TSR Collaboration
Feb 13, 202314 min
Updated: Feb 26, 2023
Written by Garrett Zatlin & John Cusick
Do you have an interest in writing for The Stride Report? We're looking for D1 women's writers, high school writers and potentially NAIA writers. Want to know more? Read this and send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com to let us know!
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 guide when determining eligibility.
Was not ranked in our last update.
First number indicates how much the athlete has moved in the rankings.
The second number indicates where the athlete was ranked in our last update.
There was some debate, but we're happy to be able to fit Conor Murphy into the last spot of our top-25 rankings.
Murphy has shown plenty of promise as a nationally competitive middle distance talent over the last few seasons. However, this winter is undeniably different. The Virginia ace has reached a level of incredible dynamism, running 1:47 (800) and most recently 3:55 (mile)
And guess what? Both of those times resulted in wins! His 1:47 mark gave him a victory over a strong field at Penn State and Murphy later won his mile heat in Boston this past weekend.
Not only is this guy showcasing high-level range and fast times, but he's also securing huge wins against really solid competition. Tactically, he's far ahead of where he was last year and it's going to be really hard to not pick him as an All-American come March.
Sam Austin works his way into our rankings in our second update thanks to his most recent victory over the half-mile distance at the Tyson Invitational.
For those unfamiliar with Austin, he held a personal best of 1:47.76 (800) going into the weekend. He was an indoor national meet qualifier last winter and placed 3rd at the SEC Indoor Championships over 800 meters.
That personal best, however, is no longer accurate as Austin went into Fayetteville on Saturday and threw down a monster time of 1:46.06 (800) to take home the victory over Jason Gomez and Cebastian Gentil.
In fact, that time was so good that it is currently sitting at NCAA #2 on the national leaderboard and it’s the fastest raw time that has been posted this season across Division One.
That performance is also more than a second and a half better than Austin's previous best of 1:47.76 which we mentioned earlier. Sure, this result doesn’t immediately send Austin to the top of our national title threats (yet), but he’s worked his way into the All-American conversation without question.
The next step for Austin is to make the finals of the 800 meters at the indoor national meet this March. He’s just in his second season of competition, so we can’t hold the inexperience against him too much, but that is something to consider before expecting anything more than a top-eight finish.
Cole Sprout has not competed since our last rankings update.
This is the Charles Hicks that we had come to expect after his sensational run at the NCAA XC Championships that culminated in a national title. After an underwhelming 7:53 (3k) at the Razorback Invitational a few week sago, we saw the Cardinal superstar return to top fitness this past weekend.
Hicks headed to Chicago for the Windy City Invite where he contested the 5000 meters. He would run 13:22.05, setting a new overall personal best by two seconds and taking home the win over Patrick Kiprop. That result currently sits at NCAA #11 in the 5k and should be enough for him to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
In our last rankings update, we mentioned that Hicks tends to have slow starts to his season -- something that we saw with his aforementioned 3k. Still, it's encouraging to see Hicks set a new personal best with just over a month left until the indoor national meet. Remember, he peaked perfectly last winter and bronze on the national stage.
Another five-spot tumble for this Stanford athlete might not look reassuring, but that's simply because the 5k times from December are naturally going to dominate the leaderboard. And as a result, his 13:22 mark just isn't going to make as much of a splash (on paper) as they did in previous seasons.
Still, we feel like Hicks is in a good spot for the rest of the indoor track season. He’ll continue to improve this winter and his ranking will reflect that sooner rather than later.
We will start this ranking by formally apologizing to Alex Maier.
He ran 7:43.05 (3k), bettered his personal best by five seconds in the event, finished 9th at the Millrose Games...and then drops nine spots in our latest rankings update. That might actually be a crime, but alas, that is the current landscape of Division One distance racing.
Maier now has marks of 3:58 (mile), 7:43 (3k) and 13:11 (5k) this season. He’s currently ranked at NCAA #7 in the 3k and NCAA #3 in the 5k, both events that we expect him to declare for in March for the indoor national meet. And honestly, there’s an argument that he could win a national title in either of those races if things break absolutely perfectly for him.
However, a tough mile outing a few weeks ago wasn't great and although he held his own this past weekend, a 7:43 (3k) mark just doesn't hold the same weight that it once did. For that reason, he drops in our rankings this week.
Even so, this Oklahoma State star has the experience necessary to compete in any race setting. He’s proven that he can hang toward the front and has knocked off some familiar competition that used to get the better of him. Maier’s confidence should be at its highest as we near the championship season. He’s set himself up perfectly to be a force when it matters.
