2023 D2 Indoor Top 25 Rankings (Men): Preseason (Part One)

John Cusick
Dec 21, 2022
13 min read

Written by John Cusick, additional edits and commentary 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.

25. Simon Kelati, Sophomore, Western Colorado

Simon Kelati has been one of the most improved athletes over the course of a calendar year and that’s a big reason why he finds himself at TSR #25.

The newly-minted Western Colorado ace has rapidly progressed from being a middle distance specialist to one of the top all-around athletes in the country. And after his strong showing at the NCAA XC Championships, the question now becomes just how good he may eventually be, both this season and beyond.

Earlier this month, Kelati toed the line at the Mountaineer Open & Multi at Western Colorado’s home meet and ran 14:49.52 over 5000 meters. After conversions, that marks sits at an eye-catching time of 13:52.88 which should be good enough to get him to the indoor national meet come March.

Kelati’s true, unconverted personal best over 5000 meters is 14:39, so seeing him run 14:49 in December at 7700 feet should certainly build confidence in him moving forward.

Yes, it's true, Kelati hasn’t always performed up to expectations when he gets to the national meet. He was a DNF in the mile at last year’s indoor national meet before finishing 18th in the 1500 meters at the outdoor national meet the following spring.

Kelati’s mile (4:19) and 3k (9:08) also don’t exude national-caliber talent, but it's also important to remember that a lot of his raw times are run at altitude and often receive conversions.

But if his early-season performance and fantastic cross country campaign are any indicators, then Kelati should be due for a breakout season where he becomes nationally competitive in everything from the mile to the 5k.

He already has the experience and subtle versatility. Now, he just needs to deliver on his upper-end talent.

24. Dayton Brown, Junior, Saginaw Valley State

This is the year for Dayton Brown’s breakout campaign on the track. Following his fantastic 7th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships earlier this month, all signs are pointing up for this Saginaw Valley State veteran.

While Brown has competed at the indoor national meet before, he hasn’t been quite as competitive as we would have expected him to be going into those races. He holds a 14th place finish in the 5k from last year’s NCAA Indoor Championships and a 17th place finish in the 10k from the 2022 outdoor national meet.

Brown’s personal bests sit at 8:10 (3k), 13:58 (5k) and 29:31 (10k), making him one of the more well-rounded endurance-centric athletes in the country. And after a clear up-tick in fitness this past fall, there’s good reason to believe that he’ll beat all of those times during the 2023 indoor season.

Yes, this SVSU ace has steadily improved over the course of his career, and this winter will be no different, but we can only rely on speculative improvement for so long. Brown's times still need to make a jump in comparison to other top stars and he is still a ways out from being a true All-American talent on the track.

Brown deserves to be ranked, but he'll simply need to prove that his cross country accolades from this past fall can fully translate to the grass. If he can, then he'll shoot up our rankings.

23. Josh Pierantoni, Senior, Colorado Christian

Josh Pierantoni is one of the best all-around long distance runners in Division Two right now despite coming in at "only" TSR #23. We saw that not necessarily based on his event selection or times, but more because of his ongoing progress, excellent consistency and underrated tactical acumen.

And while this ranking may feel a little low, this is also a good time to remind everyone that Pierantoni has never finished better than 9th at a national meet in his career.

However, those fortunes should change during the 2023 track seasons as Pierantoni has already shown that he’s arguably in better fitness than what he was in during the the 2021-2022 calendar year.

His recent 11th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships this past fall was 18 spots better than his 29th place finish that he earned at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships. After that 29th place result, he went on to finish 9th in the 5k at the indoor national meet and then 12th in the 10k at the outdoor national meet.

Pierantoni's times of 8:09 (3k), 14:01 (5k) and 29:43 (10k) are fairly strong, but they also don't match a lot of the top men in Division Two who have run under 8:05 (3k) and 14:00 (5k). His positioning and in-race execution does make up for some of those time differences, but there's clearly another level that this Colorado Christian star is capable of reaching.

