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Noah Affolder is taking his talents from Syracuse to Oregon. We caught up with the recent transfer and was able to ask him a few questions. Many thanks to Noah for taking the time to chat with us! The Stride Report: Let’s kick-off this Q&A by talking about your recent transfer from Syracuse to Oregon. When did you first realize that you wanted to explore new opportunities at a different program? Were there any specific instances or set of circumstances that made you want to pursue the transfer? Noah Affolder: The second semester of my sophomore year was when I first started to realize that maybe it was time for me to move on from Syracuse. As a military child who is accustomed to moving every couple of years, my family often asks God to place us where he wants us and so in the transferring process I prayed that he would plant me where he wanted me to be and not let my personal desires make the decision. I think there were just a lot of little things that piled up and at the end of the day I wasn’t happy. I started to lose the desire to run when I was at Syracuse and I really poured my time and energy into what made me happy there and that was golf. Playing golf for the last few months at Syracuse helped pass the time and allowed me to be competitive while I wasn’t racing. I knew at some point that I would have to find that passion for running again, but just somewhere else. TSR: There were plenty of rumors suggesting that you would look into running for the University of Washington given their recent success in the steeplechase, their notable improvement in cross country, and the recent addition of your brother (Sam Affolder) to their roster. Was Washington ever a possibility for you? Noah: Washington was definitely a possibility for me. They were the first program I reached out to. However, I just couldn't see myself there for any other reason than to be with Sam. I didn't want that to be my sole reason for being there. TSR: Were there any programs others than Oregon and Washington that you were looking at? What made you choose Oregon over everyone else? Noah: Yeah I looked at a bunch of schools and narrowed my visits down to three: Florida, Liberty, and Oregon. I was interested in all of them for different reasons. I chose Oregon because I felt that God was calling me to be a disciple at that institution. TSR: As of late, the Ducks haven't necessarily been known for their success in the steeplechase (although they recently had Jackson Mestler run 8:44 this past spring). As someone who is one of the better steeplechasers in the country, did that lack of history have an impact on your transfer decision at all? Noah: Not really. I saw Jackson do some hurdle stuff alone on my visit and I thought it would be cool if we could train together, but it wasn’t something that made the decision. TSR: What are the expectations for the Oregon Ducks this fall? What should we expect to see from this group come October and November? Noah: As a transfer, I don’t want to speak on behalf of the team or coach, but I would say overall we are striving for excellence in everything that we do. TSR: What are your thoughts about now running in what is arguably the most competitive conference in the NCAA for collegiate distance running (the PAC-12)? Who do you see as your biggest competition in the PAC-12 when it comes to cross country and the steeplechase? Noah: I am super excited to be competing in the PAC-12. There are a number of schools in the conference that I feel could win cross country this year and you never know who is going to show up for steeplechase, so we will see. Looking forward to competing against my brother. TSR: As a true freshman, you ran 8:40 in the steeplechase and finished one spot out from First Team All-American at the 2018 Outdoor National Championships. How much faster do you think you can go? What do you want to accomplish by the time you leave the NCAA? Noah: I am not sure how much faster I can go. I will be happy with whatever God has in store for me. I would love to be at the trials next summer and at the world championships in 2021, but I will cross that bridge when the time comes. TSR: As someone who has raced at Nationals before (in Eugene) what were your thoughts on the national meet being held in Austin, Texas this year? Was this a good decision or a bad decision? Noah: I enjoyed watching the meet being held there. I loved seeing records broken in the shorter events and the tactics in the longer events. Not sure if my opinion would be different if I was competing this year. As a Duck, I am excited for it to come back to Eugene in 2021. TSR: There was a recent proposal made to move the racing distance of the cross country national meet down from 10,000 meters to 8,000 meters. What are your thoughts on that potential change? How would this change impact your performances and Oregon’s performances? Noah: As for me, I don’t think it would change my performance or the team’s. My results may say otherwise, but I had some health issues that required surgery a couple weeks prior to NCAA’s last fall that didn’t allow me to show my true fitness. I would personally love the racing distance to be changed. I think it bring more fans to the sport. Unless you are a coach or former athlete, I don’t think spectators care to watch that long of a race. Now some may argue that there is so much history with the event being held over 10,000 meters, but if they end up changing it soon then it won’t matter five years now. I personally got bored watching the 10k on the track in Austin and even got bored watching the middle part of the 5k (and I love track and field). I understand a lot of people may disagree with me, but I don’t think there should be a track event over 3,000 meters. It is just too boring for the average spectator… leave the longer stuff for the roads.