This Oregon sophomore continues to improve his stock and it’s only a matter of time before Elliott Cook finds himself as a viable national title threat in either the 800 meters or the mile. That may not happen this winter, but...in a few years time? That may not be an unrealistic scenario.
Cook toed the line for the mile this past weekend in Boston and wound up winning his section while lowering his personal best by four seconds, running 3:55.34. That time was good enough for 10th place overall in the event and currently places him at NCAA #11 in the mile. And when you pair that mark with his NCAA #9 result in the 800 meters (1:46), Cook looks like one of the best middle distance athletes in the country.
We haven’t even mentioned that this was only the second time that Cook has ever raced the mile on the indoor oval. Of course, Cook has run 3:38 for 1500 meters before, so 3:55 shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at this point.
But running a 3:55 mile and earning a section win in just your second attempt ever at the distance collegiately, is incredibly impressive. It has also left us wondering just good Cook can be once he’s familiar with the distance.
Yaseen Abdalla has not competed since our last rankings update.
After coming off of superb 3000 meter PR of 7:48 from a few weeks ago, we were fully expecting Thomas Vanoppen to take another step forward in regards to his fitness.
So when we saw that Vanoppen had run 4:02 (unconverted) at Camel City, there were some questions about what kind of fitness this Wake Forest veteran was actually in. He had, after all, run 3:37 for 1500 meters last spring.
But now it's one weekend later and we’re talking about Vanoppen's reentry into our rankings at TSR #18. He rolled to an incredible 3:54.85 mile PR at the David Hemery Valentine Invite this past weekend, finishing in 6th place overall and emerging as the second-best collegiate in the field. In the process, he took eight seconds off of his previous personal best and is now sitting at NCAA #6 on the national leaderboard for the event.
We know how good Vanoppen is tactically and his best chance at success will come in the mile this year. He was 4th at the outdoor national meet in the 1500 meters and showed no issue of navigating the round of regionals and preliminaries. Tactically, he's brilliant.
That prior success should play a vital role as Vanoppen will likely enter the national meet as Wake Forest’s anchor on the DMR (assuming they qualify) while trying to contest for a national title in the mile, individually.
Isaac Basten spent most of the January season working on his speed and he’s currently reaping the benefits of that speed work here in February.
Two weekends ago, we saw Basten race the mile at the Iowa State Classic, clocking a time of 3:57.24. It was a second short of his personal best set in February of 2022, but it was the fastest opening mile that he’s put together while competing at Drake.
But Basten didn’t stop there.
The Bulldog star ventured to Boston this past weekend and obliterated his personal best by nearly two seconds, running 3:54.89. He finished 9th overall, was the third collegiate and reminded the rest of the country just how good of a miler he was.
Basten is currently sitting at NCAA #7 for the mile and we believe that he is a comfortable national meet qualifier for the event barring any historical performances (but hey, we’ve been wrong before). He placed 5th in this event at last year's NCAA Indoor Championships and all signs are pointing to him being able to replicate that again this season.
With championship season nearly here, it’s only right that Basten begins to crawl up our rankings.
We knew that Texas ace Yusuf Bizimana would eventually toe the line in the 800 meters this season, but we didn't know what to expect. That, however, just made his effort at New Mexico that much more impressive.
The English middle distance runner took down a highly competitive field at altitude which featured Ayman Zahafi, Dayton Carlson and Devin Dixon. And in the end, Bizimana recorded a 1:46.03 (800) conversion which still sits atop of the national leaderboard.
On paper, Bizimana has proven to be one of the more reliable postseason runners in the NCAA over the middle distances. He owns numerous BIG 12 titles and multiple All-American honors. But that kind of mark puts him in interesting territory, enough to make us ask, "Can this guy win NCAA gold over 800 meters come March?"
Before his teammate Yusuf Bizimana led the NCAA leaderboard over 800 meters, it was Crayton Carrozza who headlined the event with a massive time of 1:46.28 from his race at Boston University. That mark now sits at NCAA #3.
But the real determinant of where we would rank Carrozza came this past weekend as he toed the line for a loaded mile field, once again returning to Boston. In a race where we thought he could run 3:54, we saw this Longhorn star post a solid, but simultaneously modest, time of 3:56 in the mile.
Was that mark as fast as we thought he could run? No, maybe not, but running 1:46.28 (800) and 3:56 (mile) three weeks apart is SUPER impressive. Carrozza is still one of the more lethal middle distance runner in the nation and his resume is still plenty stacked.
