TSR Collaboration
Mar 1416 min
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.
EDITOR's NOTE: Please keep in mind that these rankings are a reflection of an athlete's overall season, not just how they performed at the national meet. Numerous factors such as personal bests, range, consistency, proven tactics, competition, postseason peaking and more are all considered when crafting these rankings.
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 previous update.
25. Daylen Madison, Sophomore, Ashland (Unranked)
After an exceptional first foray into national meet competition, underclassman Daylen Madison has set himself up well to be a fixture toward the top of the half-mile picture and in these rankings for the next couple of years.
Madison chased Harry Ross-Hughes to an 800-meter PR and runner-up finish at his conference meet last month and then parlayed that momentum into a strong indoor national meet showing this past weekend.
He placed 2nd in the fastest 800-meter preliminary heat, again behind Ross-Hughes, before running 1:49 for the second time in his career en route to a 6th place finish in the half-mile final. Is that result closer to the floor or the ceiling for Madison moving forth? We'll be eager to learn more in the coming outdoor track season.
24. Josphat Meli, Freshman, Harding (Unranked)
Josphat Meli is the only individual in these rankings who didn't procure an All-American finish at the indoor national meet. However, we expect that he will probably change that in the seasons to come.
Instead, the rookie narrowly secured top-10 finishes in both the 5k and the 3k.
The Kenyan distance runner was also the only freshman by eligibility in either of those fields. While the 26-year-old got a later start to his NCAA career, he has wasted no time in making his mark upon arriving.
23. Mason Strader, Rs. Junior, Pittsburg State (Unranked)
Mason Strader finished almost exactly where we expected him to at the indoor national meet. Which is to say, he advanced to the mile finals and secured a backend (7th place) All-American result. The veteran left little to question in the prelims where he posted the second-fastest time behind NCAA title favorite, Miguel Coca.
What's more, Strader anchored Pittsburg State to a 5th place finish in the DMR and helped the Gorillas secure the national team title on their home track!
One of the more experienced and accomplished milers clearly held a steadiness that is hard to come by on a stage as challenging as the national meet. Now, we'll have to wait and see if Strader can replicate his 3:58 mile PR from a few seasons back on the outdoor oval.
22. Scott Spaanstra, Junior, Grand Valley State (Unranked)
Another experienced middle distance ace who delivered on expectations for a contending team, Scott Spaanstra's efforts weren't quite enough to power the Lakers to the team title as they finished runner-up.
Spaanstra's time at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships got off to a relatively inauspicious start when he was the final wild card qualifier for the 800-meter finals. Racing the same half-mile distance on GVSU's DMR team later Friday, he helped power the Lakers to a 4th place finish.
And on Saturday, he produced an individual All-American performance -- his first in nearly three years -- with a 7th place result in the 800 meters. Spaanstra has been one of the more underrated middle distance runners in the nation for the last few seasons. To see him return to the top-eight on the national stage (twice including his relay) seems fitting given how strong he was this winter.
21. Dominic Suliman, Sophomore, Saginaw Valley (Unranked)
While contesting one of the most difficult distance doubles at the indoor national meet, Dominic Suliman was met with mixed results.
Even so, we can hardly fault his willingness to attempt the daunting undertaking. That's because on Friday, Suliman qualified for the mile finals before finishing second-to-last in the 800-meter prelims.
The way he finished his weekend, however, was better than how he started.
The sophomore used his middle distance speed in a slow-developing tactical mile final to earn a 6th place finish. In contrast to the day before, he hardly ran like a guy who was competing at his first national meet on the track. That Saturday success leads us to wonder if Suliman could have placed even higher in the mile had he gone all-in for that event.
20. Josh Pierantoni, Senior, Colorado Christian (+1 / 21)
Despite not running any PRs this season and not racing in the fall (or for almost an entire month ahead of the indoor national meet), Josh Pierantoni put forth a welcomed performance at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships.
It wasn't an ebullient proclamation, but Pierantoni announced his return to the national stage with an 8th place All-American run over 5000 meters and a solid 14th place finish in the 3k. It doesn't quite match his pair of top-five results from the 2023 outdoor national meet, but this is undoubtedly Pierantoni's best indoor national meet performance of his NCAA career.
