2023 D3 Indoor Top 20 Rankings (Men): Preseason (Part One)

TSR Collaboration
Dec 26, 2022
8 min read

Written by Brett Haffner, Hannah Thorn & Kevin Fischer

Edits and additional commentary by Garrett Zatlin

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

Listed eligibility takes Covid-related extensions into consideration.

TFRRS is used as a general guide when determining eligibility.

20. Gunner Schlender, Sophomore, UW-Whitewater

Gunner Schlender was the 6th place finisher in the 5000 meters at last year's NCAA Indoor Championships and is coming off of his second-consecutive cross country All-American finish.

Oh, and he's only a sophomore by eligibility.

This UW-Whitewater product has been on our radar since he first got to the collegiate realm and has shown steady improvement ever since he stepped foot on campus. His floor is very high and we can expect that, at a minimum, he will keep up a similar form that we've seen from him during previous seasons.

With personal bests 8:18 (3k), 14:20 (5k) and 29:57 (10k), it's clear that Schlender is going to be a problem for his competitors this winter as long as he replicates last year's fitness.

However, the question now becomes whether or not this Warhawk talent can go from being a perennial back-half All-American to a potential title contender -- although he has to take a big leap before that can happen.

19. Tyler Morris, Junior, Colby College

The 9th place finisher from the 2022 NCAA XC Championships, Morris comes into the 2023 indoor track season looking to add to an already-impressive resume.

Morris has already opened his 2023 winter campaign with a comfortable 5000 meter win at the Elm City Classic in a field that looked more like a Colby College time trial. And even though the time wasn’t special, it is probably unfair to judge that kind of performance at this point in the season, especially given that it appears to have been a completely solo effort.

Morris has accomplished some big things at the national level, including two top-10 cross country national meet finishes as well as a monumental 3rd place finish over 10,000 meters last spring at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

The future Duke graduate transfer is undoubtedly talented, but the one thing that he hasn’t done yet is finish as an All-American on the indoor oval. Morris is clearly at his best the longer the distance becomes, but his tactics in more nuanced, strategic settings under 10,000 meters will need to improve.

Still, in terms of raw fitness, few men are better than Morris.

18. Graham Tuohy-Gaydos, Sophomore, Williams

Graham Tuohy-Gaydos is a little bit difficult to rank.

The Williams star had an up-and-down 2022 cross country season which ended with a disappointing 63rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. He then recorded a DNF result during his indoor track season opener at Boston University after falling off of the pace.

And although those have been some concerning results, Tuohy-Gaydos has also had his fair share of truly elite performances -- and it’s important to remember that he has only been in college for a year and a half!

The Williams sophomore holds a 5000 meter personal best of 14:00 and he has finished in an All-American spot at national meets on the oval three times in just two appearances, including a 2nd place finish in the outdoor 5000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last spring.

We have seen multiple versions of Graham Tuohy-Gaydos, some better than others, but on a good day, he is a superstar who can give anybody in the nation a good fight.

17. Tor Hotung-Davidsen, Sophomore, Lynchburg

It's hard to dislike anything that Tor Hotung-Davidsen has done over the last year.

The Lynchburg middle distance ace has proven to be a true national-caliber talent. He ran an NCAA #3 time of 1:49.04 in the 800 meters last spring, has run 3:50 in the 1500 meters and has run 50.78 in the 400 meters.

However, more importantly, Hotung-Davidsen earned a pair of 6th place finishes between the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships and the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships, each time in the 800 meters.

And as far as his consistency goes, Hotung-Davidsen has run under 1:51 five different times throughout his college career. Two of those instances resulted in the Hornet standout posting marks of 1:49.

We like Hotung-Davidsen quite a bit. His raw firepower and postseason reliableness offers great value. However, the reason why we opted to rank him at "only" TSR #17 is simply because he has yet to crack the top-five on the national stage and because he wasn't even among the top-10 on the D3 national leaderboard last winter in the half-mile.

But let's make sure that we don't give those critiques too much weight. On paper, Hotung-Davidsen is one of the best pure 800 meter runners in all of Division Three this year.

16. Travis Martin, Junior, Trinity (CT)

We tend to think of Travis Martin as a very good, and potentially underappreciated, middle distance runner -- all for good reason. He has been an All-American in the 800 meters on the indoor oval as well as an All-American in the 1500 meters on the outdoor oval.

That's not just great versatility, that's national-caliber fitness and consistent championship execution in a variety of different settings -- which is SUPER rare.

Martin did have a solid 3000 meter personal best of 8:21 going into this season, but you still wouldn’t really associate him with the longer distances. So when he opened up his 2023 indoor track season at Boston University with an 8:11 mark, it proved to us that he has even more range and more long distance prowess than we originally anticipated.

That PR is likely the result of his cross country training, and his event focus will probably shift as the season goes on, but it does give us some indication that he can be dangerous at the national level anywhere from the 800 meters to the 3000 meters.