It's not too often that previously unranked names crack our top-15. But what we've seen from Ryan Schoppe over the last few weeks has been wildly impressive. After running a 3:55 mile PR in a battle against teammate Fouad Mesaoudi, we saw this Texas native go after a fast 3k effort in Seattle this past weekend.
In that race, Schoppe hung to the pacer and continued to grind away at the pace until the final few laps where Messaoudi overtook him. But Schoppe hung tough, continued to be a threat for the win and scored an incredible 7:41 (3k) personal best
After running 3:37 (1500) last spring, it was clear that Schoppe had the potential to be one of the absolute best distance talents in the NCAA. And sure enough, he seems to be delivering on those expectations, showcasing excellent strength to pair with his underrated turnover.
There are a lot of subtle racing aspects of Schoppe's that simply make us big fans of him. He's a very complete distance runner who is as solid as most other top-tier names.
After running 7:43 (3k) back in January to upset the Stanford trio, we saw Casey Clinger toe the line for the mile in Boston this past weekend. Once there, the Cougar veteran (despite being a sophomore by eligibility) posted a solid, but unsurprising, 3:57 mile PR.
There really isn't too much to say here. I think some of us thought that Clinger was capable of running around 3:55 or 3:56, but a 3:57 mile mark is still solid. It doesn't really change our opinion of him and it only validates the idea that he's an endurance-first runner.
Jonathan Jones could win the 800 meter national title this year. But after recording a DNF result at that distance in New Mexico a few weeks back and continuing to work on the 400 meters, it seems unlikely that he'll even record a time in the event.
If he doesn't run an 800 meter race by our next update, then he'll drop completely from our rankings. That's a realistic possibility given that his two teammates are already ranked at NCAA #1 and NCAA #3 in the event and likely don't need another star crowding the top of that national meet field.
It felt wrong to put Nathan Green at TSR #18 in our last set of rankings after he ran a ridiculous 3:52 mile PR on his home track in a historic display of team depth. But that result came out of absolutely nowhere and it needed validation, at least in our eyes.
So what did he do?
He went out and ran 1:46.99 for 800 meters.
The only thing holding Green back this year is his youth and inexperience. But you could have said that last spring and he still ran 3:37 (1500) before eventually earning All-American honors. The racing maturity and sustained fitness of his redshirt freshman is flat-out fantastic. And with this newfound speed, we feel a bit more comfortable about him in a tactical championship setting right now.
A strong 15:15 (5k) season debut back in December didn't really tell us much about Nico Young. It wasn't necessarily his best race, but it was still a very strong result which simply showed us that he was fit (although we knew that from the tail-end of his 2022 cross country season).
After an extended hiatus from racing, Young toed the line for the 3000 meters at the Millrose Games. There, we thought he could potentially scare the collegiate record. But instead, he ran 7:51 (3k), fading hard while battling an overwhelmingly elite field. It was a rare "off" race for the NAU superstar.
It's impossible to know exactly how to gauge Young right now. His 5k in December was good, maybe even really good, but his latest 3k effort was bad. And with a few weeks to go until we national meet declarations come out, we have to admit that he has yet to look "great" in either of his races this winter.
This California native is WAY too talented to be left out of our top-10 given his resume, but it's becoming increasingly more difficult to do so given his latest results.
Kieran Lumb has not competed since our last rankings update.
It took a while, but we finally saw Navasky Anderson toe the line for an 800 meter race this season! After running a 4:05 mile PR back in January, the Mississippi State middle distance runner ran a huge time of 1:46.58 (800) to earn the win at the Music City Challenge.
In that race, Anderson took down the likes of Georgia rookie Will Sumner and Missouri veteran Christopher Conrad, both of whom ran 1:47 marks.
This was a really solid effort from Anderson who has affirmed our suspicions that he would be the same national title favorite this winter that he was last spring (even if he placed 2nd at last year's outdoor national meet).
Yes, he does drop one spot in our rankings, but the men's 800 meters has never been so top-heavy and crowded with 1:46 men. Anderson is still the title favorite in our eyes, but it's hard to analyze him after just one half-mile race.
Gosh, Fouad Messaoudi has been an absolute juggernaut this winter. The Oklahoma State star had a breakout race at the NCAA XC Championships this past fall and has evolved into one of the last guys I would ever want to race.
A 7:44 (3k) win at the Boston University Season Opener felt like a statement performance, but his 3:54 mile victory over teammate Ryan Schoppe was validation. And now, after running 7:41 over 3000 meters en route to a win over Schoppe, Hamilton and Houser, it's hard to find any flaws on Messaoudi's resume.
