2022 D3 Indoor Top 15 Rankings (Men): Preseason

Written by Hannah Thorn, Kevin Fischer & Brett Haffner, additional notes by Garrett Zatlin

Click here to see Just Missed names

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

TFRRS is used as a general guide when determining eligibility.

15. Jacob Ridderhoff, Sophomore, Washington U.

Ridderhoff continued his streak of being a consistent contributor for the Bears during the cross country season this past fall, being a reliable top scorer and running right around 24:40 for 8000 meters on the grass.

His 88th place finish at the cross country national meet isn’t truly representative of his actual distance prowess, but it's still a solid mark considering that his biggest strengths often arise on the track.

Returning as last year's runner-up in the 1500 meters at the outdoor national meet, Ridderhoff is easily one of the best milers in D3, and has been for the last couple of years. His personal bests of 3:47 (1500) and 4:13 (mile) are very legit and not many others in the D3 have bested those, especially his 1500 mark.

That 1500 meter time is strong and we believe that he can translate that fitness to the indoor oval where Ridderhoff could potentially dip under 4:10. The Washington U. standout proved last spring that his tactics are amongst the best in the nation, leaving us with very little to dislike when looking at his resume.

14. Steven Potter, Junior, UW-Oshkosh

Known for his dastardly kick and some incredible speed, Potter brings a strong hint of versatility to the table from the 400 meters up to the mile. However, what's even more impressive is that Potter can extend his range even further after a very solid cross country season.

This past fall, Potter usually ended up as one of the Titans’ top runners in most meets and even nearly broke 25:00 a few times. After wrapping up fall competition, Potter went to the track, posting a mark of 1:52.6 for 800 meters with the competition being nowhere close to him.

If his cross country season and rust-buster 800 meter performance say anything, it's that Potter is going to be ready for this track season. He has quietly great experience and is likely aiming to carry the high of his 4th place finish from the outdoor national meet into the winter months.

With a personal best of 1:50, is it possible that he scares that barrier this winter if he gets into the right race? It's not entirely out of the question...

13. Nicholas Hoffman, Senior, Hope

Another guy who made some incredible jumps heading into last spring was Nicholas Hoffman who was the 3rd place finisher in the 1500 meters at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships, running 3:47 in the process.

In the last, albeit abbreviated, indoor track season, Hoffman ran marks of 4:09 in the mile and 8:26 in the 3000 meters. Those two events seem to be his ideal distances across the racing spectrum.

Hoffman should be someone to look out for in either of those events as he aims for All-American honors. Last spring was his first appearance at a national meet of any kind and he still came away with a bronze medal.

With experience now under his belt, this Hope College veteran should have a good shot at making noise on the national stage once again come March.

12. Ryan Harvey, Freshman, Loras

Harvey had a solid cross country season where he finished 3rd at the highly competitive American Rivers Conference Championships.

The oval, however, is where he is most formidable.

As a freshman last spring, he ran 3:50 in the 1500 meters and qualified for the outdoor national meet, ultimately finishing 13th. While that might not have been a top All-American result, it was still encouraging to see this Loras ace get some national meet experience.

There were fairly high expectations for Harvey coming into this indoor season, but he is already beginning to exceed them.

Loras' season opener at the Dubuque Championships saw him run 4:10.50 for the mile in a solo effort. The mile will be a tightly contested event this year, but Ryan Harvey will absolutely be in the national title conversation along with the Pommiers and the Ridderhoffs of the world.

Not only does he now have the necessary experience, but he also has the exciting upside that comes with being a young, rising talent who has exposure to racing at the national meet.

11. Simon Heys, Sophomore, Wilmington (OH)

After qualifying for the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 10,000 meters, Heys had reaped the rewards of a hard-earned track season with a 13th place finish. That, however, clearly wasn’t enough.

Heys had a monstrous performance during the 2021 cross country season, placing 5th at the national meet and dipping under 24:00 on the blazing-fast Louisville course.

There will likely be many opportunities for Heys to duke it out with the likes of Alex Phillip and the John Carroll crew this year. In return, that could propel this rising star to even higher levels than what we have already seen.

The spring season showed us that he has the talent. The fall season showed us that he has refined his talent. Now, with this winter season fast approaching, we will likely see all of that come together as Heys looks primed to take another leap upwards.

