2022 D1 Indoor Top 25 Rankings (Men): Preseason (Part One)

Additional contributions by Michael Weidenbruch

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.

25. Colton Johnsen, Senior, Washington State

Here's a fun fact: No active runner in the NCAA has a mile personal best AND a 3000 meter personal best AND a 5000 meter personal best that are all faster than what Johnsen has run...although George Kusche and Kieran Lumb are very close.

Sure, some athletes may be faster when you combine those three marks and try to compare, but the point that I'm trying to get across is that Johnsen boasts a very rare level of versatility. With personal bests of 3:57 (mile), 7:53 (3k) and 13:34 (5k), Johnsen has found a way to make himself standout in an era where distance running has become dramatically more competitive.

Johnsen's versatility is great, and he has proven that he can be nationally competitive in pretty much any distance event, including the steeplechase. However, the NCAA is getting faster and Johnsen's performances at the latest indoor and outdoor national meets failed to yield an All-American finish.

There's no question that this Washington State standout is incredibly talented. However, Johnsen will need to capitalize on his versatility in order to earn a top finish against the nation's most elite distance talents. His recent 5k personal best at Boston University shows us that he's still at the top of his game, but finishing as the 13th-best collegian in that field tells us that there is still plenty of work for him to do.

If Johnsen makes the proper adjustments, he could be one of the most dangerous names in the country by season's end.

24. Aaron Bienenfeld, Senior, Oregon

Much like Johnsen, this Oregon star can toe the line for any long distance event and thrive. With personal bests of 7:50 (3k), 13:31 (5k) and 28:10 (10k), it feels like a requirement for Bienenfeld to be listed in these rankings, especially after a cross country season where he finished 18th at the national meet.

The former Cincinnati Bearcat was a stud last year, earning strong finishes, big-time personal bests and a 5th place All-American finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 5000 meters.

Bienenfeld is an aerobic beast who is typically able to stick with most aggressive paces -- or at the very least, thrive in those settings. He was a legitimate threat on the national stage last winter and it looks like he has only gotten better since coming to Oregon.

In theory, Bienenfeld should be ranked higher considering his spot in our rankings last year. However, with the rest of the NCAA getting faster in his primary events, and a winter cross country season no longer splitting teams between national meets, this veteran will have his work cut out for him over the next few months.

23. George Kusche, Junior, Northern Arizona

Kusche's decision to transfer to NAU was a massive one. The Lumberjacks were surely happy to add another All-American-caliber talent to their roster, but the real storyline was how NAU would impact Kusche -- not the other way around.

Kusche is a very challenging name to gauge. He is easily one of the most versatile distance runners in the country, even rivaling our TSR #25 runner, Colton Johnsen. However, with personal bests of 3:57 (mile), 7:50 (3k) and 13:28 (5k), Kusche boasts a level of firepower that Johnsen hasn't quite discovered yet.

Despite having those incredible accolades, postseason success is something that had been fairly elusive for Kusche prior to his arrival in Flagstaff.

Despite winning the BIG 10 individual cross country title last winter, Kusche was never a cross country All-American at Nebraska despite his three attempts at the national meet. He was never an All-American on the indoor oval or outdoor oval and was never a BIG 10 champion on the track.

Kusche has struggled to race tactically and he hasn't been great on the biggest stages. However, his recent move to Northern Arizona yielded an All-American finish this past fall. That result goes a long way in our eyes, leading us to believe that Kusche can deliver on his true potential come March.

22. Yusuf Bizimana, Freshman, Texas

When Texas landed this UK-based rookie, we weren't sure what to expect. Bizimana's claim to fame was that he had run 1:46 for 800 meters. However, just like most elite athletes who are new to the NCAA, we wanted to see how he would consistently handle top collegiate competition.

As it turns out, Bizimana had no problems adjusting to the NCAA.

The Texas star ran a 3:57 mile personal best, won three BIG 12 titles between the indoor and outdoor seasons, ran under 1:47 on three separate occasions and earned two All-American finishes between the indoor (mile) and outdoor (800) national meets, placing 8th and 7th, respectively.

Bizimana may not be happy with his national meet performances, but given his relative inexperience with NCAA competition, there is a ton to like about this guy. He never had a poor result, he put himself in positions to win and he ran fast times on more than one occasion.

