TSR Collaboration
Dec 23, 20238 min
Written by Kevin Fischer & Gavin Struve, additional edits & commentary via Garrett Zatlin
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, but not strict, guide when determining eligibility.
The top cross country runner on the most recent national champion squad, Lucas Florsheim is looking to carry his success on the grass over to the track in a way that he's yet to achieve.
Florsheim placed 9th at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships and hasn't finished lower than 16th through the past three cross country national meets. However, despite a couple of appearances at the outdoor national meet in which he finished outside of the top-10 in the 5k, he's yet to reach the indoor national meet.
As this ranking indicates, we expect that to change this fall. Florsheim wasn't super sharp to begin his winter campaign at the Boston U. Season Opener, but it feels like he should be able to crack the 14:00 (5k) barrier and secure an All-American result in a few months' time.
In terms of raw talent, this Sagehen standout is more than capable enough of becoming an All-American come March. Of course, consistently executing and delivering on the big stage will be a major point of emphasis going into the next few months.
19. Colin Kirkpatrick, Junior, Pomona-Pitzer
If this were three months later and we were posting our outdoor track rankings, Colin Kirkpatrick may very well be at least 10 spots above this placement. But this steeplechase superstar is far less proven on the indoor oval.
In fact, he's never even raced at an indoor national meet.
That, of course, doesn't mean that Kirkpatrick can't buck that trend. He's coming off of a strong All-American finish to a cross country season in which he helped Pomona-Pitzer to a surprise team title. When pairing his promising range — a 3:46 PR for 1500 meters and a 14:19 personal best for 5k — with his steeplechase success, it would only be natural for him to find his sweet spot over 3000 meters this winter.
Well, lo and behold, this Sagehen ace ran a personal best of 8:07 over that distance earlier this month, a promising time that would have been one of the better marks in that event last winter. That's an auspicious start to what could be a big year on the track for Kirkpatrick.
18. Justin Krause, Junior, UW-Whitewater
Justin Krause can sometimes get overshadowed by his better-known anaerobic-based teammates who will appear later in these rankings. But make no mistake, this middle distance talent is someone who could have similar levels of success as his Warhawk peers this winter.
Beyond an underwhelming cross country season this fall, Krause has established himself as a reliable name. After all, he has reached the finals in the 1500 meters or the mile at the past four indoor and outdoor national meets from 2022 to 2023.
Sure, those appearances only equated to two All-American finishes (spring 2022 and winter 2023), but in a D3 landscape that appears more long distance-oriented, few men can match Krause's experience or speed in the middle distance events.
This guy is basically a lock to reach the finals on the national stage and he carries with him personal bests of 1:52 (800) and 3:46 (1500) chops to contend with. Krause can handle most race scenarios thrown his way and his understanding of navigating the rounds is, as you can see, something that we value quite a bit in these rankings.
17. Derek Fearon, Junior, Pomona-Pitzer
The highest-ranked of the three junior Sagehen stars, Derek Fearon finished one spot behind Florsheim at the cross country national meet last month. And despite three consecutive top-25 results at the NCAA XC Championships, Fearon has yet to even race at a national meet on the track whether that's indoors or outdoors!
But what Fearon does have on Florsheim is recent momentum on the oval. He contested the same 5k race in Boston just two weeks after he finished his season on the grass and ran a monster PR of 14:00 over 5000 meters. At the time of publishing, that's a top-10 all-time mark in Division Three for the indoor 5k.
Admittedly, we still have some questions about how he'll fare upon reaching the national stage. The tactical nuances and awkward surges that he'll have to deal with in March are not at all like the clean-cut time-trial race that he just had in Boston. But Fearon has traditionally been at his best at NCAA Championship meets, at least on the grass, and has given us little reason to doubt him recently or throughout his career.
16. Simon Heys, Senior, Wilmington (OH)
Simon Heys is in a similar boat as Lucas Florsheim given that he raced in Boston the first weekend of December and probably didn't produce the result he wanted, posting a 14:46 (5k) effort. Paired with a 33rd place result at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships that was roughly 30 spots below expectations, some may start to worry about Heys' trajectory.
But more likely than not, this Ohio-based aerobic standout just needs some time to rest and rebuild his fitness after a long and trying cross country season in which he won five different races (including D3 Pre-Nationals).
Heys has had a little more track success than the men ranked immediately below him, placing 4th in the 10k at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships and 5th in the 5k at the most recent indoor national meet.
After running six different races across national meets on the track over the years, Heys is a known commodity on the oval and someone who is far more likely than not to be an All-American in the 5000 meters, an event in which he has run a strong mark of 14:08. And if guys like Ethan Gregg and Christian Patzka chose to be aggressive with the pacing on the national stage in this race, then Heys should theoretically thrive.
If you're searching for a breakout candidate, Haiden Diemer-McKinney may be your guy.
Perhaps that's an unfair title for someone who already earned a bronze medal at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships. But Diemer-McKinney feels like he's flying a bit under the radar after failing to advance to the 800-meter finals at the 2023 outdoor national meet and coming off a quiet cross country season.