19. Duncan Fuehne, Junior, Colorado Mines (-1 / 18)
Duncan Fuehne put forth a showing at the indoor national meet that was eerily similar to his above-listed RMAC compatriot. The Oredigger waited until mid-February to put himself in the national qualifying picture, but when he did -- with a 13:45 (5k) mark -- he became an All-American favorite.
Fuehne lived up to that billing this past weekend, earning those laurels for the first time on the indoor oval. After placing 9th for 5000 meters at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships, Fuehne finished 7th in the same event in 2024.
A more honest pace seemed to play to his strengths. He faltered a day later in the 3k, finishing last, but it's hard to fault someone who not only qualified for, but competed in, two different distance events at a national meet.
18. Titouan Le Grix, Junior, Wingate (Unranked)
One of the more pleasant surprises at the national meet this winter, Titouan Le Grix seemingly flourished in a slower, strategic mile final. The Bulldog blazed to a 5th place finish on Saturday after advancing through the prelims as a wild card qualifier or "little q."
Paired with a top-30 result at the 2023 cross country national meet that helped boost Wingate to a surprise national team title, Le Grix is on a heater that few of his peers can match. If he keeps progressing at this rate, then he'll be within the top-15 of our outdoor track rankings a couple of months from now.
17. Maxime Touron, Sophomore, NW Missouri (+7 / 24)
Following a successful 800-meter and DMR double at the MIAA Indoor Championships in late February, Maxime Touron plied his trade in the same events at the indoor national meet. A gold (half-mile) and silver (DMR) medal at the conference level seemed to augur success at the national level.
Sure enough, Touron finished 5th place in both the half-mile prelims and final to end his season, speaking to a level of consistency that we had already come to expect from someone who ran 1:50 (800 meters) on four separate occasions this winter. However, he eschewed replicating that time again in favor of dropping a new 1:49 PR in the half-mile finals on Saturday.
And after running the same distance on the Bearcats' DMR team, he helped them to a 3rd place finish. It feels as if Touron had one of the best weekends of anyone relative to expectations in Pittsburg, Kansas.
16. Tyler Nord, Sophomore, Western Colorado (-6 / 10)
Truthfully, we expected a bit more from Tyler Nord's finish to his 2023-24 indoor track campaign. However, chalking this season up to a "sophomore slump" would be inaccurate and it would be discounting what he's achieved.
After winning the RMAC 3k title and earning bronze at the indoor national meet a year ago, Nord earned bronze over that distance at the RMAC meet and slid to 7th place on the national stage.
Nord just didn't seem to have the top-end firepower he needed to finish toward his star teammate (more on him soon) and the top men in the 3k final. One month after an impressive (but slightly below expectations) 8:04 (3k) mark at the loaded Husky Classic in February, Nord ran the same time at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
That being said, we'll hardly be surprised if he bounces back with aplomb during the spring months. He is, after all, a much better 1500-meter runner than some people may remember.
15. Soheil Boufrizi, Junior, Wingate (+4 / 19)
Much of what we said about Titouan Le Grix could be restated for his teammate here.
Soheil Boufrizi produced a massive breakout result at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships (finishing 10th) and rode that momentum to a strong PR-filled indoor track campaign.
With his pick of distance events to contest at the indoor national meet, Boufrizi (and his coaches) opted to double between the DMR and the 3k. While the Bulldogs' DQ in the DMR was less than ideal, Boufrizi bounced back and then some for a 5th place finish over 3000 meters a day later by moving up in the second-half of the race. He also finished a tenth of a second from his 8:00 (3k) PR in doing so.
In the grand scheme of things, this past weekend only reiterated what we already knew about Boufrizi: He has more momentum than almost anyone else in Division Two and doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
14. Prince Mcabelo, Junior, West Texas A&M (Unranked)
Few men saw their stock rise quite like Prince Mcabelo did over the past week.
The West Texas A&M was one of the last qualifiers for the half-mile final, but upon advancing, he put together a top-half All-American result and a new 1:49.12 (800) PR! Pairing that result with a runner-up finish in the DMR, during which Mcabelo ran the same half-mile distance for the Buffaloes, only adds to this newly minted star's unexpected rise.
We'll admit, we're still learning more about Prince Mcabelo who wasn't on our radar as much as you would expect a 4th place national meet finisher to be. Of course, upon looking back at an indoor track season where he showed great consistency, that was a mistake on our part.
