TSR Collaboration
Jan 2210 min
Updated: Jan 23
Written by Ian Dickenson & Gavin Struve
Additional edits & commentary by Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve
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.
25. Jacob Hatcher, Junior, Lee (Tenn.) (Unranked)
Have a year, Jacob Hatcher!
While a junior by eligibility on the indoor oval (per TFRRS), this Tennessee native has been in the renowned Lee (Tenn.) program since 2019 and appears to be the latest developmental talent for Coach Caleb Morgan.
Hatcher contested his first national meet this past fall, finishing just outside of the top-100 (103rd) as he emerged as a scorer for his 14th place team. However, it's been this winter where he has really come into his own in recent months, running a solid 8:23 (3k) mark and more recently taking down a number of Division One names en route to a 4th place result and a shiny new 4:04 mile PR. That time has him at NCAA #4 in Division Two this season and positions Hatcher to maybe make his first appearance at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
We're looking forward to seeing how Hatcher fares against Division Two fields in his signature event and how close he can get to that 4:00 barrier. And as strong as his recent mile performance was, we shouldn't be absolutely shocked by Hatcher's emergence given his promising fall campaign and preexisting 3:48 (1500) PR from last spring.
24. Jared Gregoire, Sophomore, MSU-Moorhead (-4 / 20)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
23. Maxime Touron, Sophomore, NW Missouri (Unranked)
Maxime Touron was a respectable talent during his time at Lindenwood University, a newly minted Division One program just outside of St. Louis. But a change of scenery, on the other side of the state, has seemingly led to him transforming into an entirely new runner.
At least, that's what the past two months have indicated.
Touron suddenly appears to be one of the best middle distance specialists in all of Division Two. After running an NCAA #3 time of 1:50 (800) in a seven-second win to open December, he recently finished runner-up behind our TSR #1 runner, Wes Ferguson, in a strong midwest mile field, posting an NCAA #5 mark (4:05) in the process.
He's run a few different 800-meter races and a 1k race in the time in between, so we appreciate that this multi-faceted middle distance talent is putting himself through a variety of experiences in terms of distances and competition.
22. Jagger Zlotoff, Rs. Sophomore, UC-Colorado Springs (+1 / 23)
Jagger Zlotoff's stock hasn't necessarily changed in the past month since our last rankings update (as this spot suggests). However, our understanding of him as a runner has.
The UCCS talent waited until January 12th to open his season and he did so over 800 meters for what was seemingly a rust-buster, faring well enough en route to a 1:55 result. However, it was his 8:09 (3k) conversion, which sits at NCAA #7, that caught our attention this past weekend.
With an impressive result like that, Zlotoff now has us questioning if the mile/1500 meters is really his best event.
After a strong 45th place finish at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships and a top-15 result at the RMAC meet this past fall, Zlotoff looks like he may have a little more strength than we previously gave him credit for. Still, this is someone who was an All-American last in the mile as well as it's metric cousin, the 1500 meters.
If anything, we would expect the 3k to complement the 1500/mile as his primary distance rather than overtake it.
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
20. Reece Smith, Senior, NW Missouri (-5 / 15)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
19. Ryan Hartman, Junior, Augustana (SD) (0 / 19)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
18. George Couttie, Freshman, Charleston (WV) (Unranked)
What a week it's been for George Couttie!
On Monday, Couttie turned 19 years old. A day later, The Stride Report revealed that the English distance star is in the transfer portal and seemingly in search of a new (and perhaps larger) program.
Then, on Friday, he ran a D2-leading mark of 4:01 in the mile.
Needless to say, the Division Two landscape should enjoy him while he's here. Couttie seemingly holds some of the highest upside in the nation and the only thing holding him back from a higher ranking is his lack of NCAA experience. He finished 46th at the cross country national meet this past fall after a nearly undefeated regular season.
The rookie distance talent should fit towards the top of our list of Division Two candidates who could break four minutes in the mile this winter, but are we sure that's even his best event?
Keep in mind that Couttie ran 14:11 over 5000 meters last May. With his blend of talent, success and youth, there's few men you'd rather start a team with. Put another way, if The Stride Report were to take inspiration from ESPN's NBA writers for a Division Two "20 under 20" list, Couttie may headline it.
17. Soheil Boufrizi, Junior, Wingate (+1 / 18)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
16. Angel Luera, Senior, Dallas Baptist (-5 / 11)
After opening his season with a solid 4:08 mile effort last month (which still sits at NCAA #13), Angel Luera has already contested his primary event twice on the indoor oval.
The Dallas Baptist veteran ran a time of 1:52.10 (800) before our last update and a 1:51.70 (800) mark this past Friday, finishing as the top attached collegiate in both settings.