10. David Fassbender, Senior, UW-Whitewater

When Fassbender finished 6th at the 2019 NCAA XC Championships, it was considered to be an incredible performance for the then-junior. However, he’s become even better since then, qualifying for the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships in both the 5k and the 10k, earning an 11th place finish in each race.

We believe Fassbender has never been more fit than he is now, but he earned another 6th place finish yet again at the cross country national meet this past fall. That is a testament to how strong D3 has become since the pandemic began.

Fassbender can be a threat anywhere from the mile, 3k or 5k...or even anchoring a potential DMR with his Warhawk teammates. It will be very interesting to see what he tackles throughout the season, but regardless, we expect him to be a major name on the national leaderboard and in our discussions.

After all, that's just what we expect from Fassbender -- he'll always be on our radar.

9. Miles Christensen, Junior, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

Miles Christensen was one of two Stags to have a huge day at Boston University to open up the indoor season. He ran 8:13 for 3000 meters, two seconds behind teammate Henry Pick.

Christensen ran 14:24 for 5000 meters in 2019 during his freshman year, but since CMS was one of the schools that did not compete last year due to Covid, it would be understandable to forget just what he is capable of.

Well, with that 3k performance, he just sent out a reminder to everyone.

His name is on everybody’s radar now, and while he has not yet earned any All-American honors, that should change in the next few months if everything goes according to plan. We'll be excited to see what he can do in the 5k following that outstanding 3k performance.

8. Tyler Morris, Sophomore, Colby

Going into this fall, Morris was already a cross country All-American with some solid 5000 meter results on the track. However, this year he was a different runner altogether.

He placed 7th at the NCAA XC Championships this past fall, but his dominance in New England throughout the season was something to behold. He went undefeated until the national meet and every win was by over 30 seconds.

It’s not like he was running against nobodies, either.

Six of the top-seven finishers at the NCAA East Regional Championships ended up being All-Americans the next week, and Morris was 37 seconds ahead of all of them.

Now, maybe if he had eased up and done just enough to win, he may have been more in the mix for a national title a week later, but who knows -- you can’t fault him for having the mentality of giving everything in a race even when nobody is around.

Luckily for him, his recent performances on the grass are already translating to the track as he ran 14:23 at the Elm City Classic this past weekend. Even then, we think he has a shot to chop a few more seconds off of that time and eventually run a nationally competitive mark in the 3k as well.

We're also curious to see what he could do in the mile, just to see what his speed is like as his current 1500 meter mark of 4:09 is not at all indicative of his actual talent.

7. Joe Freiburger, Senior, Wartburg

Freiburger finishing 8th at the cross country national meet really speaks to the depth of D3 distance running this year. After all, this is a guy who ran 14:00 for 5000 meters on the track! Freiburger didn’t have a bad national meet or a bad fall season by any means, there were just seven guys who were better than him on that day.

Earlier this month, the Wartburg ace went to GVSU to open up his indoor track season and ran 14:18 for 5000 meters, a result that was very solid, albeit a bit overshadowed by Alex Phillip’s sub-14 performance.

As impressive as the other D3 guys have been, you can never count out Freiburger as a national title contender in the 5k. He’s capable of big things in his final year at Wartburg and by championship season, he should pose a serious threat to the top guys in the nation.

He's experienced, incredibly proven, has shown that he can stick with fast paces and has never given us a reason to doubt him.

6. Gabriel Pommier, Senior, North Central

Pommier carried the North Central torch in a strong way this past fall, finishing as the Cardinals’ top man throughout the cross country season and snagging a 15th place All-American finish at the cross country national meet, too.

However, we’d be remiss to not acknowledge how strong Pommier is when he steps on the oval. The reigning national champion the 1500 meters, this North Central star has the strength and range to bring home another national title this winter in the mile, or even to battle for gold in the 3k as well.

His 3:46 mark for 1500 meters and his 4:09 personal best in the mile are not to be messed with. Pommier can stick with most fast paces and still execute a game plan, making him one of the more challenging names to take down.

5. Elias Lindgren, Junior, Williams

Serving as one half of the best 1-2 punch in D3, Lindgren has soared from being a solid runner to one of the most elite talents in the division.

