TSR Collaboration
Feb 711 min
Written by Conor Daly, Kevin Fischer & 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.
20. Michael Madoch, Senior, UW-La Crosse (Unranked)
Michael Madoch put himself in contention for a spot in our rankings with a strong 3k effort ahead of our last update. However, when he returned to his signature event (the mile), he cemented his candidacy.
This Eagles ace can sometimes be overshadowed by his more distance-oriented teammates. But as someone who has reached three finals at national meets across the 1500 meters and the mile, he deserves recognition all his own.
That's especially true after he posted a converted 4:05 mile win over several teammates at his home meet -- which was still a PR at its unconverted time of 4:08. With a small handful of highly encouraging results popping up on his resume, it seems as though Madoch is headed towards another NCAA final and could finish near the front of that field next month.
19. Frank Csorba, Junior, Lynchburg (-10 / 9)
Ever since his stellar 3k effort in late November (yes, you read that right), we haven't seen a whole lot from Frank Csorba. He's twice raced the mile in the interim, placing 4th both times, and most recently producing a shrug-inducing 4:14 mark.
He also produced a "DNF" mark for the 3k in mid-January (possibly for pacing?).
We know that the mile isn't the event Csorba will opt for on the national stage, but it's hard to keep someone so talented and proven as him in our rankings when he hasn't produced a result of note in a couple of months. He does, however, remain within our top-20 for now on the strength of his national meet success throughout 2023.
18. Will Kelly, Junior, St. Olaf (Unranked)
Welcome to the party, Will Kelly!
The junior distance standout became St. Olaf's signature star when former teammate, Logan Bocovich, transferred up to the Division Two ranks ahead of last fall. And since then, he has largely succeeded in filling that role. However, no result signaled that established rise more than his converted 14:11 (5k) win over a few competitive names in late January which vaulted him up to NCAA #4 this winter.
Kelly already held a competitive 3k time and was coming off a strong fall. But after he regressed just a bit from the 2022 cross country national meet to 2023, it's reassuring to see a top talent like him still appear to be in top form and perhaps improving.
17. Spencer Moon, Senior, Simpson (IA) (+3 / 20)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
16. Colin Kirkpatrick, Junior, Pomona-Pitzer (+3 / 19)
Has not competed since our last rankings update
15. Derek Fearon, Junior, Pomona-Pitzer (+2 / 17)
Has not competed since our last rankings update
14. Nate Lentz, Senior, Williams (0 / 14)
Nate Lentz hasn’t had any breakthroughs since our last rankings update, but he also hasn’t given us any reason to move him down, either.
His 4:10 (mile) and 1:56 (800) double at the New England Small Colleges Invite was quietly very solid. In fact, both of the mile races that Lentz has contested this winter have been comfortable wins for him, so it isn’t entirely fair to judge his marks against others around the country given that he hasn't truly been pushed. And in our eyes, it's plenty reasonable to expect him to drop that time by a few seconds and qualify for the postseason.
In any case, his early-season 8:09 (3k) mark is probably safe in terms of national meet qualification unless we get a flood of major results across the country these next few weeks.
13. Adam Loenser, Junior, UW-La Crosse (Unranked)
Adam Loenser climbs into our indoor track rankings on the back of a converted 4:06 mile effort that saw him finish 0.60 seconds behind his aforementioned teammate, Michael Madoch.
A great mile mark like that is exactly what he needed to back up his elite 3000-meter result from a few weeks ago, and it makes him much more well-rounded in our eyes. That balance -- holding a strong mile time along with a converted 8:05 (3k) effort -- is why Loenser occupies a higher perch in our rankings than Madoch.
This All-American steeplechaser has only competed in a flat event at the national meet on the track once, finishing 19th over 3000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships last winter. That's why it seems fair to say that this winter has been a huge breakthrough for him. He has as much momentum as almost anybody in Division Three right now and his emergence has been fun to watch.
Grant Matthai was not listed in our last rankings update despite producing a sensational converted 8:05 mark for 3000 meters. But now, he has backed up that performance with a really nice mile effort in which he finished close behind Madoch and Loenser after beating them both in that aforementioned 3k effort.
With a bit more data to support a (heavy) boost into our top-20 rankings, this UW-La Crosse freshman has a lot of things going right for him.
Admittedly, we felt a little bit of déjà vu in that mile race, largely because -- just like in the 3k a few weeks ago -- UW-La Crosse worked together to help multiple men run strong nationally competitive times despite the lack of competition from other teams. Matthai was right in the thick of things in both instances and he deserves some serious credit for that.
11. Cael Schoemann, Sophomore, UW-La Crosse (Unranked)
The 5th place finisher over 800 meters at last year’s outdoor national meet as a true freshman, Cael Schoemann has quickly rediscovered his elite form. And given that he still has some youth-based upside (given that he's only in his second year), this may be the "worst" that we rank this Eagle sophomore this season.
