TSR Collaboration
Apr 1710 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.
20. Jonathan Zavala, Junior, Brockport State (-5 / 15)
Jonathan Zavala has had a very similar past month-and-a-half to the runner ranked one spot ahead of him. That's to say he earned a bronze medal at the indoor national meet, ran a personal best in his tertiary event (the 5k) and produced a modest time in his first 1500-meter race of the season.
The latter mark was a 3:56 which put Zavala behind Colin McLaughlin and thus incentivized us to move him behind his Carnegie Mellon counterpart. Zavala seemingly just got overwhelmed in a field with a number of Division One runners. He has competed on the national stage as an individual multiple times now, so we wouldn't go as far as to say he needs to validate his mile breakout from the past winter.
19. Colin McLaughlin, Junior, Carnegie Mellon (-2 / 17)
It may be the case that Colin McLaughlin's optimal racing distance only exists on the indoor oval after we saw him produce a breakout bronze medal performance in the 3000 meters at the indoor national meet last month.
We're still waiting for McLaughlin to carry over that fitness to the outdoor oval, but we expect he's still in line to improve upon his 12th-place result in the 1500 meters from the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He has raced the metric mile distance twice already this spring, improving his seasonal best to 3:51 this past weekend as he also ran a 1:54 (800) PR.
That's enough to stay in our rankings for this update, but McLaughlin's true proving ground likely comes later next month.
18. Colin Kirkpatrick, Junior, Pomona-Pitzer (0 / 18)
On the heels of his first All-American finish on the indoor oval, Colin Kirkpatrick has had a unique start to the outdoor track season. He hasn't had an optimal start in his primary event, the 3000-meter steeplechase, but it hasn't been that concerning, either.
Kirkpatrick opened with a solid 9:00 steeplechase at Stanford, recorded a "DNF" at his home meet a week later (he may have been pacing) and finished nearly 10 seconds off of his personal best (while getting outshone by a couple of other D3 men) with a still-respectable 8:53 effort at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
However, any real consternation about Kirkpatrick's level of fitness should be dispelled by a strong 3:47 (1500) effort that he produced in a double this past weekend. This Sagehen star is still very much in the mix in a stacked D3 steeplechase picture.
17. Cory Kennedy, Senior, RPI (-7 / 10)
The first two races of Cory Kennedy's outdoor track season were underwhelming at surface level, sure, but understandable all the same. After a well-deserved month off following the indoor national meet, Kennedy appears to be gradually ramping up in distance with each successive race this spring.
The Engineer ace began April with a 1:57 (800) PR and then ran a 3:59 metric mile mark at Bucknell which landed him behind two of the men ranked immediately below him. The difference is that the 1500 meters is hardly Kennedy's best event even if his 3:52 PR is considerably faster than what he just produced.
Kennedy's racing trend suggests that he is seemingly set to move up to his ideal event (the 5000 meters) next. We think this is a large enough drop as we wait for a result more reflective of his talent level.
16. James Settles, Senior, Colorado College (-8 / 8)
While the past two months have brought a handful of PRs for James Settles, they haven't necessarily improved his sky-high stock following a 4th-place result at the 2023 cross country national meet.
Settles did not run a true winter campaign, racing on the indoor oval just once before rattling off a handful of personal bests in the 5k (14:07), the 800 meters, the 1500 meters and most recently the 10k (29:46).
His latest race was another 5000-meter effort at the Bryan Clay Invitational where he ran a solid 14:11 mark that left us wanting a bit more. Even so, Settles is still very much a national threat considering he earned a top-half All-American finish in the 5000 meters last spring by running 14:12.
15. Gunner Schlender, Junior, UW-Whitewater (-6 / 9)
After finishing higher in the 3000 meters (4th) than he did in the 5k (7th) at the 2024 indoor national meet, it feels fair to say that Gunner Schlender's speed is perhaps better than it's ever been.
That's why it makes sense that the reigning 10k bronze medalist was a ways off of his personal best in his optimal event last weekend. The Warhawk stud ultimately ran 29:54, nearly a minute slower than his personal best, at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
But after the winter he enjoyed, and a strong 3:53/14:10 (1500/5k) double at the Washington U. Distance Carnival two weeks ago, Schlender likely isn't all too far from his peak form.
14. Enrique Salazar, Senior, Manchester (Unranked)
One of the biggest risers in this edition of our outdoor track rankings, Enrique Salazar seems to be putting together a strong encore in his final collegiate campaign. He found similar success earlier this academic year, finishing as a top-half All-American in the fall and competing in two different events at the indoor national meet while coming close to All-American finishes in both.
After an encouraging 29:22 (10k) effort to start the spring, Salazar rode a strong Bryan Clay heat to a 13:54 (5k) personal best. He seems primed for another double at the outdoor national meet next month where he should nab another All-American finish after finishing 4th over 10,000 meters last spring.
Salazar is starting to feel like one of the more reliable commodities among long distance stars.