Lindgren had a major breakout race this past June, running 13:53 in the 5000 meters at the Stumptown Twilight Invite out in Oregon, solidifying that his return to D3 cross country in the fall would be dangerous for everyone else.

Spoiler alert, it sure was.

Lindgren was in the lead at this year's cross country meet with 200 meters to go, ultimately finishing just behind eventual national champion Alex Phillip as the result of a kick. Even so, this Williams star helped make the race what it was, turning it into the deepest and fastest cross country national meet D3 has ever seen.

Lindgren recently ventured to Boston University where he ran 14:15 for 5000 meters, giving him a really solid indoor mark to start off the winter season.

We are very excited to see what he’ll do this track season. He seems to have a fairly decent gauge on how to race against his competition and it's clear that he knows how to translate his raw fitness from this past summer to top finishes on the national stage.

4. Henry Pick, Junior, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

This fall, Pick performed at his best when it mattered most.

Prior to conference championship weekend, Pick had finished outside of the top-10 in every regular season meet, but then he went on a rampage.

He won the SCIAC XC Championships over a very competitive field, finished runner-up at the West Regional Championships behind teammate Stevie Steinberg and concluded his season with a surprising 3rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.

Pick only got stronger throughout the fall season, and so far it has carried over to indoor oval. Earlier this month at Boston University, Pick ran 8:11 in the 3000 meters, a top-10 all-time mark in D3 history.

This Claremont-Mudd-Scripps ace has truly burst onto the scene in the last couple months and it will be intriguing to see how he continues to progress. We're not sure how, but he found a switch and flipped it.

In terms of momentum, few athletes in D3 are on a streak hotter than Pick is right now.

3. Aidan Ryan, Senior, Williams

After running 13:51 for the 5000 meters last spring during his gap year, Aidan Ryan returned to collegiate competition this past fall.

The Williams ace had a solid season, recording wins at the Connecticut College Invitational and Mideast Regional Championships. He ultimately finished 4th place in a super strong field at the NCAA XC Championships.

Ryan was the 1500 meter national champion in 2019, so it's clear that he has the range to be nationally competitive in anything from the mile through the 5000 meters this indoor season.

It will be interesting to see what route he chooses come March. In our opinion, the 5k will be harder to win considering the likes of John Carroll’s Alex Phillip, fellow Williams teammate Elias Lindgren and others, but you can never count out someone who has an illustrious of a record as Aidan Ryan.

After all, maybe his mile prowess makes him a bigger threat in the longer distances given his potential to thrive in a tactical setting...but let's save that conversation for March.

2. Mike Jasa, Junior, Loras

There’s been not much of a question that Jasa is D3’s best 800 meter runner after his unbelievable 2021 track campaign, with an outdoor PR of 1:50.00 and an 800 meter national title to his name.

Yet, just this past weekend, he set that status even more in stone.

He opened up his indoor season in the 800 meters in a blistering time of 1:50.13.

If he’s starting off this season at that point already, who knows where he’ll end up during the winter. With guys like Ryan Harvey and Loras’ deep 400 meter group in tow, we could see Jasa in the 800 meters, the DMR and the 4x400.

There’s are a lot of different scenarios that could involve Jasa by the time the national meet rolls around. However, regardless of whatever those scenarios are, Jasa is the clear favorite to take home gold in the half-mile this year and right now, it's hard to argue against that.

1. Alex Phillip, Sophomore, John Carroll

In a season that was one to remember, Phillip walked away from the 2021 cross country season as the national champion, setting a meet record in the process (23:27).

Undefeated against D3 competition this year, his only losses on the grass came from five D1 runners at the Paul Short Invite -- two of which were D1 All-Americans this year. Dominant in every fashion, this fall was Phillip’s sphere of influence and everybody else got to witness it.

That doesn’t even include his post-cross country track race, going sub-14:00 in the 5000 meters by running 13:58 at Grand Valley State against some quality competition. If that says anything, Phillip is going to be one hard dude to beat this track season in the distance events.

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

- Ben Kuxmann (Millikin)

- Ethan Gregg (UW-La Crosse)

- Travis Martin (Trinity (CT))

- Frank Csorba (Lynchburg)

- Christopher Collet (Wartburg)