Wow. What a year it was. Before I even get into anything else, let me just say thank you to everyone who has been supporting TSR. The 2017-2018 academic year was the first full year of competition that The Stride Report has covered. The growth that we've seen throughout this past year has been incredible. For a small group of college students and post-grads, we're happy that you are enjoying what we put out. We're still small, we're not perfect, and we still have a loooooong way to go. We still want to (eventually) cover both men and women, multiple levels of competition, and any event we can. Although that may take some time, I like to think that it is still a very real possibility. If you're a marketer/advertiser looking to get involved with our site, be sure to send us an email. We want to avoid keeping our content behind a paywall and the best way to do that is to get sponsors involved (no matter how big or small). If you're interested in getting involved with TSR, click the link here . Read the section marked as "APPLYING" at the bottom and send us an email! We're always looking to expand and produce more content. Due to time constraints, we do not plan on having any new content this weekend. However, that's only because we are preparing for the release of our 2018 summer rankings as well as a brand new page. Our 2018 Top 10 Recruit Rankings will begin this Monday! We'll be researching, analyzing, and comparing the top (distance) recruiting classes in the nation. You can look at our RANKINGS tab to view our Recruit Rankings from last year if you haven't already. If you haven't already seen on our social media pages, our new DATA page will be coming soon. It may be tomorrow, it may be next week, it may be the following week. All we know is that it will be coming within the next 14 days. Stay tuned for more on that... This is just the tip of the iceberg for all of the things that we want to discuss and plan to cover. We're hoping that we can continue to evolve and expand as a site over time. Tell a friend about us if you haven't already! Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook . The more exposure we get, the greater the chance we'll be able to get in touch with a sponsor. If that happens, expansion and innovation are almost guaranteed. Get your popcorn ready, we're just getting started. Many thanks, The Stride Report crew

By: John Cusick We were able to talk to the 2018 10k National Champion (Ben Flanagan) for our very podcast episode! Ben was able to speak over the phone with John Cusick to discuss everything from his racing tactics, the emotions of winning the title, and plenty more! We can't thank Ben enough for his time and great answers! You can click the picture above and listen to the episode on our Soundcloud account! *volume may need to be adjusted for the interview portion* It’s been six days since you won the national title. What’s the outreach and the coverage from the running community been like? Oh, it’s been amazing. People have been just too kind, really. The amount of support and love over the las six days has been so humbling I’ve done everything I can to respond to every single message. If anyone hasn’t gotten a message back, message me again because that was my goal. Has it been overwhelming? Yeah, it’s been a lot for sure. In comparison to nothing I’ve ever had before, but it’s been exciting, and it’s been all good things, so I don’t feel like I’ve ever been overwhelmed just because I’m just very grateful that people have taken time out of their day to congratulate me. It’s been very thoughtful on their part so the least I can do is acknowledge it and send my gratitude back. Has anyone big in the track community reached out to you? I saw Shalane Flanagan reached out to you. Yeah, yeah that was a legendary tweet by Shalane Flanagan. I was so pumped about it. [Nick] Willis is a total legend too. I know him on a little bit more of a personal level because he’s the friendliest guy anyone will ever meet in their lives. He’s just in general way too kind. It’s always good to hear from him though. I’ve got a couple other messages from people. Some studs in the NCAA I’ve looked up to over the years. Craig Engels sent me a nice message. There’s been a lot of people. I haven’t held back, I’ve gone full fan boy on anybody like that. I have not kept my composure. I send them back with all caps, all exclamation points and you talk to some of those people they can attest to it. What were your thoughts going into the regional weekend? Going to Florida, I felt more prepared than I ever had going into a regional meet. That was really helpful because I think in the long run, going into regionals, there was such a heavy amount of pressure and focus on getting to Eugene, whereas this time around it was more of an expectation and I was a lot more confident in it happening. I still took it very seriously, ‘cause you can’t mess around with athletes at that level. It allowed for some area of mental energy to be conserved for the actual national meet itself. Getting to Eugene was an expectation and