Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Mar 16, 202215 min
Click here to see our Just Missed and Honorable Mention names.
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 may be a lot of debate about who could have landed at the last spot in our rankings. However, this Virginia Tech ace was outstanding this year. He ran a flat-track converted 7:43 (3k), a 3:56 mile and had a promising campaign at the ACC Indoor Championships, showing off some outstanding positioning in the process.
The Hokie veteran even put himself in the mix for the national title during the men's 3k at the national meet this past weekend. He was aggressive when he had to be, but still found a way to earn great positioning like he always does.
Ultimately, he was rewarded with a 6th place All-American finish.
Lopez Segura isn't a perfect tactician, but he's better than most.
Lopez Segura isn't the fastest distance runner, but he's still very quick.
Lopez Segua doesn't thrive in all race scenarios, but he does run well in most.
All in all, this Spanish distance talent is vey well-rounded and a reliable name who you can often count on in most races. For that reason, he snags the final spot in our rankings.
It appears that Zahafi may have tripped in the 800 meter finals at the indoor national meet, making it challenging to properly gauge just how good he is.
We should be encouraged by the fact that he ran 2:20 for 1000 meters en route to a BIG 12 title a few weeks ago, but there wasn't a lot on his resume to validate his altitude converted 1:45.99. Unfortunately, this DNF this past weekend leaves us with zero answers and just as many questions.
Even so, it seems fairly obvious that Zahafi is still one of the better middle distance runners in the country. While we can't necessarily list him ahead of other top talents, we can at least find a spot for him in our rankings.
Crorken barely snuck into the national meet, qualifying for the 800 meters. Admittedly, it was hard to be optimistic about his All-American chances given that he didn't exactly stun us at the SEC Indoor Championships.
However, Crorken looked outstanding in the prelims at the indoor national meet and ultimately finished 5th place overall in the finals, earning All-American honors.
There's not much to say here except for the fact that Crorken peaked when it mattered the most. He looked calm and relaxed in both the prelims and the finals this past weekend and he seemed to do well hanging just off of the lead pack in both rounds.
We'll be fascinated to see what he does in the 1500 meters this spring, especially with 800 meter speed potentially making him a greater threat in tactical settings.
During the mile prelims of the indoor national meet, I thought Basten was struggling. He looked uncomfortable. The Drake miler was hanging at the backend of his pack and the leaders were beginning to move in the second-half of the race.
However, Basten actually threw down an impressive finish during that prelim. He earned himself a spot in the finals and positioned himself for an All-American result on day two.
Sure enough, in a wildly tactical mile final, Basten scorched the final 400 meters of the race, splitting 52-seconds and earning 5th place All-American honors. If he had maybe timed and repositioned himself a bit better in that final, we could be talking about Basten being a top-three finisher.
This Drake star was outstanding this year, specifically when it came to his kick. He clearly learned a ton from racing in the 1500 meter finals at last year's outdoor national meet and entered this past weekend with renewed confidence.
Basten sits at "only" TSR #22, mainly because his mile times, for as good as they are, were no faster than 3:56.10 this winter. That was one of the last seeds in this mile field and there was a solid amount of time throughout this season where we weren't sure if he would make it to the national meet.
Nonetheless, Basten was fantastic at the national meet and his tactical acumen needs to be applauded.
I'll admit, I was out on Charles Hicks prior to the PAC-12 Invite. He had struggled at the Millrose Games in the 3k and underwhelmed (just a bit) at the Husky Classic in the 5k.
Luckily, his fortune turned around in the final two races of his season.
Hicks went on to run 7:43 at the PAC-12 Invite and shockingly qualified for the national meet. However, that still didn't give us much confidence that the Stanford star would be able to deliver on the national stage after underwhelming during the regular season.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where we were wrong.
In a surprisingly tactical race, Hicks perfectly positioned himself throughout the race. He let the leaders exhaust each other with numerous lead changes before moving up and accelerating into a kick that suddenly put him in 3rd place.
Hicks was phenomenal in his final two races and he deserves a lot of credit for rallying the way he did. We do have to keep him outside of our top-20 based on what he did during the regular season, but gosh, it's hard not to be impressed with his bronze medal performance this past weekend.
Everyone will think about Yaseen Abdalla as the anchor who gave the Texas men a national title in the DMR. However, that performance was just the cherry on top for what has already been a fantastic season for this somewhat young distance talent.
This season, Abdalla ran a flat-track converted mark of 7:46 for 3000 meters, a time of 3:57 in the mile, ran 13:33 for 5000 meters to comfortably defeat Wesley Kiptoo and then split 3:55 to fend off Notre Dame and win a national title in the DMR.
Abdalla could do no wrong this winter and in terms of his value, he was one of the best in the nation. He has proven that he can run quick times, display versatility and pull off upset wins. On paper, there is very little to dislike about him.
