Jessica Hull is currently on course to make history. She has yet to lose a race on the track in 2019 during a campaign that has resulted in national titles for the DMR and the 3000. Adding to that, Hull is coming off of the best cross country season of her career, placing 3rd at the Cross Country National Championships and never placing lower than that mark in any race that fall. When we rewind back to 2018, you'll find that she also won the 1500 meter national title outdoors and was the DMR national champion the season prior. That's four titles in a 365 day span (roughly speaking). * * * Every few years, there seems to be one woman who rises above the rest of the NCAA. In 2016, Karissa Schweizer burst onto the scene when she won the XC national title and never looked back after that. She racked up six national titles over those two years, including two titles at the 5000 meter distance. Before Schweizer, Dominique Scott of Arkansas was the queen of the distance events. During her senior outdoor season, she won both the 5000 and 10,000 on the track, losing only one race all season. Before her, it was Emily Sisson, now one of the fastest American women ever in numerous distances. And before Sisson? It was Marielle Hall, a multiple-time Olympian of the Bowerman Track Club. Prior to that? 2016 Olympian Abbey D’Agostino was winning every distance at NCAA's, claiming four national titles on the track over two years. All of these women hit an all-time elite status at one point or another in their college careers. And the main thing that made them so great? They rarely ever lost. *Losses do not include regional races, prelim races, or finishing behind professional runners* The table above shows all of the previous NCAA outdoor 5000 meter champions dating back to 2012. Over those seven years, only three times did a woman win the outdoor 5000 meter title while also losing at least one race during that season. Karissa Schweizer accounts for two of those three instances, although one of her two losses in 2018 was during the 10,000 meter final at NCAA's. Arkansas' Dom Scott also pulled off the feat in 2016. Neither Schweizer nor Scott lost at the 5000 distance during those seasons - all of their losses came at 1500 meters. * * * With the way her redshirt junior season is going, Hull looks to be on pace to make history. Only one woman, Sheila Reid of Villanova in 2011, has won a national title in both the 1500 and 5000 since 2000. Last season, Hull won the 1500 title and this year she looks like an early-season favorite to win the 5000, even if she's only raced the event once this calendar year. While there is no guarantee that Hull will opt to run the 5000 over the 1500 this season, there are a handful of reasons as to why it would be the smarter choice...the first being Dani Jones. The Colorado superstar has been one of the best 1500 runners in the NCAA over the past couple of years and she is expected to return to the outdoor oval this spring. After redshirting the 2018 outdoor track season, Jones ended up running faster than any woman in the country at the collegiate level. If Hull chooses to defend her national title in the 1500, she risks facing Jones in what would likely be a tougher battle for NCAA gold. Another point worth mentioning is that the 1500 requires making it through prelim rounds which can be quite unpredictable and adds another element of risk for Hull. In the grand scheme of things, is that a big deal? No, but we've seen crazier things happen before... The second, and possibly more important reason, that Hull should choose to run the 5000 meters at Nationals is that the event favors her racing style and strengths. Although Wisconsin's Alicia Monson ran a fantastic race indoors to claim the national title in the 5k, Hull has much quicker closing speed than Monson which greatly benefits her in a championship style race. In fact, Hull has a faster mile personal best than any other woman vying for the national title in the 5000 meters which should gives her an edge over anyone in a tactical race. The Oregon phenom has already won the only 5000 meter race of her 2019 outdoor season with a convincing victory at the Stanford Invitational in 15:34 over BYU star Erica Birk. The time is a personal best, but Hull still displayed impressive poise and comfort before she pulled away over the last lap. Even if the pace at Nationals is moderately quick, Hull could very easily be in the top group with a lap to go. * * * Hull is arguably the best runner in the NCAA right now. In the eyes of many, she could realistically win the 1500 or 5000 meter titles come June. The last time the Oregon veteran lost a race on the track was May 13th, 2018 when she placed 6th in the 5000 at PAC 12's. It was also the same meet where she won the prelims and finals of the 1500 meters...no one said doubling was easy. In total, it has been a whopping 331 days since her last track loss and it would not be surprising if she carried that streak into the summer. This season, Hull will have a chance to cement her name as one of the all-time NCAA greats. If she wins a national title at 5000 meters, she will join the aforementioned Sheila Reid as the only women since 2000 to win titles in both the 1500 and 5000. If she makes it through outdoors without a loss, she will join Olympian Abbey D’Agostino (2013) in remaining undefeated during consecutive indoor and outdoor seasons. Hull has the makings of a collegiate legend and in 2019, we could see her reach the pinnacle of what has already been an awe-inspiring career.

Big thanks to Zach Long for talking to The Stride Report! Twitter: @Zach_Long235 It's not uncommon to hear about a big name in the running community switching programs. New opportunities in the NCAA such as the transfer portal have given student-athletes a new sense of freedom to put themselves in better situations that benefit them both athletically and academically. Of course, this trend isn’t limited only to collegiate sports. In fact, the idea of player freedom and mobility likely stemmed from many professional sports leagues. Nowhere is this more evident than in the NBA where players, starting with LeBron James and hitting its peak with Kevin Durant, have seemingly dismissed franchise commitment as an ancient afterthought. This attitude of indifference towards institutions such as schools and franchises is often a point of contention, but it is hard to argue that it hasn’t been advantageous for many athletes. In the running community, we have seen how beneficial transferring to Iowa State has been for Edwin Kurgat as he has become a national contender individually while helping Iowa State earn back-to-back 7th place finishes at the Cross Country National Championships. The same could be said for the recent moves we saw this past summer between Oregon and Washington. The examples go on... Although it is clear that there are many advantages to the increased player movement in professional sports, as well as the NCAA, I can't help but be a sucker for those who have been loyal since day one. And that's where Tennessee's Zach Long comes in. * * * The senior from Rutledge, Tennessee grew up as a lifelong Volunteer fan. “It was always a dream of mine to be an athlete at Tennessee” Long told TSR, and his passion for the Volunteers is evident. During Tennessee’s run through March Madness, Zach reported that the track team stopped their flight from taking off because they "needed to watch the rest of Tennessee’s game" against Iowa as it went into overtime. For anyone who lives in Knoxville, this isn't surprising. After all, there aren’t many fanbases who could stop their university from hiring a head coach even after he signed a contract (yes, that actually happened). For Long, cross country wasn’t the sport he was supposed to play at Tennessee. During middle school baseball conditioning, the track coach saw him dusting his teammates in mile repeats and suggested that he come out for the track team. He ran a few meets, but was still interested in playing other sports. To make sure he was in shape to play basketball his freshmen year of high school, Long signed up for the cross country team. However, basketball was no longer in the picture after he was All-State as a freshman and ran 16:30 in the 5k. Suddenly, Long and his family realized that this running thing could really be special. That said, giving up baseball, a sport he had played since he was five years old, wasn’t something he was willing to do just yet. For the rest of his high school career, Long delicately balanced playing baseball and running. * * * 5:00 A.M. This was the time track practice started for Zach while he was playing baseball. Not only was practice early, but he also had to hike over to Knoxville where he would meet his personal coach every morning. After track practice, it was back to school by nine o’clock and then to baseball practice in the afternoon. Yet, despite the heavy workload, Long was still able to run well enough every track season to receive interest from a variety of Division 1 schools...including Tennessee. * * * Building a national caliber cross country team isn’t easy, but with Long and a solid class of freshmen, Tennessee was ready to start laying the foundation in 2015. Zach knew that building a contender would be a process for a team that finished 10th in the south region the year before while also losing their top runner. Even so, he trusted that the coaching staff would help him build a lineup that could challenge for a top two spot at regionals. Long contributed to the team right away, leading the Vols in cross country during his freshman and sophomore years. However, it wasn't until the 2017 SEC Outdoor Championships where he had his breakout race. After just missing out on making the 1500 meter final, Long entered the 5k hoping to score a few points for the team. Instead, the Volunteer got into rhythm and finished 4th overall, running a stunning 13:54 which lowered his PR by almost a full minute. After just missing out on a regional qualifying time in the 1500, Long was suddenly headed to regionals in a distance he had run only twice in his collegiate career. Naturally, no one could blame the inexperienced Tennessee ace who had never been on a stage that was so large and so competitive. However, inexperience, was not an issue. Instead, Long cruised to a 6th place finish and easily secured a spot to the National Championships. Of