Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Feb 1414 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.
Was not ranked in our last update.
First number indicates how much the individual has moved in our rankings.
The second number indicates where the individual was ranked in our last update.
A recent 4:14 mile PR doesn't really move the needle one way or another in terms of how we view Sam Austin. Even so, we shouldn't rush to kick him out of our rankings.
The men's 800 meters feels fairly wide-open this year and Austin's 1:46 mark still has him at NCAA #4 on the national leaderboard. Plus, given how well Darius Kipyego has run as of late, Austin's late January performance (where he beat Kipyego) looks even more impressive.
It's challenging to get a proper gauge of Peter Maru, specifically when it comes to these rankings. The Ugandan freshman boasts an outstanding 13:07 personal best for 5000 meters and he just threw down a 13:17 mark this past weekend at Boston U.
But truthfully, we still don't know all that much about Maru. We don't much about his race tactics/tendencies and we have yet to see how he performs when stepping up or dropping down in distance.
With the men's 5k looking absolutely loaded this year, we felt like a TSR #24 ranking was the right decision. It's a spot that acknowledges his raw talent, but also heeds caution regarding all of the still-unknown aspects of his skillset.
After being unable to earn a spot in our top-25 last week, Iowa State's Darius Kipyego has done just that in our second rankings update of the season. The Cyclone junior has been simply superb this winter, stringing together consistency at a bolstered level of fitness that he had never shown us previously.
After running 2:18 for 1000 meters on his 300-meter home track, Kipyego posted a 1:46 high mark for 800 meters in a battle at Arkansas. And two weekends ago? He improved upon that PR by the slightest bit, running 1:46.71 and validating his early-season success.
If someone wanted to list Kipyego higher in these rankings, I don't think many of us would argue. But for now, this seemed like a good spot as several veterans ahead of him have been just as good in recent weeks.
There are very few reasons to dislike Abdullahi Hassan. This Wisconsin ace has been fantastic over the last year, running 1:46 for 800 meters numerous times last spring, finishing 4th at the outdoor national meet and more recently running 1:46.61 (800) this past weekend en route to a victory over Sean Dolan.
The Badger star entered the NCAA with elite pedigree from a phenomenal prep career. And while he has had a handful of great moments, he hadn't been as consistently great as he has been since March of last year.
With tons of experience under his belt, a proven ability to consistently run fast times and no signs of slowing down, it feels like Hassan is one of the very few men who could realistically break up the duo of Yusuf Bizimana and Handal Roban in the 800-meter finals at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships.
When Oklahoma State star Ryan Schoppe threw down a fantastic 7:38 mark for 3000 meters in December, I figured that he would eventually run 3:54 (or maybe even 3:53) in the mile this season.
Well, unfortunately, that wasn't the case this past Friday and Saturday. Schoppe still ran a very strong mile mark of 3:56, but with no other races in between early December and this past weekend, we have to move the Oklahoma State standout back a handful of spots.
Of course, the bigger reason for this drop isn't necessarily based on how Schoppe performed in the mile. Instead, it's because the men's 3000 meters has become far deeper than we could have ever anticipated.
Even so, when Schoppe is firing on all cylinders, he's an absolute stud who can flip certain gears on and off during races. As long as he can flex his refined racing skillset on the national stage, he'll be a top-eight finisher...I think.
Over the years, Matt Strangio has been someone who has clearly been a nationally competitive name, but has seemingly never been able to crack through to that next level. He held outstanding high school pedigree, and has made considerable improvements since coming to Portland, but this was someone who should have been consistently competing on the national stage.
But even if we thought that he had more talent than he had previously shown, we couldn't have predicted that this Pilot veteran would produce an outstanding time 3k time of 7:39 on Washington's 300-meter track this past weekend. And not only did he run an absurdly fast time, but he also took down NAU standout, Theo Quax, in the process.
When Strangio ran 3:55 in the mile a couple of weeks ago, we were encouraged. But when you pair that mile time with his exceptional 3k effort, the value on his resume is too good to ignore. And for that reason, we placed him inside of our top-25.
After running 3:53 in the mile a few weeks ago, Colin Sahlman returned to the track this past weekend, this time aiming to refine both his speed and strength.