It was a fantastic season for Herrera who, despite his past successes, just looked sharper than usual.
He ran an altitude converted mile around the 3:57 range, threw down a jaw-dropping time of 7:42 for 3000 meters, validated his altitude mark with a 3:57 mile at sea level and then walked away from the national meet in the 3k with a 5th place All-American finish.
The one thing that we constantly held against Herrera was that he had struggled at the national meet in the past. In our mind, he should have at least two to three more All-American honors than he does now.
Luckily, Herrera has now shaken off his national meet woes. He wasn't perfect on the national stage, and his end-of-race tactics didn't look as refined as a few others, but it's clear that his aerobic capacity is better than most and that his mile speed helped him in this 3k race.
All things considered, Davis ran incredibly well this past weekend. He showed tons of poise and confidence in the mile prelims. Then in the mile finals, despite faltering into the chase pack, he was still able to maintain some strength and force his way around the line to a 4th place finish.
After years of up and down performances, this result finally feels like the validation that Davis' resume needed. And the best part about all of this is that Davis' All-American finish feels legitimate. It doesn't feel like it was lucky or the result of a race scenario that randomly played into his favor.
Kudos to this Illinois veteran. He stuck it out and after years of trying, he finally gets his moment.
Experience matters. Plain and simple. There may not have been a distance runner in the NCAA this winter who was more experienced in a specific event than Reed Brown was in the mile.
After running 3:54 to qualify for the national meet, Brown showed a tremendous amount of poise and patience in the mile prelims and finals. Him and Garcia Romo were easily the two most relaxed runners in the field and it showed at the end of each race.
Brown never made an excessive move and never wasted energy. He let the race evolve around him and he simply attacked when he needed to.
This Oregon veteran could have maybe taken one or two two risks to put himself in a better position for the title, but it was really hard to dislike anything he did this past weekend.
It was a tough outing for Jacobs in the men's 5k this past weekend. He made a good effort to put himself in the mix early-on, but the radical fluctuation in pacing and the constant change in who the leaders were likely took a toll on certain men.
In the end, the Notre Dame ace finished 9th.
Jacobs ran 13:14 for 5000 meters which is a big reason why he is still in these rankings, as are his times of 7:49 (3k) and 3:57 (mile) from this winter.
Of course, many people will also argue that another 13:14 runner, who also wasn't an All-American, should be listed in these rankings if Jacobs sits at TSR #16.
I am, of course, talking about Wesley Kiptoo.
However, Jacobs' racing style is clearly much more refined and he doesn't have a history of faltering on the national stage. He beat who he was supposed to this season and he boasts mile speed that Kiptoo simply does not.
Bizimana was probably the easiest All-American pick we could have made. The Texas middle distance star has been attacking high-level competition all season long and has made notable improvements. His positioning in elite fields is often great and he had plenty of experience on the national stage before this weekend.
It also does't hurt that he was a two-time All-American prior to this past weekend.
With the All-American spots in this men's 800 meter field feeling incredibly wide-open, finishing in the middle of the pack was more or less expected for Bizimana.
Sure enough, that was what what happened as the Texas star timed his moves perfectly and simply executed a great race plan to earn a 4th place finish.
Sure, maybe if Bizimana had timed his move better he would have earned a silver medal, but this is largely what we expected and we didn't really learn anything new from his race.
It feels like a crime to rank Fay this low, especially when you consider that he ran 3:55 (mile) and 13:24 (5k) this winter. It also doesn't hurt that he split 3:52 on the anchor leg of Washington's DMR.
Still, a 6th place finish in the men's 5k this past weekend leaves us wanting just a little more. Now, in fairness to Fay, he did quite well responding to the ridiculous lead switches and the bizarre pace changes at the national meet.
But when you look at most of the men ranked ahead of Fay, they all have either a) higher or more All-American finishes b) similar versatility or c) faster personal bests.
I don't like doing it, but Fay does have to settle at our TSR #14 spot.
I liked Cole Sprout coming into this past weekend, but I don't think I liked him enough to say that he would be a two-time All-American. But that was the case!
This Stanford youngster does not care who his competition is. He was so gutsy in both the 5k and the 3k this past weekend and he seemed to thrive when sitting in the back and letting the insanity of the field unfold in front of him.
There was a lot of poise shown by Sprout this past weekend and I think that is reflected in his 5th place (5k) and 8th place (3k) finishes.
When this season began, Hacker looked like he had an argument to be the best distance runner in the NCAA. He ran 3:56 in the mile, 7:46 in the 3000 meters and 13:37 for 5000 meters. He secured the 5k/3k double victory at the BIG 10 Indoor Championships and went into the national meet with FIVE-STRAIGHT WINS and zero losses.
