2020 D2 Indoor Top 25 Rankings (Men): Update #1

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 TSR contributors may value certain aspects and ranking criteria differently between men and women when constructing our Indoor Top 25...

Was not ranked the week before.
 

First number indicates how much the individual has moved in the rankings.

The second number indicates where they were ranked the week before.

Crosswhite ran at the UW Preview over the weekend and raced to a mile time of 4:09. That's only a second off of his personal best, but it says good things about his fitness this early in the season. Last year, 4:09 would have been good enough for the #24 spot on the NCAA leaderboard and his PR of 4:08 likely would have been enough to sneak him into the mile field for Nationals.

Crosswhite will likely break that 4:08 PR sometime later on in the season and it also means that he has the potential to be a part of Western Oregon's DMR which is showing some big-time promise thanks to the addition of Derek Holdsworth.

Achengli falls as far as he does this week because of other strong performances. He also now sits at #20 on the NCAA performance list and he’ll need to run faster than 14:24 to make it to NCAA's this year. It's a long season, and there's plenty of time for him to improve, but this just wasn't an ideal start.

Chepkesir hasn’t raced since December 7th, but his mark of 8:13 for 3000 meters currently sits at #6 on the NCAA performance list. Keep an eye out for a 5000 meter result from Chepkesir in the near future.

Day slides into our rankings for the first time this season despite not racing since December. When he did race, he put on a show. Day went head-to-head with Workman of Colorado Mines, barely finishing runner-up in a time of 4:16. After the altitude conversion, he finds himself with a time of 4:05.29 and sits at #2 on the NCAA performance list for the 2020 season.

The former Ole Miss athlete boasts a personal best of 4:12 in the mile and if he has that same kind of performance that he did at Mines on another track, then he’ll likely have a new (unconverted) personal best.

Like Crosswhite (TSR #25), there’s a chance that Day could find himself on CSU-Pueblo's DMR as they look to repeat as national champions, even without Thomas Staines.

Workman was in the same race that Dylan Day was in where they both ran 4:16 and some change. The difference between the two? Three-hundredths of a second. Workman is currently at the top of the performance list after an altitude conversion dropped his time all the way to 4:05.26.

Workman is also a part of the Mines’ DMR team which has the top mark on the NCAA leaderboard this season. He will likely be either the opening leg or anchor leg depending on the depth of the team this season.

Say what you will, but Workman's mile performance at altitude is actually a better time (unconverted) than if you took his 1500 meter PR and converted it to a mile. The three-time NCAA Championship qualifier, who will likely be going to his fourth national meet in March, could be on the brink of actually battling for individual All-American honors this time around.

The senior has only raced once since the cross country season and it was his 14:08 5k at the GVSU Holiday Open. Mastandrea will almost definitely be going to Nationals with that mark, leaving him free to pursue other events later this season.

Like many of the athletes in these rankings, Ccope has also only raced once and it happened to be before break. He ran 14:06 at the Mel Tjeerdsma Classic, an impressive time to open up his season, challenging Kimutai for the top result. Despite finishing 2nd, we like what we've seen from him last fall and this past December.

Mitchem was the unsung hero of this past cross country season. He had a stellar fall and was rewarded with an All-American finish at the national meet. Of course, national meet success is something that's he’s already experienced in the past. The All-American steeplechaser has now added a strong 5000 meter time (even if it's converted) to his resume.

He ran 14:45 on his home track before Christmas break and that was a 24 second personal best. After the conversion, it moved down to 14:04 which (unfortunately for him) missed the automatic qualifying mark by just a mere second.

Even so, Mitchem has essentially booked his ticket to Alabama early in the season. He will likely transition his attention to the 3000 meters in order to earn another national qualifying time in that event. Between this past fall and his season opener, Mitchem looks primed for a big winter track season.

The junior has yet to race this season and this is the only reason he’s fallen. Once he races, Zahafi will jump back to being a contender for the 800 meters.

We were slightly underwhelmed by Colligan’s first race back since the 2019 cross country season, running 14:26 for 5000 meters at the GVSU Holiday Open. Still, it's important that we don't look to heavily into a race fresh off of cross country season right before break. Colligan will likely bounce back later this season en route to a national qualifying time.

No movement for Julian. He hasn’t raced this season. If he does, he’ll be a potential title favorite for the mile.

We've already seen some big marks for Warren early on in the season. He ran 4:11 for the mile and then doubled back and ran 8:13, a new personal best, for 3000 meters. He’s coming off of the strongest cross country season of his career and it has clearly translated into early-season success this winter.

He’s run 4:05 for the mile before and there’s no reason to believe that he won’t be back in that same kind of shape this season. This, in turn, means that he has a chance to double at the NCAA meet in both the mile and 3000 meters should he end up qualifying in both events. Whether or not he chooses to do so will be the real question.

Noble was already trending upwards in our rankings after his 8:10 result for 3000 meters back in early December. Since then, he’s added marks of 14:23 for 5000 meters and a mile time of 4:14. He’s extremely well-rounded and looks like he can be competitive in whichever event he toes the line for. Although neither his mile time nor 5000 meter time will be good enough to qualify for NCAA's, it's clear that the 3000 meters is a happy medium between those events.

Chada hasn’t raced since he ran 14:10 for 5000 meters at the GVSU Holiday Open a week after the cross country national meet. He slides back two spots because of other performances.

Yet another athlete who wasn't mentioned prior to this update has just jumped into our rankings. Holdsworth is a transfer from Trinidad State Junior College who has run 1:47 for 800 meters (which he ran at the Adrian Martinez Classic in 2017) and 3:46 for 1500 meters. He just ran 1:50 this past weekend, but took home the win at the UW 2020 Indoor Preview over Brooks Beast athlete Drew Windle.