13. James Dunne, Junior, Adams State (+2 / 15)
James Dunne's finish at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships was well in line with expectations. That's a positive development for someone who just nabbed his first All-American finish despite this being his fifth time racing on the national stage, winter or spring.
Alongside megastar teammate Miguel Coca, Dunne produced a massive altitude-converted 3:56 (mile) mark towards the end of January before backing that mark up with a true 3:57 mile effort at Boston U.
After flexing some strength with an 8:03 (3k) performance at the University of Washington, Dunne harnessed his fitness into a strong showing on the national stage, moving up from 7th place to 4th place over the final lap of the mile final.
12. Matthew Storer, Rs. Sophomore, Colorado Christian (-4 / 8)
Matthew Storer's indoor national meet performance didn't necessitate a four-spot drop in our rankings so much as the triumphs of the men around him caused it.
After placing 3rd, 2nd and 4th in the past three national meet races that he participated in, finishing 5th (5k) and 8th (3k) this season might seem like a step down. Of course, Storer is more suited for cross country and the longer distances.
Not to mention, the 5k field that he just placed 5th in was among the best-ever assembled in Division Two, at least from a depth perspective. In fact, Storer actually doubled his All-American finishes from last year's indoor track campaign! So if that’s any indication for the future, then we can expect him to be an excellent 10k/5k man on the outdoor oval.
11. Jagger Zlotoff, Rs. Sophomore, UC-Colorado Springs (+12 / 23)
With the number of all-time marks being thrown down this season, it was easy to get lost in the times and leaderboards. However, once again, we found that the best predictor for championship performance is...well, championship performance.
Jagger Zlotoff’s racing instincts were on full display this past weekend in an exceedingly tactical mile final, beating several men who have run faster than him this season en route to a bronze medal.
The Mountain Lion sophomore is one of Division Two’s best young middle distance talents. He has already garnered a surprising amount of national meet experience and his understanding of how to handle an ultra-tactical race is rare for someone who is only a sophomore by eligibility.
As far as "complete milers" go, Zlotoff is one of the best.
10. William Amponsah, Junior, West Texas A&M (-3 / 7)
For the first time in his (short) collegiate career, William Amponsah has lost to a Division Two runner. It would have been an incredible feat to keep his winning streak going through this national meet, but with the way he dominated on the grass, we couldn't rule it out.
The fact that Amponsah dropped slightly in our rankings after recording top-six finishes in two different individual events at the NCAA Indoor Championships speaks to his meteoric rise earlier this academic year. He may have benefited from being a newcomer in cross country and slipping somewhat under the radar, even when he got to the NCAA XC Championships, but that was certainly not the case this winter.
The 5k and the 3k were run in a way that suited the runners with the best turnover, and perhaps Amponsah is not one of those runners. Come the outdoor track season, where the West Texas A&M stud will no doubt be a contender for another national title, he will have to either develop the speed needed to kick with the speed-based men or learn from this national meet effort and bring it to the field from further out.
9. Harry Ross-Hughes, Sophomore, Lake Erie (+3 / 12)
The 800 meters can be a race that suits older athletes who have enough time to develop the top-end speed necessary to compete on the national stage.
However, Harry Ross-Hughes has defied that trend. We were thoroughly impressed with the way this young middle distance talent competed last weekend when he placed 3rd at the national meet.
Perhaps it’s his background as an 800-meter runner coming up from the sprints, with experience in the 400-meter hurdles, but Ross-Hughes has had no trouble staying at the front of races with some incredible athletes. He has consistently moved up our rankings this season and is looking more and more like a national title threat (or favorite) in a D2 half-mile picture that will soon be without Wes Ferguson and David Cardenas.
8. Loïc Scomparin, Junior, Colorado Mines (-4 / 4)
In an era where records get broken every year and times that used to be considered otherworldly have become mundane, Loïc Scomparin has been one of the leaders in pushing Division Two distance running forward.
You can find him around the top of the all-time leaderboard in multiple events, and he has earned himself countless All-American honors. However, we can’t help but feel a little bit jaded after he missed out on gold (and silver) in two events last weekend.