While neither result was jaw-dropping -- although the latter sits at NCAA #8 -- those results speak to a level of consistency and reliability that we hadn't really seen from Luera before he took over five seconds off of his half-mile personal best with a 1:48 PR last spring.
That consistency should be a welcomed development for this spring-time breakout star.
15. Jan Lukas Becker, Senior, Mississippi College (-6 / 9)
Jan Lukas Becker didn't have the flashiest start to his indoor track season, debuting in mid-January and running a solid 8:18 mark over 3000 meters in a comfortable victory. However, if we know anything about this NCAA elder statesman, it's that he knows how to peak for the postseason.
At any rate, we know that Becker is fit and for the most part, he's done nothing to hurt his standing. This drop in our rankings is more a result of what those around him have recently achieved. We also know that he's better as the racing distances grow longer, so the 5k (where he's run as fast as 13:47) will be his true proving ground.
14. Awet Beraki, Senior, Adams State (-6 / 8)
Awet Beraki is in a similar boat as his above-listed fellow NCAA veteran, Jan Lukas Becker.
The Adams State veteran also waited until the middle of January, albeit a week later, to begin his indoor track campaign and ran a solid-but-unspectacular 3k mark en route to a win. In Beraki's case, he received a 12-second conversion for an NCAA #11 time of 8:11.
Like Becker, we know that Beraki can run considerably faster and he may have to do so in order to contest that event at the NCAA Indoor Championships. But also like his German counterpart, Beraki has experienced more success in the 5k than the distance he just raced.
13. Caleb Futter, Junior, Grand Valley State (+3 / 16)
How many men in the NCAA, regardless of division, can run both 1:50 (800) and 14:01 (5k) less than a year apart? We don't have an exact answer to that question, but you should add Caleb Futter to that short list.
Oh, and he won both races.
In a narrower timeline, Futter produced that aforementioned 1:50 half-mile mark (which sits at NCAA #4) on January 20th. He also ran 8:00 (3k) six weeks earlier, a time that sits at NCAA #6. Both efforts were personal bests which also tamped down any lingering concerns that we may have had after a November in which Futter continued a string of NCAA Championship performances that haven't quite matched his true potential or past success.
Either way, Futter has done everything that you could have asked of him this season and appears primed for a fast mile in the not-so-distant future.
12. Simon Kelati, Junior, Western Colorado (0 / 12)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
11. Dillan Haviland, Senior, Northwood (+6 / 17)
Dillan Haviland has put together a very strong start to his senior indoor track campaign.
Beginning with his 14:20 (5k) PR, this Northwood veteran displayed some fantastic endurance. He followed that up with a frightening run (for his competitors) in the mile over the weekend.
At the GVSU Mike Lints Alumni Open, Haviland destroyed the field by nearly 15 seconds en route to an NCAA #2 time of 4:01 which is, of course, another personal best for the Northwood man.
Haviland has shown himself to have outstanding range -- and that only became more clear after coming back down in distance to the mile and performing as well as he did. This dynamic distance ace has showcased his talent in every distance event that he's contested thus far (from the 800 meters up to the 5k), so he could really have his pick of which event(s) he chooses to compete in come March.
10. Tanner Chada, Rs. Senior, Grand Valley State (-4 / 6)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
9. William Amponsah, Junior, West Texas A&M (+5 / 14)
Another man rising through our rankings, William Amponsah cracks our TSR top-10 for the first time on the track, though that may be unsurprising following his NCAA title-winning campaign during the fall.
The West Texas A&M star has had a simply prolific run since his win on the first of September on the grass. The D2 cross country national champion has gone on to win every single race since that first one. Even if he didn’t set the track on fire with record-breaking times like some of his rivals further down this last, there’s nothing better than winning -- and we know that Amponsah knows how to do just that.
A key point in our recent analysis of Amponsah has been that he needs to develop some turnover to have a chance at repeating his national meet success on the track. And since then, he’s dropped down to the mile and delivered yet another decisive victory with an NCAA #11 mark of 4:06 which came via conversion.
While it’s unlikely he’ll pursue that event further, his effort to round out his skillset is commendable and it complements his earlier NCAA #5 (5k) result as well.
The West Texas A&M ace still has some proving to do given that this is his first NCAA indoor track season, but he’s yet to fall short of any of the massive expectations that he’s built for himself thus far.
8. David Cardenas, Senior, Adams State (+13 / 21)
David Cardenas makes the biggest jump in this edition of our rankings and for good reason. The Adams State veteran opened up his season with one of the best races of his collegiate career, clocking an outstanding NCAA #1 time of 1:48.99 for 800 meters.
After adjusting for altitude, Cardenas boasts a 1:48.39 mark, a time which would currently put him at NCAA #4 on the D1 national leaderboard for the half-mile distance.