Schoemann's half-mile season debut resulted in a win and a highly promising converted 1:50 mark. That may be just shy of his 800-meter personal best of 1:49, but Schoemann has delivered more effectively at this point in the season than some fellow contenders in the same distance -- and as a result, he sits at NCAA #2 this winter.
A performance like that in late January puts the UW-La Crosse standout in a great spot to do some impressive things the rest of the season. If he continues to rise from here, then it may not be totally crazy to suggest that he's a fringe national title contender.
10. Sam Acquaviva, Senior, MIT (+3 / 13)
Putting up a 4:07 mile PR is a really promising sign going forward for Sam Acquaviva. The mile traditionally hasn’t been his main event, especially since he's an aerobic-centric star, but it was nice to see this kind of speed from him.
Acquaviva hasn’t contested the 5000 meters yet this winter (a slight surprise) and his 3k mark from mid-January looks unlikely to advance him to the NCAA Indoor Championships. However, that mile effort is an indicator that we can expect some very legit marks from Acquaviva in those longer events over the next few weeks.
He still doesn’t quite have the spark that we saw from him last winter when he ran 8:00 (3k) and 13:57 (5k), but he has taken a big step in the right direction and could be knocking on the door of a monster result soon.
9. Isaac vanWestrienen, Sophomore, Cornell College (+9 / 18)
In our previous rankings update, Isaac vanWestrienen vaulted into our top-20 out of nowhere with a converted 14:00 (5k) mark. But despite how impressed we were, we took a little bit of caution with his initial ranking given that he hadn’t put forth any other efforts remotely close to that mark before.
But things are different now that vanWestrienen has backed up that performance with really solid marks in the mile and over 3000 meters. After running away with the mile win at the Spartan Shootout in a converted time of 4:08, vanWestrienen gave Christopher Collet a scare at the Wartburg Indoor Select meet over 3000 meters, running a converted time of 8:10 to finish runner-up.
After bursting onto the scene so suddenly, vanWestrienen has made it clear that he is here to stay and is hardly a one-trick pony.
8. Gunner Schlender, Junior, UW-Whitewater (+2 / 10)
Gunner Schlender is one of few men to still hold an undefeated record this season, narrowly taking home wins over superstar teammate, Christian Patzka, both of the times that he has toed the line.
Admittedly, those victories could be taken with a grain of salt. Patzka may not be going into his final gear or running with as much competitive fire knowing that there isn’t any real competition from other schools. But we still should give credit where it’s due: Running a converted 8:07 mark for an NCAA #9 spot over 3000 meters is no joke regardless of any other factors.
When you consider Schlender's wealth of national meet experience which has resulted in two All-American honors on the track along with three on the cross country course, it’s hard not to be confident in his ability going forward.
7. Cory Kennedy, Senior, RPI (+5 / 12)
Few men have been as busy as Cory Kennedy since our last rankings update. Most notably, he went to Boston University to destroy the 5k distance. There, he posted an excellent 14:00 mark which is the fastest time over that distance by a Division Three man this winter.
While his 5th place finish at the 2023 cross country national meet told us that he could be capable of that kind of result, an almost nine-second personal best in his first race of the season is an entirely new level for Kennedy to reach.
With that in mind, doesn't a TSR #7 ranking seem a bit harsh for a national leader?
Not necessarily, especially when you consider that many of the 5k specialists ranked ahead of Kennedy have not yet contested the event this winter. However, we should note that the following week, Kennedy took a mile win in a personal best 4:12 (converted). That’s some really good range for someone who is more of a 5k/10k specialist and it suggests that he is gaining valuable foot-speed for the closing stages of a 5k.
6. Noah Jorgenson, Junior, Central College (+2 / 8)
This middle distance man stepped up to the 3k the last time he took to the indoor oval. Against several top Wartburg competitors (among others), Noah Jorgenson fell to 10th place in an exclusively Division Three field for a converted 8:27 performance.
Frankly, between his stunning mile effort in December and his 24th place finish at the cross country national meet (plus a 1:51 mark for 800 meters in December), we would have expected a little bit more from him.
That being said, we suspect that this Central College ace is focusing his efforts more towards the middle distances, so we’re not going to overreact to a race outside of his specialty. If you consider that this is a nine-second personal best, maybe you could go as far as to say that the result met expectations.
At the end of the day, Jorgenson moves up in the rankings more so because of a dearth of spectacular performances around him than anything he achieved recently. But that's not to say that he won't back up this placement over the next few weeks.
5. Christopher Collet, Senior, Wartburg (-1 / 4)
Christopher Collet continues to prove that he’s one of the most versatile runners in Division Three. In our previous rankings updates, we’ve discussed his strong 5k and mile efforts. Naturally, it made sense that he would contest a 3k soon enough.