Despite a recent (altitude converted) 3:57 mile mark, Scomparin seemingly lacks the top-end turnover needed to respond to winning moves at the end of tactical races. That's the biggest skill that he needs to develop if he wants to become a national champion.
There’s no arguing that the Oredigger junior is one of the four or five most talented distance runners in Division Two. On the indoor track, however, the close quarters, physical nature of competition and shorter distances (with the 3k instead of 10k) have left him further down this list than he would probably hope (and deserve) to be.
7. David Cardenas, Senior, Adams State (-1 / 6)
Being knocked down a spot might seem harsh for David Cardenas after he was the runner-up finisher over 800 meters this past weekend, but the Grizzly veteran enjoyed about as strong of a performance as he could have hoped for, short of Ferguson faltering.
Cardenas also used his outstanding strength to kick into 2nd place on the half-mile leg of Adams State's DMR team and he played a significant role in their national title in that event.
Suffice it to say, Cardenas delivered a fitting close to his most impressive and complete season to date. He was consistent throughout the winter months and just looked flat-out stronger and more poised than he had in prior seasons.
6. Romain Legendre, Junior, Adams State (-3 / 3)
After starting the indoor track season with such a spectacular performance -- his 13:24 (5k) was a D2 national record -- the sky was the limit for Romain Legendre. However, he only competed once between then and the national meet, so we weren’t entirely sure what to expect from him to close the season.
Legendre showed some inconsistency during the cross country season and wasn’t a factor at the national meet in the fall. That's why a runner-up finish in the 5k at the NCAA Indoor Championships this past weekend is difficult to judge.
Every time the Frenchman stepped onto the track, he ran exceptionally. He may have ended this season by going down three spots in our rankings, but claiming a silver medal at this national meet shows us that he can do more than just run absurdly fast times. Legendre is here to stay towards the top of our rankings.
5. Caleb Futter, Junior, Grand Valley State (+4 / 9)
Caleb Futter was one of three D2 athletes this indoor track season to clock an unconverted sub four-minute mile, but it remains an upset that he won the national title in the event.
Miguel Coca was a strong favorite, but Futter unleashed a phenomenal 38.85-second final 300-meter lap to take gold. The Grand Valley State veteran was tactically perfect, running a Matthew Centrowitz-esque race where he led from gun to tape.
At the end of the weekend, Futter faltered to a 15th place finish in the 3k, but after that mile win, as well as anchoring a 4th place DMR team, it can be forgiven. We should also remind you that Futter is someone who has historically been at his best in the steeplechase, an event where he has been in national title contention for three years.
This victory in a shorter event presents an interesting dilemma going forward: Will Futter continue his pursuit of a 3k steeplechase title on the outdoor oval? Or will this national meet showing be the catalyst for him to move down to the middle distances?
4. Simon Kelati, Junior, Western Colorado (+7 / 11)
One of the biggest winners of this indoor national meet was Simon Kelati as his new ranking suggests.
In the ultra-competitive 3k and 5k fields, consisting of 11 runners doubling between the two distances, Kelati had the best combined finishes: 1st (3k) and 3rd (5k). And yes, that includes Hamza Chahid, who won the 5000-meter national title and finished 4th over 3000 meters
Since December, this still-rising distance star has competed rather frequently, but not at any Boston U. meets where a lot of his competitors ran their national qualifying marks and PRs. Instead, Kelati’s best 5k time was a 13:39 mark converted down from a 14:35 effort at high altitude.
In fact, he didn’t even solidify his spot to the national meet over 3000 meters until he won the RMAC title with a converted mark of 8:01.
Clearly, it’s not just fast times that Kelati is interested in, but outright wins as well. While he chose the best event combination for his success on the national stage this winter, we're curious as to how fast the 1500-meter All-American could run a mile in given the closing speed that he's shown in recent seasons.
3. Hamza Chahid, Sophomore, Wingate (+2 / 5)
For someone who has won a national title before and finished as an All-American several times, Hamza Chahid flew a little bit under the radar this winter.
Don’t get us wrong, we knew that he would be a national title threat. However, we expected his greatest success to come in the 3k (which he won last winter) more so than the 5k, especially since he had only run an NCAA #12 mark of 13:56 to reach the national stage.