I could focus a lot more on what I wanted to do there as opposed to just getting there. Did being ranked outside the top 70 give you any confidence going into the regional meet? I didn’t pay too much attention to the national rankings. After my race at Big Tens I knew I was ready to go. I knew I was ready, I felt like I was ready to run under 29:00 whenever I needed to. I thought I was fresher than a lot of the other athletes just because I had a late start to the season just dealing with a couple injuries. I was pretty confident going into it. I’ve actually raced a lot of those guys on the top end. I was pretty familiar and am on pretty good terms with guys like Jacob Thomson, Johnathan Green, Collin Bennie, all those guys I know pretty well. I didn’t feel too intimidated going into it. I didn’t know what to expect from the famous Alabama trio, but once things started to get to the conclusion of the race that’s when I felt like I was ready to roll. The whole race felt pretty comfortable, so I was pumped with how it went essentially. Tell us what went through your mind when the Alabama trio took off the first few laps in the race. I went through the first 200 and it felt a little brisk and I looked at the clock and saw 31 point and I was probably sitting in 15th if not further back. I said ‘ok, we’re clipping here.’ And naturally what happens if anybody makes a big move like that, obviously the one concern that crosses your mind is ‘I really hope these guys come back.’ You don’t know, and guys that are that good you never really know. Fortunately, I was able to look at the clock enough to see that the pace was too hot. I was pretty sure [the gap would close]— [but] I didn’t know when the gap was going to close, and I was relying on somebody else to do it because I didn’t want to, to be completely honest. Fortunately, the NAU guys didn’t let it slip too long and once those guys went to the front I made a good priority to shadow them because I didn’t think they were going to come back. Once Tyler Day and Matt Baxter started to move up to try and catch those guys I just started to trail them because I figured they were going to go to the front and hammer. What was your gameplan going into the final? We talked a little about the East prelim. The one thing that I thought was incredibly valuable that I learned from that race was, most of the race I was just focused on being top 12 because that’s all you have to do, right? Coming in first doesn’t mean a ton besides bragging rights. I hit the bell and I was third and I felt great, this was at regionals still, and for a split second I was like ‘you know what I’m pumped right now I’m going to try to go for the win here.’ I hit 200 to go and tried to make a move around Kiprop and he just didn’t let me. I just ran the whole bend on the outside of him and when he hit the straightaway he started to accelerate and he never really stopped accelerating from 100 meters to go from the finish line. I chased those guys in but that was a good wake up call for me being like, ‘hey, this guy isn’t going to let you pass him at any point. If you find yourself competing with him at the end of this race you need to be the last guy to make a move.’ The gameplan was simply to be as patient as possible. Never really let the gap form. I wanted to be first team All-American, that was the main goal. I figured that there was going to be eight guys in the mix in the last mile anyways. I definitely didn’t want to let that group break off, then the idea was to reset and gauge the effort at that point in the race and if I feel like I’m in the mix to win it, then respond to moves accordingly. When it really came down to it, if I was challenging for the win I wanted to be the last guy to make the move. That was pretty much the whole gameplan and rarely do gameplans go according to plan, but that one pretty much went bang-on exactly with what we wanted to happen. It’s pretty wild in hindsight because that was the conversation I had with Sully. I talked to him about Kiprop and about how he didn’t let me through and how if I wanted to beat him I was going to have to be the last guy to make the move. Tell us about the finish of that race. I mean, just so you know, I‘ve never done that before. I’ve never really been known as a kicker. Especially a lap that late in a race. So, no. There was no point where I thought I had it in the bag. However, there was a point with 100 meters to go where I was like, this guy hasn’t run away from me yet and he’s still close enough that I can get him. So, all I needed to do was give myself a chance and at least accelerate to him and see what happens from there. That was the first step and luckily, I felt fantastic. When Kiprop went around Maggard, that was an aggressive move. He was going hard from pretty far out, so it made it easier to not try to challenge him early because I couldn’t because he was running so fast. That allowed me to do everything I could to stay on him. Then you notice there is like a two-meter gap that opens up at some point, and then when I accelerated to