At the Husky Classic, the Lumberjack sophomore threw down an excellent time of 1:47 for 800 meters, snagging an excellent win over former Ole Miss runner, Baylor Franklin, and current BYU standout, Sebastian Fernandez.
But frankly, Sahlman should have won that race. He did, after all run 1:46.99 for 800 meters last spring and has most definitely improved his fitness since then. In fact, he has also seemingly improved his durability, posting a very respectable 7:48 effort for 3000 meters as part of his weekend double.
As strong as that weekend double was, I don't think anyone is surprised and I don't think that we learned anything new about Sahlman. Of course, that's not a bad thing and if anything, we feel a little more comfortable about his chances of having success on the national stage after seeing what he produced this past weekend.
*Disclaimer: Isaac Basten works with The Stride Report as our Lane Nine host
After battling through the fall months and December with an illness, Basten opted to delay his season debut until early February. That season debut came at the Iowa State Classic where he ran 3:56 in the mile -- an encouraging first race back.
Then, at Boston U. this past weekend, the Drake veteran attacked the mile once more, this time in a field that was far more competitive. And as a result, he surpassed his 3:54 PR to earn a new personal best of 3:53.
That's a fairly substantial performance. Our biggest concern about Basten was whether or not he would have enough raw fitness to put himself back on the national stage after a fairly extensive ailment held him out from racing for a while.
But as of this past weekend, Basten proved to us that he's not only going to be back on the national stage, but that he's fit enough to continue his contention for the national title. And it's that tactical aspect that gives Basten a fairly decent bump back into our rankings.
Did you ever think that we would reach a day where someone could run 3:53 in the mile twice in a single season and they actually go backwards in our rankings? Well, that's unfortunately what's happening with Liam Murphy who is fresh off of a 3:53 mile effort at the Millrose Games.
However, the only real reason why Murphy moves back is more based on what other athletes did rather than how he performed. Let's not forget that this is someone who ran 13:21 for 5000 meters in December and now has two 3:53 mile marks on his resume.
In theory, the 3k could actually be his sweet spot.
On Saturday, freshman Tinoda Matsatsa toed the line for his biggest and toughest challenge yet. The Georgetown rookie was seeded in the top section of the men's 800 meters at Boston U. with a variety of pros and top collegiates. And unfortunately, he struggled, fading in the latter-half of the race and posting a modest 1:49 (800) mark.
But here's the catch: I actually think that's a good thing.
Matsatsa was undefeated going into Saturday and he had only found major success in his first few races as a collegian. But his latest effort at Boston U. was the first time that he was truly faced with adversity this season. And frankly, it's best to have that "Welcome to the NCAA" moment now rather than on the national stage.
We're still plenty high on Matsatsa. We will, however, be interested in seeing how he rebounds from this past weekend and how he handles the postseason.
So far this season, Oklahoma State freshman Brian Musau has posted times of 7:38 (3k), 3:55 (mile) and 3:55 (mile). And truthfully, I'm not sure how to analyze that.
On one hand, this Cowboy rookie has more speed than I thought he would have, at least for the current indoor track season. But on the other hand, his chances to run a fast 5k time -- which seems to be an obvious event to attack -- are dwindling. Plus, the men's 3k field has only grown more competitive since early December.
Either way, if you wanted to rank Musau closer to TSR #12 or TSR #13, I don't think you would find me arguing with you too much. This Oklahoma State standout is incredibly talented and could be a much bigger player on the national stage than some people realize.
A 3:52 mile effort at the Millrose Games was an outstanding performance for Adam Spencer. And yet, I don't think anyone is all that surprised. The Aussie miler ran 3:31 for 1500 meters last spring and was in an elite field of pros this past weekend who were chasing after the American indoor mile record.
However, Sunday's performance was important from a validation perspective. We have seen Spencer have significant success on the outdoor oval. And while his indoor track campaigns have been strong, they haven't matched his spring efforts.
That, of course, seems to be changing after his NCAA #7 all-time mile result. And in a mile national title conversation that once featured Anass Essayi, Isaac Basten and the Washington men, it feels like Spencer is just as deserving to be mentioned with that group than anyone else in the country.
Another season, another outstanding late-season performance for Handal Roban.
Despite a few "just okay" early-season efforts over 800 meters this winter, we weren't willing to panic about Handal Roban's national qualifying hopes. This was, after all, a guy who peaked perfectly for the indoor and outdoor national meets last winter and spring to earn a pair of bronze medals.
