Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Dec 19, 202310 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, but not strict, guide when determining eligibility.
Throughout the 2023 indoor and outdoor track seasons, Aidan McCarthy was fantastic. The Cal Poly ace evolved into one of the most lethal middle distance runners in the nation, ultimately running times of 1:46 (800) and 3:39 (1500). He even advanced to the half-mile finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships where he placed 7th.
When McCarthy gets on a hot streak, he is incredibly challenging to take down. The seasonal momentum that he built throughout the spring months made him a significant problem for his competitors, especially as he neared the postseason. McCarthy is often unafraid to be the aggressor, but he has also shown tactical know-how and restraint.
After running 3:56 in the mile earlier this month, a move that Oregon's Elliott Cook eventually took full advantage of when chasing On pro Sam Ellis, this Mustang star is looking as good as ever. And if he's already running a 3:56 mile PR in the month of December, then what can he do in February and March?
On paper, Elliott Cook and Aidan McCarthy have a lot of similarities. They are both west coast middle distance specialists who are just as effective in the mile as they are in the 800 meters (and vice versa). And like McCarthy, Cook has also run 1:46 for 800 meters, although his mile PR sits one second faster at 3:55, a mark that he has produced multiple times.
Oh, and Cook also has a 7th place All-American honor of his own, although it came in the mile at last year's indoor national meet.
Cook is a quietly consistent talent who showed a clear improvement in his ability to race tactically last winter. He seems to be fairly comfortable with a variety of fields and scenarios and has generally known when was best to make his moves.
After a surprising strong cross country season, it's hard to see anything but upside in this Oregon junior once we reach January, February and March.
This long-time Oklahoma State veteran is set to return for one more indoor track season. But truthfully, given the up and down nature of his resume over the last year, it was a major challenge trying to rank Alex Maier this winter.
Last year, on the indoor track, Maier was fantastic, running times of 7:43 (3k) and 13:11 (5k). Those marks beautifully complemented his 3:56 mile PR from the season before. And although he wasn't quite as sharp at the NCAA Indoor Championships, he still walked away with two backend All-American honors.
But the spring months were a different story as Maier struggled to return to prime form. He did advance to the national meet in the 10k, although it was clear that the Cowboy star was not at his best. And after a solid cross country season which gave us very few results to analyze, Maier came back to the indoor oval, running 13:21 for 5000 meters in Boston.
There's no ideal spot to place Maier right now. He's clearly better than he was last spring, although it's also fairly obvious that he's a good ways out from his 2023 winter fitness. That, in turn, led us to put this Oklahoma State standout at TSR #23.
One of the biggest breakout stars of the 2023 indoor track season and a dynamic talent with explosive gear changes, UNC's Ethan Strand is more than deserving of a preseason ranking in our top-25.
This Tar Heel star first caught our attention last winter when he ran 3:59 (mile) and 7:52 (3k) in January. But after his 3:55 mile PR, Strand later validated that performance with a huge 3k victory over teammate Parker Wolfe at the ACC Indoor Championships in a time of 7:46.
On the outdoor oval, the rising North Carolina talent ran 3:38 for 1500 meters, winning the ACC title in that event as well. He would later make it to the 1500 meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships where he struggled, finishing last.
Last year was a clear learning experience for Strand. The Alabama native had never consistently competed at that high of a level before. And yet, despite his relative inexperience, the North Carolina runner held his own incredibly well.
With a valuable year of experience under his belt, Strand should theoretically be even more dangerous than he was last year. His ability to change gears makes him a legitimate to most men in the NCAA at the mile distance and above.
Yet another mile-centric talent with exceptional range, Conor Murphy is someone who has, at many points throughout last year, been fairly underrated. The Virginia star has incredible range, something that only grew stronger after this past cross country season.
With personal bests of 1:46 (800) and 3:55 (mile), Murphy is equally dangerous in both of those events. If you don't believe me, then I would cite the fact that he was an All-American in the mile last winter (6th) and an All-American over 800 meters in the spring (5th). How many men in the NCAA do you think could realistically do that in 2024?
Not only that, but Murphy just ran a promising 3k PR of 7:53 at Boston U. Sure, he won't really be needed (or utilized) in that event, but that performance does further enhance his resume.
It's one thing to be experienced and it's another thing to be wildly versatile. But to showcase both of those aspects at the highest level over the course of two seasons is what makes Murphy valuable enough to crack our top-25 rankings.
Yet another North Carolina talent, Parker Wolfe is as solid and as reliable as they come. Since his freshman year, this Colorado native has been a high-impact name, seemingly getting better with each passing year.