And for someone who is already a multi-time All-American, that's scary to think about.

15. Ezra Ruggles, Junior, SUNY Geneseo

Ruggles had a tough start to his 2022 cross country season, but still delivered when it mattered the most. The east coast standout finished 33rd at the NCAA XC Championships to help the Knights earn a shocking 3rd place team finish.

That was Ruggles' first time as a cross country All-American and he now has a little bit of momentum to carry onto the track.

The SUNY Geneseo ace was 5th in the mile at the indoor national meet last winter and holds a blistering 1500 meter personal best of 3:44, the best mark of any D3 returner from 2022.

We'll admit, we're being a little bit cautious with our assessment and ranking of Ruggles. He hasn’t consistently been at the level that his 3:44 mark would suggest, but on the right day, he can be a legitimate national champion in the mile.

It also doesn't hurt that he has run 1:52 in the 800 meters.

Ruggles starts this indoor track season at TSR #15, but that's more because of his somewhat quiet cross country season and underwhelming performance at the 2022 outdoor national meet. Of course, with more performances on the track, we anticipate that his ranking will likely improve this season.

14. Sam Acquaviva, Junior, MIT

After a huge 3rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships to lead MIT to their first cross country national team title in school history, Sam Acquaviva has to be coming into this indoor track season with a ton of confidence.

Admittedly, the Engineer star hasn’t raced much on the track throughout his collegiate career, so his current personal bests of 8:35 for 3000 meters and 14:42 for 5000 meters aren’t really representative of what he is actually capable of. Naturally, we expect those times to get smashed the next time that he races in a competitive field.

We'll admit, there isn't much more that we can say about Acquaviva's resume on the track. For the most part, his reputation has been built on the grass.

Yes, it's true, Acquaviva is still a little bit of a mystery in terms of how high his ceiling is on the oval. But if his most recent cross country season is to be used as an indicator, then he will truly be a force to be reckoned with this winter.

13. Nick Andrews, Junior, SUNY Geneseo

Coming off of a 6th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships, Nick Andrews’ breakout season on the grass puts him in a really good position as he heads to the oval.

As someone who has proven to be nationally competitive in both the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters, owning personal bests of 8:08 and 14:11, respectively, Andrews didn't mess around when it came to the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships. On that stage, he put a huge gap on the field over the first-half of the 3000 meters, holding on to finish 6th overall.

It would not be surprising to see Andrews improve on his performances from last year’s indoor national meet where he was an All-American in the 3000 meters and also finished 9th in the 5000 meters. The SUNY Geneseo standout has promising turnover via his 4:11 mile speed and his latest cross country season suggests that he'll be better across the board this year.

Andrews is a strong, unafraid, slightly dynamic, experienced and accomplished distance talent who has all of the tools to be a top-six or top-seven name in the country this winter. Now he just needs to reach that level on a consistent basis in 2023.

12. Ethan Gregg, Senior, UW-La Crosse

It almost feels wrong to rank someone as good as Ethan Gregg this low. That, however, probably isn't going to stop him from delivering yet another strong All-American performance this winter.

We already know that Gregg is one of Division Three’s best “grinders” when it comes to the longer distances. He is unafraid to go after fast paces and he thrives in true tests of one's aerobic ability. That couldn't have been more evident than it was this past fall, especially after he placed 4th at the NCAA XC Championships.

But the question remains: How will that fitness translate to an event like the 3000 meters?

Gregg's personal best of 8:22 is solid, but continuing to improve upon that mark to an upper-tier level will be a strong key for him in his quest to contend for a national title.

Of course, this UW-La Crosse veteran will likely showcase his best strengths in the 5000 meters this winter. With a personal best of 14:23 in the event, we could potentially see Gregg scare the 14:10 barrier, but only in an ideal setting.

In terms of raw fitness, Gregg is one of the best guys on this list, but can he refine his turnover in order to be more effective in tactical, championship-based settings?

11. Ryan Harvey, Sophomore, Loras

Even though his cross country season wasn’t what we would have hoped for, Ryan Harvey’s true skills and instincts often come out on the oval, especially in the middle distances.

Harvey’s 2022 indoor national meet showing was incredible, securing a 3rd place on the anchor leg of the DMR for the Duhawks as well as finishing 4th in the mile, running an impressive mark of 4:07.24.

Having the range to step up to the 3000 meters with an 8:28 PR, as well as down to the 800 meters with a 1:52.17 PR, Harvey has a lot of flexibility when it comes to the events that he could run this season.

And it's not just his event selection where he has some flexibility. In terms of his tactics, Harvey should, in theory, be able to handle most race scenarios that he finds himself in. He has the speed to compete with quicker finishes, but clearly has some level of strength to hang with races that are honest from the gun.

We’ll likely see him as a red-hot contender in the mile, but we must remind everybody that Loras’ DMR is a serious force to be reckoned with. They ran an electric mark of 9:45 last season with Harvey in tow.