I agree. Monson is the best female US distance runner at this time.
Henes went for it going with the early pace and faded a bit as a result, but still a very solid race.
Morgan ran a great race and a tactically very smart one. She did not go with the early pace, staying with the second pacer, then just ramped it up.
Tuohy ran a great race and beat the previous NCAA record by 6 seconds. The talent we all saw in high school, as has been evident for a while now, was very, very real. She just PR'd by about 20 seconds over last years U20 record time and is within 10 seconds of the AR. The impression people had from XC that she was ready to run low to sub-15 in the 5000m was not a mirage. The December BU meet happened too close to XC nationals to make that happen, but KT took a well earned break and has come back on all cylinders. If she is feeling good the all time NCAA 5000m record is in real jeopardy. Both Simpson's 15:01 and even Koll's 14:55.
Talent aside, she ran a smart tactical race. She did not try to go with the first pacer or run with Monson or Cranny. When it was announced that the race was being paced for 8:20 I was wondering how Tuohy would approach it, but the race had a second pacer and Tuohy stayed with her. Then when Morgan went, she went with her. As her coach said, when she makes tactical mistakes, she learns from them and generally won't make the same mistake again. And something her high school experience has given her running for years under the microscope is mental toughness. It is easy enough for a college runner to wilt on a big stage like Millrose running with the top national runners, but Tuohy nailed it.