Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Jun 186 min
Earlier today, The Stride Report received notice that Akron's Brian Masai and Timothy Chesondin have entered the transfer portal as standard transfers. The former is expected to hold three years of eligibility in cross country and two years of eligibility in both indoor track and outdoor track. The latter is expected to have three full years of eligibility between cross country and outdoor track as well four years of eligibility for indoor track.
When it comes to Brian Masai, the talent is overwhelmingly apparent. Despite his relative youth, the Akron runner has had moments of brilliance in his still-young NCAA career. Last fall, Masai finished 4th at the top-heavy Joe Piane Invite and later earned bronze at the MAC XC Championships. He did, however, struggle at the Great Lakes Regional XC Championships.
On the track, Masai has been arguably even better, producing eye-catching times of 13:34 (5k) and 28:45 (10k). In fact, the soon-to-be-former Zip qualified for the 2023 outdoor national meet over 5000 meters as just a freshman.
One of the bigger surprises from this past fall was seeing then-rookie Timothy Chesondin thrive on the grass, giving the Zips some sneaky-good firepower. The Akron freshman finished 7th overall at the Joe Piane Invite, runner-up at the MAC XC Championships and was a 36th place All-American at the NCAA XC Championships.
On the outdoor oval, Chesondin settled for a relatively modest mark of 29:30 (10k) in one of his four races from this past spring.
There will be plenty demand for the two Akron products now that they are on the transfer portal as both men will, in some capacity, likely continue to be low-sticks on the grass. Sure, neither man is void of flaws, but Masai is clearly better on the track and Chesondin is clearly better on the cross country course. If a school can land both, then they're getting great balance between the two and even greater upside.
The first two programs that come to mind as possible landing spots for Masai and Chesondin are Arkansas and Iowa State. Both schools have been more than happy to go after top athletes in the transfer portal. And more specifically, both programs often go after African distance standouts, an area which both current Akron runners are native to.
For the Razorbacks, adding both men / either man to their 2024 cross country lineup would mean that Arkansas remains in the podium conversation. In fact, it would likely mean that the Fayetteville-based men become podium favorites. While they do lose key support scorers in Myles Richter and Jacob McLeod, the expected return of star talents such as Kirami Yego, Patrick Kiprop and Ben Shearer makes last year's podium squad a threat to be just as dangerous later this fall, if not more so.
Iowa State, of course, was just one spot behind Arkansas at the NCAA XC Championships. From that 5th place group, the Cyclones are expected to return six of their top-seven names, including their entire top-five, per TFRRS. And if you pair that group with at least one All-American-caliber name, then you get another program capable of being on the podium in 2024.
And how about New Mexico? They are yet another team that has been loading up their roster with outstanding African distance talents. Plus, with only more men coming to the program in 2024, the Lobos should be better this year than they were last year regardless of whether or not Masai and/or Chesondin joins their team.
If Masai and/or Chesondin were to sign with the Albuquerque-based group, then you're looking at a potential cross country lineup that features Habtom Samuel, Brian Masai and/or Timothy Chesondin, Evans Kiplagat, Lukas Kiprop and Vincent Chirchir.
The Stride Report has also confirmed that Tennessee's Yaseen Abdalla has entered the transfer portal as a graduate student. According to TFRRS, the soon-to-be-former Volunteer star is expected to have one season of eligibility remaining in cross country and one season of eligibility remaining for indoor track.
Abdalla is not expected to have any remaining outdoor track eligibility.
When it comes to raw fitness and talent, Yaseen Abdalla has plenty of it. The Tennessee veteran first started his career at Texas. There, he became a wildly dynamic distance star, producing times of 3:57 (mile), 13:33 (5k) and 28:33 (10k). He also produced a sub-7:50 (3k) effort after a flat-track conversion.
On the grass, Abdalla earned one All-American finish with Texas and one additional All-American honor with Tennessee. And throughout the most of his 2022 and 2023 fall campaigns, the veteran distance standout proved to be a true low-stick star.