course, the experience of going to Eugene can often be overwhelming, especially when you toe the line next to the nation's best. "I was racing the big boys like Justyn Knight and Grant Fisher" Long told TSR. "It's one of the most intimidating tracks in the country”. In just the fourth 5000 meter race of his collegiate career, Long finished 12th overall and earned Second Team All-American honors. No longer an underclassman with lots of potential, Long was now a national contender. * * * Tennessee’s cross country program, on the other hand, was not quite at the same level. In Long’s first two years, the Volunteers finished 9th and 10th at regionals. It would have been easy for Long to look across the street and think that the grass is greener on the other side, but this was never a thought that entered his mind. Instead, Long stayed loyal to the school that he loves and worked to push the Volunteers to newer and higher heights. Long didn’t just stick around Knoxville and focus on his individual goals. A team captain since his sophomore year, the Tennessee low-stick has worked to foster team unity and set ambitious team goals. The team’s group chat was renamed Road to Madison as soon as the 2017 cross season was over. The men in orange believed this was the year to put Tennessee’s cross country team back on the map. After a strong showing in 2017 that saw the Vols improve to 5th in the region, it was hard to fault them for their enthusiasm. Plus, they returned their entire top five and had a handful of talented recruits on the way. The 2018 regional meet was the culmination of all of Tennessee's hard work. The Volunteers were ranked #2 in the South Region and in prime position to make it back to Nationals. Long ran a fantastic race, finishing 2nd to Alabama’s Alfred Chelanga. In a tight race that went down to the last mile, Tennessee battled with Florida State for the final automatic bid. Ultimately, the Seminoles were able to keep their lead over the Volunteers to earn a spot to Nationals. While Long earned an at-large bid to NCAA's, his team came up one spot short. A bittersweet moment certainly, but one that showed just how far this team had come. After a 10th place finish at regionals just a few years prior, the Volunteers had raised the bar high enough to a point where a 3rd place regional finish was somehow (but understandably) disappointing. * * * With Long graduating at the end of the year, Tennessee will certainly feel his loss in a big way, but they will be back contending for a spot at Nationals. Even though the Volunteers are losing their leader and best runner, they will still be a conference and regional contender thanks to the foundation built by their coaches, alumni, and current members of the team. In a region that is filled with so much uncertainty, the Vols will be able to lean on high-potential talents like Karl Thiessen, Alex Crigger, John Elrod, and Connor Hawkins. All of these men are underclassmen who have bright futures and will undoubtedly continue the success that Long has started. With all this said, Long’s career is far from over. He recently ran 13:56 at the Stanford Invite and has his goals are set considerably higher this time around. Finishing as a First Team All-American in the 5k is the goal, and I find it hard to bet against him, especially when you remember that he owns a 13:39 personal best from 2018. * * * Perhaps nostalgia isn’t always best, but it's easy to admire Zach Long’s old-school career which has emphasized the commitment and dedication towards building a program. Giving student-athletes more freedom to transfer is certainly valuable, but there is something satisfying about seeing the results of loyalty and blue collar growth. Time will tell, but it seems like Tennessee is here to stay as contenders in a rapidly improving South region, and Zach Long’s contributions as a leader and a runner should be an example for future athletes. And who knows? Maybe future basketball teams will stop planes to watch Zach race...

In case you haven't heard, the 2018 National Championships for cross country will be moving to Madison, Wisconsin this fall. Switching to a new course has happened plenty of times before, but shifting the meet to Wisconsin has a variety of implications on regular season meets. The regular season Pre-Nationals meet is held annually at the location where the National Championship will be that year. Both Pre-Nats and the Wisconsin Invite are typically run on the second weekend in October. With Pre-Nats now moving to Madison, we would theoretically have two different races on the same day and on the same course, but with different teams. Clearly, that doesn't make sense. To remedy this problem, the Badgers have decided to push the Wisconsin Invite back to September 28th. This monumental change in the regular season schedule could have a large influence on qualifying scenarios as well as the competition level at certain meets. With the Wisconsin Invite field already finalized and the Pre-National entries recently announced , we now have enough information to discuss the potential outcomes from these meets and others. Keep in mind that the Wisconsin Invite is no longer accepting entries while the Pre-National meet still is. Will Pre-Nats or the Wisconsin Invite be more competitive this year? In most years, I've always been of the opinion that the Wisconsin Invite was slightly more competitive than Pre-Nats. Historically, there have been more teams capable of qualifying for Nationals at the Wisconsin Invite. However, 2018 will clearly favor Pre-Nats with entries like Furman, Stanford, Colorado State, NAU, Iowa State, Portland, UCLA, and many more. Those teams will finally get to battle the likes of Oregon, Colorado, Michigan, and Ole Miss during the regular season. With nearly every national contender entered in the Pre-National meet, fans of the NCAA will be treated to an actual preview of what the National Championship could look like in 2018. What does that mean for qualifying hopes? With the Wisconsin Invite now diluted and shifted to a different weekend, a heavy portion of this year's Kolas points will be decided at the Pre-National meet. When you think about it, this makes obvious sense. Pre-Nats doesn't have to compete with another large meet for team entries. Instead, it will host nearly every team in the NCAA looking to qualify for the National Championships. Despite the Wisconsin Invite being moved to the weekend of September 28th, it is still set to be very competitive with teams like Northern Arizona, Colorado State, Iowa State, and Portland headlining the field. In fact, the Wisconsin Invite meet will probably distribute the second most Kolas points in the nation this year, behind only Pre-Nats. That's not to say that you can't qualify for Nationals if you race elsewhere, but your chances of earning more Kolas points drastically increase as long as you don't choke at Pre-Nats. Who will be the important teams to watch at Pre-Nats? The Southeast and Great Lakes region are relatively wide-open this year in terms of who will finish within the top two of their region. NC State, Furman, Virginia, Campbell, and (maybe) Virginia Tech will all be fighting for two of the automatic qualifying spots in the Southeast (and there doesn't appear to be a heavy favorite). Of those teams, NC State, Furman, and Campbell are entered for Pre-Nats. Defeating any of those three could (potentially) give you an extra Kolas point or two. The same can be said for the Great Lakes region. Although Wisconsin will likely be the favorite to take the top spot in the region, the final automatic qualifying spot will be up for grabs between Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue. Indiana and Butler also have an outside chance as well. As of right now, all of those teams (except Michigan State) are entered to race at Pre-Nats. It's still unclear as to who will take that second automatic qualifying spot, but defeating these teams will certainly give you an edge when it comes to Kolas points. Who isn't already entered for Pre-Nats? Despite the increase in Kolas opportunities, other teams who are known to give up points have not yet entered. Texas has not yet submitted an entry for Pre-Nats while Mid-Atlantic teams like Navy, Georgetown, and Princeton are also absent. Over the past few seasons, these teams have given up a decent amount of Kolas points. Not having these four teams in the field could lessen the amount of points available to other programs. Three glaring misses right now are BYU, Arkansas, and Syracuse. None of those teams have entered the Wisconsin Invite or Pre-Nats. However, it’s probably safe to assume that they will submit an entry for Pre-Nats sometime soon. We can also assume that all three of these teams will finish in the top two of their region. Although having enough Kolas points is important, Syracuse, Arkansas, and BYU are good enough to get an automatic qualifier. Aside from Texas and the Mid-Atlantic teams mentioned above, Michigan State, Virginia, Iona, and Virginia Tech are also interesting absences. Those four teams have the potential to give away plenty of Kolas points throughout this season. Every other regular season meet will become virtually non-existent thanks to the Wisconsin Invite For years now, Roy Griak, Paul Short, the Greater Louisville Classic (GLC), and Notre Dame Joe Piane Invite have been important regular season meets responsible for shaping the landscape of the NCAA qualifying picture. However, with the Wisconsin Invite now being run on the same weekend, almost every other meet will be left without their share of high-level entries. Here are the teams who will be racing at the Wisconsin Invite who ran at other meets in 2017… Louisville Northern Arizona Boise State Purdue Illinois Wisconsin Notre Dame Southern Utah Colorado Air Force Michigan Eastern Kentucky Texas Alabama NC State New Mexico Washington State Butler Paul Short Georgetown Penn Villanova Tennessee Roy Griak Colorado State Michigan State San Francisco For some fans of the sport, this concentration of team talent has to be frustrating. It isolates the sport to just a few weekends of competition and leaves other weeks without any results to review. It’s probably fair to say that other meet directors aren’t exactly thrilled with Wisconsin dominating the entire cross country season and collecting nearly all of the regular season entry fees.