That's why it shouldn't have been a surprise when we saw that the Penn State star ran 1:47.10 (800) to secure a win at the Boston College Eagle Elite Invite and later came back to run 1:46.81 the next day to emerge as the top collegian at Boston U.
If this was the first time that we were ever seeing Handal Roban, then we would maybe be a bit more cautious given the up and down performances that he's had this season. However, history says that a big-time run at the indoor national meet is likely in his future.
Gosh, Theo Quax has just been absolutely brilliant this winter. With each passing week, this Kiwi distance ace gets better and better. That's a pretty crazy thing to say considering that one of his earliest performances of this winter was a converted 3:54 mile mark.
But since then, Quax has thrown down a huge 5k time of 13:16 and just secured a 7:39 mark for 3000 meters at the Husky Classic this past weekend.
I think a lot of us at The Stride Report figured that, as long as Quax was healthy and firing on all cylinders, that he could be even better than what he's shown us in the past. However, much like Matt Strangio, I don't think we expected him to be this much better.
After running a phenomenal 5k time of 13:16 at Boston University, Aaron Las Heras waited until this past weekend, at the Husky Classic, to pursue a fast 3k time. And of course, Las Heras did exactly that -- and more.
In an insanely fast 3k race, Las Heras gave Ky Robinson a run for his money, taking over on the last lap before the Stanford star out-kicked him for the win. And yet, despite that, this former Wake Forest star still ran 7:37 for 3000 meters and flexed some respectable turnover that allowed him to be nationally competitive with a true NCAA superstar.
Was his time extremely impressive? Absolutely. But it was the more nuanced aspects of that race and how Las Heras composed himself that I really loved seeing. And because of that, I'm now even more encouraged about his All-American hopes as we inch closer to March.
We still haven't seen Graham Blanks since he ran the former collegiate 5k record of 13:03 back in December. And admittedly, that's not an encouraging sign, especially with the national meet less than a month away.
Some readers may point out that Drew Bosley hasn't raced since December either, but that he was kicked out of our rankings and Blanks was not. And that's a fair argument to make. Of course, the only difference (which is also a major difference) is that Blanks ran a time that was, prior to late January, a collegiate record whereas Bosley could fall out of a qualifying position by season's end.
That's why we're dropping Blanks a good bit, but not entirely.
I've only seen good things from New Mexico's Habtom Samuel since he ran 13:14 for 5000 meters. The Lobo freshman hasn't returned to his ideal distance over the last two months, but he has shown promising improvement since then.
After running 7:45 (3k) in early January, Samuel later ran an altitude converted 3:53 mile time before returning to the 3000-meter distance this past weekend at Boston U. And when he was there, Samuel made a statement, running 7:40 for 3000 meters to not only set a significant personal best, but also earn the overall win.
That latter result is what gives me a ton of confidence about Samuel heading into the postseason. While I don't see him winning a tactical race on the national stage, he should still have enough turnover to remain competitive in the latter portions of his 5k and 3k races. And prior to late January, I don't know if I would have said that about him.
When we were initially crafting these rankings, we found ourselves give Parker Wolfe a bump up, realizing that he simply had a better resume than someone ranked ahead of him and then giving him another bump.
In fact, that happened three times until the North Carolina star settled in at our TSR #8 position in our rankings.
When you really think about other aerobic-centric stars such as Habtom Samuel, Aaron Las Heras, Theo Quax and Brian Musau, none of those men have a resume that can match Wolfe's marks of 3:55 (mile), 7:37 (3k) and 13:13 (5k) -- all of which have come this winter.
Admittedly, I still have questions about Wolfe's ability to thrive in a tactical race, specifically on the national stage. But truthfully, there aren't many men ranked behind him who are completely void of doubts. And for that reason, Wolfe gets the nod for a top-10 bid.
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
While the NCAA was going crazy over Parker Wolfe's 7:37 (3k) effort and Olivia Markezich's 4:27 mile mark, Washington ace Nathan Green was prepping himself for a wicked-fast 1000-meter race at "The TRACK" at New Balance.
In a race where Canadian middle distance star Marco Arop looked flat-out unstoppable, it was Green who hung with his competition for as long as he could. And although he finished last, the Husky star still ran an outstanding 1000-meter time of 2:18.56.