He's consistent, tactically excellent, has displayed strong range and keeps getting better with each passing week. There is no one in the NCAA with the same kind of momentum as him and I wouldn't at all have an issue if someone chose this Cowboy star as a national title favorite.
A 7:43 (3k) mark at the New Balance Grand Prix a few weeks ago was a really solid performance for Fay...but it was also super predictable and largely unexciting. Even so, that kind of result gives Fay the most complete distance resume in the nation right now -- and it's not close.
Are there guys ranked behind Fay who are arguably bigger national title favorites than him? Sure, that's fair to say, but with seasonal marks of 3:52 (mile), 7:43 (3k) and 13:16 (5k), we don't know who has a string of times this winter that are collectively more valuable than what this Husky superstar has assembled.
Ky Robinson has not competed since our last rankings update. He is likely preparing to represent Australia at the World XC Championships later this week.
Joe Waskom has not competed since our last rankings update.
Drew Bosley has not competed since our last rankings update.
This might be a bit controversial.
Yes, Drew Bosley does own the NCAA record of 7:36.42 over 3000 meters.
And yes, Dylan Jacobs barely missed that time at the Millrose Games with a mark of 7:36.89.
But Bosley has run 13:13 for 5000 meters this season while Jacobs has run 13:11 for the same distance...and yeah, that's basically the reason why Jacobs is ranked higher. If someone wants to put more emphasis on Bosley's record for these rankings, then we wouldn't have an issue.
We still want to see how Jacobs handles surges and more tactical-based races, but one thing is clear: He is more than fit enough to win NCAA gold in either the 5k or the 3k a month from now.
Wow. What a season this has been from Anass Essayi. What we've seen from this South Carolina megastar is just other-worldly. He has only raced twice this season, but both of his efforts have given him an indoor track resume which mimics the greatest aspects of Cooper Teare and Cole Hocker's 2021 winter campaign.
After running 7:41 for 3000 meters at the Armory en route to the win, Essayi dropped down to the mile this past weekend in Boston. There, he toed the line against a loaded field. In our eyes, a 3:52 mile PR seemed realistic.
But then the Gamecock ace ran 3:50.46, just 0.07 seconds behind Teare's 2021 collegiate record. Essayi also barely missed the overall win, finishing just behind Amos Bartelsmeyer with a lean at the line.
It's not just that Essayi is running insanely fast times this winter. He's posting historical all-time marks in multiple events while securing top finishes in extremely talented fields. To run this fast while still gauging yourself tactically is so much harder than some people realize.
Yes, Essayi's fluke DNF result at the outdoor national meet from last spring still lingers in our minds. Still, what he has done in just two races this winter is...well, breathtaking.
Conor Murphy (Virginia)
Sam Austin (Florida)
Thomas Vanoppen (Wake Forest)
Ryan Schoppe (Oklahoma State)
Eliud Kipsang (Alabama)
Parker Wolfe (North Carolina)
Duncan Hamilton (Montana State)
Baylor Franklin (Ole Miss)
Eliud Kipsang (Alabama)
Parker Wolfe (North Carolina)
Duncan Hamilton (Montana State)
Baylor Franklin (Ole Miss)
Jason Gomez (Iowa State)
Sam Gilman (Air Force)
Samuel Rodman (Princeton)
Luke Houser (Washington)
Barry Keane (Butler)
Graham Blanks (Harvard)
Acer Iverson (Harvard)
Cebastian Gentil (Iowa State)
Liam Murphy (Villanova)
Charlie O'Donovan (Villanova)
Ayman Zahafi (Miami (FL))
Ethan Strand (North Carolina)
Carter Solomon (Notre Dame)
Patrick Kiprop (Arkansas)
Jesse Hamlin (Butler)
Zach Facioni (Wake Forest)
Matthew Payamps (Georgetown)
Tiarnan Crorken (Ole Miss)
Michael Power (Tulsa)
Dayton Carlson (Arizona State)
Isai Rodriguez (Oklahoma State)
Lexington Hilton (Arkansas)
Nick Foster (Michigan)
Joey Nokes (BYU)
Ian Shanklin (NC State)
Handal Roban (Penn State)
Ethan Brouw (New Mexico)
Adam Spencer (Wisconsin)
Jackson Sharp (Wisconsin)
Matthew Rizzo (Georgetown)
Ronan McMahon-Staggs (UCLA)
Sean Dolan (Villanova)
Jack Aho (North Carolina)