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Rachel McArthur is taking her talents from Villanova to Colorado. We caught up with the recent transfer and were able to ask her a few questions. Many thanks to Rachel for taking the time to chat with us! The Stride Report: When did you first realize that you wanted to start looking at other schools? Was there anything about Villanova that you weren’t happy with? Rachel McArthur: At the end of my first year attending Villanova, naturally, I reflected upon how the year had gone and how I felt I had progressed. As an athlete, I was beyond satisfied with my performances and as a student, I felt I had managed the college workload/new lifestyle relatively well. However, despite having so much to feel proud about and satisfied with, I realized that I did not feel truly happy. As a freshman, I did understand that the first year of college is always the hardest, especially when balancing athletics. So at first, I simply waved off the doubts I was having as “adjusting” to a new lifestyle. I did not ever immediately think, “I want to look elsewhere” or “I want to transfer”. I simply took it upon myself to recognize what I was feeling and determine what it was that I needed to do in order to change that. I thought this would be to ignore what I felt until it went away. It was not until the middle of my sophomore year at Villanova that I determined I wanted to look elsewhere. I began to realize that the doubts I felt in my first year were not just because I was in a new environment and was still adjusting, but that they were legitimate feelings that I could not keep ignoring. My reasons for unhappiness were entirely personal. When deciding on a college, I did ask myself if I would be happy at Villanova if I was not running, and the honest answer was no. But I fell in love with the program, the coaches, the campus, and the people I met, and so I convinced myself that regardless of what I felt the answer would be, I would make it work. I told myself there was also no reason I wouldn’t be running and even given the chance I were to get injured; I would still be surrounded by all the great things that drew me to Villanova in the first place. But eventually, despite what I thought I could handle, I found myself unhappy. None of the negative feelings I had were attributed to the Villanova track/cross country program. I credit much of my success to my previous coaches and teammates who provided me with unconditional support and countless opportunities to perform at the best of my ability throughout my career at Villanova. I will always be grateful for everything they provided me with and I am proud to have represented them for as long as I did. I never endured any major injuries while at Villanova that really prevented me from running (minus a mild concussion from slipping on a morning run). But it came down to the hours spent between runs each day, the times after practice had ended and we all went home, even the minutes between classes when I felt the only thing I looked forward to was the next time I would be running. It was not a healthy desire to run, but rather, it became the only thing that distracted me and made me feel as if I was doing something worthwhile. I spent quite a lot of time alone my sophomore year, whether this was running alone on my “off days” or going on hour walks each night, and much of that time was dedicated to thinking about how I could change the overwhelming feelings of dissatisfaction and unfulfillment I began to constantly feel. This firstly included figuring out what it was that made me feel this way, and simply put, I determined that I just desired more. I realized that there is more to life than running, but the way I had been living had prevented me from wanting to pursue more than that. Again, I never thought to transfer. I am going into my junior year now, meaning I spent two years at my previous university doing whatever I could to change how I felt. I am incredibly grateful to have had wonderful and supportive people by my side throughout the entire process, including my previous coach, as it was the most difficult decision I have had to make. But my decision came down to choosing to focus on my overall happiness, and I felt the only way to preserve that, was to leave. TSR: What made you choose to transfer to Colorado? Rachel: When I was in high school, I would definitely say I was a homebody. Pretty immediately upon getting in contact with college coaches, I determined that I wanted to go to a college located relatively near to my home in northern Virginia. However, I did have the University of Colorado on my radar. But as a 16-year-old girl who was very close with her family who had also lived in the same place all her life, I didn’t think I could handle moving across the country/attending college so far away. Therefore, I didn’t pursue it much, other than buy a bit of CU apparel and put the school name on my list of “potentials”. When it came to deciding where it was I wanted to transfer to, I had a few schools in mind. But it was a complicated situation, as taking official campus visits during my athletic season/school year would interrupt my training as well as potentially throw off the team dynamic. Therefore, my coaches and I determined that the best way to go about my decision to transfer was to keep it confidential. This being the case, I was to gather all the information I could about each program I spoke to without taking any official visits and without publicizing my decision to leave. Of course, CU was still on my list, along with two other programs. After the years spent at Villanova, I came to the conclusion that I was not in fact as keen to stay centralized around the east coast as I had originally thought, and so I was open to looking at schools that were located further away. With Colorado, I was very fortunate to have already been previously exposed to the campus and team, whether on trips to the Midwest or at track/cross country meets where both CU and Villanova were present, so it wasn’t hard to imagine what life there was like. I desired a great team atmosphere, resources available to make me a better athlete, coaches that believed in me and supported me, the major I wanted to pursue, but most importantly, I desired to be somewhere that I would be happy at no matter if I was healthy enough to be running all the time, or not. I managed to fit in a visit to the university during the only break I had in the school year, when word of my decision to leave was slowly making its way out. I chose Colorado for the many reasons I previously stated, but arriving on campus and immediately feeling as if I was home is what confirmed the decision for me. Having family that had been in the area previously and were familiar with everything the city of Boulder had to offer, I was provided with a lot of support