TSR Collaboration
Feb 18, 202010 min
Updated: Mar 9, 2020
Written by Quenten Lasseter and John Cusick
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...
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.
Moinat finally had his breakthrough race this season, running 1:50 in the 800 meters after previously having multiple marks of 1:53. Although many may have forgotten about Moinat, he was 7th overall last year at the Indoor National Championships and it seems like he is back on track and better than ever as he currently sits at NCAA #4 on the TFRRS descending order list.
Along with sitting at NCAA #11 in the 5k (14:11), Colligan put himself in good position in the 3000 meters with his fellow Colorado Mines teammates Moran and Workman, running a converted 8:09 at Texas Tech.
Colligan has proven to be a legitimate force in both events and really only moves back due to performances from others.
Running alongside teammates Moran and Colligan, Workman also had a great race in the 3000 meters at Texas Tech, running a converted 8:09. Workman’s time puts him right beside Moran at NCAA #10 on the national leaderboard. This Colorado Mines trio has a great shot at making waves in this event come Nationals, although it will be very interesting to see what they end up doing in terms of event selection.
The young star from Grand Valley State had a positive race at his home meet this past weekend, running 8:10 in the 3000 meters which is a PR for Chada. This outing places him at NCAA #17 on the NCAA list.
Chada has proven to be a household name that everyone watches out for and this performance proves just that as he looks to be on the right track as near the postseason. Despite the solid result, a handful of other breakout performances push Chada back to TSR #22.
Moran made his collegiate debut in the 3000 meters when he traveled to Texas Tech and threw down a converted time of 8:08. This performance ranks him at NCAA #9 and is the reason why he enters our rankings this week. Throughout Moran’s career, we have only seen him compete in the 5k and longer distance events. After seeing this outing, he may have found his calling.
Young rightfully enters our TSR rankings for the first time after one of the biggest improvements we’ve ever seen in a single season. Just a month ago, Young ran a time of 4:24 in the mile at the Great Dane Classic. This was obviously nothing special, but what we saw at the GVSU Big meet absolutely was.
Young threw down a 20 second PR of 4:04 to establish himself as one of the best in D2. Watch out for Young as he becomes a dark horse in the mile.
Woldemicheal made an exciting return this past weekend after not racing since December of 2018. Even after his long hiatus of not competing, he looked like his old self, winning the GVSU Big Meet 5k in a time of 14:12.
This performance was shocking to everyone after such a long time without racing. With a career PR of 13:54 in the event and a few more weeks of training that he can put under his belt, he could very much be a potential national title favorite and return to glory at Nationals. However, until then, we're remaining cautious and keeping him at TSR #19...for now.
Hagen made his 3000 meter indoor debut for the 2020 season, running a converted time of 8:20. That time (NCAA #30) now places him quite a bit away from teammates Moran and Workman in the national rankings. This performance should not overlook Hagen’s impressive 4:03 (converted) mile from earlier this season where he is a top favorite in the event. That being said, this wasn’t a performance that gave us much confidence that he’s still in the shape that he was in before Christmas.
Kimutai was probably looking for better results at the Indoor Gorilla Classic, running 8:16 in the 3000 meters which is the same time that he previously ran two weeks. Kimutai is currently listed at NCAA #24 for the event which means that he still has some work to do in terms of qualifying for Nationals. He is still one of the top favorites for the 5k, but it's a bit surprising to see him unable to make up ground in the 15-lap race.
At the GVSU Big Meet, Wammetsberger was able to drop his season best of 4:10 down to 4:06. This improvement is huge for him as it now places him in the top 15 for the mile, nationally. Still, the 2019 mile national champion hasn't quiet reached the same tier as his fellow mile competitors have this season. Luckily for the Queens senior, he is tactically one of the better milers in D2 as evidenced by his title performance last winter.