close that, Hayward just went absolutely nuts and that was pretty much a huge driving force to start bringing it in and all of a sudden, the crowd thought I had a chance and that motivated me to think that I did too. It was pretty awesome with five meters to go and I didn’t see anyone, just the finish line and then I couldn’t really contain my excitement at that point. Explain your initial reaction to winning the national title? There’s a really great gif that our media guy Kyle got. Kyle posted this really great gif that is a frame by frame picture series of the finish of the race. It’s so cool because it captures every emotion so well. There was just that ecstatic, over the top, genuine excitement that I’ve never really experience in a race before and how fast it changed to complete genuine shock is just mind blowing. It was like a moment of being a total badass to just not understanding what happened whatsoever. That’s the best way to describe it. It was emotionally overwhelming. I actually couldn’t believe it the moment was over. Did Mason Ferlic or Ned Willig or any other U of M athletes reach out to you and give you any advice prior? I had a great conversation with Mason. We went on a run together and we just chit chatted. It was pretty awesome. We kinda went through the whole thing, I was telling him about how confident I was feeling and how fit I was feeling. He was just kind of letting me do that. He was just talking me up and letting me ride the wave a little bit. Mason is a huge part of me improving my racing tactics. I’ve made some pretty decisive errors in racing throughout my collegiate career and most of it was just going too early and getting too excited, trying to win the race at 5k instead of 10k. Mason was a big part of telling me it’s just about feeling good at the bell. The guy who wins the race isn’t always the guy who taps into this system that is so deep that they gut it out. Most of the time it’s the guy who just feels the best when the bell starts ringing. I never really understood what he meant until two years ago when I was fit enough to kind of get a feeling like that at regionals. That was really helpful is learning that from Mason. And that’s something Sully has always told me because in his day he was told to never lead the race until he knew he was going to win. Michigan has made tremendous improvements since Coach Sullivan joined the program, what has he brought to the table as a coach? A crazy amount of experience is the most obvious one. Sully was a complete legend in college, and high school, in professional world. He was truly the top of every league he’s been a part of. That’s pretty awesome because it allows him to give great advice at every single level. Talking to the freshman who just entered college, talking about the guys who are transitioning from just being on the team to starting to score, and then all the way up the guys fighting for national titles and then the guys looking for post collegiate success. Sully is always a good resource because he’s been through it himself. So that’s step one. You’ve got to take every word as the gold standard because he’s been through it all and not only just been through it all, but been very successful through it all. He also is just a great coach. Having the experience is one thing, but you also need to just be a good communicator, you’ve got to be honest, you’ve got to be realistic, you have to ride that line of being a really good friend, a really good mentor and someone can push you every day too. I think Sully does a good job of balancing those characteristics. We’re all really close with him. Especially the older guys who have been around him for a while. He’s actually just a bro sometimes when were in between training time on trips we just get to hang out and enjoy each other’s company and when it comes time to focus, he’s the real deal and he’s a great coach. He instills this belief in his athletes that is just very motivating and makes you really feel like you can accomplish the things that you want and I’m very thankful for that. If you want it and you show it to him, he’s never going to hold you back. He’s going to do everything in his power to maximize your potential as an athlete. What should we expect from Michigan going forward? The program is in fantastic hands in terms of the coaching staff. Coach Clayton on the track side, his resume says it all. He’s coached multiple Olympians, multiple NCAA champions. The guys and girls that came in as five start recruits and the people who have walked on he’s made brilliant athletes. The entire coaching stuff does a great job. We’ve had some senior leadership for a while now because we’ve had six fifth year’s return over the past year, so I’d like to think we’ve had a positive influence on the guys. I guess that’s for them to decide, but we’ve taken our role as leaders and elders on the team very seriously to try and inspire the next generation. We want them to be better than we were, you know? We try to get that mindset in them early. It’s cool to look up to your teammates, but