2022 D3 Indoor Top 15 Rankings (Men): Update #3

Brett Haffner
Feb 23, 2022
8 min read

Additional contributions by Garrett Zatlin

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.

KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

First number indicates how much the individual has moved in the rankings.

The second number indicates where they were ranked in our last update.

15. Tucker Cargile, Senior, Redlands (0 / 15)

Has not competed since our last update.

14. Tyler Morris, Sophomore, Colby (-7 / 7)

Sitting near the top of the 5000 meter national leaderboard since his impressive 14:23 back in December is Colby's Tyler Morris who solidified his prowess in the longer distances by running an outstanding time of 14:11 at the Boston University Valentine Invitational the other weekend.

The improved performance so late in the season is encouraging, leading us to believe that Morris has tons of positive momentum in his favor heading into the championship portion of the season.

Currently, he doesn’t have an elite 3000 meter mark to his name, which means that he could lean heavily towards focusing on the 5000 meters at the indoor national meet. Relative to a few other names, Morris hasn't been quite as versatile this season and isn't as much as a title contender as a few others.

That's really the only reason why he drops in our rankings despite his recent personal best. Don't look too much into that, Morris could definitely end up as one of the key favorites when heading to Winston-Salem in March.

13. Carter Oberfoell, Sophomore, Loras (0 / 13)

Since our last update, Loras' Carter Oberfoell has taken a different approach to being a true middle distance guy – he has only raced 400 meter races. Once on the DMR (48.7 split), once in the open 400 meters (50.7) and once on a leg of his 4x400 meter relay.

If Loras opts to run the DMR at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Oberfoell has already shown that he can not only hang with the best guys in the 800 meter leg, but also the 400 meter leg, too.

Don’t forget that Oberfoell still sits at NCAA #4 with his 1:52.77 (800) mark to his name, right behind teammate Mike Jasa. His clear effort to refine his speed late in the season indicates that he's preparing for the tactics that usually come with the championship season.

12. Joe Freiburger, Senior, Wartburg (Unranked)

It’s really hard to comprehend that Wartburg's Joe Freiburger running 8:19 in the 3000 meters would put at NCAA #12 on the national leaderboard. If you told us that a few months ago, I don’t think we’d believe you.

All things considered, Freiburger is having a very solid season. Along with that 3000 meter race, as well as 14:12 (5k) under his belt, which sits at NCAA #5 on the national leaderboard, Freiburger is still the long distance juggernaut that we've grown used to seeing.

His recent 3k effort is a nice improvement for him compared to years prior. However, the state of D3 makes him disappear behind the wall of the marquee superstar performances that we’ve already seen.

Knowing his postseason success over the last few years, we are confident that we'll Freiburger right near the top when it matters in the 5000 meters & 3000 meters. He is easily one of the most experienced distance runners in all of D3 and he should be able to hang with the aggressive paces that we could see at the national meet.

11. Jacob Ridderhoff, Senior, Washington U. (Unranked)

10. Christopher Collet, Sophomore, Wartburg (-1 / 9)

Having just done battle at the Midwest ELITE Invitational this past weekend over 3000 meters, Collet and Ridderhoff have been strong forces over the mile & 3k distances this winter. Both are ranked in the top-11 in both events, respectively.

Collet, came on top in their battle at UW-Whitewater, throwing down an impressive 8:16 mark for 3000 meters (NCAA #5) to Ridderhoff’s 8:17 effort (NCAA #8).

After coming off of their first All-American performances this past spring at the outdoor national meet (Collet in the steeple and 5k, Ridderhoff in the 1500), it would not be surprising to see these two rack up multiple All-American honors this indoor season.

Both of these men have been steady, consistent, top-tier talents. Not just this winter, but over the last few seasons as well. They feel like reliable picks to do well in March despite both athletes finishing in the 80's at the NCAA XC Championships this past fall.

9. Steven Potter, Junior, UW-Oshkosh (-4 / 5)

While his NCAA #3 ranking in the 800 meters has stuck around since December, Potter has experimented with a variety of races this indoor season in the middle distances. It’s likely that we won’t see him get into a competitive 800 meter race until the indoor national meet.

On paper, he should be able to handle the WIAC Championships fairly well.

What’s unique about Potter is that last weekend, he soloed a 2:27 effort for 1000 meters at the UW-Oshkosh Titan Invite. He was the only competitor in the race. For D3, that’s a very respectable mark in the seldom-run event, especially in an instance where he was racing literally no one.

The strength shown in that solo 2:27 effort is encouraging, mainly because it makes us think that Potter could potentially hang around with Jasa for (most of) the men's 800 meter race at the indoor national meet...right?

8. David Fassbender, Senior, UW-Whitewater (+4 / 12)

We’ve known for awhile now that David Fassbender has been one of the most consistently impressive names in D3 over the last couple of years.

Even so, he still manages to blow away our expectations, running a time of 14:14 (5k) at the Midwest Elite Invitational, boasting the fastest 200 meter flat-track time in all of D3 and putting him at NCAA #3 on the national leaderboard.

What can’t this guy do? In terms of his national rank, he's sitting very well in the 5000 meters, at NCAA #7 in the 3000 meters and can very well throw down a wicked 1600 meter leg of a potential DMR for a very deep UW-Whitewater squad.

He’s got some options come March and honestly, he could be nationally competitive and an effective racer in all of those distances.

7. Nick Andrews, Sophomore, SUNY Geneseo (-1 / 6)

Nick Andrews is coming off of a very busy and successful weekend at Boston University last week.