A wild and tactical 3k race at the national meet forced Hacker to be patient. In the end, he timed his finishing kick as well as he could and finished 4th place overall.
Some people may understandably be perplexed by Hacker sitting at TSR #12 in our rankings. After all, he failed to finish inside the top-three at the national meet and only barely qualified for only one event at the national meet.
Even so, Hacker was incredible this year. He showed off tremendous range, has tons of raw talent and his wins were exceptional. In fact, many of his wins were earned fairly comfortably.
Hacker is one of those rare guys whose resume doesn't truly tell you just how good he is.
We had John Rivera finishing as the second-best collegiate in the men's 800 meter field this past weekend, but a 3rd place finish is hard to argue with.
A fairly reasonable 400 meter split allowed many of these top middle distance runners to stay in the chase while Texas' Jonathan Jones gave chase to Brandon Miller. This likely wasn't the ideal race scenario for Rivera who probably wanted to operate in more space, but he still ran well and he still held his own.
While I would have liked to see Rivera a little closer to Miller, it's hard to say anything bad about his performance. Rivera is clearly a different runner than he was a year ago, or even two years ago, and that should give him momentum as he goes into the outdoor track season.
The Texas star was the first one to follow Brandon Miller in the men's 800 meter finals. When the first 400 meter split came back relatively slower than expected, Jones continued to hit the gas and chase Miller...who was also hitting the gas.
In the end, this field stayed pretty static and Jones was rewarded for relying on his raw fitness and finishing 2nd place overall.
This race likely played out perfectly for Jones as it wasn't too tactical, at least not for him. I'm not entirely sure if he'll be able to replicate that performance and have the same success on the outdoor oval, but Jones ran a great race and has a lot to be proud of.
Gosh, why do we ever doubt Amon Kemboi? He was fantastic this weekend, earning two All-American honors, one in the 3k and one in the 5k. His positioning and aggression in each of these races was admirable and he attacked these races in ways that I had never seen him do before.
In the 5k, Kemboi let the field unfold in front of him and he bridged the gaps between him and the leaders. He wasn't the most patient runner in this field, but his pure strength and fitness gave him a 7th place result and another All-American finish.
However, his most impressive race was the 3k. Late in the race, he fought with Abdi Nur over the final few laps and made life very hard for the NAU star. When Nur tried to make a cut inside, Kemboi refused to let him in.
Ultimately, Nur did get around Kemboi, but the Arkansas star was still able to fend off the rest of the field that clearly had more momentum. In the end, he earned one of the hardest-earned silver medals I have ever seen.
Kemboi looked different this weekend. He was aggressive, but not overly so. He looked like he had so much more confidence in his fitness and that showed this past weekend, especially in the 3k.
At past national meets, I sometimes thought that Kemboi seemed passive. But this past weekend, Kemboi showed conviction and confidence that I really enjoyed watching.
Few men would be able to play the back-and-forth game of lead changes that Wildschutt did with Kiptoo and still come out with a top finish.
The Florida State star, who ran 13:09 earlier this season, battled at the front for 90% of this race before eventually settling for a 4th place finish.
Wildschutt clearly validated his 13:09 result from earlier this season and although he thrives in fast races, there was likely too much energy expended when it came to battling Kiptoo for so many laps.
Would Wildschutt have finished higher if he simply let Kiptoo take over? It's certainly possible, but despite a less-than-ideal approach, Wildschutt still earned a top finish and proved that he belongs in the elite tier of the NCAA.
The men's 5k suited Young incredibly well. It was quick, it was honest and and it truly tested the aerobic capacity of everyone in the field. Young was probably one of the biggest benefactors of this pacing.
Nur's decision to go to the front of this race and open up the lead allowed Nico Young to give chase. However, it was obvious in that instance that Young didn't necessarily have another gear to go after Nur...but then again, no one truly did.
A strong kick to edge Wildschutt and barely finish 3rd to Ky Robinson had to be considered as a successful day for Nico Young and the NAU men.
In the 3k, Young got tripped at the back of the pack, although he rallied incredibly well and finished 7th place overall, earning his second All-American honor.
Truthfully, there's not much more to say. Young's trip in the 3k makes it challenging to properly gauge what he could have done and the 5k was somewhat predictable.
When Robinson took down an elite 5k field at the Husky Classic, TSR began to look at him in a new light. We knew that he was great on the grass and an elite steeplechaser, but his 13:21 came a bit out of nowhere and he won that 5k in dominating fashion.
So...was Robinson a title contender?
It depends on who you ask, but after this weekend, Robinson likely will be a title contender in the future. He was patient this past weekend, stuck his ground, made some hard moves over the final few laps and simply outran an aerobic beast in Nico Young.
Robinson's kick was also wildly impressive. It was ferocious over the final lap and he just looked relentless as he chased Wildschutt and Nur. In the end, he finished runner-up.
