2022 D2 Indoor Top 25 Rankings (Men): Preseason (Part Two)

John Cusick
Dec 19, 2021
13 min read

Updated: Dec 24, 2021

Additional contributions by Sam Ivanecky and Nate Lopez

Click here to see our Just Missed and Honorable Mention names.

Click here to see Part One of our rankings.

Listed eligibility takes redshirts and Covid-related extensions into consideration.

TFRRS is used as a general guide when determining eligibility.

13. Dylan Ko, Senior, Colorado Mines

Dylan Ko is coming into the indoor season off of a great fall of racing. The Mines veteran opened up this past cross country season placing 4th at the Chile Pepper XC Festival, losing only to two Division 1 runners and fellow teammate Dillon Powell. Earning a 4th place finish was a bit of a theme for the Mines grad student, as he finished in the same position at both the RMAC XC Championships and the NCAA XC Championships.

In 2021, Ko ended the indoor season ranked at NCAA #6 on the national leaderboard for both the 3000 meters and 5000 meters. Those positions translated well at the indoor national meet where Ko would finish 7th and 4th, respectively.

Things kept rolling during the outdoor season as Ko would notch another pair of top-10 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Between those seasons, Ko set personal bests in the 3k, 5k and 10k.

All of this to say, Ko keeps trending in the right direction. In three seasons, he's had five national races resulting in five top-10 finishes. If the distance fields weren’t so deep already, Ko would likely be even higher in these rankings.

Given where he’s at right now, a similar finish to 2021 seems like an appropriate expectation. If he’s able to reset those personal bests again, he would (likely) become a contender for a national title.

12. Titus Lagat, Freshman, Lee (Tenn.)

Titus Lagat didn’t do anything particularly spectacular this cross country season, but he did wrap it up with an 8k personal best, breaking the 25-minute barrier. Considering Lagat focuses on the middle distance events during track season, his cross country results have pointed towards a promising indoor campaign.

The Lee standout opened up the 2022 indoor season with a solid mile/800m double at the BSC Indoor Icebreaker. Lagat clocked a new mile personal best of 4:10, following it up with an 800 meter run in 1:53. Considering he’s coming off a distance-oriented fall and almost certainly “hasn’t started speed work" yet, the results are a solid start.

After a less-than-ideal performance at last year’s indoor national meet, Lagat bounced back and finished 3rd at the outdoor edition of the “Big Dance”. Assuming he is able to build on his current fitness over the next few months, Lagat should be a solid bet to be in the mix for the indoor 800 title.

11. Dillon Powell, Sophomore, Colorado Mines

Powell was five minutes away from having one of the most legendary runs in cross country history at NCAA XC Championships this past fall. Then, things took a turn, and Powell was ultimately unable to finish the race.

But what we saw from Powell prior to the cross country national meet was something that you love to see from someone who believes they are the best. Commanding victories at the RMAC XC Championships and the South Central Regional Championships placed him on the map for the NCAA meet and that will also place him at TSR #11 in our preseason rankings.

The biggest thing that brings Powell inside the top-half of our rankings is his ability to race from the gun. It’s clear that his intention every time he toes the line is to run harder than everyone else. We’ve seen that kind of tactic be successful in years past across divisions. If Powell had ended his cross country season on the high note that he was looking for, then he’d probably have snuck up a few more spots in these rankings.

The Mines star ended the outdoor track season with a 5th place finish in the 5000 meters at the outdoor national meet and that was a really nice bounce back after back-to-back 11th place finishes in the 3k and 5k during the indoor national meet.

We do have to recognize the fact that his personal bests are substantially slower than his competition at 8:11 (3k) and 14:11 (5k). Of course, Powell and the rest of his teammates often train and race at altitude, so in reality, conversions make those marks much faster and a better indication of his fitness.

Powell ran 29:15 for 10,000 meters this past season in cross country and while it won’t directly translate to the track, there’s no reason to believe that Powell won’t be back in the mix of things and setting some new personal bests along the way.

