Ben Weisel
Jan 30, 20197 min
Alex Rodgers (Texas)
Alex Ostberg (Stanford)
Fred Huxham (Washington)
Nahom Solomon (Georgia Tech)
Logan Orndorf (Portland)
Carlton Orange (Texas A&M)
Vincent Crisp (Texas Tech)
Linkletter’s speed is looking good as he nearly broke four for the first time at the UW Invite (with a time of 4:02). I am curious to see what he will run in the 3k and/or 5k later on this season. Linkletter is the first of a couple BYU Cougars who made this list.
We haven’t seen much from one of the top returners from the outdoor 800. Hoppel has only run 1:56, 4:16, and took part in a 4x400. I’m keeping him on the list for one more week, but if he doesn’t run something soon then it will be hard to justify keeping him with how deep the 800 suddenly is.
One race that hasn’t been mentioned much is Cooper Teare taking down Cameron Griffith at the Arkansas Invite. Going sub four and taking down Griffith who is highly rated by this particular TSR ranking "expert" is super impressive.
Koech looked good in his Red Raider debut. One of the most versatile runners in the country, ran a converted 1:46.98 at his new home track in a loaded 800 field. It will be interesting to see where he would stack up in the mile this year if he eventually decides to run that event.
Young ran a nice race at UW Invite to finish 5th overall with a time of 7:51. With the amount of top times BYU is turning out, Young sticks out as someone who has qualified for Indoor Nationals before.
McMillan earned a spot in the rankings after his 3rd place finish behind the man one spot ahead of him in the rankings. McMillan has some very strong PR's in the 5k and 10k, so it's good to see him drop down in distance and produce another solid result. He might struggle in a tactical 3k, but could very easily be an All-American contender in the 5000 meters.
Another new member of the power rankings, Andrew Jordan followed up his 8:04 2nd place finish with a beautifully run 7:51 to be the top collegiate in the 3k at the UW Invite. We haven’t talked much about Jordan after a respectable cross country season, but one that was undoubtedly frustrating after his 15th place finish at Nationals in 2017. The Cyclone ace could pair up with teammate Edwin Kurgat to form a powerful duo at Nationals this season.
Stanovsek continues to pound out solid performances. Following his 2:21 in the 1000, the Husky ran 1:49 after anchoring the DMR to a 9:37 the night before. His speed is looking sharp and giving us some exciting signs about what he'll be able to do in the mile later this season.
One of the big surprises of the season has been Jewett who had already run 1:15 in the 600 before coming in 2nd to Dixon at the Texas Tech Classic and running a converted 1:46.60. He has to be considered, even in a loaded 800, as one of the top runners in country. Beating Jonah Koech among others is also a good sign. Keep an eye on him the rest of the season because he could continue to move up the rankings.
Heppenstall started his indoor season with a win over John Lewis to run 1:50.05. While not a fast time, the most consistent runner in the country will undoubtedly run faster as the season goes on. As a runner in an 800 field that seems to be getting deeper by the day, it is important that Heppenstall step up with the rest of the field to regain his status as a favorite.
Kurgat slides down a few spots after a disappointing race that saw him run 8:00 and finish 2nd to Oregon’s Charlie Hunter. I still am confident that Kurgat will earn a spot at Nationals with teammate Andrew Jordan, but I certainly don’t feel as good about it as I did at the start of the season. I am also curious as to why Kurgat didn’t run at Washington like Jordan did. Hopefully he will have other chances to run 7:50 later in the season.
Day backed up his converted 13:33 5k with an unconverted 1:57 and 8:33. It is good to see him run an 800 and continue to develop the speed he will need for the 5k at Nationals.
Villarreal is showcasing his range. After running 4:00 two weeks ago, he came back to run 7:58 with his typical furious finish. I’m still a little worried about how much he got beat by Davis in the mile and how he will fair in the prelims at Nationals. This said, he is showcasing a level of fitness that we have not seen from him before.
Lost in all the hoopla surrounding Dixon after his stunning race was Arop’s win at the Arkansas Invite in 1:47.63. Arop, the top outdoor returner in the 800, needed this type of race to prove that he still belongs in the national title discussion with White and Dixon who have been running very well so far. I really hope we get to see Arop run against one of the top contenders before Nationals.
Griffith got edged out by Cooper Teare in the mile at the Arkansas Invite, but still ended up running a PR of 3:59. With Griffith’s stellar 7:49 PR in the 3k, it is good to see his mile drop by a few seconds. I’m excited to see what he does in the 3k over the next few weeks.
I was very impressed by Knevelbaard’s race in the mile at the UW Invite. He finished as the top collegiate, narrowly losing to Neil Gourley and ran 3:58. The 5th place mile finisher from last year’s indoor national meet has to be considered one of the top two milers in the country (maybe outside of Oliver Hoare).
Davis put together one of the top races from last weekend beating Villarreal to run 3:58. If Davis is focused on running the mile this season (which it seems like he is), then he has to be one of the favorites. He owns the fastest time in the country so far and has already beaten one of the other favorites. It is time to start taking Davis serious as a contender for the mile crown in Birmingham.
If it weren’t for Oliver Hoare, then Mau’s 7:50 on his home track would have the top time in the NCAA in the 3k. It was an impressive time and performance for the Hoosier who has now put his name into the ring as one of top 3k candidates. Mau also anchored Indiana’s DMR team which ran 9:27. It will be interesting to see if Mau competes in both the DMR and 3k come Nationals.
Kemboi flashed his speed to pair with his 13:33 from December. Running sub four and winning his race bodes well for his chances in the 5k at Nationals. If anyone can topple Fisher and McDonald, then my bet is on Kemboi.
Klecker has yet to race indoors so there isn’t much to report. He drops back two places only because of two great performances.
The performance of the weekend (quite the compliment in a very good weekend of racing) earns Dixon a huge 17 place jump into the #5 slot. Perhaps this is an overreaction based off of one race, but considering he beat Donovan Brazier’s American indoor record, it is hard not to think of him as one of the top runners in the country. We will see if this race translates to a top finish in NCAA's, but right now no one wants to race Dixon.
While White didn’t run as fast a Dixon, he keeps his #4 spot because of how easily he beat the rest of the field while running 1:46.91. This time, combined with White’s experience at championship meets, keeps White as the favorite...for now.
Holy smokes, this is hard. Honestly, I feel like you could pick the top three out of a hat, and I couldn’t argue with the order. Fisher just threw down a 3:56 split in the DMR to lead Stanford to the win and a 9:29. To run that well and show that much speed this early in the season would normally catapult Fisher into the top spot. Yet, as fate would have it, there were a handful of other elite performances this past weekend. However, with another race like this, Fisher could easily climb to #1.
Wooooo boy! What a race Hoare had at the Indiana University Relays! 7:48 for the win this early in the season is a nice race. Beating #11 Kyle Mau while running a PR is impressive to say the least. The question at the beginning of the year was what race Hoare will run a Nationals. I made the case that Hoare should run the mile because he won the 1500 outdoors and faces less competition in the mile than he does in the 3k. However, running 7:48 might change the calculus a bit. I still believe the field will be stronger in the 3k, but at this point it might not matter. Hoare might just be unbeatable.
I know keeping McDonald at #1 after the weeks that Fisher and Hoare just had is a bit controversial. I am keeping here because of his cross country performance and top PR's. With that said, if McDonald doesn’t race in the next week or two, it might be time for a new leader in the best power rankings that track and field has to offer...