Colorado Invite Ignites Rivalries, Accounts for ten Top 10 Marks We previewed the CU Invite on Friday because of what it potentially could mean in terms of marks on the D2 performance list. Both start lists in the 1500 were very impressive to say the least. On the women’s side, we saw a matchup that we could potentially repeat itself at the NCAA meet with Eilish Flanagan of Adams State and Alicja Konieczek of Western Colorado finishing 3rd and 4th overall in the meet. Flanagan ran 4:27.91 to Konieczek’s 4:28.40. The two athletes ran the same two events last year at the outdoor NCAA meet (albeit, not the 1500) with Konieczek coming out on top in terms of placing. Konieczek won the steeplechase with Flanagan finishing 2nd. The Mountaineer was also the runner-up at 5000 meters with Flanagan finishing 16th in that race. Flanagan got her revenge after she finished runner-up at the NCAA cross country earlier this fall while Konieczek was 4th. If these two don't have a rivalry yet, we're going to keep saying they do until someone agrees with us. Skylyn Webb of UCCS stepped up in distance and was the 5th place finisher in a time of 4:31.32. Not bad for someone who is known mainly for her prowess in the 800 meters. With altitude conversions, Flanagan sits at NCAA #1 with a 4:21.45, Konieczek is NCAA #2 at 4:22.00, and Webb sits at NCAA #5 with a 4:24.85. The men’s side saw seven performances from the weekend that will likely stick around until the weeks leading up to Nationals. And, just like the women, we’re beginning to see a rivalry form as Elias Gedyon (Adams State) and Brett Meyer (Fort Hays State) found themselves in another strongly contested battle, although this time they had some surprise company. Gedyon was the 2nd place finisher as he ran 3:47.93 (3:42.50@). However, it wasn’t Meyer who was next, but Colorado Mines’ redshirt freshman Luke Julian instead. He was a half-second back in 3:48.42 (@3:42.98). Meyer finished in 5th, crossing the line in 3:49.65 (3:44.18@). These three currently sit 1-2-3 in the NCAA after their conversions. If we flashback here, Gedyon currently holds a 2-1 advantage over Meyer in national meets, most recently finishing just ahead of Meyer in the 2019 mile final. It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the season shakes out as we could see these two go against each other oncemore in a few weeks. The surprise name here is Julian. He anchored Mines’ DMR team to a 3rd place finish and then finished 5th in the 3000. He only has a PR of 4:09 in the mile and to essentially run that at elevation tells us that he should be a serious competitor in this event come May. We said there were seven top 10 performances here and we’ve only named three. Joining the three aforementioned athletes we have Adams State athletes Sydney Gidabuday (@3:45.79, #4) and Jackson Sayler (3:47.60, #8) as well as Western Colorado athletes in Taylor Stack (@3:47.63) and Ross Husch (@3:47.89). If you’re counting, that’s currently six RMAC athletes all inside the top 10 early in the season. If anything, the conference meet will be loaded in seemingly every event. Alaska Anchorage Continues to Build We all know the name of Caroline Kurgat by now. She’s broken multiple D2 records and is the favorite in the 5000 and 10,000 this spring. But it’s not just her that has excelled recently. Danielle McCormick currently holds the NCAA #1 at 800 meters right now. Her 2:05.65 from earlier this year is a personal best. McCormick also won the 2018 indoor national meet at 800 meters, finished 4th during outdoors, and then came back and finished 3rd this year. Not to mention, she is also sitting at #15 in the NCAA for 1500 meters with a time of 4:32. That’s just a second off her personal best in the event. Talk about consistency... Ruth Cvancara joins McCormick in the national rankings for the 800 as she sits at #13 in the NCAA with a 2:11.43, just one hundredth off of her personal best as well. A personal best in the 1500 of 4:35 has her at #30 currently. Vanessa Aniteye is the third Seawolf under the 2:14 barrier in the 800 as she has run 2:13.52 and now sits at #24 on the performance list. She’s qualified for the National Championships in the 400, and while the 800 might have been a building block race, it’s still an impressive move up in distance for Aniteye. Nancy Jeptoo just recently ran a mile in 4:58 and 17:26 (PR) in the same meet. After the mile-1500 conversion, she is now #32 in the NCAA. Given her PR in the mile of 4:51, she should move up the NCAA leaderboard later on in the season. Edwin Kangogo and Felix Kemboi are leading the men’s team as Kemboi just set personal bests in both the mile (4:11) and the 5000 (14:28) at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic. As for Kangogo, he ran a PR in the steeple with a time of 8:56 (also at Mike Fanelli). Given it’s been two years since he ran that race, it’s safe to say that his training is moving in the right direction as he’s right back where he left off. Now, if he can get back to his 14:16 shape, we could see a strong senior season from him. Too Long; Didn't Read: Alaska Anchorage is much better than you realize. Cool? Cool. Moving on... Nading Still Absent, 1500 Title Wide Open After the indoor season didn’t have the reigning champion as part of the field, we all wondered where Dustin Nading was. The runner-up for 1500 meters last year has still yet to race since the cross country season. So what gives? A possible injury from the cross country season and/or from the winter break has kept Nading sidelined since early December. As the weeks passed during indoors, we kept waiting for the Western Oregon Wolf to make his debut. That, however, wasn’t the case. It’s a feeling that is much of the same as the outdoor season will be near the halfway point by the end of this week. With meets like Bryan Clay, Mt. Sac, and Long Beach all on the upcoming schedule, should we expect to see Nading in uniform soon? In the case that Nading is also out during the outdoor season, that gives the likes of Felix Wammetsberger, Elias Gedyon, Brett Meyer, Daniel Wallis (and so on) an even greater chance of taking home the national title in late May. That being said, I don’t think Nading is going to graduate with his last meet being a cross country 10k. Underappreciated Performances Leah Hanle runs second auto mark of the year It's weird to place this in the “underappreciated” part of this article. But that’s what this is. Hanle has already run 16:02 this year which is one second personal best. She then came back this past weekend and ran 34:09 to ensure that she’ll be racing in two events come May. She’s still a bit off of her PR in the 10k, and with the way Kurgat is running, she’ll need to break that in order to compete with her. Leakey Kipkosgei continues to be a wild card Two weeks after an opening 1500 of 3:50, Kipkosgei came back and ran 3:46.16 which is a personal best AND is the fastest raw time of anyone in D2 despite being ranked at #5 on the TFRRS list. Kipkosgei clearly benefitted from his strong summer and his exceptional cross country base. He hasn’t skipped a beat and he has the ability to run whatever race he wants to at Nationals (yes, any race from 800 to 10k). Jaylen Tryon keeps improving The Lubbock Christian junior has raced every single weekend since the Indoor National Championships. In that time he’s run 4:11, 1:56, 1:53 and now 1:50. Is the three second improvement each week unlikely? Sure. But he’s three-hundredths of a second off of his personal best after this weekend. A breakout is coming. Tai Smith runs a personal best, becomes the ninth man under 30:00 in 10k The Mount Olive ace gave us a strong showing, running a personal best a year to the date as he ran 29:58 at the Colonial Relays this weekend. Smith was 19th at last year’s Outdoor National Championships, so he will be looking to avenge that race as the season goes on. Although he's not a title contender yet, he’s got a chance to compete for the podium later this season. Ezekiel Kipchirchir is a name to keep an eye on The Iowa Central CC transfer has quickly put his name on the performance lists. After having just an okay indoor season, Kipchirchir has set PR’s in the 10,000 and the 3000 steeple in back-to-back weekends. He ran 30:38 at the Raleigh Relays (good enough for NCAA #17) and then 9:17 (good enough for NCAA #10 after altitude conversion brings the time to 9:09). Quick Thoughts Thomas Staines I think most of expected more out of him in the 1500. He ran 3:59 and while we all know he’s not a miler, but after his DMR performance, I think most people thought that he would be a bit more competitive here. Looking at splits, Staines closed in 70 after being with the pack through 1100 meters. In the grand scheme of things, there's no real cause for concern here. Christine Myers How does a 32 second PR sound? That’s exactly what happened to Myers this weekend as she ran 36:15 at the 9th Annual Yellowjacket Invitational. With that performance, she’s vaulted herself up into NCAA #11 spot on the TFRRS list and should have her first national track meet appearance locked up. Benoit Campion The freshman was 2nd behind his teammate Kipkosgei, but was able to run 3:48 in the second time he’s ever run the 1500. It’s a three second improvement over his last time out and serves as a reminder that he’s going to be in the mix at the end of the season.