only if you can see yourself accomplishing those things as well if not more. So that’s the type of motivation we tried to instill in them. I‘ve got a lot of confidence in the number of guys that seem fully bought in and it seems like the culture is in a really great place. I’m going to be around Ann Arbor, I’m finishing my degree, at least through the fall. Mason is still in town so if they ever do feel like we are resourceful to them we’re not too far away. I’m always willing to give back to the program any way I can. Four of the five distance events were won by BIG Ten athletes. Is this the most competitive you’ve seen the Big Ten since your career began at Michigan? Yeah how cool is that? That was so much fun to watch. It was mind blowing. That’s the most competitive I’ve seen it at the national level. I’ve seen a lot of guys in the Big Ten perform studly, but I’ve never seen that type of performance all happen in the same weekend across so many guys. That was really cool to see. They’re all the real deal, right? Oliver Hoare is a phenomenal athlete. A 3:37 guy, he closed in 51 point at Big Tens. He won Big Ten cross, he kicked my ass actually in cross and then he goes on to win a 1500 national title. Total stud, great guy also. Isaiah Harris, everyone knows him around the block. He’s the most consistent racer anyone has ever seen. Obsa Ali is just a total gamer and when he’s on he’s on. He’s made huge improvements in the steeple and his consistency is very impressive. All those guys are so admirable in different ways and I’m just pumped to be a part of that group was able to perform that well on the weekend. You know, at Big Tens I want to beat those guys more than anything, but on a national level you want to see your conference succeed. You want to see those guys do well and they’re all great guys so it’s pretty hard to root against them. It was really cool to see the Big Ten represented so well at the national level. Do you plan to go pro? Is there a particular racing group or brand that you would like to turn pro with? I definitely do and that’s all in the works right so I wish I could give you more detail. But a few things I can tell you that I know is that I have a degree to finish up in the fall so I’ll be in Ann Arbor until then for sure. The thing I try to make as clear as possible to any resources I’ve been communicating with is that I am very open and I just want to find out all the options that are available. I want to stay open-minded and don’t want to shut down any options initially. I want to make a well-informed decision once I understand all the options that are available. So I’m in communication with different resources right now and kind of navigating that pathway, or those pathways. As soon as I have a decision I will be sure to communicate to anybody that wants to know about it. There’s a very nice track club, it’s Ronnie’s group, Ron Warhurst. That is who Willis is with and a few other guys. We have some independent guys like Ned Willig, who’s a 3:57 miler, Mason Ferlic whose name speaks for itself. Coach Sully is always open to keeping in touch with post collegiate guys so it’s a really good set up here so I’m in no rush to leave. I think it’s a great spot to be in at least for the near future and then, like I said, I’m not ruling out any options right now. The next goal is to find some presence on the international scene. I want to represent Canada at all the opportunities that make sense for me to do so. And then in terms of race distances, again I’ve been very open to where ever we see is the best fit, whether that be on the roads in the marathon or the half marathon, or the 10k or even the mile. So long story short, I’m keeping my options open, but as of right now I don’t have any very clear decisions made.

Our predictions are here! We have made our All-American selections and have posted them below. You can also view all of our All-American picks on the PREDICTIONS page in the menu bar above. If you haven't already, be sure to read Michael Weidenbruch's picks and see how his picks stack up. You can view all of the entries and results by clicking the link here . 800 1. Michael Saruni (UTEP) 2. Isaiah Harris (Penn State) 3. Avery Bartlett (Georgia Tech) 4. Robert Heppenstall (Wake Forest) 5. Devin Dixon (Texas A&M) 6. Marco Arop (Mississippi State) 7. Cooper Williams (Indiana) 8. John Lewis (Clemson) It's one thing to run an NCAA record. It's another thing to back it up by consistently winning. After winning the indoor national title, it's hard to pick against the UTEP superstar. However, if anyone is going to challenge Saruni, it's going to be Harris who is looking incredibly strong in the final few races of the season. His 1:45 at BIG 10 to defeat the Indiana duo of Cooper Williams and Daniel Kuhn was a huge win and not given enough recognition. Maybe we're just getting numb to his outstanding performances? Avery Bartlett and Robert Heppenstall showed off his great their closing speed at the East Regional Championships. Not only that, but they've been consistent all year with