In theory, Powell may have the best chance of making substantial improvements in our rankings compared to the other names in our Top 25 rankings.

10. CarLee Stimpfel, Junior, Saginaw Valley State

The Cardinal athlete has three All-American awards to his name, but none of them have come on the track. After finishing in the 20's the first two NCAA XC Championships that he raced, Stimpfel found himself on the podium, receiving bronze for his efforts at the NCAA XC Championships.

Now that we are nearing Christmas break, Stimpfel has debuted for the indoor track season with a modest 5000 meter mark of 14:17. That’s a far cry from where he was at this time last year and from his personal best set later on during the 2021 indoor season.

Last winter, Stimpfel ran 4:11 (mile), 8:04 (3k) and 13:51 (5k) all in the span of three weeks. He then proceeded to snag the GLIAC 3k title over the likes of Isaac Harding, Tanner Chada and Caleb Futter -- and that was the second time he had secured a major win of that GVSU contingent as he bested Harding and Chada when he ran 13:51 earlier that season.

Now, of course, those performances don't hold as much weight when the best results don’t happen during the most important time of the year. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Stimpfel finished 10th place in both the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters. He followed that up with a 14th place finish in the 5000 meters at the outdoor national meet.

A huge breakthrough during the cross country season has us believing that Stimpfel will experience the same kind of breakthrough on the national stage this indoor season. If he races like he did in Florida, then there’s no reason why we can’t be talking about this Saginaw athlete as a potential title winner.

9. Carson Bix, Senior, Lee (Tenn.)

In a rather shocking turn of events, Bix finds himself finishing up his career as a Lee Flame instead of an Adams State Grizzly. And in doing so, it has us wondering if it’ll be a successful move, or one that gets puzzled looks from some of those who follow along with the D2 scene.

Bix solidified himself as a very strong all-around runner last season. Despite not contesting an individual event at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Bix helped the Grizzlies to a 6th place finish in the DMR after running the second-fastest mile split in the field. That was followed by a 2nd place finish in the 5000 meters at the outdoor national meet with one of the better racing strategies we had seen that weekend.

Bix raced twice during the cross country season and didn’t disappoint. After finishing 10th at the South Central Regional Championships, he followed that up with a 7th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships, helping lead the Grizzlies to a runner-up finish behind Grand Valley in the team title race.

Bix has shown his ability to race on the biggest stages, and he’ll find himself on another when as he heads to Lee (Tenn.) for his final semester. When he's at his best, he can be one of the better talents in the nation. He's a great tactician and is capable of posting nationally competitive times in anything from the mile to the 3k to the 5k.

After all, it's hard to ignore a 5k personal best of 13:46.

8. Luke Julian, Junior, Colorado Mines

Luke Julian had a cross country season that most would be quite content with, all things considered. Although its conclusion didn’t quite match up to the rest of it, it’s still nothing to scoff at, especially when it was added to Julian’s already extensive resume.

Last winter, Julian nearly had all of Division 2’s middle distance runners in a chokehold with a jaw-dropping converted mile performance of 3:58. While he didn't win a title, Julian was still an All-American at the indoor national meet with a top-five finish in the mile (placing 4th). Unfortunately, the Colorado Mines star didn't fully deliver on expectations at the outdoor national meet, but was still an All-American yet again.

This past fall, Julian notched personal bests in both the 8k and 10k this fall, so if anything, he’s just as fit as he ever was.

We’ve seen what he can do before, so if he builds off of this fitness, then the sky’s the limit. However, applying that fitness to the national stage will be the biggest thing to watch for Mines' star moving forward.

7. Ezra Mutai, Sophomore, American International

The end of the cross country season was not what Mutai had in mind after such a dominant 2021 season. While finishing 11th at the NCAA XC Championships isn’t a bad result in most people’s eyes, Mutai was likely looking for greater accomplishments.

As we head into the indoor season, Mutai has yet to debut, but when he does so, he’s expected to drop right into the conversation as a 5000 meter title threat, as well as a strong contender within the 3000 meter ranks. Mutai’s personal bests don’t hold the same kind of weight that a few of the others in D2 currently have, but he does have an NCAA title on the grass and took home the 10k crown last outdoor season over Isaac Harding.