NCAA Indoor Mile Champion Stephanie Cotter Set to Make Outdoor Debut Adam State’s standout freshman Stephanie Cotter is ready to prove to everyone why she was the 2019 NCAA indoor mile champion. Cotter was the surprise winner at Indoor NCAA's, upsetting her teammate Roisin Flanagan and she looked smooth doing it. Cotter will also be making her 2019 outdoor track debut in the 800 this weekend. She may be known as a miler now, but she enters the race with a respectable PR of 2:09.49 in the event. Cotter won’t be the only Adams State Grizzly in the 800 as teammates Roisin Flanagan and Haleigh Hunter-Galvan will be running with her. As we already mentioned, Flanagan was runner-up in the mile behind Cotter at NCAA’s. As for Hunter-Galvan, she joined Flanagan and Cotter on the DMR this past winter to help Adams State take home the national title. Expect all three of these women to run provisional times as they get their outdoor seasons started. Thomas Staines Goes Up in Distance The NCAA DII record holder and multiple time national champion Thomas Staines of CSU-Pueblo will be switching it up this weekend. Instead of his traditional 800, he’ll be running the 1500 against a loaded field. Staines will have his hands full competing against recent national champions such as Elias Gedyon and Sydney Gidabuday.This exciting 1500 will be paced by Nike professional Riley Masters. We all know how dangerous Staines is in an 800 (he's nearly unbeatable), but it will be interesting to see how he holds up against established distance runners such as Gedyon and Gidabuday in a longer event. Also joining in on the fun will be Fort Hays State’s Brett Meyer who is a national runner-up and owns a PR of 3:43. He recently finish 4th in the mile at the NCAA indoor national meet. He has some extremely underrated speed and is one of the better tactical runners in the country. Watch out for him this weekend. Meyer will be joined by Luke Julian of Colorado Mines as well. The 5th place finisher from the NCAA indoor 3000 has run a 4:09 mile and he anchored the Orediggers DMR team to a 3rd place finish at NCAA's. Ross Husch of Western Colorado anchored the Mountaineers DMR team to an 8th place finish just a few weeks ago. He recently ran 4:05 (for the mile) at Fum Mcgraw and is in search of a faster time. Adams State teammates Jackson Sayler (4:05 mile) and Paddy Robb (3:49.58 for 1500) are the last two D2 athletes in the heat. It would be amiss of us if we didn’t mention the trio of elite Buffaloes who will be competing as well. Joe Klecker is fresh off of a 2nd place and a 3rd place finish in the 5000 and 3000 meters at the NCAA meet this past winter. He will be making his season debut this weekend. Teammate John Dressell has run 3:45.49 while Ryan Forsyth is fresh off a winter of training after finishing 9th at the NCAA cross country national meet. How Fast Will the Flanagan Sisters Run? How Will the 800 National Champion Fare? Roisin and Eilish Flanagan are the most dominant siblings in the NCAA. Both are entered to run the 1500 in the fast section which includes the defending indoor national champion in the 800, Sklyln Webb of UC-Colorado Springs. Roisin has an impressive 1500 PR of 4:22.62 and Eilish has a personal best of 4:35.06. Webb is coming off a historic indoor season, running 2:04.68 and winning the 800 meter national title. We know she has the power and speed to run something fast, so it will very interesting to watch how Webb will be pulled by distance elites like the Flanagan sisters. All three women can run provisional and even automatic marks in this interesting 1500 field. Making her debut this season is Alicja Konieczek of Western Colorado who currently holds the D2 collegiate record in the steeplechase. She also holds a personal best of 4:23.71. It’ll be interesting to see where Konieczek stands in terms of fitness. It’s an early test for her, but she should be in the thick of things. Malena Grover and HaiLeigh Hunter-Galvan (Adams State) are the last D2 women in this heat. They both have 1500 PR's under the 4:34 mark. NCAA vs the Pros There is some big talent in the fast section of the men’s 800. Andrew Ferris of South Dakota Mines (1:52.48), Patrick Scoggins of CSU-Pueblo (1:53.07), and Cole Willis of Nebraska-Kearney (1:53.46) will be accompanied by a handful of professionals in this event. Chad Noelle, the former Oklahoma State All-American and current ASICS runner, will be pacing the field. He'll be joined by Will Leer of Under Armour and Tripp Hurt, the recent bronze medalist in the two mile at the 2019 USATF Indoor Championships. This race will be very fast as expected and these three runners should have no problem making things quick.

FULL RESULTS FROM THIS WEEKEND HERE Ellsworth holds off Ejore en route to PR and win In one of our first recaps of the outdoor season, we mentioned that Lauren Ellsworth was someone to watch this spring. Sure enough, she posted a huge time of 2:02 to win the Sun Angel Classic this past weekend. Not only was her time absurdly fast, but she was able to hold off Oregon's Susan Ejore, one of the more underrated middle distance runners in the country who ran 2:03 for 2nd. The season is still young, but there is a lot to like about this performance. This was Ellsworth's second win in her second race of the season, and it's encouraging to see that she can consistently beat out some of the nation's top talent in the process. As for Susan Ejore, she may not have won, but her time suddenly makes her a threat for the podium in June. While many fans of the sport may view Ejore as a 1500 runner, she was able to show that she has just as much speed as the other top half-milers around the country. The women's 800 was already stacked, but it just got a lot deeper... Klecker cruises to 3:45 at altitude, earns conversion of 3:39 Another race, another mind-boggling performance from Joe Klecker. The Colorado ace cruised to the finish line on his home track in the 1500, running a time of 3:45 for the win. He comfortably took home the victory while running a conversion of 3:39. Many of us view Klecker as a long distance star (and rightfully so), but he's beginning to show that he has the same range and versatility as other stars like Morgan McDonald and Grant Fisher. Teammates John Dressel and Ryan Forsyth also posted respectable times of 3:49 and 3:50, respectively, which dropped to 3:43 and 3:44 after being adjusted for altitude. While many fans of the sport were focused on Klecker's performance, we shouldn't overlook Dressel or Forsyth's finish. Those are two nice marks that shows off some underrated speed. Birk shows off range by running 4:13 to win Sun Angel 1500 Speaking of underrated speed, Erica Birk continues to post monster results. After a dominant cross country season and major success in the 3000 meters during indoors, Birk has been using this outdoor season to show off her range. After running 15:38 at the Stanford Invite last week, she toed the lie at the Sun Angel Classic and dropped a huge time of 4:13 for 1500 meters. It's the fastest time in the country this season and would've been ranked #11 on the 2018 NCAA leaderboard. Although the BYU star will likely focus on the 5000 for the rest of this season, you can't help but think that she'll reconsider her preferred race for Nationals if she runs any faster in the 1500. With no sign of Dani Jones, Jessica Hull potentially leaning towards the 5000, and a wide-open field in the 1500 meters, you can't help but think that Birk will carefully weigh her options when the time comes for her to choose what she will race at Nationals. Best Event of the Weekend: 800 Meters Ellsworth and Ejore may have gained most of the attention with their performances at the Sun Angel Classic, but there were a ton of other fast 800's run this past weekend. How about Carlos Villarreal who showed that last year's 1:46 was no fluke? The Arizona star flexed his range after running 14:07 at Stanford last weekend with a time of 1:47.54 at the Jim Click Shootout. His time is currently tied for NCAA #3 with Avery Bartlett, even though TFRRS has them ranked in the top two spots in the country right now. The reason for that is because TFRRS has not yet processed the results from the Sun Angel Classic where the Iowa State duo of Festus Lagat and Roshon Roomes ran a pair of 1:47.14's which are now the top two spots in the country. Iowa's Matt Manternach ran 1:47.84 after running 1:48 last week at the Florida Relays. Those are two strong performances in back-to-back weeks for someone who hasn't really been a national contender like some of these other names that we've mentioned. Switching back to the women, Monmouth's Allie Wilson is silencing anyone who suggests that she is a one-season standout. She just ran 2:03.81 at the Sam Howell Invite thanks to Nike's Raevyn Rodgers keeping the pace honest up front. Meanwhile, Georgia's Amber Tanner is riding the momentum from her indoor season onto the outdoor oval. She just ran a huge personal best of 2:04 at the Spec Towns Invite and did it all alone, winning by nearly seven seconds. It will be exciting to see what Tanner can do against a field with a similar talent level. We should also mention the Reville Invite where we saw Texas A&M's Carlton Orange run a time of 1:48.48 to hold off two strong challengers from Texas Tech (Vincent Crisp and Jonah Koech). Devin Dixon may get most of the attention, but Orange is quietly one of the better middle distance runners in the country. Underappreciated Performances Hannah Steelman dominates steeplechase debut The Wofford distance stud ran 9:52 in a four person field which is now the #2 time in the country (she won by a minute and 44 seconds). Does anyone realize how impressive that is? Steelman soloed a time that would've ranked #6 in the country back in 2018. Just imagine what she could've done in a more competitive field... Salisbury runs 3:45 at Sam Howell The Georgetown sophomore has been one of the more reliable milers in the country and his consistency can occasionally be overlooked. He took the win at the Sam Howell Invite this past weekend with a respectable time of 3:45. Strong times, consistent performances, and the ability to win often indicate that a breakout race is coming. Don't be surprised if this Hoya runs something fast later this season. Hutchinson prospers in battle with Ajee Wilson Sticking with the Sam Howell Invite, we got to see another strong result in the 1500. Villanova's Nicole Hutchinson had to settle for 2nd to Adidas pro Ajee Wilson, but she still walked away with a time of 4:14 (NCAA #2). Much like Birk, she could end up in the 1500 meters at Nationals later this season and even be a sleeper pick to win the national title if we see a similar field to what we saw during the indoor track season. Bryce Hoppel keeps winning streak alive Hoppel is no longer an underdog after winning the indoor national title in the 800 meters. However, what people don't often recognize is his ability to double and win. After going undefeated throughout the 2018 indoor track season last year, Hoppel went into the outdoor season without the same spark, accumulating a few losses before finishing 4th at the 2018 Outdoor National Championships. Now, Hoppel looks like he has maintained his momentum, earning double gold with times of 3:47 and 1:49 at LSU's Battle of Bayou this past weekend. The pair of wins continues to solidify one of the more impressive winning streaks we've seen in recent memory. Quick Thoughts Kigen Chemadi and Jacob Choge After redshirting cross country and severely underwhelming during indoors, the Middle Tennessee State duo seems to be rebounding. Choge ran 29:24 for 10,000 meters last weekend at the Raleigh Relays while Chemadi just posted a time of 8:55 for the 3000 steeplechase following a time of 13:46 in the 5000 a week ago. It's still early, but the Blue Raider duo look to be back at full strength. Richmond Duo Richmond's Maria Acosta and Brooke Fazio posted a 1-2 finish at the Colonial Relays, running 2:05 and 2:06, respectively. Let's not overlook Acosta this season. She was the IC4A champion during indoors and has now followed up that win with a personal best which led to another victory. She still needs to make another jump in fitness, but Acosta is a name to watch this spring season (along with her teammate Fazio). Kutch, Hogan, and Avery They aren't superstar names, but these three men are some of the better distance runners among the mid-major schools in the Northeast. At the Colonial Relays, Fordham's Ryan Kutch took home the win in a time of 14:04 while UMass Lowell's Paul Hogan and Stony Brook's Cameron Avery were close behind in 14:05 and 14:09. If you're looking for a sleeper pick to make it to Nationals out of the East Regional Championships in May, you may want to take a look at someone from this trio.