If he continues to improve his fitness level and further utilize the added tactical skills that he has developed, then Pierantoni should fly up our rankings this winter.

22. Tony Torres, Rs. Senior, Colorado Mesa

Tony Torres is one of the more elite D2 milers in the country -- and placing him at TSR #22 to start this winter season almost feels like a crime.

Torres earned a national meet runner-up finish in the mile back in 2021, nearly breaking the 4:00 barrier (4:00.86, to be exact). He’d go on to run 3:44 for 1500 meters and finish 3rd at the outdoor national meet the following spring. Those two races made it clear that he was one of the flat-out best distance talents in Division Two.

However, since then, Torres has finished 13th at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships in the mile, opted to skip the 2022 outdoor track season and had the best cross country season of his career.

In other words, it's been a roller coaster year for him.

Coming off of a fall campaign that saw him qualify for the national meet as an individual leads us to believe that Torres is prepared to have another strong season on the indoor circuit. And yet, at the same time, we've been left wanting so much more from this Colorado Mesa star on the oval over the last year.

While some of his other times on the track don’t stand up to what he's run in the mile, we should see those marks start to align moving forward. Torries' improved strength and endurance, as shown in cross country, could lead to him crafting a resume that is closer to that of Miguel Coca.

If he can couple that newfound aerobic talent with his blistering foot speed, then Torres has all of the makings to win the national title in the mile. But first, he needs to return to his 2021 form rather than his 2022 form.

21. Cole Nash, Sophomore, Alaska Anchorage

Cole Nash has slowly risen up the hierarchy of Division Two over the past two seasons and his preseason rank of TSR #21 is just the beginning for him.

Despite not qualifying for the national meet during the 2022 indoor season, it would be a disservice to leave him out of our 2023 preseason indoor track rankings. After all, this was a guy who was 6th at the NCAA XC Championships this past fall and that was on the heels of him finishing 13th in the 10k and 8th in the 5k, respectively, at the NCAA Outdoor Championships back in the spring.

As we head into the 2023 indoor track season, Nash holds solid, but simultaneously modest, personal bests of 4:08 (mile), 8:16 (3k) and 13:53 (5k). Of course, that "modest" designation really only applies to his mile and 3k marks.

And when you add in his 29:24 (10k) personal best from the spring, it's clear Nash is one of the best long distance harriers in the country. But can he translate that to a more nationally competitive 3k PR?

Nash has already thrown down a time of 14:42 for 5000 meters in his native state of Colorado, giving him a converted time of 13:59 this season. We will see him later on this winter at the indoor national meet, but we fully expect him to post faster times than his current personal bests.

The only question is, how much faster will those marks be?

20. Loic Scomparin, Junior, Colorado Mines

Loic Scomparin flew onto our radar in 2021 after finishing 3rd at the NCAA Indoor Championships in both the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters. He also finished 4th in the 5000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships that same year.

Since then, the expectations for the Oredigger star have been rather high.

However, after a couple of disappointing finishes during his 2022 national meet appearances, it's been hard to properly rank and analyze Scomparin who has been a bit all over the place. Luckily, his highly successful 2022 cross country season suggests that Scomparin is ready to bounce back to what we saw from him in 2021.

The Colorado Mines standout is fresh off of a 10th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships and it's not like his resume on the track is solely reliant on national meet finishes.

Scomparin holds personal bests of 7:55 (3k) and 13:49 (5k). Those are two of the best times in the country when you begin to compare them to other top names.

That's why the only thing that keeps Scomparin from being ranked higher is simply due to his lack of racing on the track.

Since the 2021 season, we’ve seen Scomparin race a total of eight times, with three of those races coming before the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships at his home track in Golden, Colorado.

That gives us five races to form an opinion on him, leading us to ranking him at TSR #20.

Scomparin has proven that he can be an elite tactician, although not necessarily all the time. But with more familiarity and experience, he has all of the tools to remain as a top talent on the track. And truthfully, we may have just talked ourselves into this ranking being too conservative for this Mines star.