The American International star will probably need to improve upon his 8:02 (3k) and 14:02 (5k) marks for him to have a legitimate shot at winning an NCAA title this indoor season. Some signs that he’s trending in that direction stem from his 2021 cross country season.

We understand that times on the grass don’t mean as much, but he ran 23:56 over an 8k course at the NEICAAA XC Championships and then proceeded to run 29:16 over the course of 10,00 meters at the East Regional Championships.

His personal best in the 10k on the track is 28:44.

We fully expect Mutai to burst through those 8:00 and 14:00 barrier this indoor season and when he does so, expect him to make a push for one or two more NCAA crowns.

6. Butare Rugenerwa, Junior, West Texas A&M

Coming in at TSR #6 on our rankings is the 800 meter outdoor champion who boasts a personal best of 1:48.33. That’s the second-fastest time for any of the returners from the NCAA qualifiers during both the indoor and outdoor seasons from last year.

The only name ahead of him is Dennis Mbuta, who he happened to beat at the outdoor national meet last year.

Now, after reading that sentence, the reader might be asking, "How come Rugenerwa isn’t ranked higher than just TSR #6?"

There is no doubt that Rugenerwa is in the discussion to win another 800 meter title, but that’s really the only event that he has shown promise in.

His personal best in the mile is 4:10 and he has also run 3:46 in the 1500 meters. There does seem to be some promise that he can make the transition into a more well-rounded middle distance athlete, but for right now, it’s clear that the 800 is his event and that he will most likely stick to that.

It’s worth noting that Rugenerwa ran his 800 meter personal best and his mile personal best on the same weekend at the Texas Relays in 2021. His 3:46 followed a month later and that extra bit of strength seemed to be the most important factor during the outdoor season.

If he returns to that kind of form during the indoor season, then he will be a threat to Mbuta’s indoor crown.

5. Tony Torres, Rs. Junior, Colorado Mesa

Arguably the biggest breakout performance of the year came when this Maverick athlete nearly broke 4:00, finishing 2nd to the newly-minted Ole Miss Rebel James Young last indoor season at the national meet. Torres followed up that performance in the spring with a 3rd place finish in the 1500 meters at the outdoor national meet in an extremely close race separated by a few hundredths of seconds.

Now, admittedly, Torres’ cross country season didn’t go as planned, with a poor finish at both the RMAC XC Championships and South Central Regional Championships.

However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that Torres is one of the best middle distance runners in D2. Plus, his racing life has likely gotten a bit easier with the transfers of Shane Bracken and James Young in the last few months.

Torres' mile mark of 4:00 is still his personal best and it's currently the sixth-fastest time in NCAA history. Add in his 3:44 personal best for 1500 meters and all signs point to Torres being able to run much faster than the 1:51 mark in the 800 meters.

Given that everyone who has beaten Torres in the mile/1500 in the last calendar year is no longer in the D2 ranks, Torres looks to be the immediate favorite in the historic event.

4. Dennis Mbuta, Senior, Grand Valley State

Mbuta becomes the first of three Lakers inside of our top-five and the reigning indoor champion at 800 meters will certainly play a part in the same race this season. Not to mention he’ll be an incredibly strong leg on Grand Valley’s DMR team, if not the most important one.

Mbuta finally claimed his first NCAA title last indoor season after holding off Seb Anthony from Queens in a thrilling race. It came on the heels of a 2nd place finish after Mbuta ran the 1200 meter leg of the Laker's DMR, solidifying him as one of the best middle distance runners in Division 2.

His highest finish prior to that was a 2nd place behind Thomas Staines during the 2019 indoor national meet and given Staines’ resume, it's hard to fault Mbuta for not winning that title. Mbuta also boasts a personal best of 4:03 over the course of a mile, making him one of four GVSU athletes with personal bests under the 4:05 barrier.