strong performances in both the 800 and 1500. For Bartlett, I would consider this his breakout season. He upset Isaiah Harris at the Florida Relays, ran 1:47 and 3:43, won an ACC title, and snagged a spot to Nationals. He'll be the name that everyone is Googling at the end of the weekend. Devin Dixon is a huge talent who ran 1:45 earlier in the season. He's been to multiple national championships and is familiar with a lot of this competition. The Aggie 800 star is super talented, but he doesn't always perform up to his potential in the NCAA final. I imagine he'll be a bit more competitive in this one as he now has a few more reps under his belt. Cooper Williams is a name that I really like this weekend. Admittedly, I questioned whether or not his breakout 1:46 performance at BIG 10's was just a fluke. However, he ran with such poise and control throughout his rounds during East Regionals. He's backed up his performances, been consistent, and fought with the best. For that, I have him as an All-American. For guys like Arop and Lewis, I think they're front-running tactics will help them get out of the NCAA prelims and into the final. I think Lewis will hit the time qualifier from his heat while the Arop will be one of the three men to make it out his prelim thanks to his aggressive racing style. 1500 1. Josh Kerr (New Mexico) 2. Sam Prakel (Oregon) 3. Robert Domanic (Ole Miss) 4. Vincent Ciattei (Virginia Tech) 5. Justine Kiprotich (Michigan State) 6. Mick Stanovsek (Oregon) 7. Ben Malone (Villanova) 8. Ian Crowe-Wright (New Mexico) Much like Saruni, it's hard to argue for an upset of the NCAA record holder. It's also doesn't hurt that Kerr has three NCAA titles. I imagine he'll get his 4th if he stays composed like he usually does. As for Prakel, I like to think he's one of the few men in this field that can contend with Kerr. He has the fitness, experience, closing speed, and tactical understanding in order to make this a competitive race. Prakel finished 3rd at indoor NCAA's this past winter after battling up front for most of the race. I see a similar scenario taking place with the end result being one spot better. At the beginning of the season, Domanic just seemed like a "time trialer" to me. He seemed like someone who could only perform well in fast races while struggling in slower, tactical affairs. However, those concerns were erased throughout the season after Domanic secured the SEC title as well as a national qualifying spot. Both of those performances were much slower and displayed Domanic's improvements in strategic racing. I think that trend will continue at Nationals. I don't think anyone was shocked to see Ciattei as the runner-up finish during the indoor NCAA meet. He was having a great season in the mile and rarely gave you a poor performance. I imagine he'll have another great outing this weekend, but I think a few of his competitors will make the necessary adjustments to get the edge on him. For Justine Kiprotich, he hasn't looked 2017 version of himself this season, but his emergence in the final few meets of the season has been very telling. This guy is incredibly clutch, knows how to race against elite-level competition, and has done it before. I'm not sure I see him taking silver again, but he'll find a way to stay competitive. Mick Stanovsek is on a revenge tour after taking a fall during the indoor national meet. Much like his teammate Sam Prakel, Stanovsek hasn't given me a reason to doubt him. He's such a strong runner and knows how to position himself throughout the race. I think he's still a year out from a top three finish, but he'll find himself an All-American honor this weekend. As for Ben Malone, he has the best the kick in the field. It is absolutely lethal. I think his range is too good to ignore and that a tactical race will favor him. Similarly, Ian Crowe-Wright has quietly put together a series of strong performances. He's a great, patient tactician who will find ways to stay competitive and put himself in content with the top group. In a race with so much back-and-forth, Crowe-Wright will thrive in a field like this. 3000 Steeple 1. Brian Barraza (Houston) 2. Emmanuel Rotich (Tulane) 3. Obsa Ali (Minnesota) 4. Matt Owens (BYU) 5. Jamaine Coleman (Eastern Kentucky) 6. Clayson Shumway (BYU) 7. Noah Affolder (Syracuse) 8. Aidan Tooker (Syracuse) This race is wide-open. At least we had an idea of who the favorite is after the 2017 Regional Championships. This year? Not so much... I think, realistically, there are five men who could battle for the title. If I had to choose one, I'm going with Brian Barraza. He's run at (indoor) Nationals before, became an All-American, ran 8:32 while redshirting last year, and has been putting up some phenomenal times this season (i.e. 13:38 at Mt. SAC). I'm not convinced he'll win it, but it would definitely be a feel-good story if he did. When I think about Emmanuel Rotich, I'm not sure we've seen the full potential from him. He's brings so much to the table in terms of his resume, but I want to see what else he has in the bag. I think he'll