*Honorable mentions below* 25. Brianna Ilarda, Senior, Providence Millie Paladino took most of the spotlight during the indoor season, but Ilarda was quietly posting strong results of her own. Last weekend, she comfortably took the win in the Stanford Invite steeplechase with an NCAA leading time of 9:54. Watch out, she's a great sleeper pick to keep on your radar. 24. Sharon Lokedi, Senior, Kansas Running a huge 5k at Boston U really helped boost her resume which faltered a bit at the end of the indoor season where she finished 11th at NCAA's. Expect Lokedi to prosper in the 10k distance this spring and find a more consistent groove. 23. Whittni Orton, Junior, BYU The BYU ace was a bit uninspiring during the indoor season after barely making it to Nationals in the mile and then failing to make the finals. However, Orton has regained some of her momentum after taking home the win at Stanford last weekend in the 1500 over some big names. 22. Paige Stoner, Senior, Syracuse She had a relatively quiet indoor season, but with the spring season introducing events such as the 10k and steeplechase, Stoner is expected to thrive. She just ran 32:07 at Stanford in her outdoor debut to finish 4th in a loaded field. I'd like to see more from her, but I'm excited for what she brings to the table. 21. Sinclaire Johnson, Junior, Oklahoma State With no DMR duties to worry about, Johnson will have the freedom to race whichever open event she chooses this spring. Expect the Oklahoma State sophomore to thrive this season in championship races where she has underrated fitness and strong tactical race execution. 20. Makena Morley, Junior, Colorado Morley is one of the most consistent performers in the country, especially on the national stage. She just ran 15:43 at Stanford which is a solid result for her, but it also had the potential to be a bit faster. Still, Morley is not someone I'm willing to bet against this season (or ever). 19. Martha Bissah, Junior, Norfolk State For someone who is known for their prowess in the 800, Bissah showed off some impressive range at the Florida Relays where she ran 4:18 for 5th overall in the 1500 (against a very underrated field). When she enters the 800, expect her to throw down something fast. 18. Karisa Nelson, Senior, Samford She hasn't run yet this outdoor season, but the Samford veteran had a great finish to her indoor season with a runner-up finish in the mile at the national meet. She'll continue to be a major problem for her competitors this spring. 17. Julia Rizk, Senior, Ohio State It feels almost insulting to put the 2019 indoor mile champion at the #17 spot, but the 1500 field still seems like it's anyone's to win this spring in the right tactical setting. Luckily, tactical speed isn't something that Rizk is lacking. She just ran 2:05 at the Florida Relays behind two collegiate half-mile specialists in Danae Rivers and Gabrielle Wilkinson. I'll be excited to see how low she can drop her 1500 personal best this spring. 16. Millie Paladino, Senior, Providence Consistency. Experience. Range. Fast times. Those are the four biggest qualities that make up some of the best runners in the country and Paladino has all of those. After placing 3rd in the mile at the Indoor National Championships, the Providence veteran was able to post another strong mark of 4:16 in the 1500 at the Stanford Invite. BYU's Whittni Orton was the only other collegiate ahead of Paladino. 15. Allie Wilson, Senior, Monmouth She hasn't toed the line yet for the outdoor season, but last winter was no fluke. Wilson will continue to stay relevant in the national conversation as long as she maintains her impressive composure on big stages and is willing to assert fast paces. So far, we have no reason to doubt that she won't do that. 14. Lauren Gregory, Rs. Freshman, Arkansas Gregory didn't have the best opener at Stanford last weekend, finishing 8th in the invite 1500 with a time of 4:22. Although it wasn't her best race, she posted some very strong marks during the indoor season and secured All-American honors as well. She's talented enough to stay inside the top 15. 13. Fiona O'Keeffe, Rs. Sophomore, Stanford O'Keeffe was wildly impressive this past indoor season, running times of 8:58 (3k) and 15:35 (5k). She went on to finish 3rd in the 5000 meters at Nationals in what was likely one of the more underrated performances of the national meet. We've boosted her ranking a bit after realizing that we may have overlooked her. 12. Rachel Pocratsky, Senior, Virginia Tech The 3rd place finisher in the 800 at the indoor national meet just ran 55 seconds at the Raleigh Relays last weekend in what was likely an easy reintroduction to the outdoor oval. Pocratsky will continue to be a major threat in both the 800 and 1500 this season. She is one of the few women who can realistically challenge Danae Rivers in both of those events. 11. Nicole Hutchinson, Senior, Villanova Outside of her 13th place finish at Indoor Nationals in the 3000 meters, the Villanova senior had a huge indoor season that resulted in numerous wins as well as a personal best of 8:55. She also anchored her DMR to a 4th place All-American finish at the national meet. 10. Chalotte Prouse, Junior, New Mexico Prouse is one of the few steeplechasers capable of challenging Ostrander come Nationals. Her personal best of 9:45 instantly makes her a national contender, especially when you consider the experience that she's been able to accumulate. 9. Ednah Kurgat, Senior, New Mexico Ednah Kurgat was able to run 32:14 in the Stanford Invite 10k last weekend, but she let other women like Ostrander, Stoner, and Caroline Kurgat get away from her. It's another fast time early in the season for New Mexico's veteran star, but it feels like she has lost her edge to compete with the country's most elite collegiate women. 8. Taylor Werner, Rs. Sophomore, Arkansas After an indoor season where she challenged some of the best women in the country and earned runner-up in the 3000 meters to Jessica Hull at the national meet, Werner returned to action at the Stanford Invite where she ran 32:26 to finish 12th overall. From the mile to the 10k, this Razorback star can seemingly do it all. There is a reason why we have her ranked #8. 7. Erica Birk, Rs. Junior, BYU After one of the more underrated seasons out of anyone in the nation, Birk toed the line for a rematch against Hull at the Stanford Invite, this time in the 5000 meters. The BYU low-stick had to settle for 2nd, but earned yet another strong time of 15:38 while taking down a very strong field. 6. Weini Kelati, Sophomore, New Mexico Kelati hasn't made her outdoor debut yet, but her indoor season showed us that she is one of the nation's most consistent collegiate elites. She'll eventually win a national title, but the only question is when? 5. Allie Ostrander, Rs. Junior, Boise State The Boise State superstar has won the past two steeplechase titles. The chances she wins #3? High. Armed with a personal best of 9:38 in the steeplechase, Ostrander has become nearly automatic in this event. After finishing as the top collegiate in a time of 32:06 in the Stanford Invite 10k, the Boise State junior has seemingly rediscovered her killer instinct to win after collecting a few losses during the indoor season. 4. Alicia Monson, Junior, Wisconsin When you run 8:45 for 3000 meters and then win a national title in the 5k, it's hard to not be considered as one of the best distance runners in the country. That said, the Wisconsin ace struggled a bit in the Stanford Invite 10k last weekend, falling to 22nd place overall and failing to break the 33 minute barrier. Of course, for an early season rust-buster, this shouldn't be seen with much alarm. 3. Danae Rivers, Junior, Penn State After coming off of a (narrow) win at the Indoor NCAA Championships in the 800, Rivers was quick to return to her event. She ran 2:03 at the Florida Relays last weekend which was enough to walk away with the win. With Colorado's Dani Jones back in the mix, it is even more likely that we see Rivers stay away from the 1500 this season and pursue the 800 once again. 2. Dani Jones, Rs. Junior, Colorado 1. Jessica Hull, Rs. Junior, Oregon Dani Jones is the 2018 NCAA cross country champion who is expected to return to the outdoor oval after redshirting the indoor season, but she is not yet entered for the Colorado Invitational which takes place this weekend. Regardless, if she ends up racing this season, she will be one of the few women in the NCAA (or the only woman in the NCAA) capable of taking down Hull. Of course, the Oregon Duck has only improved her fitness since the last time these two met. The only question is...will these two face against each other this season? Or will they choose separate events? It's a question that we still need the answer to... Honorable Mentions (no order) Carina Viljoen (Arkansas) Cailie Logue (Iowa State) Nia Akins (Penn) Susan Aneno (UCONN) Sarah Feeney (Utah State) Sarah Edwards (Virginia Tech) Hannah Meier (Michigan) Susan Ejore (Oregon) Katie Rainsberger (Washington) Jaci Smith (Air Force) Adva Cohen (New Mexico) Anna Rohrer (Notre Dame) Erin Finn (Michigan) Dorcas Wasike (Louisville) Elly Henes (NC State)

