Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Apr 916 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.
NOTE: Because we are in a new season, we are treating this week's rankings update as a new series of top-25 names. Therefore, we are not indicating any movement from our winter lists. It should also be said that the introduction of the steeplechase and 10,000 meters as contestable events on the national stage does alter the value of certain resumes. The same ranking methodology can also apply to the (flat) 3000 meters, an event that is not contested at the outdoor national meet.
This past indoor track season acted as a revival of sorts for Lucas Bons, a guy who was a star-caliber miler a few years ago, but had struggled to return to that form since. Luckily, the BYU standout has rallied over the last few months, running a fantastic 3:54 mile PR and placing 3rd on the national stage in the mile finals.
The challenging aspect with Bons is his consistency, both seasonally and throughout his career. If you reflect on his most recent winter campaign, you'll find that outside of two races, the Cougar ace often left us wanting more in a handful of secondary events.
Of course, the counter to that is that on the two stages that mattered the most, Bons was brilliant. And it is that fact that makes it challenging to leave the BYU veteran out of our outdoor track rankings, even with the inclusion of steeplechase and 10k specialists.
Sometimes, the most appropriate analysis that we can give a runner is simply stating that they're flat-out great. And that seems to be the case with Eastern Kentucky's Abdelhakim Abouzouhir, a top-flight steeplechaser.
The Colonel star showcased tremendous talent last year over the water pits and barriers. Abouzouhir consistently put himself in the mix with top names and never truly faltered to the latter-half of competitive fields. And after an encouraging indoor track season, the EKU star just took home a big win against Montana State's Rob McManus to start his spring campaign, running 8:37 in the process.
With subtly-great consistency, proven aerobic prowess, past experience, a prior All-American honor and recent signs that he has improved, our TSR #24 spot may actually not be generous enough for this steeplechase standout.
*Disclosure: Isaac Basten currently works for The Stride Report as our Beyond the Stride host
Gosh, it's so hard to rank Isaac Basten. Part of that is because he fell at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the mile prelims and never got a shot at the finals after a denied protest. The other reason is because we know Isaac and naturally, we're biased in his favor.
But are these rankings supposed to be about who is the most deserving? Or are they about who is the best? And how could we possibly measure any of that? Frankly, we've been doing these rankings for years now and I still don't have any good answers to those questions.
Those who are familiar with this Drake star know that he is a tactical nightmare for most NCAA milers. With mile and 1500-meter personal bests of 3:53 and 3:36.99, respectively, Basten's fitness allows him to be competitive in races that are aggressively paced while his kick and racing IQ make him a major problem in championship competitions.
And with too much history on his side, we felt like it was only necessary to keep Basten in these rankings for the time being.
This has been a big year for Darius Kipyego, a top-tier recruit from the high school ranks who initially spent his time as an undergrad coming up short of qualifying for the national meet. But this past winter, that all changed as the Cyclone star threw down a monster 1k time of 2:18 and ran 1:46 for 800 meters. He would eventually go on to earn 6th place All-American honors on the national stage.
In most (but not all) instances, a 6th place finisher from the indoor national meet usually isn't found in the first edition of outdoor track rankings. That, however, is not the case for Kipyego who seemingly has all of the momentum in the world right now after running a jaw-dropping half-mile PR of 1:45 this past weekend!
We saw from his prep days that Kipyego is a naturally gifted athlete. However, refining that talent and sharping his skills has required some time. But in 2024, the Iowa State junior has seemingly found his groove and has been able to deliver on his elite pedigree.
On a team that has been headlined by a handful of key names in recent years, it feels like Virginia's Nate Mountain has been unfairly overlooked. The Cavalier junior has built his reputation in the steeplechase, boasting a head-turning PR of 8:32 and an underappreciated 4th place All-American finish in that event at last year's outdoor national meet.
However, Mountain's value extends beyond the barriers and water pits. With excellent range via times of 3:39 (1500) and 13:32 (5k), this Virginia veteran should be incredibly well equipped to handle most race scenarios that he sees in the steeplechase. That theory has some legs to it, especially given that he was the ACC champion in that event last spring before going on to be a top-half All-American.