Make no mistake, there is still plenty of room for improvement for this Texas star. Even so, we don't have any reason to believe that he won't be a nationally competitive name this winter.

21. Sean Dolan, Rs. Freshman, Villanova

Sean Dolan was never supposed to run as well as he did last year.

As a redshirt rookie, this Villanova runner peaked perfectly for the postseason. Then, when he was at the national meet, he showed poise and tactical awareness that many NCAA elites never develop.

Last winter, Dolan ran a flat-track converted sub-four mile towards the tail-end of the regular season. Then, he had back-to-back races where he ran 3:57 in both the prelims and the finals of the NCAA Indoor Championships.

In both rounds, Dolan showed off tactical awareness and patience that you would expect out of a veteran. In the finals, he perfectly positioned himself for success at the tail-end of the race and walked away with a 6th place All-American finish.

On the outdoor oval, Dolan would go on to run 3:38 for 1500 meters -- which validated his breakout indoor campaign -- and would also run 1:48 for 800 meters. However, his personal best would come in the summer where he ran 1:46.

Dolan didn't make it out of the East Regional Championships in the 1500 meters, claiming the dreadful title of "First Man Out" in his region with a 13th place finish.

Even so, there is so much to like about Dolan. He is a middle distance star who understands positioning, timing and spacing so much better than anyone his age should. The Villanova standout isn't perfect, and we will still need to see him do great things more than once, but you should only expect greatness from a guy who now has the resume to be amongst the best.

20. Sam Tanner, Sophomore, Washington

Gosh, what a tricky runner to figure out.

Sam Tanner has the credentials of a superstar. The New Zealander has broken numerous records in the 1500 meters and the mile throughout his young career, posting eye-catching times that could make him a nationally competitive pro runner despite his youth.

The problem, however, is that Tanner struggled to deliver in the postseason last year.

Last winter, Tanner ran a monster time of 3:34 for 1500 meters on the indoor oval. He finished runner-up to Ollie Hoare in that race and took down a slew of highly accomplished pro runners in the process.

Then, he essentially cruised to a time of 3:55 in the mile.

Tanner was viewed as someone who could threaten Hocker for the mile national title. However, a bizarre and very slow preliminary round resulted in Tanner making a handful tactical mistakes. As a result, he was shockingly left out of the final.

Fast forward to the outdoor season and Tanner never really got back in the groove. He was beaten by numerous collegiates in a very fast 1500 meter effort during the regular season and then finished 10th at the outdoor national meet, failing to earn All-American honors.

Make no mistake, Tanner is elite. Very elite. Running 3:34 for 1500 meters on an indoor track and beating multiple professional stars doesn't just happen by accident. That performance and a handful of other results suggests that he can win a national title.

Admittedly, our confidence in Tanner would improve if we saw a bit more consistency out of him. Even so, this Washington Husky has a legitimate shot at winning gold this winter if his best race of the season comes at the national meet.

19. Jack Salisbury, Rs. Senior, Georgetown

Coming out of high school in 2016, Jack Salisbury was one of the nation’s top recruits.

Admittedly, his first couple of seasons at Georgetown were somewhat unspectacular. Salisbury made encouraging progress, but he didn't produce any results that would make him a truly competitive at the national level.

However, in 2021, Salisbury burst onto the scene and started to deliver on the superstar expectations that we had given to him as just a young recruit. This past spring, the Georgetown ace had a huge season which he ended with personal bests of 3:56 in the mile (outdoors) and 3:37 in the 1500 meters.

At the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Salisbury would end up having one of the best postseason peaks of anyone in the NCAA. The Hoya star placed 6th overall in the 1500 meters to take home his first All-American honors, displaying outstanding race tactics in the process.

While Jack Salisbury is one of the best milers in the country, his greatest successes are concentrated pretty heavily in just one event. Not only that, but we haven't seen him have national-level success on the indoor oval yet.

Even so, Salisbury has proven that he is a true star who was able to deliver on his high expectations. He has evolved into one of the best tacticians in the NCAA and he can seemingly hold his own in any event.

However, we'll be interested to see if he can translate that success to the indoor track and if he can continue to capitalize on his impressive consistency from last spring.

18. Adam Fogg, Junior, Drake

I was wildly impressed by Fogg last year. In fact, I was so impressed that I'm currently questioning if we're ranking him too low.

