Maura Beattie
Mar 75 min
Written by Maura Beattie, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin
Editor's Note: Our TSR writers were asked to produce three sentences or less of analysis on every entrant in every distance event for every division.
Two races really stuck out for Stanford’s Ky Robinson this season: his 7:36 (3k) effort and 13:06 (5k) performance in December. Attempting to win the 3k this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships is going to be tough for the Cardinal star as he’ll be doubling back from 5k, although we’ve seen him pull off an impressive national meet double before. In terms of skillsets, he is one of the more complete runners in this field.
Surprisingly, Nico Young isn’t Northern Arizona’s leading guy in the 3k, an honor which belongs to Aaron Las Heras. It’s hard not to like the Lumberjack graduate student this winter given his extensive experience and immense growth that he’s had under Coach Mike Smith in just under a year. With turnover that is better than some may realize, could Las Heras realistically leave this weekend as a national champion?
Parker Wolfe has been setting the track on fire this season in everything from the mile to the 5k. With some newly developed speed to match his strength, the 3k national title could be Wolfe’s for the taking. Maintaining composure at the very top of the pack late in the race will be key for this Tar Heel, but that shouldn’t be a problem given that he’s won nearly every race that he’s contended this winter.
Nico Young has flexed his speed and strength all season long. He’s coming into the 3k at the NCAA Indoor Championships as a 3k national title favorite thanks to his fantastic 7:37 PR, a time that was produced after out-kicking many top contenders in this field back in December. Young is certainly going to have his work cut out for him on Saturday given that he'll be coming off of the double, but smarter racing tactics and prior displays of a kick this winter could propel to the top of the podium.
True freshman Brian Musau is racing like a veteran. The Oklahoma State youngster capitalized upon his 8th place showing at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships when he ran highly impressive times of 3:55 (mile) and 7:38 (3k) earlier this season. His inexperience is impossible to ignore, but if this Cowboy rookie races with the same cool, calm and collected demeanor that we’ve seen from him over the last few months, then we may see some magic happen.
There may be an argument that Ryan Schoppe has had his best track season yet, finishing highly in competitive fields and recording strong times. The 7:38 (3k) PR that this junior ran in early December leads us to believe that Schoppe is on the cusp of cracking the top-five at the indoor national meet, a finish that would be nine places higher than where he finished at the 2023 rendition of this meet. And on paper, Schoppe has the speed, strength and tactical nuance to deliver on those expectations.
Portland’s Matt Strangio is one of the few athletes entered in this field who is expected to be completely fresh by the time the gun sounds on Saturday. The west coast veteran doesn’t have as much national meet experience as his competitors, but Strangio has tons of momentum on his side after massive PRs in both the mile and the 3k this season. For the Pilot star to finish amongst the top-five, he’s going to need to use his fresh legs to capitalize on a quick end-of-race scenario.
The field can’t let this be a kicker’s race, especially if South Carolina’s Anass Essayi is amongst the leaders and has a clear path in front of him. The Gamecock veteran has flexed his speed this season, running 3:51 for the mile which isn’t even his personal best (it's 3:50). Essayi has plenty of 3k endurance as well, but it's his late-race turnover (which is, at times, spotty) that will be put to the test given that he also has the mile to double back from.
Northern Arizona’s Theo Quax has been in the NCAA since 2019 and for as experienced of a runner as he is, he’s never earned an All-American honor before. However, that could very easily change this weekend after running head-turning PRs of 7:39 (3k) and 13:16 (5k) over the last few months. Doubling back from the 5k may make the “gas, gas, gas” racing style of Coach Mike Smith a challenge, but this is also someone with great middle distance chops as well.
Unsurprisingly, Luke Houser declared for the mile/3k double this weekend. Yes, Houser has impressive mile speed, 3k strength and an indoor national title in the mile (2023). However, does the Husky star have what it takes to not only double back from the mile, but also hang if the 3k begins to favor the endurance-centric athletes?
True freshman Habtom Samuel hasn’t wasted any time throwing down top track marks since finishing 2nd at the cross country national meet. The 3k is loaded, but given Samuel's somewhat improved range this winter, there’s no doubt that he'll leave as a top-eight finisher. The real question, however, is how high can the New Mexico ace finish?
If you’re looking for someone to root for this weekend, then Liam Murphy is your guy. The Villanova stud has put together an indoor track season which suggests that something magical will happen in the 3k regardless of how the race plays out. Murphy’s proven strength over 5000 meters (13:21), paired with his 3:53 (mile) closing speed and the fact that he'll be fresh, is all the reason you need to believe that this Wildcat could win gold come Saturday.
Tennessee’s Yaseen Abdalla is flying somewhat under the radar. And even though there hasn’t been anything too flashy produced by him this winter, we can’t count out the Volunteer senior as a contender for All-American honors. Abdalla’s 7:42 (3k) mark run in late January was enough to qualify him for the NCAA Indoor Championships, but he'll need to shake off his recent postseason woes if he wants to crack the top-eight.
David Mullarkey is a sneaky good name thanks to excellent marks of 7:42 (3k) and 13:28 (5k) this season. The Florida Stare runner stunned us with this 3k PR as that was an impressive 16-second improvement and not too far off of the leaders in an star-studded field. For Mullarkey to crack the top-eight, he’s going to need to use all of the cards that he has, specifically the fact that he'll have fresh legs on Saturday.
Experience is going to be on Alex Maier’s side this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Oklahoma State Cowboy is typically a stronger 5k/10k guy and dropping down to the 3k makes him a bit more vulnerable in a kickers' race amongst a slew of milers. Even so, Maier comes in as the top returner from the 2023 indoor national meet in the 3k and has recently strung together some really strong results as of late.
Redshirt freshman Marco Langon may be the last and final seed in this field, but he is here for more than just a good time. The Villanova underclassman will be fresh unlike many of the men in this field and his mile speed should give him an edge as well. The rising Wildcat star has nothing to lose this weekend and with teammate Liam Murphy in the field, tandem tactics could aid in Langon’s success.