19. Zach Kreft, Rs. Senior, Walsh

We’re not quite sure if we’re jumping the gun here with Zach Kreft, but after his performance at the NCAA XC Championships earlier this month, it’s too hard for us to leave him out of our rankings. In fact, a TSR #19 spot even seems a bit low considering what he accomplished this past fall.

After finishing 4th at the 2022 national meet on the grass, Kreft headed to Allendale, Michigan where he contested the 5k and finished behind Tanner Chada in a time of 13:51.78. That mark is 13 seconds better than any 5k that he ever ran when competing for Notre Dame.

With a newly-minted personal best, Kreft also brings in marks of 4:14 (mile) and 8:06 (3k), suggesting that he was already a top talent within Division Two prior to his arrival to Walsh.

Obviously, we saw that potential come to fruition when he competed in Seattle on the grass, but it’s even more apparent now that we are on the indoor oval. Kreft will be a major problem for the rest of the country when he toes the start line of any race, especially since he seems primed to improve upon his mile and 3k marks.

Of course, just like we mentioned with Nash, Brown and Pierantoni, it's hard to know exactly how much Kreft will actually improve upon those marks come season's end.

Despite having no national meet experience when competing at Notre Dame, Kreft clearly hasn’t shied away from mixing it up with the nation’s best at the D2 level. It’s only a matter of time before his times start to reflect his true talent level. But until that happens, he'll sit only barely inside the top-20 of our rankings.

18. Ryan Riddle, Senior, Missouri Southern

Ryan Riddle starts the 2023 indoor track season listed at TSR #18 for our indoor preseason rankings. And we'll admit, this feels a bit low for the Missouri Southern star.

Riddle's resume features a 3rd place All-American finish in the mile from the 2021 indoor track season as well as a 7th place All-American finish in the 3000 meters from the 2022 indoor track season.

He also has some of the best range in the country as he has run 4:01 for the mile, 7:58 for 3000 meters and boasts a 13:53 mark over 5000 meters. We could see him being extremely competitive across all three events depending on what he focuses on this winter.

However, the MoSo veteran didn't have the best cross country season this past fall. He seemingly lost a bit of his edge on the grass and just didn't seem to be firing at 100% for any/many of his races. Admittedly, that makes us a bit nervous and it's why he's ranked in "Part One" of our preseason rankings rather than "Part Two"

Even so, the veteran presence of Riddle should stand out during this indoor track season. He has national-caliber versatility and All-American firepower in numerous events. He is an accomplished namee on the national stage and is one of the most experienced men in the country.

Sure, Riddle didn't have the greatest ending to his 2022 indoor track season, but it wasn't bad, either. It's also hard to say that other men listed behind him have resumes that are more complete than his.

17. Miguel Coca, Senior, Adams State

Miguel Coca was one of the hardest athletes to list in our preseason rankings.

Few men are more naturally talented than Coca. And when he flashes that talent, he’s one of the best overall athletes in the country. Unfortunately, his sometimes-out-of-nowhere times and elite versatility don't always align with him being a top-three threat on the national stage.

Even so, this Adams State athlete has run 1:56 (800), 4:11 (mile), 3:42 (1500), 8:16 (3k) and 13:58 (5k), showcasing some of the best dynamic talent in all of Division Two. Those first few marks are all raw times and would eventually receive conversions. In fact, the best part about those results is that his latest mile effort actually converts to 3:57!

Coca is known as a middle distance athlete, but has ventured into the longer distances and has found success. His 3k time of 8:16 does not necessarily line up with his 1500 meter, converted mile or 5k times, but that just leads us to believe that he can be even better in that event than he already is.

We didn’t see Coca race during the 2022 indoor track season, but during the outdoor track season, he was 5th in the 1500 meters at the outdoor national meet before doubling back for a 20th place finish in the 5k.

