Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Jan 24, 202212 min
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Listed eligibility takes redshirts and Covid-related extensions into consideration.
TFRRS is used as a general guide when determining eligibility.
Was not ranked in our last update.
First number indicates how much the individual has moved in the rankings.
The second number indicates where they were ranked in our last update.
There is no question that Gomez is still fit. He ran 2:21 for 1000 meters back in December, a time that only the NCAA's best middle distance talents can match. However, a very rough 1:56 performance in the 800 meters followed by a recent DNF result this past weekend (where we suspect he was pacing) makes it difficult to keep him in our rankings.
We'll give Gomez another two weeks to rally and earn a new top mark, but the start of his season hasn't exactly been ideal.
It feels like Olin Hacker's mile performance from this past weekend got lost in all of the crazy NCAA action. The Wisconsin veteran ran a huge mark of 3:56 in the mile, having a pacer with him for only 600 meters en route to a finish where he defeated his competition by nearly nine seconds.
Of course, that mile time isn't the only reason why Hacker is now listed in our rankings. The Badger ace ran 13:37 for 5000 meters at Grand Valley State back in December, a mark which sits at NCAA #16 at the time of publication.
Between a top-tier 5k time and a likely national qualifying time in the mile, Hacker's resume has a mix of speed, endurance and talent that hasn't been matched by many elite stars in the NCAA so far this year.
Of course, the season is still young, but Hacker boasts a resume that is really hard to ignore right now.
Has not raced since December.
After a strong DMR effort during his season opener, Bizimana took to the track this past weekend where he ran a time of 1:48.75 for 800 meters. That time then received a minor altitude conversion which stayed in the 1:48 range.
In that race, Bizimana battled with teammates Crayton Carrozza (who won) and Cole Lindhorst (who placed 3rd). His two teammates also ran marks of 1:48 this past weekend.
Overall, there isn't a whole lot to take away from this past weekend or Bizimana's season as a whole. We know that he's a top 800 meter talent and that he'll likely pursue the half-mile event at the indoor national meet.
Yes, it would have been nice to see the Texas star edge Carrozza for the win, but it's hard to put a lot of weight on certain finishes when teammates are battling each other in early-season January meets.
Expect to see improved 800 meter times and a strong mile effort out of Bizimana over next weekend and throughout the month of February.
Is Sean Dolan a better 800 meter runner than he is a miler? In my opinion, the answer to that is no, but Dolan ran 1:46 for 800 meters (unattached) last summer and threw down a mark 1:48 for the same distance two weekends ago.
Dolan is an experienced top-tier miler who has posted incredibly strong times such a 3:39 mark (1500) and a 3:57 personal best (mile). He's an elite tactician and has an incredible understanding of spacing and positioning.
In our opinion, the 800 meters is more of a secondary weapon in Dolan's racing arsenal. He'll likely take solace in the fact that he has the often-needed speed which is required to succeed in championship racing.
He's more of a miler, but with that distance looking ultra-competitive this year, Dolan may want to ponder a future where he pursues the half-mile at the indoor national meet instead.
Welcome back, John Rivera. After running 1:17 in the 600 meters to kick off his season, the Ole Miss middle distance star threw down a huge time of 1:47.48 for 800 meters this past weekend, giving him the NCAA co-lead with Texas A&M superstar Brandon Miller.
Rivera is highly experienced and is one of the most dangerous half-milers in the country when he begins to pick up momentum. He has run under 1:50 a total of 15 different times, although prior to this weekend, he had never run under 1:48.
However, with a PR now comfortably in the 1:47 range, Rivera seems to have all of the necessary resume highlights to be a major All-American threat come March. The Ole Miss star was out for seven weeks last year with an injury, but still put together a respectable season.
Now, Rivera is healthy and is one of the few men in the 800 meters who could be a potential threat to Miller in March if he maintains this level of development throughout the rest of the season.
There will likely be plenty of debate as to where Hamilton should be placed in our Top 25 rankings. However, before we continue our conversation, let's clear up a few things.
First off, Hamilton has proven to be a top talent before. He's been solid in cross country, great in the steeplechase and has produced top converted marks prior to this season.
Secondly, almost all Montana State stars before Hamilton have gone on to prove (at sea level) that their converted altitude and flat-track marks were legitimate.
And finally, the conversion rates, as debatable as they may be, likely aren't so inaccurate to the point where we can't trust them or use them as a guide for general fitness. The conversions may not always be a perfect indicator of what someone can run at sea level down to the exact millisecond, but they're not unrealistic, either.
Throughout the month of January, Hamilton has run a converted 3:56 mile and a converted 7:48 mark for 3000 meters. On paper, those are two super elite marks, the latter of which currently leads the NCAA.
Yes, I would like to see this Montana State superstar toe the line at sea level before I make wild proclamations about what he can do on the national stage. Still, those are insane marks.