Mountain's latest 5k PR is an extremely encouraging sign that his fitness is just as good as it ever has been...at least for this time of the year. And if Victor Kibiego doesn't begin to rally from some not-so-great performances, then there is going to be a very real chance that Mountain contends (and maybe wins) the steeplechase national title.
During the 2021 indoor track season, Finley McLear looked like one of more fearsome half-milers in the nation. He just barely lost the 800-meter national title at the indoor national meet that year and he ultimately ran 1:45 for 800 meters multiple times.
For a handful of seasons, McLear was sidelined for unknown reasons and when he did run, he didn't look incredibly sharp. Nowadays, he looks like he's closer to his prior top-tier form than he has been in any of his last few seasons of racing.
After a bronze medal performance in the 800-meter finals at the NCAA Indoor Championships last month, McLear has proven that he can continue to be a competitive force. And more importantly, he proved that he can hold his own in crowded 800-meter races that turn more tactical.
Ah yes, Anass Essayi. How on Earth do we rank this often perplexing distance star?
When it comes to time trial scenarios, Essayi is pheneomanal. This past winter, he ran times of 3:51 (mile) and 7:39 (3k), the latter mark being a PR and the former mark being one second off of his 3:50 personal best. It should also be noted that Essayi has secured two top-half All-American honors throughout his NCAA career and that he ran 3:32 for 1500 meters this past summer.
So...why only TSR #19?
While Essayi is undeniably an elite talent, the lack of a 3000-meter race for him to contest on the national stage come June does limit the value on his resume to only the 1500 meters this spring. However, more importantly, Essayi just had a very underwhelming appearance at the indoor national meet, recording a DNF in the mile prelims and settling for 10th over 3000 meters the next day.
March was not the first time that Essayi has stepped off the track late in the prelim of a 1500-meter or mile race on the national stage. And at this point, you would expect someone of his caliber to have more postseason success. That isn't to say that he's had none, and he's still supremely talented, but we'll be looking for a bit more.
Joe Waskom may have been the single-most challenging distance runner to rank in our top-25 lists. That's because we all know how extraordinarily talented he is, but his recent results have admittedly been underwhelming.
The 2022 outdoor national champion over 1500 meters, who has also run times of 2:18 (1k), 3:34 (1500) and 3:51 (mile), simply hasn't looked like himself since the start of the new year. He opened his indoor track season with an unexciting 8:00 (3k) mark and although he ran an encouraging 3:53 mile effort two weeks later, the rest of his season would leave us wanting so much more (although he was an 8th place All-American in the mile).
The last three-and-a-half months have suggested that Waskom shouldn't be listed in our top-25 rankings, at least not right now. However, the history and past successes of this Washington veteran have simply been too good to ignore. For that reason, we'll cautiously place him at TSR #18...for now.
With the introduction of the 10,000 meters as a contestable event on the outdoor oval, Aaron Las Heras' value in these rankings should remain plenty high. The Northern Arizona graduate student was brilliant this past winter, running eyebrow-raising times of 7:37 (3k) and 13:16 (5k). And more importantly, Las Heras displayed improved competitive prowess and subtly great turnover that we hadn't seen from him previously.
This Lumberjack ace is undoubtedly at his best in the longer distances. In theory, that means that his value should only rise compared to the winter months. However, given that there are numerous other men in a similar position, especially when you factor in the steeplechase, it's hard to rank Las Heras at a spot higher than this (for now).
Regardless, we could see the former Wake Forest runner drop something crazy fast over 10,000 meters this spring. And when he does, don't be surprised when he gets a noticeable boost in our top-25 rankings.
In the fall of 2022 and the winter of 2023, Alex Maier looked like he belonged in the elite tier of distance stars, a group that featured names like Nico Young, Ky Robinson, Dylan Jacobs, Drew Bosley and maybe a couple of others. However, a challenging outdoor track season where he was clearly not at 100% dampened expectations for the ensuing fall and winter months.
