One Sentence Previews: 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships Men's 1500 Meters (D3)

Additional contributions by Garrett Zatlin

NOTE: Athletes are listed in order of their seed position. Final predictions are at the bottom.

With all of the competitors in this field being separated by four seconds, Ruggles can’t really be considered a heavy favorite in this event, but he's been incredible over the last few weeks and has been undefeated since mid-April, so it will be a major upset if he doesn’t at least make it into the finals.

The national title favorite has to be Aidan Ryan who will be trying to defend his mile national title from this past winter, something he looks more than capable of doing after earning new PRs in the 800 meters, 1500 meters and the 5k this spring.

Booth-Genthe’s qualifying time came in a talented field at Bryan Clay which gave him great experience against a competitive field, but look out for him on the last lap because with a 400 meter PR of 49.98 and an 800 meter PR of 1:49.1, this man has some wheels that could win him a national title, especially in a tactical scenario.

One of many men Pomona-Pitzer has competing in the distance events this weekend, Rosencrans used a last chance meet to get his qualifying mark, although two personal bests in the month of May is what really makes his resume so dangerous.

The top freshman in this race had a monster breakout race in the 1500 meters, but then validated his massive PR with a statement race in the 800 meters, giving him tons of upside and momentum that he has proven he can actually deliver on.

Ridderhoff has been racing a lot this spring (usually at least two events every weekend), but last year's 1500 meter runner-up will be looking to avenge his 2021 loss and pick up the win this time around, something that this positional and tactical abilities could help him do.

Placing 10th in last year's 1500 meter race, Sikorski has also shown a lot of exciting promise in the 800 meters, a potentially necessary development given the level of speed and turnover that some of these other men boast.

Llanza has raced six 1500 meter races this spring, but still needed a last chance meet to run 3:46 and qualify for the national meet, a slightly surprising development that can be ignored given his multiple All-American mile/1500 meter finishes.

A newcomer to the national scene, Sealand will be aiming to prove that the fitness that he had in early April en route to a 3:46 mark is still there, making him a little bit of a wildcard in this field.

Moreland is a last chance hero who dropped three seconds off of his old personal best at the Swarthmore Final Qualifier meet to qualify for the national meet, but while he has earned top finishes in the 1500 meters before, this field will almost certainly be one of the most competitive fields he has ever faced.

A staple name at the top of the mile / 1500 meter leaderboards, Hoffman is looking to replicate (or improve upon) his 3rd place finish from the outdoor national meet last year and with experience and success on his side, he feels like a reliable name.

Much like Moreland, Yackin also dropped his PR by three seconds to qualify for the national meet and while hasn't been perfect, this Otterbein miler has shown glimpses of being competitive in championship settings before.

Doubling in the 800 meters and the 1500 means that this could be Potter’s fourth race of the weekend (assuming he qualifies for both finals), but with such a close field in terms of seed times, his 800 meter speed could benefit him and allow him to match the middle distance prowess of others in this field.

Justin Krause will be racing many of his WIAC rivals in this race, but that conference-level familiarity, as well as the experience that he had with other WIAC runners at the NCAA Indoor Championships, could set him up for success this weekend.

One of the more consistent distance runners in Division Three, Harvey has yet to run slower than 3:53 and he often runs sub-3:50, making the indoor mile All-American a very solid pick to finish top-eight this weekend despite his seed.

Seletskiy and Boone are actually tied in seed times, but Seletskiy is coming in with some national meet experience as well as a very promising win (and time) at the AARTFC Championships, giving him some of the best momentum in this field.

Boone won the UWL Last Chance meet in the 1500 meters to book his ticket to Ohio, running 3:47.65 which marks his first time going sub-3:52, a factoid that it makes tricky to properly gauge our expectations for him.

Madoch would like to thank everyone who scratched this event (as he would have been the first one out had they not), but now he has the chance to defend his 7th place All-American finish from this past winter, and based on his well-roundedness, he has a realistic shot of doing so.

We are used to seeing Alderfer in the 800 meters, but he has now stepped up to the mile/1500 this year and had to rely on a 1500 en route split from a mile race to qualify for this meet -- a result that came back in mid-April.

Another member of the backwards hat gang, Kelly has really stepped it up this year and even though he placed 15th in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships this past winter, he's likely capable of improving that finish despite his seed.