13. Noah Jorgenson, Junior, Central College (+3 / 16)
Noah Jorgenson is the kind of talent who left us wanting for a bit more after a 4th place mile finish at the 2024 indoor national meet. With that being said, this middle distance specialist looks to be in fantastic form right now after a 1:50 (800) and 3:49 (1500) weekend double at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
While neither of those marks were personal bests, they’re both only tenths of a second from it. In the 1500 meters, Jorgenson finished less than a second behind the reigning mile silver medalist.
There are only so many ways to say that Jorgenson is "right there." His times and race placements are both among the best in the business, and he's surely one of the prominent middle distance names right now.
12. Max Svienty, Senior, North Central (+8 / 20)
Following a 3rd place finish at the 2023 cross country national meet, it was a bit of a letdown to see Max Svienty miss out on the indoor national meet altogether. Yet, if Svienty’s early-season outdoor track races have indicated anything, it’s that he is back to his prior cross country form.
A 13:57 (5k) effort at UW-Platteville is a huge mark, just topping his previous personal best. It’s his second time venturing under 14 minutes, proving that he’s a name we can consistently count on in time trial-style races. With many of the usual stars in the 5k and the 10k not performing up to their potential so far during this outdoor track season, Svienty’s 13:57 (5k) and 29:06 (10k) times make us view him as an All-American favorite in both events.
11. Spencer Moon, Senior, Simpson (IA) (Unranked)
Dropping the NCAA #3 all-time mark in the 5k will certainly earn you a spot in our rankings. With a 13:51 (5k) performance at UW-Platteville, this Simpson (IA) veteran was the top Division Three finisher in a field that was loaded with some of the best names in the country.
Spencer Moon’s fitness is as good as anyone’s over 5k and 10k. If he is able to finally run close to his full potential at the outdoor national meet, then he, like Svienty, will be a double All-American.
10. Adam Loenser, Junior, UW-La Crosse (Unranked)
It’s not very often that we see an already established national-level talent produce a PR in their first steeplechase race of the season. However, Adam Loenser did just that, and then some, at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
Previously holding a very strong steeplechase personal best of 8:50, Loenser took a whopping six seconds off of that mark to finish less than a second behind the national title favorite, Christian Patzka, at the same meet. An 8:44 effort is simply a monumental mark to be run at any point, but especially this early in the season.
Like anyone else who has had a breakout performance, we want to see Loenser replicate that feat (or at least come close to it) before we truly declare him as a challenger to Collet and Patzka for steeplechase gold. But if we had to guess, he'll be able to do so. After all, Loenser also holds a new 5k personal best of 14:06 which is leaps and bounds above where he was last year when he was already a steeplechase All-American.
9. Chasen Hunt, Sophomore, Lynchburg (+2 / 11)
If you want to talk about range, look no further. We spent the last rankings update discussing Chasen Hunt's 14:03 (5k) mark at the Raleigh Relays. This time around, we are talking about his strong 800/mile double at the Dennis Craddock Coaches Classic.
Hunt first went toe-to-toe with star teammate Sam Llaneza, ultimately settling for a runner-up finish en route to a 4:08 mile. The following day, the sophomore added the cherry on top with a very quick 1:51 (800) effort.
Ideally a 3k runner, Hunt has already thrown down in the 5k and has the potential to do the same in the 1500 meters. Based on what he’s done this season, that’s almost sure to happen when he gets the chance. He's undoubtedly due up to improve upon his 3:50 personal best which he ran as a true freshman last year.
8. Eric Anderson, Junior, UC Santa Cruz (+4 / 12)
We effectively called Eric Anderson a late bloomer after he rallied to a surprising runner-up mile finish at the indoor national meet. Well, as it turns out, Anderson is still blooming after running a pair of personal bests at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
The Banana Slug star first ran 1:50 for 800 meters, but more impressively, won his highly competitive heat. That’s a great sign when it comes to evaluating his tactical awareness, especially when you consider that we haven’t seen him compete at the national level often.
Anderson then returned to the track the next day to drop a very solid 3:48 (1500) mark, finishing 4th place in his heat. Now, with impressive new PRs in both middle distance events, Anderson is entering the prime time of the outdoor track season with clear momentum.
7. Sam Verkerke, Junior, UW-Eau Claire (0 / 7)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
6. Cael Schoemann, Sophomore, UW-La Crosse (-2 / 4)
Opening his season with a 3:53 (1500) PR, Cael Schoemann showed a little bit better range than we’ve seen from him in the past. He followed that performance with a 1:50 half-mile outing at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
Schoemann has run faster than that latter mark, but it was a solid season debut in his primary event. It will be difficult to defend his indoor 800-meter crown, especially if Bennett Booth-Genthe joins him in that event on the national stage, but Schoemann is still very much in the mix among the best of the best.