The combination of speed and endurance makes Coca one of the best milers in the country right now and with any improvement, he’ll likely be one of the best athletes in the 3k as well. Obviously, he will need to put it all together, but after his early-season 3:57 mile conversion, we think a major improvement for Coca across the board is incoming.

16. Tanner Maier, Sophomore, Minnesota State

Tanner Maier is yet another middle distance specialist who finds himself inside our top-25 preseason indoor track rankings.

We saw Maier qualify for his second indoor national meet in 2022 and he made the most of that opportunity by finishing in 3rd place over 800 meters. And while that result was a bit of a surprise, Maier went on to validate that performance and post times that comfortably him in our top-25 without much hesitation. Those times include personal bests of 1:48 (800) and 4:10 (mile), the latter of which was run on a flat-track.

This Minnesota State star is one of five athletes inside our top-25 rankings who have broken the 1:50 barrier and we’re only expecting him to get better.

That's because Maier has improved his aerobic fitness as highlighted by his 2022 cross country season which saw him nearly break 30:00 for 10k while on the grass.

Yes, it's true, we don’t give cross country times much weight when trying to rank an athlete. However, his 3rd place finish at the NSIC XC Championships and top-20 result at the Central Regional XC Championships show a legitimate boost in Maier's overall aerobic strength.

If this midwest star combines that newly-acquired aerobic fitness with his middle distance speed, then we may see Maier as a top-tier athlete in multiple events. He'll also have the ability to attack the 800 meters in a variety of ways on championship stages.

But before that happens, we need to see that cross country success translate to the track.

15. David Cardenas, Sophomore, Adams State

We think David Cardenas is severely underrated in the eyes of Division Two fans around the country, but that should change during the course of this upcoming indoor track season.

We’ll get it out of the way now and tell you that Cardenas already has an altitude converted mark of 4:00.81 in the mile after running 4:15 at 7700 feet in Gunnison, Colorado. Make what you will of altitude conversions, but there is no denying that Cardenas is one of the premiere middle distance athletes in the country. Not just because of that lone result, but because of his entire resume.

The Adams State standout holds personal bests of 1:48 (800), 3:45 (1500) and 4:07 (mile), all which are raw, unconverted times (some instances being necessary, others not so much).

Cardenas also finished 4th at the NCAA Indoor Championships last year in the 800 meters. He’s qualified for every national meet for each season that he’s been at Adams State and that will likely not change this year.

Sure, Cardenas isn't always perfect (as seen by his 11th place finish at the 2022 outdoor national meet), but he's unbelievably good at altitude, has great middle distance range, boasts valuable experience and has secured multiple wins throughout his college career.

The only lingering question that we have for Cardenas is, just how good will he be after the season ends? He's clearly a top All-American threat, but can he get to that next level and contend for a top-three spot on the national stage?

We certainly think he can, but now we just need to see it.

14. Duncan Fuehne, Junior, Colorado Mines

We can already hear the collective gasps of our readers as they realize that Colorado Mines star Duncan Fuehne isn't going to crack "Part Two" of our preseason indoor track rankings.

And truthfully, we understand the reaction.

After all, this is a guy who just finished 3rd at the NCAA XC Championships!

But Fuehne's resume on the oval is vastly more limited than what he's accomplished on the grass. The Oredigger ace has leaned on conversions to get him to the national meet in past seasons (and there is nothing wrong with that), but those conversions have been no faster than 8:06 (3k) and 13:59 (5k).

Those are strong marks, but they're not necessarily "elite", either.

On the track, Fuehne has only even qualified for two national meets. On those stages, he finished 13th in the 5000 meters at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships and then finished 7th in the 10,000 meters at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He also recorded a DNF result in the 5k during that latter meet.

We say all of this not to be critical of Fuehne, but to simply show why we didn't rank him as high as others may have expected him to be.

But make no mistake, earning a bronze medal at the cross country national meet historically suggests that Fuehne can be a multi-time All-American in just this season alone. We just need to see him match the caliber of his cross country results on the track before we move him up any higher.