Thankfully, Maier has begun to rally over the last few months, capping his indoor track season with two All-American honors, one of which was a bronze medal. And now, with momentum on his side, Maier will step onto the outdoor oval with the opportunity to contest his best distance, the 10,000 meters. Don't forget, this Oklahoma State was the runner-up finisher over that distance at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Admittedly, a recent 13:40 (5k) effort for 4th place at the Stanford Invite wasn't the most exciting season opening result for Maier. However, given that the winning time of his section was 13:38, it's hard to be too critical of an early-season performance like that.
In theory, Victor Kibiego is the clear-cut national title favorite in the steeplechase this year. However, the UTEP-turned-Texas A&M runner will need to build up some momentum in his lead up to June if he wants to have a shot at winning gold.
Last spring, Kibiego showcased tremendous talent over the barriers and water pits, but truly shined on the national stage where he ran an outstanding time of 8:26, narrowly missing silver in the process.
However, a highly underwhelming indoor track season and a "just ok" 8:45 steeplechase effort from two weekends ago leaves us wondering if we'll get the 2023 version of Kibiego in 2024. And while we may not know that right now, we do know that, at his best, he's a fairly obvious national title favorite.
We've always known that Sean Dolan is a talented and consistent middle distance runner who has a knack for earning All-American honors. However, this past winter, the Villanova veteran clearly took a leap up in his fitness, running 1:46 (800) three separate times.
The silver medalist at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships over 800 meters was not only more consistent at a higher level, but he was also able to vary his racing style throughout the winter months. And when it comes to experience, few men in the middle distance events have the same kind of lengthy resume that he does.
On paper, Peter Maru perfectly fits the strength-based ethos of Arkansas' distance program. Just like his aerobic-centric teammates Kirami Yego and Patrick Kiprop, the Ugandan freshman fares better as the distance gets longer and he is seemingly willing to be a bit more aggressive with his front-running tactics at certain points of his races.
Despite what his 13:16 (5k) mark on his TFRRS profile may suggest, Maru has actually run 13:07 for 5000 meters in Norway in the summer of 2022. And if you look further down on his World Athletics profile, you'll find that he's also run 27:30 for 10,000 meters on the road.
In other words, Maru is one of the men who should blossom as he moves to the outdoor oval. Everything on his resume suggests that he is going to be a major problem for his competitors this spring, especially in honest, fast-paced affairs.
You won't find many bigger fans of Liam Murphy than the writers at The Stride Report. This Villanova ace has been beyond great this year, flexing his range in a way that few men in NCAA ever have. With times of 3:53 (mile), 7:42 (3k) and 13:21 (5k), Murphy is a formidable opponent in essentially any race scenario.
"So then why is he not ranked in the top-10?"
Great question.
Murphy, who was a 4th place All-American over 3000 meters back in March, can't contest that event on the national stage this spring (unless he contests the steeplechase...which he wont). And between the 1500 meters and the 5k, it's fairly obvious that Murphy is far better in the former event than the latter.
With lethal turnover and growing pool of experience, Murphy could end up being a national title contender in the metric mile this season despite the vast amount of stars that the event seems to boast.
For years, many of us at The Stride Report (and more specifically, at the Blue Oval Podcast) have sung the praises of Sam Whitmarsh. We've been strong believers in his once-young talent and we were wildly impressed by his level of poise as well as his in-race execution.
However, none of that could have prepared us for Whitmarsh to drop an unreal 800-meter PR of 1:44.46 to start his outdoor track season! That is a monumental performance that now sits at NCAA #7 all-time and it significantly alters the national title conversation over the half-mile distance. Or at the very least, it adds to it.
Despite the magnitude of his latest result, we also have to enter the rest of these spring months a bit more cautiously. Whitmarsh has had health challenges in the past (something that he has discussed publicly via Instagram) and his latest personal best was a massive PR, skipping over the 1:45 range entirely.
Even so, we feel extremely confident in saying that Whitmarsh is the real deal.
It feels weird, doesn't it? Ranking Nathan Green at TSR #10? He is, after all, the reigning NCAA champion over 1500 meters, holds elite PRs and, as he showed last spring, has a formidable kick.
However, the last month of racing hasn't been too kind to Nathan Green. The Washington superstar shockingly failed to make it out of the 800-meter prelims at the NCAA Indoor Championships and he was just out-kicked by Ezekiel Rop over 1500 meters at the Stanford Invite a couple of weekends ago.