If Robinson can run from the front and still find a way to employ that same late-race explosiveness that we saw this past weekend, then maybe, just maybe, he can contend with Abdi Nur for a national title in the future.
A tactical men's mile was probably not going to be benefit Beadlescomb, but people often forget that this guy has 1:48 speed for 800 meters. He can certainly be a factor late in race of necessary, which is exactly what we saw in the mile.
In an all-out sprint finish, Beadlescomb actually positioned himself fairly well for the win, but came short, just barely losing to Garica Romo by 0.05 seconds.
All in all, Beadlescomb ran well and there's not a whole lot that he could have done differently. If anyone was going to beat him, it was going to Garcia Romo, especially in a tactical setting.
Beadlescomb was the only runner from that mile final to also double in the 3k, a race where he finished 11th overall. While we could try to analyze that race, I'm not sure there is a ton to talk about.
No Beadlescomb didn't win gold, but his season ended with a runner-up result at the national meet, a 3:52 mile personal best and a 7:43 personal best in the 3k. Not bad at all...
Garica Romo looked incredibly calm and poised in the men's mile. He almost looked passive! That, however, is what happens when you're an established veteran with 1:47 speed for 800 meters.
Garcia Romo waited until late in the race to make his move and when he did, he went to the front and simply didn't relinquish the lead. His stride looked effortless and it was clear that he had a ton of pop in his legs that some of these other guys didn't have.
Major kudos to Garcia Romo for showing patience in an intense high-pressure situation.
This was just not Nuguse's best weekend. It's hard to fault him for the DMR as he got the baton a good ways back from the leaders and had his momentum stalled a few different times. And yet, despite all of that, he still helped his relay finish 2nd overall.
The men's 3k, however, was the bigger surprise.
The second-half of this race was exceptionally hectic as everyone bolted to the front and tried jockeying for positioning. Nuguse was in the mix early-on in this race, but trying to constantly react to the action in front of him may have caused him to falter in this very odd race.
In the end, he placed 9th.
Nuguse still ran 3:54 in the mile this year and is also the collegiate record holder in the 3000 meters with a time of 7:38. Unfortunately, in this era of the NCAA, nothing is ever guaranteed, not even for the best of the best.
You could make an argument that Miller was the most dominant middle or long distance runner in the NCAA this winter. Abdi Nur fans will try to counter that suggestion, but there was never anyone question that Miller was going to win the national title this past weekend.
In a slightly slower 800 meter final, which opened up the field to be a bit more competitive, Miller still ran away from his competition. If anyone was going to beat Miller, it was going to be in that race...and even then it wasn't that close.
Wow. Impressive stuff, Abdi Nur. You truly are the real deal.
Nur took control of the 5k and the 3k in such commanding ways. He made his moves with his conviction, he outran strength-based aerobic stars and he dared anyone to chase him.
Nur was just flat-out dominant and the way that he controlled his fitness and flipped to certain gears was incredible. He faced two distance fields that have historically never been faster and he still came out on top relatively comfortably.
Tiarnan Crorken (Ole Miss)
Isaac Basten (Drake)
Charles Hicks (Stanford)
Yaseen Abdalla (Texas)
Reed Brown (Oregon)
Cole Sprout (Stanford)
Kieran Taylor (Arkansas)
Alex Maier (Oklahoma State)
Ayman Zahafi (Miami (FL))
Athanas Kioko (Campbell)
Eliud Kipsang (Alabama)
Wesley Kiptoo (Iowa State)
Luis Peralta (Oregon)
Crayton Carrozza (Texas)
Ben Veatch (Indiana)
Evan Dorenkamp (Penn State)
Nick Dahl (Duke)
Drew Bosley (Northern Arizona)
Kieran Taylor (Arkansas)
Alex Maier (Oklahoma State)
Ayman Zahafi (Miami (FL))
Athanas Kioko (Campbell)
Eliud Kipsang (Alabama)
Cole Johnson (Michigan)
Luis Peralta (Oregon)
Wesley Kiptoo (Iowa State)
Miles Brown (Michigan)
Abduhalli Hassan (Wisconsin)
Cameron Ponder (Furman)
Barry Keane (Butler)
Ahmed Muhumed (Florida State)
Matthew Carmody (Notre Dame)
Cole Lindhorst (Texas)
Colton Johnsen (Washington State)
Adam Fogg (Drake)
Duncan Hamilton (Montana State)
Matthew Payamps (Georgetown)
Sam Gilman (Air Force)
Luke Houser (Washington)
Sean Dolan (Villanova)
Sam Ellis (Princeton)
Abdirizak Ibrahim (New Mexico)
Sam Austin (Florida)
Jack Yearian (Oregon)
James Young (Ole Miss)
Aaron Bienenfeld (Oregon)