Too late in my opinion. She will be 30 in the spring. She has made five US teams at 5000m (out of six attempts @ US Champs), two US teams at 10000m (out of three US Champs), and zero US teams at 1500m (out of three US Champs).
US Teams upcoming: World Indoor (2026), World Outdoor (2027), World Indoor (2028), Olympics (2028)
There is simply no room for Cranny at the 1500m. She has a shot at making another US team @ 5000m or 10000m, but trying the 1500m is asking to be watching Worlds from her living room couch.
Nikki Hiltz is not going away anytime soon.
Sinclaire Johnson has made significant progress in the past year and is at her peak.
Heather MacLean is one year older but just ran her lifetime PR this year and set the indoor AR in the mile.
Emily Mackay is two years younger and has run faster at both 800 and 1500.
Addy Wiley did not run any 1500s in 2025 (except Grand Slam) but set another AR in the 1000m and was consistently faster at 800m so who knows what her 1500m capability is right now.
Elle St. Pierre is only one year older and still competing at a high level.
I assume by "too late" that you mean it's too late for her to make a 1500 team? Because by your own summary she is still a favorite to make the 5000 and/or 10000 teams for LA.
Anyway, I disagree. This is the perfect time for her to do this. She either finds out once and for all that she can be a top 3 US runner at 1500 or she doesn't. Guess what, stakes are low for 2026 and pretty much the same for 2027. If it doesn't go well, she steps back into the 5k and 10k.
Plus the 1500 training will probably help her if she moves back up.
Btw, what's with people overreacting to this stuff? To take another prominent example, if Femke Bol flames out at 800 she'll move back down. Again, perfect time to experiment.
Catriona Bisset and Benjamin Robert made he same move a year ago. It didn't work out for them. Robert was injured all year and Bisset is probably retiring.
Karissa was Shelby’s most prominent training partner with Colleen being in the mix in earlier seasons. They had joint interviews together. Elise really only broke out in the last year Shelby was at BTC. Saying M11 is Nike’s new BTC though is not a wild comparison.
I agree she is outside her prime age for 1500, 3000 and probably 5000.
That said, she set her PR in the 1500 with Cornfeld in 2024 (3:57) and her 3000 PR this year (8:29). She also ran her non-Boston track 5000 PR last year (14:40). Just because she is outside her prime age generally doesn't mean she can't PR with M11 in the next year or two in 1500 - 5000. Just probably means she left a bit on the table due to injuries/coaching/circumstance between 23-28.
In a video interview after Worlds, she said she was dropping down to the 1500; I guess that's what this move is about.
She had NO shot at the US 1500m team. She’s a great athlete, but again getting terrible advise
Why?! There are Zero locks for the women's 1500 squad (or anything from 800 up). The entire 1500 team from this year's worlds may be overhauled by 28, and add in St Pierre and it's still true. The prior 2 teams have all either changed coaches or had a 2nd baby so there is no telling what they'll do. Elise has a bigger base than all the up and comers so a few years of cranking out speed work could put her in great position.
I commend her for the move, it's a great risk to take and she needs to take a risk bcs she's not gonna medal in the 5 or 10 so why not try an event with a bit more parity. And why not train with a team putting non Africans on medal stands.