John Cusick
Dec 12, 20198 min
Want to know how we rank certain athletes? Click here to learn more.
TSR contributors may value certain aspects and ranking criteria differently between men and women when constructing our Indoor Top 25.
These lists were written prior to the weekend of December 6-7th. Times from that weekend are given some consideration, but do not completely dictate our rankings.
Doherty has some of the best range in the country for a D2 runner. He’s run 1:54 over 800 meters, 4:08 for the mile, 8:12 for 3000 meters and while he’s only run 15:05 for 5000 meters, he should improve upon that mark if he decides to race a 5k this year.
Doherty was the anchor of the DMR team that finished 2nd at the Indoor National Championships last year and then opted for the 3000 meter race where he finished 7th in an impressive doubling performance.
It’s possible we could see Doherty back at the NCAA meet in both the mile and the 3000 this year if Simon Fraser decides to go another direction in regards to the DMR. He’s capable of running qualifying times for both and has already shown that he can handle more than one race on the largest stage. For that reason, Doherty easily earns a spot in Part Two our Preseason Top 25.
Achengli just finished 6th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and he’s hoping to carry that over into the indoor season. He narrowly missed out on being an All-American in 2019 after he placed 9th in the 5000 meters.
During the outdoor season, he placed 6th in the 10k, reminding us that he’s one of the strongest long distance runners in the country. Achengli has also run 8:19 for 3000 meters and hold a PR of 14:13 for 5000 meters which happened to be on an indoor track last winter. He’ll likely be vying for the top spot in the 5000 meters later on in March and could possibly contest the 3000 as well.
There’s a strong chance that he’ll be a top contender in both if he chooses to race the 3000, but the 5000 is where he has the strongest chance of taking a top five finish.
Colligan missed out on the indoor and outdoor seasons after a fall in the 2018 Cross Country Championships which caused a lasting injury. Despite that injury, he finished 17th in the country. But we’re here to talk about indoors.
He’s run 8:17 and 14:16 during the 2018 season, both at the Indoor National Championships where he finished 12th (3000) and 7th (5000). Later that outdoor season, he lowered his 5000 meter personal best to 14:12 and also ran 9:05 for the steeplechase.
Heading into the aforementioned 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships, Colligan was one of the favorites to take home the title and was projected to finish at least inside the top 10. He was one of the best distance runners in the country before the injury derailed his track seasons.
Expect him to reenter that conversation of top distance runners in the country by the time March rolls around.
Chada was just a freshman last year, but made huge waves by the time he was done. He ran 8:20 for 3000 meters and 14:16 for 5000 during the indoor season. He finished 10th at the Indoor National Championships which would have been a great start to his four-year career.
Instead, Chada improved upon that and finished 3rd at the Outdoor National Championships to cap off a very impressive year for someone who was so young. He was one of the strongest runners throughout the cross country season and was most recently finished 24th at Nationals just two weeks ago.
It feels odd placing Chada at TSR #10 given his success, but there were others who just simply outperformed him during the indoor season and have run faster than he has.
That being said, there’s no doubt Chada will be one of the top runners this winter.
Laguera shows up in our rankings at TSR #9 and given his track record, it makes sense why we think so highly of him. In his last three outings at NCAA meets, he’s finished 1st (2018 XC), 2nd (10,000) and then 8th (5000). He’s run 3:52 for 1500 meters, suggesting that he shouldn’t be lumped into the long, speed-less distance runner category that usually comes with 10,000 meter runners.
The CSU-Pueblo ace has also run 8:25 for the 3000 meters. These times, along with his 5000 PR of 14:08 (outdoors), tell us that Laguera should be one of the top contenders for the 5k this winter and an All-American contender in the 3000.
And for what it's worth, he just ran an NCAA #1 time in the 5000 meters after altitude and flat-track conversions (13:53).
Alright, so we admitted that we got it wrong for the cross country season. Mutai went undefeated this past fall, and that’s really all we need to know about him. He’s going to be one of the top title contenders in the 5000 meters this year and maybe even the 3000 meters. Heck, he already ran 14:02 in Boston last weekend.
Despite a limited resume when it comes to track performances, his result in Sacramento showed us his resiliency with his comeback win and that doesn’t happen if he doesn’t have the strength to take on the hot pace from the gun and the ability to hang on.
He was the national title favorite the entire cross country season. Kimutai looked like a strong contender to win it all with 1000 meters to go at the NCAA Championships just a few weeks ago before fading to 5th. Given his resume across all three seasons, we ultimately decided to place him in our rankings at TSR #7.
We saw Kimutai make the NCAA meet last March when he ran 14:13 before the Christmas break. At the Indoor National Championships, he finished 4th in what was one of fastest races in D2 history. Kimutai failed to make the outdoor NCAA meet as he only ran 14:24 during the season and only opted for one 10,000 meter race (30:54).