Even taking into account his NCAA #3 all-time mark in the 3k this indoor track season and a PR of 13:33 (5k) from last spring, Chahid considerably outperformed expectations. He beat some Division Twosuperstars and did so rather comfortably, too. The only runner within four seconds of him over 5000 meters was Romain Legendre, the D2 5k record holder.
After the 5k, Chahid came back and almost took the win in the 3k as well, but he fell to 4th place in the last few strides after a fall just before the line. There is a genuine argument for Chahid to finish this season as our TSR #2 runner and it wouldn't be a shock if he reached even greater heights in the next few months.
2. Miguel Coca, Senior, Adams State (0 / 2)
Coming into the indoor national meet, there was a non-zero chance that Miguel Coca could overtake Wes Ferguson as our TSR #1 runner if he had a strong enough weekend. He didn’t, but even without claiming another individual national title, Coca solidified himself as the second-best distance runner in Division Two, at least as far as overall seasonal resumes are concerned.
Expectations were sky-high for the D2 3k record holder and reigning national champion in the mile, so it might be tempting to label this national meet as a disappointment for Coca...but it’s far from it. The Grizzly star anchored his DMR team to a national title in dominating fashion and then placed a close 2nd in both the mile and the 3k.
It’s hard to argue that anybody had a better indoor national meet overall on the men’s distance side than Coca.
1. Wes Ferguson, Rs. Senior, Nebraska-Kearney (0 / 1)
Another national meet, another national title for Wes Ferguson.
Very few runners at any level achieve the kind of high-end consistency that he has displayed during his time at Nebraska-Kearney. It’s clear that, for as little doubt as we had that this Division Two superstar would perform when it mattered most, he had even less.
Ferguson bided his time before easing his way to victory over the final straight and his fourth half-mile national title (this time in 1:48.13) hardly looked challenging to him. At this point, it’s going to take something of a herculean effort from another Division Two runner to beat Wes Ferguson over 800 meters -- and his final outdoor track season might be a victory lap of sorts.
The final challenge for Ferguson might be to claim a D2 record, one of the only accolades he does not possess (he held the D2 indoor 800-meter record for less than a month last year).
Prince Mcabelo (West Texas A&M)
Titouan Le Grix (Wingate)
Dominic Suliman (Saginaw Valley)
Scott Spaanstra (Grand Valley State)
Mason Strader (Pittsburg State)
Josphat Meli (Harding)
Daylen Madison (Ashland)
KICKED OFF
Jan Lukas Becker (Mississippi College)
Angel Luera (Dallas Baptist)
Dillan Haviland (Northwood)
Kevin McDermott (Western Washington)
George Couttie (Charleston (WV))
Ryan Hartman (Augustana (SD))
Dayton Brown (Adams State)
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Jan Lukas Becker (Mississippi College)
Angel Luera (Dallas Baptist)
Dillan Haviland (Northwood)
Kevin McDermott (Western Washington)
George Couttie (Charleston (WV))
Ryan Hartman (Augustana (SD))
Dayton Brown (Adams State)
Paul Knight (Colorado Mines)
Alberto Campa (Colorado Mines)
Braxton Bruer (MSU-Moorhead)
Yonas Haile (Adams State)
Sam Wilhelm (Alabama-Huntsville)
Aziz Mohamed (West Texas A&M)
Ricardo Barbosa (Wingate)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Jacob Hatcher (Lee (Tenn.))
Koby Fraaza (Grand Valley State)
Harry Louradour (West Texas A&M)
Jonathan Volpe (Southern Connecticut St.)
Louis Moreau (West Texas A&M)
Dawson Gunn (Colorado Mines)
Cas Kopmels (Wingate)
Daniel Appleford (Colorado Mines)
Ramen Felumlee (Cedarville)
Warren Thiel (Charleston (WV))
Cody Fountain (TAMU-Kingsville)
Brock Drengenberg (Colorado Mines)
John O'Malley (Colorado Mines)
Nicolas Melendres (Azusa Pacific)
Drew Dailey (Shippensburg)
Ethan Lang (Fort Hays State)
Zach Van Brocklin (Nebraska-Kearney)
Lewis Cotterill (Tiffin)
Noah Bernarding (California (PA))
Patrick Lyell (Grand Valley State)
Jordan Foster (Findlay)
Enrico Oddone (West Texas A&M)
Tanner Chada (Grand Valley State)
Notes
- N/A