Even so, it still feels too early to truly be concerned about Green. His national meet showing can be labelled as a simple fluke and his latest 1500-meter race at the Stanford Invite was more so a great race from Rop than it was a bad race from Green.
He'll need to rally from here on out, but we still view Green as a very legitimate national title contender over the next few months.
When Rivaldo Marshall won the men's 800-meter indoor national title this past winter, many of us at The Stride Report shrugged our shoulders and put limited emphasis on his performance.
Sure, he had an excellent race which involved great positioning and surging, but in comparison to past years, the field was fairly light as far as national title prowess was concerned.
But since then, Marshall has run 1:45 for 800 meters in what felt like a massive statement to the rest of the NCAA that he is, in fact, the real deal. With a top-tier PR on his resume to pair with his recent national title and malleable racing IQ, you could argue that Marshall is beginning to rival Yusuf Bizimana when it comes to being the most complete half-miler in the NCAA right now.
Not seeing Graham Blanks compete after the Boston U. Season Opener this past winter was incredibly disappointing as he seemed to be the only guy who could have potentially taken down Nico Young for the 5k and/3k national title(s)...although Parker Wolfe looked awfully good as well.
This Harvard veteran is one of the men who only gets better once he reaches the outdoor overall, thriving over the 5000-meter and the 10,000-meter distance. Of course, the biggest challenge that we had with Blanks is that we don't know when or if we'll see him this spring! And if he does return to racing, how strong will he look like?
His prior credentials make him a deserving name for a top-10 spot in these rankings, but the mystery surrounding his status is what keeps him from being ranked any higher.
Yes, I know that Yusuf Bizimana failed to advance to the 800-meter finals at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships. Even so, you cannot convince us that there was another half-mile-centric runner who was as good as this Texas superstar in the lead up to the 2024 indoor national meet.
Bizimana owns an indoor 800-meter national title, has secured a silver medal over that same distance at the outdoor national meet, holds three additional All-American honors, boasts a 1:45 (800) PR and was briefly the NCAA record holder over 1000 meters.
Now, in fairness to everyone else, the men's 800 meters has suddenly become extremely competitive as four men have already run under 1:46 this season. And with the competition seemingly becoming more fierce, we did opt to bump Bizimana back just a couple of spots from where someone would maybe expect him to be.
Adam Spencer's evolution as a miler has been fun to watch. The Aussie distance star has chipped away at his personal bests over the last few years, gaining valuable experience and refining his racing skills. As a result, this Wisconsin veteran has become a scary-good miler who holds very few weaknesses.
We could talk about how great Spencer was this past winter, but the most important performance on his resume didn't come from the indoor oval. In fact, it didn't even come during the NCAA season. That's because Spencer ran an unbelievably elite 1500-meter time of 3:31 this past summer!
When it comes to the upside of the best milers in the country, no one can seemingly go as high as Spencer could. However, trying to get him to replicate that ridiculously impressive streak of racing during these spring months will be the biggest determinant in how far he climbs in these rankings.
You could make the argument that Ky Robinson deserves to be ranked at a spot higher than Luke Houser. Part of that is because Houser no longer has the 3k as an event that he can add to his outdoor track portfolio. The other part is because Ky Robinson gets to add the 10k to his repertoire this spring.
It also doesn't hurt that he's the defending outdoor NCAA champion over both the 10,000 meters and the 5000 meters.
On the other hand, the men's 5k and 10k are seemingly going to be WAY more stacked in 2024 than in comparison to 2023. And although Robinson is one of the more complete long distances talents that the NCAA has to offer, matching the likes of Nico Young, Habtom Samuel and Parker Wolfe at their ideal distances is going to be quite the challenge.
Even so, a national title this spring isn't totally out of the question for Robinson. And given how insanely top-heavy the aerobic-based events are this year, that statement feels like a major compliment.
While Luke Houser won't be able to add the 3000 meters to his racing schedule this spring, he will remain as a major factor to win the 1500-meter national title. In fact, the reigning back-to-back mile national champion should still be viewed as the title favorite for the metric mile this spring (unless Spencer reverts to his summer of 2023 fitness).