5. Sam Llaneza, Junior, Lynchburg (+1 / 6)
A 14:25 effort over 5000 meters at Colonial Relays was a really nice performance for Sam Llaneza. It showed that he still has some of the aerobic strength from his near cross country All-American miss this past fall.
Then, this past weekend, Llaneza won an incredibly competitive 800-meter race at the Dennis Craddock Coaches Invitational with a personal best mark of 1:49.13 (0.25 seconds faster than his previous PR from last year’s outdoor national meet prelim).
Add in his 3:46 metric mile effort from a few weeks ago, and it looks like he is virtually a lock for a double All-American finish. It's been great to see that Llaneza is already in postseason form in April.
4. Christopher Collet, Senior, Wartburg (+1 / 5)
We often talk about the outdoor track season being Collet’s best because of the inclusion of the steeplechase, but sometimes he puts down a performance that reminds you how great he is without barriers as well.
His 13:55 (5k) PR at UW-Platteville did just that this past weekend. And his metric mile win at his home meet over Noah Jorgenson was a pretty nice performance as well. Collet’s form these last two weeks has been great, and it seems to indicate that his 9:00 season-opening mark in the steeplechase is due to be blown out of the water soon.
3. Ethan Gregg, Senior, UW-La Crosse (0 / 3)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
2. Christian Patzka, Junior, UW-Whitewater (-1 / 1)
Taking our TSR #1 ranking away from Christian Patzka was an incredibly tough decision, especially since he has been quite solid recently. After winning the 1500 meters at his home meet, albeit in a somewhat pedestrian time, he put together an 8:43 steeplechase effort at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
That was just one second shy of his personal best which was set in a national meet final, so Patzka is ahead of where he was in the event at this time last year. Ultimately, we were just too impressed with Booth-Genthe to not move him up...but that doesn’t mean that we don’t still view Patzka very highly.
1. Bennett Booth-Genthe, Junior, Pomona-Pitzer (+1 / 2)
A 1:48.08 (800) mark at the Bryan Clay Invitational improves upon Bennett Booth-Genthe’s personal best by a quarter of a second and brings him within arms reach of the 1:47 territory.
When you consider that he has a mile PR of 4:00 and that he has a national title in that event from the indoor track season, the gap between him and the next-best middle distance runners starts to look more like a chasm.
In previous national meets, Booth-Genthe has only contested one of the mile/1500-meter or half-mile. But if he were to ever decide to double, this would be the season for it. It will take a special effort to knock him off in either event.
Adam Loenser (UW-La Crosse)
Spencer Moon (Simpson (IA))
Enrique Salazar (Manchester)
KICKED OFF
Vince Simonetti (RPI)
Grant Matthai (UW-La Crosse)
Frank Csorba (Lynchburg)
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Vince Simonetti (RPI)
Grant Matthai (UW-La Crosse)
Frank Csorba (Lynchburg)
Isaac vanWestrienen (Cornell College)
Caleb Correia (John Carroll)
Lance Sobaski (Wartburg)
Ethan Domitrovich (John Carroll)
Nate Lentz (Williams)
Simon Heys (Wilmington (OH))
Jayden Zywicki (UW-La Crosse)
Aidan Matthai (UW-La Crosse)
Will Kelly (St. Olaf)
Sam Acquaviva (MIT)
Ryan Harvey (Loras)
Braden Nicholson (North Central)
John Lucey (Williams)
Trevor Richwine (Dickinson)
Braedon Gilles (UW-Stevens Point)
Tyler Schermerhorn (Wartburg)
Michael Olson (Plymouth State)
Derek Fearon (Pomona-Pitzer)
Jake Shumaker (Millikin)
Charles Namiot (Williams)
Dawit Dean (Emory)
Spencer Watry (Emory)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
TJ Carleo (Brandeis)
Ryan Hagan (SUNY Geneseo)
Ivan Appleton (Tufts)
Joe Franke (Loras)
Reza Eshghi (Haverford)
Ned Farrington (Bates)
Henry Hardart (MIT)
Emmanuel Leblond (Johns Hopkins)
Lowell Hensgen (MIT)
Will Goddard (Bowdoin)
Parker Heintz (UW-La Crosse)
Adam Sylvia (Central College)
Andrew McGovern (Carnegie Mellon)
Elijah Meder (Hope)
Kyle Miller (Buena Vista)
Calvin Boone (St. Scholastica)
Chase Upmann (Carthage)
Ziyad Hassan (MIT)
Oscar Roering (Pomona-Pitzer)
Will Houser (Washington U.)
Connor Riss (North Central)
Lucas Florsheim (Pomona-Pitzer)
Cameron Hatler (Pomona-Pitzer)
Adam Sage (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
Michael Madoch (UW-La Crosse)
Mason Shea (UW-Eau Claire)
Aidan Manning (UW-La Crosse)
Peter Weiss (George Fox)
Steven Potter (UW-Oshkosh)
Sean Hendricks (Rochester)
Notes
- N/A