*Honorable mentions below* 25. Waleed Suliman, Sophomore, Ole Miss Suliman has thrown down some spectacular times in his last two track seasons, but has struggled in the postseason. You could probably chalk that up to inexperience, but I expect him to break through in a big way this season (yes, more than he did last year). If he figures out championship tactics, then Suliman has the talent to be considered one of the top runners at 1500 meters. 24. Gilbert Kigen, Senior, Alabama Kigen did not have a great showing at Indoor Nationals in the 5k, but I would be shocked if he didn’t improve outdoors. He has the potential for making Nationals in both the 5k and 10k, but should be considered a safe bet to score points in the 10k where he finished 7th last year at Nationals. His 28:20 at Stanford proves that he is ready to roll this spring. 23. Carlos Villarreal, Junior, Arizona Villarreal put on a solid performance at the indoor national meet, finishing 4th in the mile right behind Oliver Hoare. This was a very promising result for the talented Wildcat who hadn’t been able to put together a great race at Nationals before this year. If his momentum continues into outdoors, then he will be a threat to Hoare in the 1500. 22. Yared Nuguse, Sophomore, Notre Dame One of the most tantalizing runners this year, Nuguse ran down Grant Fisher in the DMR to give Notre Dame the win at Nationals. Unfortunately, we did not get to see what Nuguse could do in the mile on the national stage. However, we're hoping that we get to see him challenging for the 1500 meter title outdoors. His potent kick will certainly give him a chance to pair his DMR title with a 1500 title. Plus, he just showed off his wheels by running 1:48 in his outdoor opener. 21. Devin Dixon, Junior, Texas A&M It was a disappointing result at Indoor NCAA's for Dixon, but it would be silly to count the Texas A&M ace out during outdoors. He has the fastest PR in the country, but hasn’t been able to turn that into a top three finish anytime he's been on the national stage. In a deep 800 field, Dixon still stands out as one of the favorites because of his raw talent. 20. Edwin Kurgat, Junior, Iowa State Another top runner who had a frustrating indoor championship was Kurgat who was unable to score in the 5k. The 3rd place finisher from cross country is too talented to not bounce back in the 5k or 10k outdoors. 19. Daniel Michalski, Rs. Senior, Indiana Michalski made quite a statement by winning the steeplechase in 8:35 at Stanford, taking down the BYU duo of Clayson Shumway and Matt Owens in the process. In a crowded steeple field, this Hoosier looks like one of the few who could stand out. 18. Conner Mantz, Rs. Sophomore, BYU After a solid indoor championship, Mantz started his season off in a big way by earning the top 10k time in country by running 28:18 at Stanford. Even though the Cougar was able to finish 7th in the 3k indoors, he should be even better suited to score more points in the 10k. Mantz is one of many BYU Cougars who could make some noise at the Outdoor Championships. 17. Aidan Tooker, Junior, Syracuse Tooker enters the as one of the top guys in the steeplechase in large part to his stunning performance at USA's last summer where he ran 8:30 to finish 4th. His 13:48 at Stanford shows that the fitness is there for him to replicate that performance at Nationals. Tooker, along with Affolder, have quick finishes so in a more tactical race they both could be dangerous. 16. John Dressel, Rs. Junior, Colorado Dressel finished 11th in the 5k at Indoor Nationals which was a little disappointing for someone who has had success in championships previously. In 2017, he finished 8th in the 5k outdoors and 4th in the 5k indoors, so he clearly can compete at the highest level. If he can regain his 2017 form, then he will be a contender in a loaded 5k this spring. 15. Tyler Day, Senior, Northern Arizona After a rough run at Indoor Nationals, Day bounced back in a big way by running 28:24 at Stanford. The 4th place finisher from last year’s 10k, the Lumberjack is one of the top returners from last year’s race. In his last dance, will Day earn his first National Championship title? 14. Amon Kemboi, Junior, Campbell Like Day, Kemboi didn’t have the Indoor Nationals performances that many expected, but don’t let that fool you into counting out the star Campbell Camel outdoors. The 5th place finisher from last year’s 5k will be a threat in that event again especially after it seems like he is in better shape this year. 13. Robert Brandt, Junior, UCLA Brandt had a spectacularly solid Indoor Championship finishing 8th in both the 3k and 5k. The new Bruin came on strong at the end of the season and seems to have carried that momentum into outdoors by winning the 10k at the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival in 28:55. It will be interesting to see if Brandt tries to double up in outdoors in the 5k and 10k, and if he can pull off a better version of what he did indoors. 12. Rory Linkletter, Rs. Senior, BYU As mentioned here , Linkletter earned the opportunity to represent Canada at the World Cross Country championship. After just missing out on Indoor Championships, it was a great chance for him to race against some of the best in the world. How he comes back after racing the brutal course in Denmark will be something to monitor. Assuming he recovers well and comes back strong, the Cougar will be a threat in the 5k or 10k with his vintage finishing kick at distances that favor him more than what he was able to run during the winter. 11. Sam Worley, Sophomore, Texas Worley finished a solid 6th place indoors in the mile, and I’d be surprised if he didn’t finish higher outdoors. He certainly has opened the season well by winning the mile at the Texas Relays and helping Texas win the sprint medley relay. I said it indoors, but I think this is the season Worley breaks out and finishes top three at Nationals. 10. Connor McMillan, Rs. Senior, BYU Like teammate Clayton Young, McMillan had a very nice indoor championship that saw him finish 4th in the 5k. Opening in 13:50 at Stanford is a solid start for the Cougar who will be a threat in both the 5k and 10k. 9. Kyle Mau, Junior, Indiana Kyle Mau has continued his breakout year by winning the Stanford Invite 5k in 13:44. The Hoosier has been a work horse for Indiana all year, and it looks like he has no plans of stopping in outdoors. Whether he runs the 1500 or 5k at Nationals, I expect him to contend for a top three spot. 8. Marco Arop, Sophomore, Mississippi State Finally done with 200 meter tracks, Arop is about to run some quick times. The tall Canadian has the second best PR in the NCAA behind Dixon, but has performed much better than Dixon in championship races. If he can gap the field by a few more meters than he did indoors, then this might be the year Arop earns his first national title. 7. Clayton Young, Senior, BYU Clayton Young has had one of the best stretches of distance running in the last few weeks. After finishing 3rd and 6th in the 5000 and 3000 respectively, he ran 28:18 at Stanford to finish close behind teammate Conner Mantz. Look for him to pack up with his fellow Cougars to score at least eights points at Outdoor Nationals. 