Crosswhite set himself a new PR at the Husky Classic this past weekend with a stellar performance of 4:04 in the mile. Crosswhite has run the mile three times this season and every time he continues to successfully run faster. For starters, he debuted with a time of 4:09 at the UW Preview in early January. Two weeks ago at the UW Invitational, he lowered it to 4:07. Now, Crosswhite has chopped off another three seconds. If this kind of improvement continues, he will most definitely be one of the title favorites heading into Nationals.
Ko showed us that his NCAA #13 mark in the mile (4:06 after conversion) and NCAA #16 mark in the 5k (14:15 after conversion) can be believed to be true. The sophomore returned to the track this last weekend and ran 8:09 at the Texas Tech Shootout. After a small altitude conversion, it’s now good for the NCAA #4 time this season. Altitude conversion fan or not, Ko is at least displaying tremendous consistency across a wide array of events and that has to be looked at positively.
Arlabosse continues to climb our rankings after another stellar performance in the 800 meters. With a previous PR of 1:49.22 set in January, Arlabosse lowered his time just a smidge to 1:49.17. This performance proves he is one of the most consistent men in D2 and will be in the conversation to be the next national champion in the event if he can somehow find Holdsworth having an off day at Nationals.
Sweeney made a big jump this past weekend for the 5000 meters, lowering his mark down to 14:05 at the Husky Classic. This outing moves him up to NCAA #6 on the national leaderboard. Tack on an 8:09 3k conversion from his race at New Mexico, and it's clear that Sweeney is beginning to hit his stride.
Sweeney ran 14:13 at the Husky Classic this same time last year, so he is already ahead of that pace this season. It seems to look like Sweeney is starting to peak at the right time and doing so with times that match the personal bests on his resume.
Winders did all he could to improve his stock over the last two weeks. He really falls because there was just so much action happening over the last two weeks. He first ran 4:07 for the mile at the Meyo Invitational, but that has kept him at NCAA #16 as the event grows in depth. Winders then ran 8:08 for 3000 meters at the GVSU Big Meet which slots him in the NCAA #8 on the national leaderboard.
The Southern Indiana sophomore will likely have to make a choice if he wants to contest two events at Nationals because he also has the NCAA #7 time in the 5000 meters (14:06) as well. It’s unlikely we see him enter all three events, so we imagine he'll pursue the 5k/3k double.
It wasn’t the most encouraging couple of weeks for the Yellow Jacket freshman. After he ran 8:02 in the 3000 meters three weeks ago, Mutai raced again with yet another 3k. This time he ran 8:17 for the distance, far off from what he ran earlier. This makes us wonder if Mutai is just going through a hard training phase. At his best, he’s a top five talent in the NCAA.
Like many people this winter, Warren continues to build upon his best season as a collegiate. After running a personal best in the mile, Warren anchored his Embry Riddle DMR team to a 9:55 mark, good enough for the NCAA #9 mark in Division Two. He also ran 8:08 for 3000 meters at at the Music City Challenge to move himself up to NCAA #7 spot on the performance list.
Warren has become a potential title contender for the mile now and will contend for All-American honors in the 3000 meters if he chooses to race it. His underrated speed and strong tactical prowess is hard to ignore.
Stack had never run a 3000 meter race at sea level except for the two NCAA meets he has attended. He changed that this past weekend and toed the line for one at the Husky Classic. Stack went on to set an eight second personal best on his way to running 8:06.
Everything Stack has done at altitude suggests that he’s one of the best in the country. After securing qualifying marks in the 3000 meters and 5000 meters (and anchoring Western Colorado's DMR as of right now), expect Stack to sharpen up his racing skills as he looks for his first national title.
Where do we begin with Bix? He’s jumped onto the scene in a big way over the past two weeks. First, he went to New Mexico and proceeded to run a 4:08 mile. After the altitude conversion, it became 4:02.77. He then went to the Husky Invite and ran 8:03 for 3000 meters and is now the NCAA #3 runner in D2 for the event.