Last winter, the Drake standout ran under 4:00 in the mile not once, not twice, but THREE times, recording marks of 3:59, 3:59 and 3:57. The Drake Bulldog qualified for the indoor national meet where he showed, without question, some of the best poise, patience, composure and tactical awareness of anyone in the distance events.

And yes, that includes Cole Hocker.

At the indoor national meet, Fogg perfectly handled a very bizarre and very tactical preliminary round in the mile despite most of the field struggling to properly respond. In the finals, he had a clear understanding of when he needed to surge and when he needed to let the pack form in front of him.

As a result, Fogg was rewarded with a 4th place finish and his 3:57 personal best.

Then, on the outdoor oval, Fogg ran a personal best of 13:58 for 5000 meters. At the Drake Relays, he narrowly missed securing the win over Ryan Adams en route to a 3:38 personal best for 1500 meters. However, Fogg was still able to take down established distance talents like Sam Gilman, Takieddine Hedeilli, Sean Torpy, Juan Diego Castro, Cameron Ponder, etc.

After a sub-29:30 personal best for 10,000 meters and later qualifying for the outdoor national meet, Fogg struggled a bit in the prelims of the 1500 meters and was unable to advance to the finals.

While he may not be perfect, Fogg is still a strong tactician -- maybe even one of the best in the entire NCAA. He doesn't quite have the same insanely fast times that someone like Hocker, Nuguse and Teare do, but a 3:57 mile PR is no joke, especially when you can pair it with exceptional race tactics.

There is still another level to be reached for Adam Fogg. However, when he gets there, he'll be more of a problem for his NCAA competitors than he already is.

17. Jason Gomez, Rs. Sophomore, Iowa State

Gomez was a name who we went back-and-forth on for a while. His breakout campaign during the 2021 indoor and outdoor track seasons was absolutely incredible, as was his consistency throughout the entire year.

Gomez, who transferred from Notre Dame de Namur in the summer of 2020, asserted himself as one of the nation's most elite half-milers last year. He recorded a personal best of 1:47.02 in his very first meet as a Cyclone and actually ran under 1:48 a total of five different times between the indoor and outdoor seasons.

We also can't forget how Gomez split a blistering time of 2:48 on the lead-off leg of Iowa State's DMR, beating Cole Hocker in the process. Oh, and as an added bonus, Gomez also owns a 1000 meter personal best of 2:19.

For anyone who isn't familiar with that distance, that is a VERY fast time.

With a 5th place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships on his resume, Gomez feels like a name who will be competitive pretty much any time he toes the line...well, sorta.

Gomez was a DNF at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, struggled at the US Olympic Trials, and recently underwhelmed at the ISU Holiday Invitational after running 1:56 for 800 meters.

Could an unlucky fall or injury explain some of these results? Possibly, but it's not a great string of performances for someone whose greatest strength was consistency. Gomez has also never run under 1:47, leaving him without the firepower that some of these other 800 meter superstars have.

All of that being said, we would be more concerned with Gomez's recent efforts had he not run 2:21 for 1000 meters earlier this month. Based on that, it's more likely that Gomez has simply been the recipient of some old fashioned bad luck and that some of his recent results aren't indicative of his true fitness.

16. Samuel Voelz, Senior, Notre Dame

2021 was a breakout year for Voelz who validated suspicions that he could be one of the nation's premiere 800 meter runners.

The Notre Dame star finished 4th at the NCAA Indoor Championships, ran 1:46 for 800 meters at the ACC Outdoor Championships, qualified for the outdoor national meet (where he finished 10th) and later went on to run 1:45 at the US Olympic Trials where he placed 6th in the finals.

Voelz is a challenging name to gauge. He has proven to be a major force in the postseason, but it feels like he has never had a singular race where everything was absolutely perfect and it all came together.

The Fighting Irish ace had great races at the ACC Indoor Championships and the ACC Outdoor Championships where he finished runner-up at both meets, but it was also reasonable to think that he could have won both of those races.

His 4th place finish at the indoor national meet was probably the best result of his career, but his 10th place result at the outdoor national meet definitely left something to be desired.

Running a monster PR of 1:45 in the finals of the Olympic Trials shows us that he peaked perfectly for that meet, but it also leads us to believe that he was probably talented enough to stick with the blazing fast times that we saw out of Jewett, Miller, Hunter and McLear in the finals of the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

I'm hesitant to be too critical of Voelz because there really isn't anything on his resume that could be construed as a glaring weakness. Still, we know he's capable of more, especially when everything clicks for him on the right day.