If you don't trust the conversions, then you could add one second to his converted mile time and add two seconds to his converted 3000 meter time. If you were to do that, then you would still end up with marks of 3:57 and 7:50...that's still really fast!
There is far more to like about Hamilton than to dislike. Will he be an All-American come March? Honestly, I don't really know, but I do know that his current marks are too good to leave out of our rankings.
I'll admit, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the fact that Adam Fogg, an established superstar miler and one of the better tacticians in the NCAA, was given an upset loss in the 1000 meters by D2 standout Wes Ferguson earlier this month.
However, Fogg came back in a major way this past weekend. The Drake superstar validated his label as a mile ace by posting a huge 3:56 effort. He soundly defeated his competition which, collegiately, included teammate Isaac Basten (3:59) as well as Iowa State's Chad Johnson (4:00) and Wesley Kiptoo (4:01).
This was a statement performance for Fogg and it solidified his place in our rankings. It's hard to dislike anything he's doing right now. I'd be interested to see what he could do in other events like the 800 meters or the 3000 meters, but that would just be supplemental to what we already know and love about him.
Wow. Colton Johnsen is the real deal. After a season opener where he ran 13:34 for 5000 meters en route to a personal best, the Washington State veteran validated his early-season success with a monster 3:55 mile effort at the University of Washington.
Johnsen was already one of the more versatile distance talents in the NCAA, but he has now developed further elite-level firepower that can/should put him in contention to earn All-American honors.
However, despite the mile being his best event, it's still possible that he pursues the 5k/3k double at the indoor national meet later this year. Then again, he could also go for the mile/3k double, all of this is assuming that he will qualify for the 3000 meters (which he did last year).
Regardless, Johnsen has reached another level and now looks like a more comfortable selection for All-American honors. That's no guarantee, but a 3:55 mile PR will help out any resume in a major way.
Despite an early-season December loss to new teammate Bashir Mosavel-Lo in the 800 meters, it's hard to not like what Voelz has done so far this season. He has already run 1:48 for 800 meters in his one effort at the distance this season. Then, he just ran 4:04 in the mile this past weekend.
Voelz is someone who has historically, just like the rest of his teammates, peaked in the postseason. That fact will likely keep him in our rankings a bit longer.
After running 13:24 for 5000 meters, Nur toed the line for a mile in Flagstaff where he earned a converted time of 4:02. Admittedly, given his past resume, nothing that I just said should come as a surprise.
Nur is an endurance-based distance talent who should thrives off of paces that require aerobic strength. Even his mile from this past weekend reflects that theory (given the altitude).
We'll be interested to see what Nur could throw down in the 3000 meters. That shouldn't be too far of a drop down in distance for someone who is viewed as a 10k runner. At the same time, it will still be a good indication of how flexible his fitness is.
Of course, at the end of the day, how Nur runs at the national meet is going to be our biggest determinant of where he should stand in these rankings.
Has not yet raced this season, but is expected to run in the 3000 meters at the Millrose Games this weekend.
Has not yet raced this season.
Not much to say here. Beadlescomb looks good so far this winter after running a 4:01 mile in his season opener. He took down Indiana veteran Ben Veatch in the process, someone who just ran 3:59 in the mile this past weekend.
Yes, the Michigan State veteran does fall one spot in our rankings, but that's only to make room for Nico Young -- not for anything that Beadlescomb did.
Beadlescomb has some of the most underrated middle distance speed of any long distance specialist in the country right now. He continues to be a major weapon in the BIG 10 and will likely be an underrated and potentially overlooked name at the indoor national meet come March.
Has not yet raced this season.
Has not yet raced this season.
A 3:54 mile conversion from an original time of 4:02 is other-worldly. Young continues to prove that he is one of the flat-out best distance runners in the NCAA. In fact, he may have the best fitness of any collegiate in the nation.
Of course, just like his 1500 meter times from last spring, I'm not sure we can say that this converted time tells us anything new. Fighting altitude at 6800 feet is more of a strength-based and stamina-centric performance rather than a speed-based result -- and we already knew that Young had the former.
While his latest race may not have changed our view on him or what we are asking out of him, it does show that he is flat-out elite and insanely fit. He rises in our rankings, mainly because it would criminal if he didn't improve after his latest performance.
The Campbell superstar has been someone who has rapidly risen to the top ranks of the NCAA. Not only has he been producing elite-level times, but he has improved his gradual understanding of race tactics over the past two seasons.
The only question that we had for Kioko entering this winter season was whether or not he would be able to translate his success to the indoor oval. Well, after a win in the 3000 meters where he won by 20 seconds with a 7:49 personal best, it seems safe to say that Kioko can, in fact, translate his past success to the indoor track.
Kioko only falls in our rankings because of Kieran Lumb jumping ahead of him. Kioko's one spot fall in our rankings isn't because of anything he did to hurt his stock.
We'll be curious to see how Kioko performs how the national stage and how he handles the various tactics (or lack thereof) at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
However, for now, Kioko's 7:49 performance is pretty hard to ignore. The Campbell senior can simply do no wrong at this point in the season, but we'll be interested to see what else he can do in the 5000 meters come February.