At his home meet, Christopher Collet snagged a convincing win over that distance. Not only does his winning time of 8:07 (converted) put him only a few seconds off of the national lead, but it also was over some of the best competition Division Three has to offer. Collet took down the 7th place finisher at this year’s cross country national meet, a newly minted 14:00 (converted) 5k runner and a 4:02 (converted) miler.
That win was a testament to Collet’s abundance of experience at the top of the Division Three scene that he can draw from in tough racing situations. Such experience will pay dividends come time for the indoor national meet when Collet will likely double (if not triple) if history is any indication.
4. Christian Patzka, Junior, UW-Whitewater (-1 / 3)
A few weeks ago, Christian Patzka decided it was time to have a first go at a 3k and ran a very respectable converted 8:07 mark. While we love that he got his national qualifying mark out of the way, we're less enthused that he didn't come away with the outright win as he lost to Schlender for the second week in a row.
And while this may sound like really bad news at first, it’s hard to put much stock in that result.
Yes, it’s true that Patzka ran four seconds faster at the same meet last year. But when you consider that both of his losses this season came by under a quarter of a second to his teammate (Gunner Schlender), it’s very possible that the Warhawks' star duo is simply running together at a prescribed pace.
It’s also important to clarify that Schlender (TSR #8) is a really good athlete in his own right.
Would our perception of Patzka be different if he ran 0.3 seconds faster and won both races? Maybe a little bit. Even so, this Wisconsin man is a nine-time All-American and two-time national champion, so we’re not going to be too harsh on him for a pair of January losses by the slimmest of margins.
That being said, we expect to see him race against many of our top-20 individuals in the coming weeks, so we should see some more encouraging results. If not, he could be in for a sizable drop in our rankings.
3. Sam Llaneza, Junior, Lynchburg (+2 / 5)
Although Sam Llaneza had not yet previously contested an 800-meter race this season, his first effort over that distance was no rust-buster.
In fact, it was the real deal.
The Lynchburg ace took home a convincing win in a mark of 1:50.48 (800), clearing the field by almost two seconds for what is the NCAA #1 mark this season. Needless to say, that’s an indicator that he’s in great shape for the first weekend of February.
Traditionally a miler, this mid-season level of fitness puts Llaneza in contention for a national title in the half-mile. He has, after all, dipped under 1:50 on three different occasions for the 800-meter distance. That’s really impressive consistency at this level.
With that being said, when Llaneza finds himself in what's historically been his main event, we could see something wildly impressive…
2. Bennett Booth-Genthe, Junior, Pomona-Pitzer (0 / 2)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
1. Ethan Gregg, Senior, UW-La Crosse (0 / 1)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
Grant Matthai (UW-La Crosse)
Cael Schoemann (UW-La Crosse)
Adam Loenser (UW-La Crosse)
Will Kelly (St. Olaf)
Michael Madoch (UW-La Crosse)
KICKED OFF
Tor Hotung-Davidsen (Lynchburg)
Max Svienty (North Central)
Braden Nicholson (North Central)
Simon Heys (Wilmington (OH))
Haiden Diemer-McKinney (Wabash)
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Tor Hotung-Davidsen (Lynchburg)
Max Svienty (North Central)
Braden Nicholson (North Central)
Simon Heys (Wilmington (OH))
Chasen Hunt (Lynchburg)
Ryan Harvey (Loras)
Lucas Florsheim (Pomona-Pitzer)
Connor Riss (North Central)
Vince Simonetti (RPI)
John Lucey (Williams)
Adam Sylvia (Central College)
Jake Shumaker (Millikin)
Dwight Hosni (UW-Oshkosh)
Enrique Salazar (Manchester)
Aidan Matthai (UW-La Crosse)
Parker Heintz (UW-La Crosse)
Emmanuel Leblond (Johns Hopkins)
Lowell Hensgen (MIT)
Kyle Miller (Buena Vista)
Sam Verkerke (UW-Eau Claire)
Elijah Meder (Hope)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Isaac Wegner (UW-La Crosse)
Henry Hardart (MIT)
TJ Carleo (Brandeis)
Nikhil DeNatale (Williams)
Andrew McGovern (Carnegie Mellon)
Andrew Hutchinson (Dubuque)
Andrew Guimond (North Central)
Jiwoo Kang (Williams)
Colin McLaughlin (Carnegie Mellon)
Ivan Appleton (Tufts)
Will Neubauer (Wabash)
Nicholas Lyndaker (St. Lawrence)
Calvin Boone (St. Scholastica)
Michael Olson (Plymouth State)
Chase Upmann (Carthage)
Justin Krause (UW-Whitewater)
Gavin McElhennon (Johns Hopkins)
Joe Franke (Loras)
Reza Eshghi (Haverford)
Ziyad Hassan (MIT)
Dawit Dean (Emory)
Ned Farrington (Bates)
Will Salony (Trinity (Tex.))
Sam Schmitz (Wartburg)
Lance Sobaski (Wartburg)
Jack Begley (U. of Chicago)
Notes
- N/A