for my decision, confirming that everything I desired was available to me here. TSR: Before this Q&A, you had mentioned that there was plenty of false information surrounding your transfer. What are some of the most outlandish things you have heard in regards to that? Is there anything you want to clear up? Rachel: I knew that word of me transferring would spark a bit of debate/conversation potentially between coaches or those who know me well, but I never imagined that so many people (mostly strangers!) were going to have opinions on the matter. Unfortunately, I cannot make everyone happy and I understand that this decision has proved that. However, I am putting my happiness first and don’t feel as if anyone should ever be persecuted for doing so. That being said, there are many people who are not on my side that I imagined would be. It is upsetting to see/hear what those people have had to say, but I am happy in my decision and confident that it was the right one for me. As I said before, I have had a lot of support from my friends and my family throughout this process, especially coming from my mom and sisters. Those around me understand that this has not been an easy process at all and it was by no means an easy decision to leave Villanova. Coming to terms with a) the fact that I was unhappy and b) the realization that I wanted to transfer, was very difficult and took a lot of self-discovery and determination of what I needed to do in order to be happier with my life. Unfortunately, I have received (and still do receive) a lot of negativity regarding all of the decisions I have made. I had not planned on making a public statement about my decision to transfer and I especially did not want to feel as if I needed to justify my reasoning for doing so. However, receiving, reading and hearing so many negative things from people who have had something to say about me for choosing to focus on my own well-being/happiness, is hurtful to say the least. But I decided that if anyone wants to form their own opinion on what they believe is best for me, at least let them speak poorly about true facts and not what I’ve been reading! TSR: Let’s talk about the future. The Colorado women have lost a handful of top scorers due to graduation and expiring eligibility, but the team will still be very competitive this year. What are your personal goals for the upcoming cross country season? Rachel: I am very, very excited to be joining the Buffs this year. I am still settling in to Colorado and adapting to both the training and just general living environment, but I feel really good about how I’m progressing. The team is very strong and has a lot of really great and hardworking girls on it, despite losing a few last year. I do not know what the year will hold for me, but I of course want to lower my PB’s and do whatever I can to contribute to the team ranking in both cross country and track. As of now, I hope to stay healthy and injury free and adjust to my new living environment (and get used to the altitude!). TSR: All-American Emily Venters has also transferred to Colorado. What was your reaction to hearing that she would also be joining the team? Rachel: Emily and I met on the U20 USA Jr. National Team a couple summers ago and I am really excited to be on the CU team with her. She’s very sweet and is also an outstanding athlete who is clearly very dedicated and will be a great asset to the team. Previous to her commitment, we chatted a bit about the school/program and we are both very excited to start training and meeting everyone. It’ll also be nice to have another transfer student to be able to talk about all these experiences with! TSR: Have you met up with any of your new teammates yet? How have they helped you throughout this transition process? Rachel: As I arrived very early to Colorado (late June), there aren’t too many of the athletes on the team here yet. Despite not having met too many people in person, many of them have reached out to me (via social media or phone) and really made me feel welcomed. Both the athletes and coaches have recommended some great runs, places to eat and things to do while I’m out here, which is incredibly helpful because I’m still pretty unfamiliar with the area. I’m stoked to get to know everyone and start having some more people to train with as well. TSR: Any final comments? Rachel: Just a thank you to those who stuck with me through this process! I am very confident in my decision and I’m happy to have great friends, family, teammates and coaches here to support me!

According to a reliable source who is familiar with the situation, The Stride Report has learned that incoming coach Chris Miltenberg has dismissed the entire UNC Track and Field coaching staff with the exception of sprint coach Abigi Id-Deen. The staff was made aware that they would not be retained on the same day it was announced that Miltenberg was leaving Stanford for UNC. Currently, the athletes are unaware of who the new coaching staff will consist of (outside of Abigi Id-Deen). It should also be noted that Stanford's women's cross country coach Elizabeth DeBole is no longer listed as one of the Stanford coaches on the team's website. DeBole, a 2012 US Olympic Trials qualifier, was previously coached by Miltenberg during her time at Georgetown. She later joined the Stanford coaching staff in 2014 and has worked under Miltenberg since then. Prior to the coaching changes, the Tarheels were expected to bring in three new transfers. Those transfers included Jasmine Staebler (Iowa State), John Tatter (Michigan), and Paige Hofstad (Georgetown). Staebler was previously coached by Andrea Grove-McDonough at Iowa State before Grove-McDonough left to coach the distance group at UNC in 2018. At the moment, those three transfers remain committed to North Carolina. According to our source, it is unlikely that any additional transfers will enter the UNC program due to the limited number of available roster spots. If additional athletes were to transfer in, it would only be "one or two" at most. It is possible that Coach Miltenberg could be granted additional roster spots to expand the size of the team, although that is not expected to happen. This is a developing story. We will provide updates as we learn more.

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B en and Garrett team up to kick off our very first Blue Oval Podcast episode! They discuss the incredible dominance of Northern Arizona, the Syracuse sweep at Beantown, Washington's woes, and even answer a few Mailbag questions. All of that and more now on our PODCASTS page! You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. If you like it, be sure to leave us a rating and a review! Note: If you're having issues loading the episode on the site via mobile, try refreshing the episode page. We will look into this issue for future episodes.