Wolfe has yet to truly breakthrough to that next tier of distance stars, but a recent 13:13 (5k) personal best certainly gets him closer to doing so. The Tar Heel standout has also run 3:56 (mile) and 7:47 (3k), but in terms of how effective he is on the national stage, it's the 5k that is his clear and obvious sweetspot.
When it comes to picking All-Americans, Wolfe is one of the safer guys to choose when he reaches the national stage, even in an all-time elite era for the men's 5k. But in order for him to truly be a national title contender, staying near the top of lead groups and responding to fast finishes will need to be a clear point of emphasis.
Many of the things that we said about Ethan Strand can also apply to Liam Murphy. The Villanova star has become one of the most dangerous and feared distance talents in the entire NCAA given his finishing speed, ability to instantly change gears and strong range.
On the track, Murphy has run 3:39 (1500), 3:55 (mile), 7:45 (3k) and 13:21 (5k). And truthfully, you could argue that he's due for a faster 3k time this winter -- his resume suggests that the 3k is his best event.
After going all-in on the DMR at the indoor national meet last year, Murphy did have a few tactical miscues at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 1500 meter finals. Even so, his anchor leg at the Penn Relays, which was en route to a 4xMile victory for Villanova, showcased how dangerous his finishing speed can be in tactical settings.
With a year of racing against the best of the best now under his belt, Murphy could become even more of a threat to the top distance talents in 2024. And after seeing how well he ran during the fall months, I wouldn't be totally shocked if his name begins to float around the national title conversation come February (for which event, I don't know).
If someone wanted to rank Jackson Sharp at a spot better than TSR #18, we probably wouldn't argue with you. This is, after all, a guy who finished 3rd over 5000 meters at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships and the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
On paper, Sharp holds personal bests that comfortably put him into the national meet, speficially his marks of 7:44 (3k) and 13:25 (5k). However, neither of those times make him a clear-cut All-American favorite.
But Sharp has proven that you only need to be so fast to be effective on the national stage. He knew exactly where to position himself, when he needed to move up in the pack and when to make his move. Racing IQ like that will go a long way, especially when you realize that the Badger veteran ran 3:37 for 1500 meters this past summer.
I don't exactly love the fact that Habtom Samuel, the runner-up finisher at the NCAA XC Championships, is ranked all the way back at TSR #17. But when we really thought about it, this is a guy who is more of a 5k/10k talent rather than a 3k/5k runner. And in a year where the 5k is as top-heavy as it ever has been, you can see why Samuel settles in at this spot.
Even so, Samuel has a 5k PR of 13:13 and just ran 13:14 for the distance at Boston U. earlier this month. Regardless of his tactics and unknown range, this New Mexico freshman should still be considered talented enough to be a top-20 distance runner in the NCAA this winter.
We're more than willing to push Samuel to a better spot in these rankings the more that we see from him -- a big-time 3k would do wonders for his stock. But until that happens, others in our rankings seemingly had better arguments.
There's an argument to be had that Isaac Basten is the best tactical miler in the NCAA, at least in terms of consistency. He's also the guy who probably gives athletes and fans the most heart attacks given how close some of his races are.
Basten is due for a national title, either in the mile or the 1500 meters. No other miler in the NCAA understands his competition like he does. His personal bests -- 3:54 in the mile and 3:36.99 for 1500 meters -- are fast enough to the point where he should be a contender in pretty much any national meet scenario (and he has been).
Of course, the main obstacle that Basten ran into last year was Washington...specifically three guys from that program. The Husky trio of Joe Waskom, Luke Houser and Nathan Green have worked together beautifully on the national stage as of late, each taking home NCAA gold in the mile or the 1500 meter distance since the spring of 2022.
Not only that, but in an interview that TSR did with Isaac Basten from May, he divulged that Washington Coach Andy Powell had told him that the Huskies wanted to box him in at last year's indoor national meet.
Things won't be getting any easier for this Drake star in 2024. He will likely have a three-vs-one battle (against the Washington men) on his hands when he returns to the national stage and he will he also need to fend off Anas Essayi as well as breakout star, Adam Spencer.
That's largely why Basten settles in at TSR #16. Even so, when it takes a trio of elite milers working together to stop you, you're usually doing something right.
For many Division One fans, the name Oussama El Bouchayby probably doesn't ring a bell. But for anyone who followed the Division Two scene last year, this guy was beyond outstanding over the 800-meter distance.
During his time at Angelo State, El Bouchayby ran a jaw-dropping time of 1:45.31 for 800 meters. That PR came at the Texas Relays where the D2 megastar stunned the country with a monumental win over top-flight middle distance talents such as Yusuf Bizimana and Adidas pro, Bryce Hoppel.