bring something fast and push Barraza to the line. Obsa Ali has yet to lost a steeplechase race this season and is only getting better with each and every race. The Minnesota senior ran 8:36 at the West Regional Championships two weeks ago and looks primed to continue his streak of excellence. He's convinced me he'll be an All-American. The BYU duo of Matt Owens and Clayson Shumway are fearless competitors who aren't afraid to run with the best. Owens is a bit more patient than Shumway when it comes to pacing, but attacking the barriers will be necessary in a stacked field such as this. They can not sit back and let the race come to them. As much as I've liked the BYU duo, the Syracuse duo has been a really fun storyline. The Affolder/Tooker pairing has been a beneficial one for the Orangemen. They went 1-2 at ACC's and did the same thing in their quarterfinal at East Regionals. I think they're still one year out from contending for the title, but they are SUPER talented and not a running tandem that I would want to fight for an All-American spot. 5000 1. Justyn Knight (Syracuse) 2. Andy Trouard (NAU) 3. Amon Kemboi (Campbell) 4. Grant Fisher (Stanford) 5. Vincent Kiprop (Alabama) 6. Zach Long (Tennessee) 7. Cole Rockhold (Colorado State) 8. Edwin Kurgat (Iowa State) The 5000 may be the most exciting event of the year. Knight will battle the two men who have defeated him in championship races during his prime. That has to call for a bit of drama. Yet, when I look at the body of work, I see Knight having the edge. He's simply done too much this season at both 1500 and 5000 meters. I think Trouard is one of the few men capable of beating him, but I believe Knight will have learned from his upset this past indoor season. I mentioned this in our Going For Gold series, but Amon Kemboi has been a beast on the track this spring. After hitting personal bests of 3:39, 13:37, and 28:55, I don't see why he can't be in the mix for the top three. He has the fitness to keep up the elites in a fast race and has the speed to handle an all-out finish. I like what he can do here. As much as I like Grant Fisher, I'm not sure if he has the same edge as last season. The Stanford superstar is still uber talented, but I'm unsure if he'll be able to match the same level of finishing speed that some of these other guys might have. Speaking of finishing speed, that is precisely why I have Kiprop placing 5th. Whether the race is fast or slow, Kiprop has some underrated turnover that can keep him in contention at the end. I loved what I saw from him at the SEC Championships (where he won double gold) and I think he'll step into an All-American spot. Zach Long's Stanford Invite race was definitely something special, but I don't think it was a fluke either. His focus on the 1500 this season emphasized the importance of speed development. I think that will play a role in this race and will help Long earn the first All-American honor of his career. When thinking about Rockhold, I just see too much talent to leave him off the podium. He's competed with some of the best that the nation has to offer and his 3:40 1500 speed can make him a huge threat to anyone else battling to finish within the top eight. Kurgat's conservative racing style makes him a safe pick in my mind. He's incredibly patient, knows when to move up, and is simply a talented runner. Not only that, but he hasn't had a single "poor" performance all season. That tells me he should be primed for a solid run at NCAA's. 10,000 1. Vincent Kiprop (Alabama) 2. Tyler Day (NAU) 3. Matthew Baxter (NAU) 4. Rory Linkletter (BYU) 5. Jonathan Green (Georgetown) 6. Clayton Young (BYU) 7. Ben Flanagan (Michigan) 8. Gilbert Kigen (Alabama) For five straight years now, the runner with the fastest 10k time in the NCAA has never won the 10k title. 2012 was the last year that the fastest 10k runner in the NCAA (Cam Levins) would emerge victorious. Stats like that leave me concerned. Otherwise, I would choose Day. In the mean time, it's hard to choose against Kiprop who out-kicked an Olympian at the Stanford Invite. I think the race will be fast which should benefit him and a handful of athletes in this field. Day and Baxter are still some of the best distance runners in this field. They will be contenders no matter how the race plays out. If the race is an all-out fitness test, Day and Baxter could emerge at the top. I've already mentioned Linkletter in the 5k portion, but he just always seems to be in the mix when it comes to these kind of races. He brings a lot to the table I struggle to see him not on the podium. Guys like Jonathan Green and Ben Flanagan are veterans who know how to masterfully navigate through top-level talent like this. I like their experience and their recent performances have left me confident that they'll handle the big stage with some ease. The final two men, Clayton Young and Gilbert Kigen, are hard names to leave off the podium. Neither athlete has given me a reason to doubt them this season and if the race is as fast as I think it will be, these two should be able to prosper.