TSR Collaboration
Apr 14, 20218 min
These rankings do take some indoor track performances from this past winter into account. However, the introduction of events like the 10k and the steeplechase, as well as the return of certain seniors who have not raced in over a year, has forced us to reshuffle our rankings and leave out some highly accomplished distance talents.
NOTE: The listed eligibility for these athletes takes into account the eligibility extension granted by the NCAA to make up for the discontinued 2020 outdoor track season.
Heys earned a spot in our rankings after an impressive indoor season and he’s only continued his impressive string of performances since then. In the same race as Alex Phillip and Jamie Dailey, Heys was the third man to run sub-30 in the 10,000 meters, posting a very strong mark of 29:54.
That time should definitely qualify him for the NCAA Championships this year and it sets him up well for a fresh 5k in the near future. Yet, more importantly, it extends his promising momentum and validates his standout performances from the indoor oval this past winter.
One of the breakout performers from this past indoor season, Alderfer is only continuing his rampant progress on the D3 scene this year. He’s transitioned smoothly to the outdoor oval, running 1:53 in the 800 meters and 3:52 in the 1500 meters. The catch? Those two results came at the same meet, showing off a quietly strong ability to effectively double.
Alderfer should be a big threat over the middle distance race this spring. Just imagine what he'll be able to do when he isn't responsible for double duty over the same weekend/meet.
Kuxmann posted the top 800 time in D3 this past weekend, hitting an excellent time of 1:51 in a respectable D1 field, losing only to 1:47 man Adam Swanson. The Milikin ace has also run 3:57 in the 1500 meters and 4:15 in the mile, showing to be more of a middle distance runner.
It’s Kuxmann's first time in our rankings, but that's what happens when you hold the the top spot on the national leaderboard for the 800 meters at the D3 level. The bigger question is whether or not Kuxmann can replicate this kind of performance moving forward. His previous personal best was 1:53 prior to this past weekend, so we'll be eager to see how his consistency comes along.
Wilkinson is super talented. He owns personal bests of 4:08 (mile), 8:11 (3k), 14:22 (5k), 31:15 (10k) and 9:06 (steeplechase). This guy is a winning machine and one of the nation's best distance talents when he's at 100%. He was runner-up at the 2019 NCAA XC Championships and finished 4th in the steeplechase at the outdoor national meet a few months prior to that.
So why do we have him ranked at only TSR #12? Well, Wilkinson has apparently been injured for the last few months and prior to this past weekend, he had not competed since the 2020 indoor track season.
The good news is that he just ran 3:58 for 1500 meters en route to a respectable win in his season opener. That may not be an elite-level performance, but it's a solid mark that's only two seconds off of his personal best and it resulted in an early-season victory.
For now, Wilkinson will sit at TSR #12, but there's plenty of potential for him to move up in our rankings over the next few weeks.
Jumping in our rankings in this edition, Fry ran a speedy 1500 out in Grand Junction, Colorado, hitting a 3:55 which converted down to 3:50.99 due to altitude. With that, Fry now sits at NCAA #2 on the D3 national leaderboard for the event and has established himself as a top contender over the 1500 meters thus far into the season.
He also tends to steps down to the 800 meters as well and is very familiar with doubling at most meets. That was evident this past weekend as he ran 1:55 for the half-mile distance in the same meet as his aforementioned 1500 meter race...and that 800 time isn't even converted.
After a very solid indoor track season, Moore started off his 2021 campaign with a strong 5k effort, running 14:35 en route to a victory by 21 seconds. If he gets into a competitive field somewhat soon enough, then he should be able to drop some serious time and truly enter the next tier that we know he is capable of reaching.
It will also be interesting to see which route he takes outside of the 5k, whether that be the 1500 meters, the steeplechase or the 10k. Moore made noticeable improvements this past winter his 8:18 (3k) personal best and we expect most of his talent to translate to the 5k distance this season.
A solid runner over the last few years, Dailey is right in the midst of a breakout season. He’s earned a new personal best in nearly every event he has contested in 2021. However, by far his most impressive effort has to be his 29:49 (10k), which puts him at NCAA #3 on the national leaderboard.
Running back-to-back 5k times right around his personal best pace is wildly impressive and it leads us to believe that he still has so much more to give in other events. His potential and overall ceiling as an athlete is sky-high right now.
It’s a little too early to call, but Csorba might have D3's "Most Improved" Award in the bag. According to TFRRS, Csorba never broke 9:00 in the 3k and never broke 16:00 in the 5k during the 2020 indoor track season.