If Diemer-McKinney was able to run 1:49 for 800 meters last spring and find major postseason success in the winter, then it's understandable as to why we're so excited about upside this winter. And when you consider that he was a freshman last year, his hiccup at the outdoor national meet is far more forgivable.
Now, with a year of laurels and lessons behind him, Diemer-McKinney appears set up for even greater success in 2024. It doesn't hurt that all of the 800-meter talents ranked ahead of him have another event that they've succeeded in and that they could also contest in addition to (or instead of) the half-mile on the national stage.
We have referred to Gunner Schlender in the past as arguably the best secondary runner (on one team) in the country. However, that does him a bit of a disservice to only mention his greatness in the context of his teammate, especially since he has been one of the more reliable distance presences in the country for years now.
Schlender will be carrying a good bit of confidence into the winter months as he is coming off of the best cross country national meet finish of his career (where he placed 11th). On his best day, there will be very few men in Division Three who can hang with him over 5000 meters. The 10k bronze medalist from last spring consistently finds himself in the mix for All-American spots year after year and this season will surely be no different, especially now that he is no longer an inexperienced underclassman.
Despite holding personal bests of 3:50 (1500), 14:00 (5k) and 29:05 (10k), it feels like there's still plenty of upside remaining with Schlender moving forward. His 3k PR is due for a reset and when it comes to racing in competitive fields, this UW-Whitewater ace has found a way to quietly hang around with the top men.
After a cross country season that was a little bit underwhelming compared to his previous fall campaigns, we weren't sure exactly where to rank Sam Acquaviva.
Admittedly, the MIT veteran didn't quite muster the same magic this past fall that he had throughout last year when he ran 8:00 (3k) and 13:57 (5k). Even so, an “off” autumn resulted in an All-American cross country finish and an East regional title which would be a highly successful string of results for most.
It's no secret what Acquaviva can do when he is at his best. With personal bests of 8:00 (3k) and 13:57 (5k), he could certainly find himself as a fringe national title contender in both events if it all clicks.
Noah Jorgenson had already established himself going into this season as one of the most versatile talents in Division Three. He holds head-turning personal bests of 1:49 over 800 meters and 3:49 for 1500 meters and was the 8th place finisher over 800 meters at the outdoor national meet last spring. In addition to those middle distance accolades, he was also cross country All-American this past fall.
With this pedigree, we knew that Jorgenson would be a formidable All-American candidate this winter. However, his excellent mile effort at the Frigid Bee Opener from earlier this month gave him a shockingly fast 4:02 conversion. It also allowed him to defeat the likes of Adam Sylvia (his teammate) and Ryan Harvey (Loras).
Before that result, we viewed Jorgenson as a strong 800-meter runner with solid longer distance range. Nowadays, he has made his mark as a very legitimate force in the mile, especially given who he just took down.
Cory Kennedy burst onto the scene last fall with a surprising top-20 finish at the 2022 cross country national meet. From there, he never looked back, finishing as an All-American over 5000 meters at both the indoor and outdoor national meet. He also took another step forward with a top-five national meet finish this past cross country season.
Since first making a splash on the Division Three scene, he has been consistent as an elite distance talent. Admittedly, there are several guys who he is ranked ahead of who have faster 3k and 5k times than him (Kennedy has run 14:09), but that is more than justified considering his history of reliability and clutch championship performances.
When looking at the past two D3 cross country national meets (2021 and 2022, not including 2023), there have been a total of nine different men who have cracked the top-five on the national stage. Of those nine men, six of them went on to run under 14:00 (5k), seven of them went on to run under 14:02 (5k) and the other two names are Simon Heys and Ryan Wilson.
In other words, history suggests that this RPI veteran is in store for a big-time indoor track season and potentially an all-time 5k mark.
Ryan Harvey (Loras)
Spencer Moon (Simpson (IA))
Vince Simonetti (RPI)
Will Kelly (St. Olaf)
Cullen Capuano (Washington U.)
John Lucey (Williams)
Jack Begley (U. of Chicago)
Ryan Stracke (Pacific Lutheran)
Brandan Knepper (Calvin)
Gavin McElhennon (Johns Hopkins)
Nate Lentz (Williams)
Adam Sylvia (Central College)
Jake Shumaker (Millikin)
Vedang Lad (MIT)
Will Houser (Washington U.)
Isaac Wegner (UW-La Crosse)
Cael Schoemann (UW-La Crosse)
Henry Hardart (MIT)
TJ Carleo (Brandeis)
Nikhil DeNatale (Williams)
Alex Ivanov (Carnegie Mellon)
Andrew McGovern (Carnegie Mellon)
Emmanuel Leblond (Johns Hopkins)
Lowell Hensgen (MIT)
Andrew Hutchinson (Dubuque)
Andrew Guimond (North Central)
Kyle Miller (Buena Vista)
Jiwoo Kang (Williams)
Colin McLaughlin (Carnegie Mellon)
Ivan Appleton (Tufts)
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