Gosh, Kieran Lumb looks like he is the real deal. The Washington star was already one of the more lethal and versatile distance talents in the NCAA and he validated that theory earlier this month when he ran 3:55 in the mile to take down an elite field of collegiate stars.
In addition to his 3:55 mile PR, Lumb also owns past personal bests of 7:46 (3k) and 13:24 (5k). Right now, there isn't anyone in the NCAA who owns times that are faster than Lumb in all three of those distances -- not even Colton Johnsen.
Lumb looks like the most dynamic distance runner in the NCAA and one of the last guys that any collegiate distance talent should want to face right now. When he toes the line for the 3000 meters, expect him to potentially scare his PR if he's in the right race.
Has not yet raced this season.
Has not yet raced this season.
After a monster 13:14 effort for 5000 meters in his season opener back in December, the Iowa State superstar ran a mile this past weekend to get some speed under his legs before the 3000 meters at the Millrose Games.
The end result for Kiptoo was a mark of 4:01, a slight improvement upon his prior personal beset. Of course, I don't think anyone was expecting a major result out of Kiptoo in this race. Trying to get a speed-oriented race under his legs before the 3000 meters at the Millrose Games, which is still a drop down in distance for Kiptoo, was the biggest and most important goal.
Would we have liked to have seen Kiptoo run under four minutes? Sure, it definitely would have helped his versatility, but that's just not who he is. The endurance-based runner will likely thrive in races where he can push the pace for well over 2000 meters. Expect that to be the case amongst the collegiates in the men's 3000 meters at the Millrose Games this weekend.
A strong 2:20 opener for 1000 meters seems to be on par for Garcia Romo. He has plenty of versatility and sneaky-good speed in the middle distance events. It doesn't necessarily change how we view him, but that 2:20 result is the perfect reflection of his talent.
Miller's season opener was more than an NCAA leading time of 1:47. The half-mile superstar took down Nike star Craig Engels in the process, showing outstanding strength and positioning in the latter-half of the race.
Miller looks incredibly strong right now and it's hard to say that anyone else is as much of a national title favorite in their respective event as Miller is in the 800 meters. There's not a whole lot more to say for this Texas A&M ace other than he will likely run a faster time later this season.
You know you're talented when you start off your season with a 3:54 mile time and no one bats an eye. That was an incredible opener, but one that people are simply shrugging their shoulders for and thinking, "yeah, that seems about right".
That mile opener validates Nuguse's top ranking and it should act as the perfect prep race for when he toes the line at the Millrose Games later this weekend in the 3000 meters. Adding in some speed to Nuguse's arsenal is likely a good way to prepare for the longer distance race, an event in which Nuguse owns a personal best of 7:46 in.
John Rivera (Ole Miss)
Olin Hacker (Wisconsin)
Duncan Hamilton (Montana State)
Sam Tanner (Washington)
Aaron Bienenfeld (Oregon)
Jack Salisbury (Georgetown)
Juan Diego Castro (Oklahoma State)
Aaron Bienenfeld (Oregon)
Jack Salisbury (Georgetown)
Sam Gilman (Air Force)
Barry Keane (Butler)
Drew Bosley (Northern Arizona)
Andrew Jordan (Georgetown)
Ehab El-Sandali (Iona)
Lucas Bons (BYU)
Tiarnan Crorken (Ole Miss)
Bashir Mosavel-Lo (Notre Dame)
Crayton Carrozza (Texas)
Cole Lindhorst (Texas)
Abdirizak Ibrahim (New Mexico)
Nate Osterstock (Southern Utah)
Sam Ellis (Princeton)
Duncan Miller (Princeton)
Luke Houser (Washington)
Dylan Jacobs (Notre Dame)
James Young (Ole Miss)
Ben Veatch (Indiana)
Devin Hart (Stanford)
Seb Anthony (Virginia Tech)
Cruz Culpepper (Ole Miss)
Antonio Lopez Segura (Virginia Tech)
Shea Foster (Oklahoma State)
Ahmed Jaziri (Eastern Kentucky)
Cameron Ponder (Furman)
Tom Dodd (Michigan)
Everett Smulders (Ole Miss)
Baylor Franklin (Ole Miss)
Shane Bracken (Ole Miss)
Ryan Schoppe (Oklahoma State)
Dan Schaffer (Binghamton)
Isaac Basten (Drake)
Luis Peralta (Oregon)
Jonathan Shields (Boise State)
Simon Bedard (Butler)
Brandon Garnica (BYU)
Casey Clinger (BYU)
Ackeen Colley (Western Illinois)
Kieran Taylor (Arkansas)
Zach Facioni (Wake Forest)
Marco Vilca (Texas Tech)
Cooper Williams (Indiana)
Evan Dorenkamp (Penn State)
Andrew Kent (Colorado)
Isai Rodriguez (Oklahoma State)