Now, his personal bests are in a completely different realm as he owns times of 4:15 in the mile, 8:30 in the 3000 meters, 3:55 in the 1500 meters, 14:51 in the 5000 meters and 29:37 in the 10,000 meters, the latter being the most impressive time.
Csorba is running the 10k faster than his pace in the 3000 meters from just one year ago. His versatility is proving to be wildly impressive as well. Csorba is certainly shaping up to be one of D3's best distance runners over the next few years.
Another stud from John Carroll, Pierson has shown some great versatility over this outdoor track season. He currently holds the national lead in the steeplechase, running 9:15 in his debut effort, while also throwing down the NCAA #3 time in the 1500 meters, taking on a 3:53 to his resume. That mark pairs nicely with his 4:09 mile (unattached) from this past winter and seems to be on par with how he ran on the indoor oval.
Pierson is an integral part to the rise of John Carroll as a top-ranked D3 distance program, along with teammates Alex Phillip and Jamie Dailey. He's beginning to provide true firepower, not just depth, to one of the quietly stronger teams in the nation.
Fassbender has had a nice, but quiet start to his season, starting off with a promising 1500/800 double, then running a solo 14:40 (5k) the following weekend. In his last outdoor track season, Fassbender also ran the 10k, qualifying for the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, so it’s very likely we could see him contest that distance at some point in the future.
Once he gets into a more competitive 5k, we should see him throw down a nasty time. It'll be interesting to see where he'll be positioned on the national leaderboard a few weeks from now. The 10k is proving to be very top-heavy, but that could be Fassbender's best distance. Regardless, he's a top talent and has prove that on too many occasions to not give him a good ranking.
The highest ranked middle distance runner in our rankings, Jasa is definitely the favorite to win the 800 meter national title later this season and he will also likely play a role in the Loras’s 4x400 relay.
His 800 personal best is a mark of 1:51 (low) which was run on a flat 200 meter indoor track, so the sub-1:50 barrier is certainly an attainable target. The last two D3 athletes to break through that barrier were Kyler Lueck (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) and Ryan Wittenberg (WPI) over two years ago. Both men haves since run out of eligibility.
It should also be noted that Jasa is also a 53 second 400 meter hurdler, so while that is not his primary event, it is an event where he has the potential to qualify for the national meet in. We'll be interested to see how he balances his plethora of event choices that will surely come later this season.
The Johns Hopkins star has returned to racing this spring after a three-season hiatus. He decided that the Midwest had their fun in the winter, but it was now his turn to make some noise as he took the victory at the Towson Invitational in the 5000 meters in a personal best time of 14:27.
Pangallozzi has also run 8:24 for the indoor 3k and 30:14 in the 10k, showing an ability to effectively move up and down in distance. This Johns Hopkins veteran is certainly fit right now and if he continues to carry his momentum into the latter portion of this season, then he will be a contender for a national title.
Pommier’s best result of the 2021 indoor season came in a solo 4:09 flat-track mile performance. He has yet to lose a race since February of 2020 and continued that momentum into this spring season with a personal best of 3:54 for 1500 meters. However, that PR didn't stand for too long.
The following week, he dropped a ridiculous time of 3:47, pulling away from fellow D3 talent Ryan Cutter. Pommier is one of the best in the nation and has almost certainly established himself as the outright favorite to win the 1500 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships later this year.
Only a sophomore, Alex Phillip has already put together a very impressive resume, with personal bests of 3:53 (1500), 14:15 (5k unattached) and 29:30 (10k). That 5k is arguably the most impressive mark on his resume. It was also nice to him post back-to-back 14:45 splits through 5000 meters in his latest 10k race from last weekend. A cross country All-American, Phillip has taken another jump forward and looks to use his strength to challenge for national titles in the longer races on the oval.
Freiburger picked up where he left off from the indoor oval, opening up his outdoor season with a 29:36 (10k) at the Loras Easter Mid-Week meet. Unfortunately, this will not count towards national qualifying because it was run in a mixed field with men and women. That is a tough break as the result of a seemingly arbitrary rule, but if he runs another 10k, the he will surely have no problem getting to the Big Dance.
At this point Freiburger is one of the clear title favorites in both the 5k and 10k, so it will be interesting to see if he goes for the double. He's clearly strong enough to come out on top in both events, although someone like Alex Phillip is emerging as a legitimate threat to also earn NCAA gold in both distances.