15. Nico Young, Freshman, Northern Arizona

I know what you're all thinking.

"How on Earth is Nico Young, the nation's next great distance running megastar, ranked this low??? He ran 13:22 for 5000 meters on an indoor track!"

The arguments in favor of Young are plentiful. He's had major success since day one, he has earned valuable national meet experience despite his youth, he has posted some of the fastest 5k marks in the NCAA on multiple occasions and he thrives with aggressive paces.

On paper, there is a lot to like about this guy.

However, Young isn't perfect, either.

Although the Northern Arizona ace has proven that he can be one of the best 5k runners in the country, it's also fair to say that his resume lacks versatility. He has yet to run a non-cross country 10k and his 1500 meter marks are no faster than 3:44 when excluding conversions.

That lack of speed came back to hurt him last spring when he failed to advance out of a somewhat tactical preliminary round in the men's 5000 meters at the West Regional Championships.

Now, admittedly, Young would not be subject to this much scrutiny had he not accomplished what he did in high school. High expectations, of course, are what come with great success. So while it's fair to point out where Young can improve, it's also important that we recognize how much we are asking out of someone who is still so young.

And if anyone is going to be able to correct their tactical shortcomings, then it's going to be him.

It also doesn't hurt that Young may have the most raw talent in the country. If he can channel that fitness into a more effective tactical approach, then he'll be boarderline unstoppable, especially when he's a veteran.

14. Abdi Nur, Rs. Sophomore, Northern Arizona

Nur is an absolute stud and despite his eligibility, he feels more like a veteran than any sixth-year student-athletes I know. The NAU ace has countless experiences at national meets and has almost always delivered in the biggest spots.

At the NCAA XC Championships, Nur has finished 33rd, 7th and 7th. He also finished 3rd overall at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last spring, earning a huge personal best of 27:42 in what was easily the fastest and deepest 10k race in meet history. That was also the second time that he had run under 28:00 for the distance.

After recently running a 5k personal best of 13:22 at Boston University, Nur has assembled one of the best overall resumes of any true long distance runner in the country. He thrives in super fast races with his best performances coming from meets where the pace was considered to be aggressive.

However, just like Nico Young, speed isn't Nur's greatest attribute. His 1500 meter personal best of 3:43 is respectable, but there haven't been any instances where he has effectively translated that mark to the longer distances.

But that's probably because Nur hasn't really needed speed for the biggest moments of his career.

Whether it was the NCAA XC Championships, Boston University, the Drake Relays, the West Coast Relays or the outdoor national meet, Nur has always been in a position where he needed to rely on raw endurance rather than quick turnover.

In the grand scheme of things, Nur may be ranked too low on this list. However, the indoor oval will surely present a few more tactical opportunities for the Northern Arizona star to earn a few more spots in these rankings.

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Juan Diego Castro (Oklahoma State)

Sam Gilman (Air Force)

Barry Keane (Butler)

Drew Bosley (Northern Arizona)

Andrew Jordan (Georgetown)

Ehab El-Sandali (Iona)

Everett Smulders (Ole Miss)

Baylor Franklin (Ole Miss)

Tiarnan Crorken (Ole Miss)

Bashir Mosavel-Lo (Notre Dame)

Tom Dodd (Michigan)

Luis Peralta (Oregon)

Lucas Bons (BYU)

Crayton Carrozza (Texas)

Cameron Ponder (Furman)

Abdirizak Ibrahim (New Mexico)

Duncan Hamilton (Montana State)

Baldvin Magnusson (Eastern Michigan)

Shea Foster (Oklahoma State)

Ahmed Jaziri (Eastern Kentucky)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Simon Bedard (Butler)

Brandon Garnica (BYU)

Casey Clinger (BYU)

Ackeen Colley (Western Illinois)

Kieran Taylor (Arkansas)

Zach Facioni (Wake Forest)

Marco Vilca (Texas Tech)

Christopher Conrad (Missouri)

Davis Bove (LSU)

Zach Stallings (Washington State)

Ben Veatch (Indiana)

Cooper Williams (Indiana) Antonio Lopez Segura (Virginia Tech)

Andrew Kent (Colorado)

Isai Rodriguez (Oklahoma State)

James Young (Ole Miss)