Bix is in really good shape. Plain and simple.
The 8:03 performance at sea level validates his converted 4:02 mile and it also means that he’ll likely be the anchor on the Grizzlies DMR team at Nationals as well. Bix has the chance to realistically win the DMR, the mile and possibly even the 3000 meters depending on who you ask. He's clearly peaking at the right time and carrying his momentum into the postseason.
Campion has been extremely busy over the course of the last two weeks. He first helped American International’s DMR team run to the fastest time in the country with a 9:46 result (9:53 track conversion). He followed that up with the fastest mile mark in Division Two, running 4:02.54 at Boston University.
Campion has jumped to the front of the mile in terms of being a title favorite and he brings with him an 8:09 3000 meter PR. When you look at his performances in the 800 and 3000 meters, it's no surprise to see the American International senior thriving in the mile distance.
Okay, so we haven’t seen Kipkosgei round into the form we thought he’d be in at this time in the season. But he just ran 1:50.14 over the weekend which is the #6 time in Division Two. It’s his third top-20 mark of the season, but also signals that he may be leaning towards the DMR team (helped them to #1 time) the mile. But in order for that to happen, he’ll probably need to run faster than the 4:08 he’s already run this season.
This time it’s Grand Valley’s middle distance star Dennis Mbuta making a big jump in our rankings. The junior gave us the NCAA #5 time in the mile (4:03), the NCAA #2 time in the 800 meters (1:48) and helped anchor home the NCAA #2 time in the DMR (9:46).
All of that was done in the span of two weekends.
It's hard to dislike what Mbuta is doing right now. His range is outstanding, his finishing speed is some of the best in the nation, his times rank at the top of the NCAA (without conversions) and he's taking down some top-tier talent while doing so. If you're buying stock in collegiate distance runners, Mbuta would be worth your time.
Holdsworth was idle for the entire two weeks after his big 1:47 mark in the 800 meters. He was entered in the Husky Classic mile, but was a DNS. For what it’s worth, he was in the same heat where his teammate Justin Crosswhite ran 4:04.
This was extremely hard ranking Noble at TSR #2. He has the second fastest 5000 meter time on the season after he ran 14:01 in January. He followed that up a couple weeks later with his 8:05 at Camel City. After the track conversion, it’s the fastest 3000 meter time in Division Two with a time of 8:00. Noble has reached "top contender" status in each of these events and he is likely to contest both races at NCAA's.
I can’t believe I’m saying it, but there was actually a better performance than his over the last two weeks...which leads us to our TSR #1 ranked athlete.
That one performance came from Laguera. The senior finally raced at sea level and he did not disappoint. He ran 13:59 and set a lifetime personal best in the process. While he’s not quite at the level of his 13:53 (altitude and track conversion) it still is the fastest time in Division Two this season. He’s the favorite in the 5000 meters as of right now and with a qualifying mark in both the 3000 and mile (if he chooses), there’s no reason to believe that he’s not a contender in either of those as well.
Joshua Chepkesir (UNC Pembroke)
Jack Mastandrea (Charleston (W.V.)
Jhordan Ccope (NW Missouri)
Isaiah Rodarte (Adams State)
Benajmin Allen (Concordia-St. Paul)
James Young (Academy of Art)
Ivar Moinat (Eastern New Mexico)
Vincent Workman (Colorado Mines)
Kyle Moran (Colorado Mines)
Enael Woldemichael (Grand Valley State)
Benjamin Allen (Concordia-St. Paul)
Adam Wright (Queens (N.C.))
Ryan Riddle (NW Missouri)
Seb Anthony (Queens (N.C.))
Nathan Hood (CSU-Pueblo)
Anthony Raftis (Queens (N.C.))
Paddy Robb (Adams State)
John Partee (Lewis)
Arnaud Taki (West Texas A&M)
Jaylen Tryon (Lubbock Christian)