Mbuta was bested at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships by the aforementioned Rugenerwa and that could be considered a blemish on his resume. Of course, we don’t see it that way though.

The amount of experience he has -- combined with his tactical presence in seemingly every race that Mbuta has entered -- gives us confidence that he’ll be able to repeat as the 800 meter champion as well make a bid for an individual mile title if he chooses to do so.

3. Tanner Chada, Junior, Grand Valley State

The Hinckley native has quietly been one of the best runners in the country. After a 3rd place finish in the 5000 meters at the 2019 outdoor national meet, expectations have been set pretty high for Chada.

Since then, Chada has racked up four more All-American honors, bringing his total to six in his career. His recent runner-up result at the NCAA XC Championships was a 19-place improvement from his prior best finish and was a major reason why Grand Valley won their second team title in history.

Chada recently opened up his winter season a huge time of 13:45 for 5000 meters, a two-second improvement upon what he ran last year during the outdoor season.

That brings his personal bests to 4:03 (mile), 7:56 (3k), 13:45 (5k) and 29:07 (10k). While the 10,000 meter mark won’t come into play this indoor season, it furthers our point that Chada is a title contender in the 5000 meters, at the very least.

The GVSU star finished 13th last season in the 5000 meters at the indoor national meet and will be looking to redeem that result this season. We think there’s a very good chance that he can be a contender for an NCAA title in either the 3000 meters or 5000 meters...or both!

Surprisingly, Chada has not yet taken home All-American honors in the 5000 meters during indoors. After the end to his cross country season and his quick opener, there’s a very good chance that he changes that this season.

And don’t be surprised if Chada happens to win his first NCAA title in the process.

2. Christian Noble, Senior, Lee (Tenn.)

Noble’s name has not been mentioned as much as it was last year and a large part of that is due to an unfortunate injury during the NCAA Outdoor Championships and then a subpar finish at the NCAA XC Championships just a few weeks ago.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s remember two things:

Noble is the D2 collegiate record holder for both the 3000 meters (7:51) and the 5000 meters (13:37)
Noble is the reigning champion in both of those events from the 2021 indoor season.

Now that we remember that, Noble is just as much of a favorite to win both of these events again as the man who is slated in front of him in these rankings.

It goes without saying that Noble has helped transform the D2 running scene over the last couple of years. It also goes without saying that D2 is now seeing more and more elite runners join the ranks.

Noble opened his indoor season with a time of 13:52 for 5000 meters which currently sits as the NCAA #3 mark on the national leaderboard. That time would likely get him into the NCAA Indoor Championships if he chose not to run another 5k this season.

That won’t be the case, though. Noble opened his season last year with the D2 collegiate record of 13:37, so he has set the bar incredibly high for himself heading into this season.

We still expect to see some fireworks from Noble, and until we’re shown otherwise on the track, he’s fully expected to be competing for another NCAA title

1. Isaac Harding, Senior, Grand Valley State

Coming into the cross country season, there was some debate about who might be the best runner in the country. Now that the season is over, it’s a pretty clear-cut answer on who the best is...at least for the moment.

After finally winning his first national title in the 5000 meters last spring, Harding ensured that his name would be at the top of this list when he took home the cross country title in commanding fashion this past fall, all while leading the Lakers to their second team title in the last four years.

So far this winter, Harding has already shown out on the track, running a personal best of 13:41 for 5000 meters at the GVSU Holiday Open where he finished 3rd (only behind Olin Hacker and Baldvin Magnusson). That’s an overall personal best, shaving off two seconds off of his previous best of 13:43 set during the 2021 outdoor season.

When it comes down to it, Harding is the best all-around runner that Division 2 has to offer, at least at the moment.

When you combine his times of 4:03 (mile), 7:53 (3k), and 13:41 (5k), it’s fairly easy to have the Laker veteran as the odds-on favorite to win the 3k and 5k during the indoor season. It’s also not outrageous to believe that Harding might break 4:00 in the mile, giving Grand Valley State one of the most lethal teams in the country once again.