Admittedly, the national stage hasn't been quite as kind to Abdalla as it was earlier in his career. Despite running 7:42 for 3000 meters in consecutive indoor track seasons, the Vol ace has not been able to earn an All-American finish on the oval. The outdoor national meet hasn't been as kind either and the 2023 NCAA XC Championships also saw Abdalla struggle.
Regardless, Abdalla has proven that he can at least be an All-American talent and based strictly on his times (specifically over 3000 meters), he is undoubtedly one of the better distance runners in the NCAA.
A native from Maryland, it is plenty possible that Abdalla could venture back towards the east coast and end up at an ACC program. In theory, that would leave schools like Virginia and North Carolina in contention to land the current Volunteer runner.
For Virginia, signing Abdalla would be massive. The Cavaliers are expected to return a heavy portion of their 2023 cross country team and when they do, guys such as Gary Martin, Will Anthony and maybe Nathan Mountain will be viewed as All-American contenders. And for a team that needed a bit more firepower in their lineup last fall, adding a proven low-stick like Abdalla would do wonders for their overall scoring.
And then there's UNC, a group that is still young and is waiting for certain men to reach a nationally competitive level. Thankfully, both Parker Wolfe and Ethan Strand are set to return and Max Murphy's introduction as graduate transfer at least somewhat mitigates the departures of Alex Phillip and Jake Gebhardt. But the possible recruitment of Abdalla would essentially rebuild the scoring base in Chapel Hill and allow the men in blue and white to return to podium contention in 2024.
Other programs such as Georgetown, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Wake Forest would also make sense for Abdalla given his hometown, his skillset or other miscellaneous factors.
The Stride Report has recently learned that Texas middle distance standout Cole Lindhorst has entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer. Based on his TFRRS profile, he is expected to have at least one full year of eligibility across all three seasons of competition as well as the possibility for a second year (the latter of which is speculation).
When Cole Lindhorst is healthy, he is one of the more underrated and consistently competitive middle distance talents in the NCAA. With times of 1:46 (800), 3:40 (1500) and 3:59 (mile), it's clear that this current Longhorn is a half-miler first as well as someone who can effectively move up in distance if needed.
In recent seasons, Lindhorst had consistently ripped off multiple 1:47 marks for 800 meters. In fact, between the winter and spring months, the Texas runner posted five separate 1:47 efforts before running a 1:46 PR. In both seasons, he individually qualified for national meet. He also qualified for 2022 indoor national meet over 800 meters.
While Lindhorst has dealt with injuries and continuously ending his season in the prelims of the national stage, there is no denying that he is still realizing his full potential. In his latest year of racing, Lindhorst had never been as consistent as he was and he had never cracked 1:47 (800) until last month.
Trying to find a new home for Lindhorst is truthfully a bit tricky. Yes, he's a Texas native and there are plenty of great schools in the Lone Star state. However, logical options like Texas Tech and Texas A&M would directly conflict with the allegiance that he has established in Austin, Texas.
Staying in the BIG 12 (even though Texas is soon moving to the SEC), however, does make sense. It would not at all be a surprise if Oklahoma State opted to recruit Lindhorst. In theory, he would be an almost-perfect replacement for Juan Diego Castro who opted to finish his eligibility at Azusa Pacific last summer.
Iowa State would be another excellent program for Lindhorst to land. The Cyclones will no longer be conference rivals with Texas, Coach Jeremy Sudbury has been happy to utilize the transfer portal and the men of Ames, Iowa have often been the definition of excellence over 800 meters as of late.
Other programs such as Virginia Tech, Virginia, Georgetown, Penn State and Clemson could all realistically be contenders to sign Lindhorst, especially the former and the latter. All of those universities have been outstanding in the middle distances and the 800 meters has often been a point of emphasis for each of them.