Some athletes struggle to replicate their outdoor track success on the indoor oval, but Cardenas has arguably done his best work during the winter months. He is a bonafide middle distance talent and we'd love to see him now have a go at his mile PR (4:03) and the four-minute barrier.
Perhaps this stunning half-mile performance is an indication of an increased focus on the speed side of things, but either way, Cardenas has more than established himself on the national scene.
7. Tyler Nord, Sophomore, Western Colorado (+3 / 10)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
6. Matthew Storer, Rs. Sophomore, Colorado Christian (+7 / 13)
If you read last week’s Division Two installation of TSR’s The Group Chat, then you would have seen this big jump in our rankings coming for Matthew Storer.
In the first edition of our rankings this season, we knew that a TSR #13 spot might be selling this Colorado Christian star short -- and his performance over 3000 meters at Colorado showed exactly that.
After Storer’s NCAA #3 mark (a 7:58 conversion) for the win over a competitive field with Division One talent, there is no doubt that he will be the favorite against almost any D2 competition if he continues to sustain this form.
Storer’s best time in the 3k last year was a converted 8:09 mark and it was not that distance, but rather the 5000 meters, where he really shined. With that in mind, it might just be that we are yet to see the best that this young distance star has to show this season, even after his hot start.
5. Juan Diego Castro, Senior, Azusa Pacific (0 / 5)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
4. Loïc Scomparin, Junior, Colorado Mines (0 / 4)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
3. Romain Legendre, Junior, Adams State (0 / 3)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
2. Hamza Chahid, Sophomore, Wingate (0 / 2)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
1. Wes Ferguson, Rs. Senior, Nebraska-Kearney (0 / 1)
Another runner (Cardenas) took the NCAA #1 spot over 800 meters and we didn't learn anything new about Wes Ferguson, at least not recently. Even so, he still showed us everything that we needed to see in order for him to maintain his TSR #1 spot.
The Nebraska native put together an impressive double over the weekend, taking home two victories with a solid 1:50 half-mile mark and a PR of 4:03 in the mile. He also beat a nationally competitive name, Maxime Touron, in the latter event.
It's scary to think this fifth-year talent may still be improving...
Ferguson has been consistently superb for a few years now and it looks like it will take a massive upset to take him down come March. As the only clear-cut favorite in any distance event, he is the man to beat in Division Two.
George Couttie (Charleston (WV))
Maxime Touron (NW Missouri)
Jacob Hatcher (Lee (Tenn.))
KICKED OFF
Ryan Riddle (Augustana (SD))
Titus Lagat (Lee (Tenn.))
Dylan Burrows (Oklahoma Christian)
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Titus Lagat (Lee (Tenn.))
Dylan Burrows (Oklahoma Christian)
Cole Nash (Alaska Anchorage)
Gidieon Kimutai (Missouri Southern)
Dayton Brown (Adams State)
Duncan Fuehne (Colorado Mines)
Harry Ross-Hughes (Lake Erie)
Johan Correa (Central Washington)
Drew Dailey (Shippensburg)
Cole Benoit (Mississippi College)
Ben Sumner (Azusa Pacific)
Ryan Karker (Roberts Wesleyan)
Aziz Mohamed (West Texas A&M)
Nate Mueller (NW Missouri)
Louis Moreau (West Texas A&M)
Kevin McDermott (Western Washington)
Enrico Oddone (West Texas A&M)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Logan Bocovich (Colorado Mines)
Paul Knight (Colorado Mines)
Koby Fraaza (Grand Valley State)
Noah Fisher (Findlay)
Harry Louradour (West Texas A&M)
Ricardo Barbosa (Wingate)
Yonas Haile (Adams State)
Trent Cochran (Colorado Christian)
Hunter Hutton (Western Oregon)
Jakob Rettschlag (Wingate)
JP Rutledge (Colorado Mines)
Drew Weber (Western Washington)
Scott Nutter (Wingate)
Titouan Le Grix (Wingate)
Kaleb Tipton (CSU-Pueblo)
Kendall Branan (Indiana (PA))
Kewani Campbell (Lincoln (MO))
Hudson Majeski (Colorado Christian)
Prince Mcabelo (West Texas A&M)
Daylen Madison (Ashland)
Matisse Virey (CSU-Pueblo)
Jon Sweepe (CSU-Pueblo)
Talel Khalfi (Tiffin)
Leo Freeland (Wingate)
Sam Wilhelm (Alabama-Huntsville)
Grant Bradley (Fort Hays State)
Mason Strader (Pittsburg State)
Notes
- Ryan Riddle (previously TSR #7) is no longer listed on Missouri Southern's 2023-24 track and field roster on their team site. As such, The Stride Report has removed him from this update of our rankings.