The Western Oregon athlete will be in strong consideration for taking home the 800 meter title come March.

Mutai has already run 14:02 and 4:13 this season. While he won’t contest the mile at the national meet, he’s a strong candidate to finish in the top three of the 3000 meters and/or the 5000 meters at the national meet in March. He falls two spots only because of other stronger performances.

Winders makes a huge leap thanks to his recent performances in both the 5000 meters and the mile. He matched his personal best in early December by running 14:06 (good enough for #5 on the NCAA performance list as of now). In his first meet back after the break, Winders then ran 4:10 for the mile.

Winders has the ability to be a viable threat in everything from the mile, 3000, and 5000 meters. The question, however, is which of these three events does he want to take on? Does he want to double at the NCAA meet in March? It also doesn't help that the distance events, although they are no longer crowded with all-time greats like Panning and Gidabuday, are still incredibly deep this year.

Campion has made the jump all the way to TSR #8 thanks to his time of 8:09 for 3000 meters back in early December. That was an 18 second personal best for him. The following week, he then ran 4:08, which is just a second off of his PR.

Both of those marks are good enough to be in the top three on the NCAA leaderboard as of right now.

He’ll need to run faster than 4:08 to get to NCAA's, but there shouldn’t be any doubt that he’ll get there. Campion has now displayed quietly impressive range and has historically been very strong tactically. It’s also worth noting that he could be a part of the American International DMR team which could end up contending for the national title.

Kimutai's 14:03 5k from early on is the third automatic qualifying mark and it ensures that we will see him at the NCAA meet in March. His growing experience and consistent fast times makes him (at the very least) a clear All-American favorite. Earning a win over Jhordan Ccope back in December is another nice result that bolsters his resume.

An impressive early-season time of 1:50 for 800 meters keeps Mbuta inside our top 10 and makes him a probable national qualifier. He'll have plenty of competition this season, even without Staines in the national field, but Mbuta has shown consistency and range like no other.

The reigning mile champ hasn’t taken a stab at his primary race yet this season. However, he just recently ran the 1000 meter race at the JDL January College Kick Off where he ran a time of 2:32. He also ran a leg of Queens' 4x400 relay. Wammetsberger is clearly refining his speed which tells us that a mile race is likely right around the corner.

Stack falls back one spot due to strong performances from others. He’s currently listed at #7 on the NCAA performance list with a converted time of 14:07 for 5000 meters. As for teammate Charlie Sweeney, he is currently listed at #11 on the NCAA performance list with a converted time of 14:14.

I'd like to give some meaningful analysis here, but there isn't much to talk about. Those are realistic times in regards to what they are capable of doing and it keeps them in the upper-tier of the D2 distance elites.

Marcelo has come out of the gates on fire. He first ran 14:34 at the Colorado Mines track which gave him the top time in the country after a conversion. His 13:53 sits nine seconds ahead of the second best time on the NCAA leaderboard. He then ran 8:33 for 3000 meters at the UCCS 2019 Invitational where he received another conversion. That time is currently the third fastest on the NCAA performance list at 8:09.

Sure, altitude conversions are what you make of it, but there’s no denying that Laguera is already in very good shape. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if he eventually broke the 14:00 barrier this season (unconverted) and ran even faster than his 8:09 conversion.

The 2018 NCAA XC champion is showing that his fitness is for real and that his national title was no fluke. In a year where Gidabuday and Panning no longer headline the D2 ranks, Laguera could find himself vying for another national title...this time on the indoor oval.

Just like his teammate Campion, Kipkosgei has put together a strong 2019-2020 indoor season already. He ran 8:08 for 3000 meters in the first meet of the season. Then, a week later, he ran 4:08 in the mile. We’ve already talked about how he has some of the greatest range in the country, and seeing how he's only a few seconds off of his PRs in both events, it’s likely that we will see him better both of those marks by the end of the season.

Also, it’s worth noting that the American International DMR has the potential to be extremely good. Kipkosgei will likely anchor the relay just like he did in 2015 when the Yellow Jackets took home the national title.

Benoit Campion (American International)

Derek Holdsworth (Western Oregon)

Calahan Warren (Embry-Riddle)

Jake Mitchem (Colorado Mines)

Vincent Workman (Colorado Mines)

Dylan Day (CSU-Pueblo)

Justin Crosswhite (Western Oregon)

Ezekiel Kipchirchir (West Texas A&M)

Dustin Nading (Western Oregon) *Transferred to Washington

Kyle Moran (Colorado Mines)

Dylan Ko (Colorado Mines)

Hugo Arlabosse (Franklin Pierce)

Rowan Doherty (Simon Fraser)

Seb Anthony (Queens (N.C.))

Dylan Ko (Colorado Mines)

Kyle Moran (Colorado Mines)

Nathan Hood (CSU-Pueblo)

Ezekiel Kipchirchir (West Texas A&M)

Nadir Yusuf (MSU-Moorhead)

Wesley Kirui (Alaska Anchorage)

Seb Anthony (Queens (N.C.))

Hugo Arlabosse (Franklin Pierce)

Rowan Doherty (Simon Fraser)

Tai Smith (Mount Olive)

Ross Husch (Western Colorado)

John Partee (Lewis)

Mathew Chesum (Benedict)

Ryan Talbott (Saginaw Valley State)

CarLee Stimpfel (Saginaw Valley State)

Dayton Brown (Saginaw Valley State)