6. Obsa Ali, Senior, Minnesota The steeple champion from last year had a solid season indoors qualifying for Nationals in the 5k. After a wild steeple final last year, Ali is the favorite to repeat, but not by much. He will have plenty of competition from Tooker, Michalski, Affolder, Shumway, Owens, and Fahy (to name just a few). 5. Bryce Hoppel, Junior, Kansas The reigning indoor 800 meter indoor champion started out this outdoor season by winning the Texas Relays and running 1:48. The Jayhawk ace hasn’t lost this year in the 800, but he will have to continue to contend with a deep 800 field to continue his streak. Still, he should be seen as the favorite as the outdoor season begins. 4. Joe Klecker, Rs. Junior, Colorado Klecker put together a fantastic performance at the Indoor National Championships, finishing 3rd and 2nd in the 3k and 5k respectively. In the 5k, Klecker will be one of the favorites. It will be interesting to see if Klecker decides to run the 10k for the first time on the track this year because he certainly would be one of the favorites in that event too. 3. Oliver Hoare, Junior, Wisconsin Despite his stunning loss in the mile to Geordie Beamish, Hoare enters the season as the favorite in the 1500. With a 3:37 PR, Hoare will be able to win any type of race. The reigning 1500 meter champion tried to run too many events indoors, but won’t face this problem outdoors as he will focus on just the 1500. 2. Grant Fisher, Senior, Stanford After two heartbreaking finishes at indoors, Fisher will look to bounce back and avenge his loses. It will be interesting to see if he focuses on the 5k at Nationals like he has done in the past or if he will run another event. It would be really fascinating to see how low Fisher could go in the 1500 if he gets into a fast race 1. Morgan McDonald, Rs. Senior, Wisconsin The king of cross country and indoor starts the year as the number one runner on our outdoor power rankings. What is there left to be said about McDonald? He has been utterly dominant all year, and we shouldn’t expect anything less outdoors. The real question is whether we will see him in both the 5k and the 10k at Nationals. Honorable Mentions (no order) Jonathan Davis (Illinois) Geordie Beamish (Northern Arizona) Clayson Shumway (BYU) Matt Owens (BYU) Aaron Templeton (Furman) Alex Ostberg (Stanford) Joe White (Georgetown) Cooper Williams (Indiana) Ben Veatch (Indiana) Cooper Teare (Oregon) Casey Comber (Villanova)

KEY (Unranked) Was not ranked the week before (#/#) First number indicates the change in a runner's ranking from week priorSecond number indicates where the runner was ranked last week 20. Bailey Sharon | Western Colorado (SO) (-2 / 18) Sharon opened up her outdoor season two weeks ago, grabbing provisional times in both the 800 and 400, with times of 2:08.57 and 55.78. They were solid openers that she will look to build on throughout this season. 19. Alexa Shindruk | Central Washington (SR) (Unranked) Shindruk smashed her 10k PR this past weekend at Stanford by 32 seconds, running a provisional time of 34:25, which would have been an auto time last year. That 34:25 currently sits #2 in D2, only behind Caroline Kurgat. She has also already picked up a PR in the 1500 this outdoor season, with a 4:36.84. 18. Sophie Dodd | Simon Fraser (SR) (Unranked) Dodd narrowly missed out on a D2 auto time, running a PR of 2:07.44 at the Mike Fanelli Classic, currently the third leading time in the country. She also helped her 4x400 team to a provisional time of 3:48.01. 17. Andra Lehotay | Walsh (JR) (+3 / 20) Lehotay opened up her outdoor season this weekend at the Raleigh Relays, running a PR of 4:23.16 in the 1500. That time puts her #2 in D2 behind Allie Ludge, who she lost to in this race, only one second away from a D2 auto time. 16. Emily Roberts | U-Mary (SR) (-1 / 15) Idle 15. Allie Ludge | Grand Valley State (JR) (-1 / 14) Ludge went with the 800/1500 double this weekend, picking up PR's and provisional times in both events at the Raleigh Relays. She narrowly missed out on a D2 auto time in the 1500, running a D2 leading 4:22.33, and added a 2:08.63 in the 800. She has a lot of range and will have a bunch of options of what to run when the season starts coming to an end. 14. Aneta Konieczek | Western Colorado (SO) (-1 / 13) Idle 13. Carsyn Koch-Johnson | Cedarville (SR) (-1 / 12) Idle 12. Julia Howley | Simon Fraser (SR) (Unranked) We had not seen Howley since the 2018 indoor season, but she made a statement with her reappearance this weekend at Stanford. In her first ever steeplechase, she soloed a D2 auto time of 10:03.19, taking the win over a field full of D1 athletes. We have a new contender in the steeplechase, ladies and gentlemen... 11. Roisin Flanagan | Adams State (JR) (-1 / 10) Idle 10. Kristen Metcalfe | Embry-Riddle (SR) (-1 / 9) Idle 9. Addy Townsend | Simon Fraser (SR) (-1 / 8) Idle 8. Eilish Flanagan | Adams State (JR) (-2 / 6) Idle 7. Leah Hanle | Mount Olive (JR) (0 / 7) Hanle opened up her outdoor season this week in the 5k at the Raleigh Relays, in a field loaded with a bunch of D1 athletes, picking up a PR of 16:02.46 and finishing 5th. That time is the fastest time in D2 at this point and is a D2 auto qualifying time. Hanle then came back the next day and took home a win in the steeplechase at The Adidas Trojan Challenge, as she soloed a 10:37. 6. Danielle McCormick | Alaska Anchorage (SR) (+5 / 11) Hello Danielle McCormick! After opening up the season two weeks ago with a 4:32.17 in the 1500, McCormick came back this week with a PR and win in the 800 at the Mike Fanelli Classic, running a 2:05.65. That time is a D2 auto qualifying time and is the fastest time in D2 so far this season. She then came back and led her 4x400 team to a provisional time of 3:44.20, currently sitting 5th in D2. 5. Rachael Walters | Grand Valley State (SR) (0 / 5) Walters picked up where she left off during indoor season, as she picked up an early D2 auto time in the 800 at the Florida Relays with a time of 2:05.68, putting her #2 in D2. She came back and led her 4x400 team to a 3:44.50, which is a D2 provisional time and the #6 leading time in the D2 rankings. 4. Stephanie Cotter | Adams State (FR) (0 / 4) Idle 3. Skylyn Webb | UC Colorado-Springs (SR) (0 / 3) Webb opened up her season two weeks ago with a provisional 800 meter time of 2:07.49 at the CSU Pueblo Early Bird meet, taking the win. It was not the best time we have ever seen from Webb, but we all know that she will put up a top time in the country very soon. 2. Alicja Konieczek | Western Colorado (SR) (0 / 2) Idle 1. Caroline Kurgat | Alaska Anchorage (SR) (0 / 1) Kurgat opened up her outdoor season with a bang, as she ran 32:08 in the 10k at Stanford, finishing 5th in a race loaded with professionals and D1 All-Americans. That time SHATTERED the D2 10k record of 32:28, which has stood since 1988. The time was not even a surprise, which says a lot about the expectations of Kurgat this outdoor season. 800 1. Skylyn Webb (UC Colorado Springs) 2. Rachael Walters (Grand Valley State) 3. Danielle McCormick (Alaska Anchorage) 4. Kristen Metcalfe (Embry-Riddle) 5. Carsyn Koch-Johnson (Cedarville) 1500 1. Stephanie Cotter (Adams State) 2. Addy Townsend (Simon Fraser) 3. Kristen Metcalfe (Embry-Riddle) 4. Roisin Flanagan (Adams State) 5. Allie Ludge (Grand Valley State) 3000 Steeplechase 1. Alijca Konieczek (Western Colorado) 2. Eilish Flanagan (Adams State) 3. Julia Howley (Simon Fraser) 4. Aneta Konieczek (Western Colorado) 5. Hanna Groeber (Grand Valley State) 5000 1. Caroline Kurgat (Alaska Anchorage) 2. Alijca Konieczek (Western Colorado) 3. Leah Hanle (Mount Olive) 4. Eilish Flanagan (Adams State) 5. Emily Roberts (U-Mary) 10,000 1. Caroline Kurgat (Alaska Anchorage) 2. Leah Hanle (Mount Olive) 3. Emily Roberts (U-Mary) 4. Alexa Shindruk (Central Washington) 4. Eileen Stressling (Azusa Pacific)