To put it simply, Houser is the most complete miler in the nation. He is tactically brilliant and nearly every aspect of his racing prowess since he won his first national title has substantially improved. If you want to win NCAA gold over 1500 meters come June, then you'll likely need to craft your game plan around Houser.
When it was first announced that Habtom Samuel was joining the New Mexico men, it was not his 5000-meter personal best (a 13:13 mark) that captured our attention. Instead, it was his then-10,000-meter PR of 27:20 that made us reevaluate the entire 2024 national title conversation for that distance.
Sure enough, Samuel has delivered on expectations...and then some. The Eritrean freshman has been beyond elite as a collegian, recently running the NCAA #2 all-time 10k mark of 26:53 a few weeks back. And in nearly every other aspect of his resume, he has clearly improved.
There is an argument for Samuel to be ranked at TSR #2 in this list given his proven 10k chops compared to Parker Wolfe. However, running an all-time mark in the 10k does not always translate to effectively running a tactical 10k race on a championship stage.
And yet, with his level of fitness, the tactics of other competitors come June may simply not matter when faced with this aerobic juggernaut.
There was a brief moment where we thought about placing Parker Wolfe at TSR #3 in these rankings. After all, he doesn't have the 3k to contest this spring and he has never run a 10k on the track before.
Even so, the level of fitness that we saw from Wolfe this past winter was incredible. He was unquestionably a different and better runner than we had ever seen him be. And although he didn't beat Nico Young in his two attempts at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Wolfe showed the country that he was closer to Young's tier rather than the next-best tier.
And in our eyes, we feel like that's a good enough reason for Wolfe to be listed at TSR #2.
I don't really feel like it's necessary to explain why Nico Young is ranked at this spot. However, if you do want to read more, you can click here or click here.
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Parvej Khan (Florida)
Evan Jenkins (Washington)
Wil Smith (Gonzaga)
Abel Teffra (Georgetown)
Jackson Sharp (Wisconsin)
Colin Sahlman (Northern Arizona)
Ethan Strand (North Carolina)
Ryan Schoppe (Oklahoma State)
Nick Plant (Virginia Tech)
Theo Quax (Northern Arizona)
Brian Musau (Oklahoma State)
Abdullahi Hassan (Wisconsin)
Matt Strangio (Portland)
Tyrese Reid (Mississippi State)
Tinoda Matsatsa (Georgetown)
Handal Roban (Penn State)
Tarees Rhoden (Clemson)
Kirami Yego (Arkansas)
Gary Martin (Virginia)
Victor Kiprop (Alabama)
Rob McManus (Montana State)
Ezekiel Rop (Iowa State)
Parker Stokes (Georgetown)
Kimar Farquarson (Texas A&M)
Evans Kiplagat (New Mexico)
Ben Perrin (Montana State)
Adisu Guadia (Oklahoma State)
Tom Seitzer (Notre Dame)
Patrick Kiprop (Arkansas)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Alex Slenning (Oregon)
Charlie O'Donovan (Villanova)
Levi Taylor (Montana State)
Mehdi Yanouri (Oklahoma State)
Laban Kipkemboi (Oklahoma State)
Aidan McCarthy (Cal Poly)
Elliott Cook (Oregon)
Conor Murphy (Virginia)
Bob Liking (Wisconsin)
Chandler Gibbens (Kansas)
Joey Nokes (BYU)
Toby Gillen (Ole Miss)
Devin Hart (Oregon)
Patrick Thygesen (Providence)
Evan Dorenkamp (Penn State)
Nickolas Scudder (Charlotte)
Will Anthony (Virginia)
Jesse Hamlin (Butler)
Florian Le Pallec (Butler)
Peter Herold (Georgetown)
Carson Williams (Furman)
Kevin Robertson (Syracuse)
Camden Marshall (Indiana)
Nick Foster (Michigan)
Aidan Troutner (BYU)
David Mullarkey (Florida State)
Yaseen Abdalla (Tennessee)
Said Mechaal (Iowa State)
Ronan McMahon-Staggs (Washington)
Notes
- N/A