TSR Collaboration
Jan 6, 20218 min
Click here to see our Just Missed and Honorable Mention names
as well as our criteria for the creation of these rankings
*Veatch was originally listed in our Just Missed category, but the discovery of a duplicate name in our rankings gave us one open position. As a result, we have opted to rank Veatch at our TSR #25 spot.
After a strong 2019 indoor track season where he ran 13:40 for 5000 meters, qualified for the NCAA Championships and finished as an All-American, Veatch didn't seem to find that same groove during the 2020 indoor track season.
The Indiana runner still posted strong times of 7:53 (3k), 13:50 (5k) and 4:03 (mile) last winter, but he was unable to qualify for the indoor national meet.
Overall, we like Veatch a lot and if we're considering last winter to be a "not-so-great" season despite him running 7:53 for 3000 meters, then that's truthfully a good problem to have if you're Indiana. His experience, strong array of personal bests and prior All-American finishes make him a big name to watch going into this 2021 indoor track season.
One of the biggest international names to join the NCAA as of late is Allon Clay, a Japanese national champion in the 800 meters who boasts an incredible personal best of 1:46.59. His introduction to the NCAA comes during a period where the men's 800 meter indoor national title seems to be free for the taking.
Admittedly, it's fair to question why Yusuf Bizimana (a 1:46 runner from England) isn't ranked and Clay is. Both athletes have been fairly consistent in the 800 meters and Clay doesn't even have any known indoor performances according to his World Athletics profile.
However, the fact of the matter is that Texas A&M is a powerhouse when it comes to developing middle distance runners. Year after year, they produce some of the best 800 meter runners in the nation and often have grand success with those men and women in the early days of their college careers.
Donavan Brazier, Devin Dixon, Sammy Watson and Jazmine Fray are prime examples of that.
If history has told us anything, it's that Allon Clay will be a star for Texas A&M. We just need to see how he handles the indoor oval and the NCAA scene before we give him a bump in our rankings.
Abdi Nur is just flat-out talented. The redshirt sophomore continues to get better with each passing season and his recent performances suggest that he hasn't faltered at all during the spring and summers months of the pandemic.
Last winter, we saw Nur drop an altitude-converted 5k time of 13:39, a mark which was good enough to land him at NCAA #13 in the event. He also recorded a strong 3k personal best of 7:57. However, it seems fair to say that the redshirt sophomore is better in the longer distances, recently running an eye-catching time of 28:12 in the 10,000 meters back in December.
If Nur can fully translate the success of his recent 10k to the indoor oval, then he could surely contend for an All-American finish and even challenge some of the best distance runners in the NCAA.
One of the top returners in a wide-open men's 800 meter field this year is John Rivera. The Ole Miss veteran had a breakout 2020 indoor track campaign, running 1:48.13 which put him at NCAA #10 in the event.
However, it wasn't just how fast Rivera ran last season that impressed us. He ran 1:48 on two separate occasions last year, finishing runner-up to Indiana's Cooper Williams in both instances. Rivera quietly took down some respectable competition last year and was primed to earn an All-American finish at the indoor national meet before COVID interrupted those plans.
Admittedly, Rivera's 4th place finish at last year's SEC Indoor Championships wasn't ideal, but the top five finishers in the men's 800 meters were separated by one second. In our eyes, Rivera could have secured a better finish with a few tactical tweaks in terms of positioning.
Long-time veteran Kyle Mau may be out of indoor track eligibility, but the Hoosiers are lucky enough to have a guy like Schadler still on their roster. The Indiana miler consistently improved throughout the 2020 indoor track season, eventually securing a huge personal best of 3:58.45 in the mile (NCAA #19).
With an additional personal best of 2:23 in the 1000 meters and an increasingly important role in Indiana's DMR last year, Schadler's relative value coming into this season is incredibly high.
His consistency and progression last winter was some of the best in the NCAA and we wouldn't be surprised if he broke out in a major way this season.
Yet another redshirt sophomore in our rankings, Quax is been a name who doesn't get enough attention or appreciation for what he has done in each season of competition.
The NAU runner has proven to be a top cross country scorer on a powerhouse squad, ran 3:39 for 1500 meters and 13:47 for 5000 meters as a true freshman during outdoors and ran 3:58.13 in the mile last winter (NCAA #17) as a redshirt freshman.
Quax has accomplished a lot more than some people realize despite only being in the NCAA for the past two years. We didn't get to see him race a ton at non-altitude meets, but he certainly made the most of his opportunities last winter and we expect more of the same in 2021 (if the Lumberjacks decide to seriously run any indoor track meets).
We didn't get to see Oregon's Reed Brown compete on the indoor oval last year as he was ultimately redshirted for the season. However, it's important to not forget that this guy is one of the best milers in the country, boasting personal bests of 3:38 (1500) and 3:57 (mile).