Prior to that race, he ran 1:46 in the 800 meter finals of the D2 indoor national meet, an indoor D2 record which allowed him to take down Wes Ferguson, a guy who would go on to run 1:45 at altitude. A family matter would halt El Bouchayby from racing at the D2 outdoor national meet.
There may be an argument for the newest Alabama talent to be listed at an even better spot than this. However, we'd like to see how he handles a full season of D1 competition, especially at the SEC level, before we place him any higher.
Did you ever imagine that a guy could run 7:38 for 3000 meters and NOT be listed inside of our top-10? Well, that's the unfortunate case for Brian Musau, someone who just ran 7:38 for 3000 meters at Boston U.
Generally speaking, this rising Oklahoma State star is still somewhat of an unknown. Yes, the Cowboy rookie did have a phenomenal cross country season, placing 4th at the national meet, but when it comes to the track, we only have one PR of his to analyze (his recent 3k).
We don't really know anything about how Musau fares in other events or how he handles tactical races. Of course, after seeing how well he ran a few weeks ago, we should at least give him a partial benefit of the doubt which is why he sits at TSR #14.
So...how on Earth do we rank this guy?
Adam Spencer was great last winter, excellent last spring and beyond phenomenal during the summer months.
Last indoor track season, Spencer thrived in the mile, running a 3:55 PR and winning a BIG 10 title. However, he would not advance out of the prelims at the indoor national meet. But during the spring months, Spencer ran surprisingly fast times of 1:46 (800) and 3:37 (1500). Those marks would eventually lead to the Badger ace placing 3rd at the NCAA Outdoor Championships over the metric mile distance.
But what this Aussie miler did during the summer was so far above and beyond what we thought he could do. Once the NCAA season ended, Spencer ended up running 3:36 (1500) or faster three separate times. His final PR? 3:31.81.
Yes, you're reading that right: THREE. THIRTY. ONE. POINT. EIGHT. ONE.
Spencer would end his season with a 3:34 mark at the World Championships, advancing to the 1500 meter semi finals.
You don't just run 3:31 for 1500 meters by accident. In fact, I would even go as far to argue that Spencer's 1500 meter PR is arguably just as impressive as Graham Blanks' 13:03 (5k) collegiate record from a few weeks ago (and if it's not, then it's at least close to it).
The problem is that Spencer didn't even make it out of the prelims at last year's indoor national meet. And although he had great success during the spring months, nothing that he did during the collegiate season suggested that he would be THAT good in the summer.
The only reason why Spencer is not in "Part Two" of our preseason rankings is simply because we want to see how he transitions his all-time great 1500 meter marks to the indoor oval this winter. If he's even 80% as good as what his summer campaign showed, then Spencer will likely end up cracking our top-10.
Mehdi Yanouri (Oklahoma State)
Yaseen Abdalla (Tennessee)
Casey Clinger (BYU)
Jesse Hamlin (Butler)
Sam Austin (Florida)
Denis Kipngetich (Oklahoma State)
Kirami Yego (Arkansas)
Bob Liking (Wisconsin)
Hillary Cheruiyot (Alabama)
Lukas Kiprop (New Mexico)
Abdullahi Hassan (Wisconsin)
Ronan McMahon-Staggs (Washington)
Patrick Kiprop (Arkansas)
Devin Hart (Texas)
Tarees Rhoden (Clemson)
Sean Dolan (Villanova)
Gary Martin (Virginia)
Theo Quax (Northern Arizona)
Davis Bove (Cal Poly)
Lukas Kiprop (New Mexico)
Samuel Rodman (Princeton)
Rivaldo Marshall (Iowa)
Alex Phillip (North Carolina)
Camden Marshall (Indiana)
Sam Whitmarsh (Texas A&M)
Aman Thornton (Clemson)
Nicholas Plant (Virginia Tech)
Colin Sahlman (Northern Arizona)
Luke Tewalt (Wake Forest)
Matthew Payamps (Georgetown)
Tinoda Matsasta (Georgetown)
Simeon Birnbaum (Oregon)
Rocky Hansen (Wake Forest)
Evans Kiplagat (New Mexico)
John Lester (Transfer Portal)
Dayton Carlson (Arizona State)
Sebastian Fernandez (BYU)
Isaiah Givens (Colorado)
Acer Iverson (Harvard)
Lexington Hilton (Arkansas)
Ben Perrin (Montana State)
Dylan Schubert (Furman)
Aaron Las Heras (Northern Arizona)
Blaik Slavinski (Clemson)