KEY (Unranked) Was not ranked the week before (#/#) First number indicates the change in a runner's ranking from week prior Second number indicates where the runner was ranked last week 20. Jack Johnson, Chico State (-1 / 19) Johnson raced twice this weekend. Once was at the Mike Fanelli Classic where he helped the Chico State DMR team to a title. The second race was at the Stanford Invitational where he ran 9:12 for the steeplechase and placed 11th. I'm not really concerned with Johnson after the weekend given he has already run 9:02 this season in the steeple. 19. Edwin Kangogo, Alaska Anchorage (Unranked) Kangogo ran a personal best of 8:56.08 at the Mike Fanelli Classic, losing to Jake Mitchem (see below) in a tight battle to the line. Kangogo was 6th at the 2017 NCAA outdoor meet in this event and then we didn’t see him in a Seawolf uniform again until this fall. It’s good to see him back in top form and his progression should be fun to watch. 18. Jake Mitchem, Colorado Mines (Unranked) Mitchem was unranked coming into the season partly because he hadn't run anything faster than 9:13. He enters our Top 20 thanks to his 8:56 this past weekend where he outlasted Kangogo to finish 7th at the Mike Fanelli Classic. A huge PR from Mitchem throws him into the mix of athletes we need to watch. 17. Pierre-Louis Detourbe, Simon Fraser (0 / 17) Detourbe was the 10th finisher at the Mike Fanelli meet and he likely enjoyed how he opened up in the steeplechase. He ran 9:02.73 which is just two seconds off of his personal best that he ran at the NCAA meet last year. Detourbe doubled back to run the mile and clocked a time of 4:13. That’s an impressive double and being so close to his PR in his opener suggests good things for him this season. 16. Benoit Campion, American International (-4 / 12) Campion opened up last week with a 1500. He ran 3:51.33 which is now #11 in the NCAA, although it's not a provisional qualifying mark. He’s just a freshman and could be experiencing a learning curve, but it's a shaky start to the season. Another sub-par race and I’ll be more concerned. 15. Ayman Zahafi, TAMU-Kingsville (0 / 15) Zahafi ran his second 800 of the season and improved upon his one a week ago by three-tenths of a second by running 1:51.21. He was 2nd in the event behind his teammate Robert Downs who was running unattached. He’ll likely need to run a bit faster in order to secure his bid to the national meet. 14. Devundrick Walker, CSU-Pueblo (0 / 14) Walker debuted at the Stanford Invitational running 1:50.75. He was 9th overall and was the winner of his heat as he led basically wire-to-wire. Walker seems to be in a good spot coming out of the indoor season and I think he can challenge his PR in a couple of weeks. 13. Victor Moreau, Academy of Art (0 / 13) Moreau had one of the best races of last weekend which would usually move him up the board this week...but hold on there. He ran 3:46.65 which is a four second PR. He then ran 1:53.38 to lower that PR by two seconds. While he looks very good right now, I'm cautious when remembering that he didn’t qualify for the mile final this past indoor season. Another couple of strong races and I’ll have to move him up. 12. Brett Meyer, Fort Hays State (-1 / 11) Meyer opted for the 800 last weekend, running a time of 1:54.24. He also has a DNF in the 5000 which likely points to some kind of pacing duty. The 1500 should still be what Meyer focuses on as the outdoor season progresses. 11. Rowan Doherty, Simon Fraser (-1 / 10) Doherty had a very fine weekend, running 3:50.90 in the 1500 last Friday, then coming back the next day for the mile and posting a time of 4:08.31 (yes, they were two separate races). After the math, his two times are essentially the exact same result and a very good showing of some strength for Doherty. The 3:50 was a personal best, but he’ll need another best in the discipline if he wants to get to NCAA's. 10. Marcelo Laguera, CSU-Pueblo (+6 / 16) I’m not sure it’s any shock to readers that Laguera finds himself moving up the rankings quickly. He ran 14:31.85 at altitude two weeks ago, then came to the Mike Fanelli Track Classic where he ran 29:25.15. Both marks are NCAA #2 and the cross country champion is out to prove to the world that he’s for real. 9. Josh Hoskinson, Colorado Mines (0 / 9) No times yet for Hoskinson this outdoor season. 8. Taylor Stack, Western Colorado (0 / 8) Stack ran 14:49 at the Fum McGraw meet where he and his teammate finished 1-2. After the altitude conversion, he now has a seed time of 14:24.83. There is still a ton of room for improvement for Stack throughout the rest of the season. He’s an athlete that I’ll be focused on for the remainder of the year. 7. Daniel Wallis, Queens (N.C.) (0 / 7) Wallis is fresh off an All-American double during the indoor season, but after this weekend could he be in the realm of doing it again during the outdoor season? His 14:12 debut (outdoor) at the Raleigh Relays in the 5000 tells us that Wallis might make the effort to try and do so this late May. While it was just his first time running this event outdoors, he dropped 13 seconds off of his PR that he set in December. 6. Felix Wammetsberger, Queens (N.C.) (-1 / 5) Wammetsberger was also apart of the strong 5000 meter weekend. He was able to cut five seconds off of his PR and run 14:17. It’s safe to say that the mile strength that benefitted him during the indoor season is still there. I wonder if attempting a double is something that Wammetsberger would like to do as well... 5. Dennis Mbuta, Grand Valley State (+1 / 6) Mbuta arguably had the best weekend of everyone. He raced at the Raleigh Relays where he finished 12th in the 1500 with a new personal best of 3:46.98. He then came back and won the 800 meters with a time of 1:49.89. That’s just seven-tenths of a second off of his PR in that event. He has quickly become one of the fastest risers within the middle distance disciplines and could be looking for a national title very soon. 4. Zach Panning, Grand Valley State (0 / 4) If he wasn’t already the favorite, dropping his 10k PR by 35 seconds to 28:30 only cements him being the guy to watch in May. Panning took 3rd at the Raleigh Relays and took down some big names in the process. He was three seconds back of Aaron Templeton (Furman), and ahead of Lawerence Kipkoech (Campbell), Frank Lara (Furman), Danny Kilrea (Notre Dame), and Jacob Choge (Middle Tennessee State). We’ve wondered about others, but would Panning have a chance to compete at the D1 level, nationally? 3. Elias Gedyon, Adams State (0 / 3) Another season, another #1 on the NCAA board for Gedyon. He ran 3:49.88 at CSU-Pueblo’s Spank Blasing Invite which converts down to 3:45.04. It's a strong opener for Gedyon without a doubt. It’ll be interesting to see where Gedyon runs next and what he runs. My guess is some sea-level 1500s and a possible 5000. I believe in the altitude conversions and Gedyon has proven them right, making him look like a contender once again. 2. Sydney Gidabuday, Adams State (0 / 2) A DNF at the Spank Blasing Invite two weeks ago in the 10,000...looks a lot like pacing duties. Gidabuday should debut soon. 1. Thomas Staines, CSU-Pueblo (0 / 1) Staines ran the #1 time in the NCAA at the Stanford Invitational. He went out hard and tried to lead wire-to-wire and it caught him in the end. A tough last 100 meters had him fade to 3rd, but he still ran 1:48.96. It definitely looked like it was a meet that they were training through as Staines has bigger things in mind for the summer. 800 1. Thomas Staines (CSU-Pueblo) 2. Dennis Mbuta (Grand Valley State) 3. Devundrick Walker (CSU-Pueblo) 4. Ayman Zahafi (TAMU-Kingsville) 5. Joshua Ajero (Albany State) 1500 1. Felix Wammetsberger (Queens (N.C.)) 2. Elias Gedyon (Adams State) 3. Daniel Wallis (Queens N.C.)) 4. Brett Meyer (Fort Hays State) 5. Victor Moreau (Academy of Art) 3000 Steeplechase 1. Pierre-Louis Detourbe (Simon Fraser) 2. Jake Mitchem (Colorado Mines) 3. Edwin Kangogo (Alaska Anchorage) 4. Jack Johnson (Chico State) 5. Christian Noble (Lee (Tenn.)) 5000 1. Sydney Gidabuday (Adams State) 2. Zach Panning (Grand Valley State) 3. Josh Hoskinson (Colorado Mines) 4. Gidieon Kimutai (Missouri Southern) 5. Ruben Dominguez (Cal Poly Pomona) 10,000 1. Zach Panning (Grand Valley State) 2. Marcelo Laguera (CSU-Pueblo) 3. Sydney Gidabuday (Adams State) 4. Jacob Klemz (Washburn) 5. Karim Achengli (NW Missouri)