Admittedly, Brown hasn't always been at his best when it comes to championship races, although he's certainly not the only collegiate who falls into that category. Between indoors and outdoors, the Oregon veteran has qualified for three national meets throughout his career (missing one) and has only secured one All-American finish between those three national meets, finishing 8th during his freshman indoor track season.
Even so, few milers are as consistently fast as Brown is when looking at his 1500 and mile performances. He's an experienced veteran who has been racing against top competition for years now and that should ultimately benefit him in the long run (no pun intended).
Peralta was a star in high school, owning a personal best of 1:49 and winning a New Balance national title during his junior year. No one doubted that he had a bright future with the Ducks, but it was surprising to see him have such a big impact as only a freshman last winter.
As a rookie, the Oregon runner dropped a surprisingly strong time of 2:23 for 1000 meters in his collegiate debut. After an unexciting race at the Razorback Invitational, Peralta went on to drop back-to-back times of 1:48 in the 800 meters, eventually securing an NCAA #9 mark and easily emerging as the country's top freshman in the event by a significant margin.
After such a promising first year, what should we expect to see from the sophomore Duck in his second year of collegiate competition? Peralta has already proven that he can be effective at the national level in the 800 meters and now has the necessary experience to truly contend for top finishes.
In a year that is wide-open for the men's 800 meter national title, Peralta may have an opportunity to chase NCAA gold come March.
Just like Reed Brown, Perretta was redshirted during the 2020 indoor track season. In retrospect, that may have been a great long-term decision by him and the Penn State coaching staff as Perretta is now primed to be one of the top runners in the NCAA when it comes to the 800 meters this year.
The redshirt senior may be one of the more underrated middle distance runners in the entire nation. He has run 1:47 for 800 meters, has qualified for a pair of national meets on the track and won the 2019 BIG 10 indoor title.
The Nittany Lion standout is also sneaky-good when it comes to tactical races and has thrown down some strong marks outside of the 800 meters, owning personal bests of 2:22 (1k) and 3:46 (1500).
There is so much to like about this half-mile specialist this winter. Nationally, the men's 800 field is wide-open and Perretta's biggest obstacle to the national title is Cooper Williams, someone who Perretta has already took down at the aforementioned 2019 BIG 10 Indoor Championships.
Don't sleep on a guy who has a little bit of everything in his racing arsenal.
Zach Facioni is a top distance talent who has made significant improvements over the past few seasons. The Wake Forest junior made waves when he finished 2nd at the ACC Cross Country Championships as a freshman and has put together multiple top-three finishes at the ACC level on the track.
Last indoor season, Facioni ran 4:01 in the mile on a flat-track which converted to a time of 3:58. He just missed qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships with that mark and was not far off in the 3000 meters either, owning a time of 7:55.
However, what we have seen from Facioni as of late has been incredibly promising. He just ran 7:51 for 3000 meters during his time in Australia and was rumored to have run 13:40 for 5000 meters at an all-comers meet a little over a week ago.
With many of last year’s qualifiers having graduated and Facioni clearly elevating his fitness to a new level, the Wake Forest distance runner has multiple avenues into the national meet this year (depending on what happens with cross country).
He was one of the few long distance runners in the ACC who was capable of challenging Peter Seufer on a consistent basis during his reign. Now, it looks like it's Facioni's turn to headline the conference.
Last year, the Algerian distance standout ran times of 1:48.50 (800) and 3:58 (mile). He should be a legitimate contender to make it to NCAA’s in either event (or both) this year for his first true appearance at a national meet after last year's NCAA meet was cancelled.
Although Hedeilli is inexperienced at the NCAA Championship level, he has proven himself as an excellent championship racer. Last winter, he won both the 1000 meters and the mile at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships. He also did not finish worse than 3rd in any race that he toed the line for last season.
After racking up four wins last winter and showing off tremendous range, it's hard to ignore the incredible value that this Texas Tech runner brings to the Red Raiders' roster.
The Washington sophomore came to Seattle last year as a freshman phenom. The New Zealander was one of the best prep school milers in his nation's history and showed a little bit of that talent last winter.
Tanner started his 2020 indoor track season with a surprising win over a deep field of Oregon runners in the 1000 meters, earning a time of 2:21. After that, he ran a respectable 3:59 mile, but improved upon that mark (relatively speaking) with an indoor 1500 meter time of 3:39 at Boston University.
However, the reason why we have Tanner listed at TSR #14 in our rankings is because of what he has recently accomplished. The Washington sophomore ran 3:36.44 for 1500 meters just a few days ago, forcing us to reset our expectations for him.
We're keeping Tanner at TSR #14 because although his recent 1500 meter performance was wildly impressive, we want to see how he transitions that fitness to the indoor oval. He was a strong miler for Washington last winter, but he didn't jump out in any big way until he ran that 3:39 for 1500 meters.