Earlier today, The Stride Report confirmed that Stanford's Cole Sprout has withdrawn from the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships with a nagging achilles tendinitis injury that he sustained shortly after this year's Razorback Invitational.
Sprout was originally entered in the men's 3000 meters for Saturday's upcoming title race. It should be noted, however, that the Cardinal star has returned to training and is expected to compete later this spring.
Sprout joins Parker Valby as the second high-profile distance talent who has opted out of this year's indoor national meet due to medically-related setbacks. Last week, the Florida star scratched from the women's 3000 meter field after not competing at the SEC Indoor Championships.
Coming into this weekend, Sprout was ranked at NCAA #15 on the 3k national leaderboard with a seed time of 7:44. However, because he has now been removed from the national meet entries, Harvard's Graham Blanks (who is also a 5k national qualifier) will now be doubling back for the 3000 meters.
According to the published start lists, Blanks has already been added to the 3k field.