, Luke Meade, Emmanuel Cheboson, Andrew Kibet and Jacob McLeod. With El-Sandali set to join the Razorbacks next fall, the Arkansas men could further solidify their position as podium favorites if their top scorers opt to return and use their extended eligibility. With another All-American candidate soon joining this varsity lineup, the men from Fayetteville appear to be going all-in on what appears to be a potential title run in the fall of 2021.