Despite a few national meet shortcomings, the Missouri Southern star has shown us that he belongs among the best of the best. He’ll be one of the few favorites for the national title at 5000 meters this winter and we could also see him in the 3000 meters as he’s probably faster than the 8:21 he ran last year. He did, after all, just
Mbuta comes in as the favorite for the 800 meter title with Thomas Staines redshirting this season. He finished runner-up at the Indoor National Championships last year and followed that with a 4th place finish at the Outdoor National Championships. He’s run 1:49 during both seasons and also has run 4:07 for a mile and 3:46 for 1500 meters, placing him in the elite category of middle distance runners this winter.
This is what sets him apart from others contesting the 800 this year.
He’s consistent, he’s fast, and he’s arguably the strongest of those who will be racing the half-mile over the next few months. Mbuta will also likely be part of the DMR team once again in 2020. He anchored the DMR team last year to a 5th place finish and returned the next day for his runner-up result in the 800.
Regardless of what he chooses this season, he’ll be someone to watch.
Nading was another athlete that was struck by injury at the end of the 2018 cross country season. He had finished 10th at his regional meet before finishing outside the top 100 a few weeks later at the NCAA meet. He opted to redshirt the following indoor and outdoor seasons in 2019 and is expected to be back for the 2020 seasons.
Although the streak of Western Oregon mile/1500 winners was snapped last year, Nading immediately comes back as one of the favorites. He’s run 1:52, 4:04, and 8:10 for the 800, mile, and 3000 meters respectively...and has the ability to run any of those races at NCAA's if he so chooses.
Nading was mile indoor champ during the 2018 indoor season, and the runner-up for the 1500 meters when he was toeing the line. This experienced Western Oregon ace has years of racing at a high level under his belt, leading us to believe that he has everything he needs to be majorly successful in any event he chooses come March.
There’s some recency bias here, and that’s because Wammetsberger is the current reigning NCAA mile champ. His PR's of 1:51, 4:06, and 8:13 are nearly the same as Nading’s, but they simply happened more recently. Wammetsberger also followed up his mile win from indoors with a 3rd place finish at the Outdoor National Championships.
There’s a chance that Wammetsberger could also run the 3000 meters this season as he’s run 14:19 for 5000 meters, suggesting that he can run faster than the 8:13 we mentioned before.
Regardless of the event(s) he chooses, he will be a strong contender (if not the favorite) to take home the title. His experience and ability to race hard from the gun (or even tactically) makes him incredibly dangerous.
Sweeney posted one of the best seasons for a freshman last year on the track and that’s a big reason why we find him sitting at TSR #3 on this list. First, he was 13th at the Cross Country National Championships in 2018. He then ran 14:12 in the 5000 meters to finish 7th before coming back the next day and running 8:20 to finish 9th in the 3000.
During the following outdoor season, he ran 29:43 for 10,000 meters and then 14:00 for 5000 meters. He finished 6th in the 10k at the Outdoor National Championships and then 5th in the 5k, bringing his All-American total to four after just his first year.
Sweeney improved upon his 13th place finish in cross country with his 11th place finish this year. He is extremely talented and has found a system that works for him. He loves to race from the front and while that doesn't always win him a national title, you can always count on him being in the mix of things which bodes well for a top finish in championship races.
Sweeney is a top runner in both the 3000 meters and 5000 meters this fall and it’s pretty clear as to why. Don't be shocked if he leaves the winter of 2020 with a gold medal around his neck.
Just like his teammate, Stack had a very good 2019 track season. He’s fresh off of a 3rd place finish at the Cross Country National Championships and is looking to build off of that.
Last year, Stack ran 14:06 for 5000 meters at the Husky Classic and then ran 8:14 for 3000 meters. At the Indoor National Championships, he finished 8th in the 5000 meters (14:12) and then came back to finish 6th in the 3000 meters (8:14). During the outdoor season, Stack lowered his PR to 13:58 in the 5k and ran 8:55 for the steeplechase.
What can this guy not do?
He’s one of the toughest runners in the country and is tactically very sound. He’ll be near the top in both the 3000 and 5000 this year, and possibly contending for the national title...maybe in both events.
Kipkosgei is the best runner in Division Two at the moment.
There. We said it.
He has the greatest range of any runner and in any event he runs, he'll essentially be considered a national title contender. He holds personal bests of 1:49 (800), 4:05 (mile), 8:06 (3k) and 14:11 (5k). He’s also run 8:44 for the steeplechase.
On paper, those times put you in the conversation for NCAA gold.
The one big uncertainty surrounding this AIC veteran will be what race he decides to pursue come March? The last time we saw Kipkosgei race indoors, he finished 7th in the 800 meters back in 2018. In 2016, he ran the DMR as he anchored American International to the national title before coming back and finishing 3rd in the 3000 meters. He won the steeplechase this past spring and it was the only race he contested at the Outdoor National Championships.
It’ll be interesting to see if Kipkosgei goes back to the 800, or if he will step back up in distance for the indoor season, especially in a mile field that returns the NCAA champion.