In theory, that time should have put him at NCAA #5 all-time, although Green's performance isn't shown on TFRRS or USTFCCCA. That may be because he wasn't listed under Washington for the New Balance Grand Prix, but it's tough to know for sure.
Regardless, the reigning 1500-meter national champion looks very sharp right now and his speed is seemingly just as lethal as it was last spring. If Green were to secure a mile national title in March, then I don't know how surprised anyone would be.
After running 7:39 for 3000 meters in Boston, South Carolina's Anass Essayi returned to the Terrier-hosted oval this past weekend, this time for a fast mile effort.
The Gamecock star was likely gunning for the collegiate record of 3:50, a time that he had barely missed last year. And although he was unable to get the record, no one can complain about Essayi running 3:51 on Saturday. The fact that he was a major contender for the win and the leading pack going into the final 200 meters was an encouraging sign, especially as we enter the championship portion of the season.
However, for the most part, nothing that Essayi showed this past weekend -- or really at any point this season -- was a major surprise to us.
There are "stars" and then there are "superstars."
And Ky Robinson is very clearly a "superstar."
The Stanford ace ran a monster 13:06 (5k) PR at Boston U. in early December, showcasing impeccable fitness and the ability to be a national title contender. However, the Cardinal standout would then have a pair of underwhelming meets. Robinson wasn't running poorly, but it was tough to keep him in our top-five which is why we he was last listed at TSR #9.
Of course, what Robinson did this past weekend ultimately made up for all of that -- and then some. The Aussie distance standout ran an incredible time of 7:36 for 3000 meters this past weekend. It's the second-fastest time in NCAA history when considering all track sizes.
However, what really caught my attention was how calm and poised Robinson looked in a tight race that was historically fast. NAU's Aaron Las Heras passed his west coast opponent on the final lap of the race, but Robinson never looked concerned. He patiently waited to swing off the curve and catapult himself past Aaron Las Heras to secure the overall win.
And it's moments like those that distinguish "stars" from "superstars."
Saturday's performance could be argued as the best race of Robinson's career -- although that would depend on who you ask. Regardless, it's that kind of effort that makes me think that this Aussie ace could add a third NCAA gold medal to his collection come March.
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
It seems safe to say that Yusuf Bizimana likely wanted more when he ran 1:16 for 600 meters this past weekend at the Boston College Eagle Elite Invite. Even so, that performance doesn't really change our opinion of him. He's still the clear and obvious national title favorite over 800 meters and the ongoing absence of Graham Blanks is why he naturally gets a one spot bump in our rankings this week.
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
Abdullahi Hassan (Wisconsin)
Peter Maru (Arkansas)
Darius Kioyego (Iowa State)
Matt Strangio (Portland)
Isaac Basten (Drake)
KICKED OFF
Aidan Troutner (BYU)
Conor Murphy (Virginia)
Drew Bosley (Northern Arizona)
Oussama El Bouchayby (Alabama)
Fouad Messaoudi (Oklahoma State)
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Aidan Troutner (BYU)
Conor Murphy (Virginia)
Drew Bosley (Northern Arizona)
Oussama El Bouchayby (Alabama)
Fouad Messaoudi (Oklahoma State)
Rivaldo Marshall (Iowa)
Finley McLear (Iowa State)
Sean Dolan (Villanova)
Ethan Strand (North Carolina)
Gary Martin (Virginia)
Yaseen Abdalla (Tennessee)
David Mullarkey (Florida State)
Alex Maier (Oklahoma State)
Jackson Sharp (Wisconsin)
Tom Brady (Michigan)
Dennis Kipngetich (Oklahoma State)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Leo Davis (Hampton)
Tarees Rhoden (Clemson)
Luke Griner (Army)
Cole Lindhorst (Texas)
Olivier Desmeules (Penn State)
Christian Jackson (Georgetown)
Tim McInerney (Georgetown)
Nick Foster (Michigan)
Ronan McMahon-Staggs (Washington)
Abel Teffra (Georgetown)
Lucas Bons (BYU)
Wil Smith (Gonzaga)
Bob Liking (Wisconsin)
Marco Langon (Villanova)
Evans Kiplagat (New Mexico)
Said Mechaal (Iowa State)
Notes
- N/A