On the Friday session of the Valentine Invitational, he anchored SUNY Geneseo’s DMR to a time of 9:49 finish which ranks the relay at NCAA #5, splitting 4:06 in the process. Teammate Ezra Ruggles, who split 2:56 on the 1200 meter leg, deserves a shoutout for his leg as well.

The next evening, Andrews ran 8:08 in the 3000 meters, just one second slower than what the D3 record was going into this season.

Those two performances were big for Andrews as they validate his early-season success and continue to build his reputation as one of the most consistent nationally competitive distance talents in all of D3.

He's not perfect, but it's hard to find a poor result on his resume over the last year.

6. Ryan Wilson, Junior, MIT (+2 / 8)

After running 4:06 in the mile at the Boston University Scarlet and White Invitational, MIT's Ryan Wilson came back to the same venue a week later and ripped a strong 1:50-low effort for 800 meters, good for the NCAA #2 spot in the event.

After a cross country season where he finished in the top-30 at the national meet, Wilson is showing everyone what he is capable of doing in the middle distance events. This latest result has to make him one of most versatile and dynamic distance talents that D3 has to offer.

Of the top 800 meter runners in the country, he likely has the most mile strength, and he definitely has the best 800 speed amongst the top milers in the country. That balance of speed and strength will serve him well in the postseason regardless of which event(s) he pursues.

5. Matthew Lecky, Sophomore, RPI (-1 / 4)

Lecky has only raced three times this indoor season, but he has made all of those races count, especially his latest one.

The RPI star continued his breakout year at the Boston University Valentine Invitational with a huge 4:05 mile time which puts him at NCAA #3 on the national leaderboard. He is also in the top-five for 3000 meters, so he’ll have a couple of options at the indoor national meet...

Lecky can’t go wrong with whatever event he chooses to contest come March as he is capable of a high finish regardless of the field.

It will, however, be interesting to see if he tries to put together a fast 5k in the next week or so. He was, after all, a cross country All-American in the fall and with his success in the lower distances, the 5000 meters, on paper, would be a uniquely good fit for Lecky.

4. Graham Tuohy-Gaydos, Freshman, Williams (+10 / 14)

Goodness gracious, where did that come from?! If you had told us at the beginning of the season that a Williams guy would run 14:00 at Boston University this season, my first guess would have been Aidan Ryan and my second guess would have been Elias Lindgren.

And both of my guesses would have been wrong.

Freshman Graham Tuohy-Gaydos isn’t just on his way to becoming an elite D3 talent anymore, he’s already here. At the rate that he's improving, this rookie is looking like he could eventually end his career as one of the greatest collegiate D3 distance runners ever.

For a guy who still has over three years of eligibility remaining, that doesn't seem like a stretch.

John Carroll star Alex Phillip is likely to scratch the 5000 meters at the indoor national meet due to a scheduling conflict with the DMR (we think). If that’s the case, then is Tuohy-Gaydos suddenly the national title favorite in that event?

On paper, that seems to be the case.

3. Alex Phillip, Sophomore, John Carroll (0 / 3)

Since our last update, Alex Phillip became a part of D3 history at the Boston University Valentine Invitational, running a 4:02 anchor leg in the DMR to help John Carroll run 9:41 and break the D3 record.

That was a massive moment for John Carroll as a program, but Phillip couldn’t celebrate for too long as he had a 3000 meter race the next day. Once he toed the line for that event, Phillip ended up running 8:07 which, admittedly, may have been overshadowed a bit by Aidan Ryan’s incredible 7:54 effort.

Even so, that was an amazing result in its own right and it put Phillip at NCAA #2 on the national leaderboard.

Phillip also sits at NCAA #1 in the 5000 meters and NCAA #2 in the mile. And of course, he was part of the NCAA #1 DMR with his John Carroll teammates.

It seems almost like heresy that someone with a resume like his is only listed at TSR #3 in our rankings. That, of course, is just the nature of this year’s D3 distance scene.

2. Mike Jasa, Junior, Loras (0 / 2)

As the undisputed backbone of the D3 men's national 800 meter field, Jasa has hopped into some relays over the past few weekends to help get his Loras teammates some highly potent relay rankings.

Jasa split sub-1:50 on his 800 meter leg of the DMR which helped Loras to the NCAA #3 time on the national leaderboard. He also competed on their 4x400 meter relay the week after, putting them at NCAA #4.

What will we see from Jasa in the coming weeks? Will he emerge as an individual 800 meter runner? A DMR leg? A member of a 4x400 meter relay? Two of those three? All three?

Regardless of how he approaches his postseason, Jasa will certainly score some serious points for the Duhawks. He is the overwhelming national title favorite in the 800 meters, arguably just as much as Aidan Ryan is in his events.

1. Aidan Ryan, Senior, Williams (0 / 1)

There are really no surprises here.

As we mentioned last week, Aidan Ryan has become the bar of D3 distance running.

Despite running a 3:56 DMR anchor split and bringing this Williams relay to a remarkable time of 9:42, the Ephs still don't have the best DMR in Division Three this year. That's difficult to fathom.

Of course, that’s just how the NCAA has evolved this winter – it’s incredibly cut-throat.

Ryan got his revenge on the second day of the Boston University Valentine Invite, setting a true national record by running 7:54.48 in the 3000 meters, comfortably defeating fellow D3 rival Alex Phillip in the process.

There’s no better mile or 3k runner than Aidan Ryan in all of D3 right now. Whether he runs those two events at the indoor national meet or decides to hop into the DMR with his Williams teammates, greatness will unfold for him either way.