One Sentence Previews: 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships Men's Mile (D2)

Additional contributions by Garrett Zatlin

Click here to see performance list

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1. Christian Noble (Lee (Tenn.))

Noble boasts an unreal combination of speed and strength which makes it incredibly hard to pick against him and after his most recent display on the track, Noble has made one thing clear: You’ll have to go through him for the individual glory.

2. Aaron Ahl (Simon Fraser)

The Simon Fraser ace has improved in every facet of his racing this season and in theory, his 800 meter personal best and his 3k personal best suggest that the mile is his ideal racing distance.

3. Mason Strader (Pittsburg State)

Strader was already a serious title threat before setting a new 800 meter personal best the other week and after that tune-up race, the Pittsburg State star has all of the necessary credentials to either handle a hot pace or kick hard to close it out, possibly leading to an upset win.

4. Callum Elson (American International)

An upstart season for Elson has him in contention for the mile crown and his recent display of racing savvy has shown us that he can contend for a national title in any kind of race format.

5. Luke Julian (Colorado Mines)

Julian reminded everyone, including us, late in the season that he’s a serious contender to win the mile and not having any other races will leave him with fresh legs for a mile final where the pace could become incredibly quick.

6. Macauley Franks (Western Washington)

We’ve spoken about Franks already in our 800 meter preview, but our point still stands that he’s a serious threat to be an All-American and realistically, him being a top-three finisher is not out of the question.

7. Austin Miller (Augustana (SD))

This Augustana star has shown us that he has the necessary strength and speed to be nationally competitive and when you combine that with his sharp racing ability, Miller might be the dark horse candidate that you’re looking for if you wanted to place bets (theoretically, of course).

8. Mitch Cox (Queens (NC))

Cox has quietly had a really nice season that ended with a conference title and while he does lack national meet experience, his upwards progression has been wildly encouraging.

9. Charlie Dannatt (Simon Fraser)

Dannatt has proven to be an elite middle distance athlete thanks to his 3:39 (1500) personal best, but despite his strong 4:03 mile mark, we have yet to fully see that 3:39 level of fitness on the indoor oval this winter.

10. Tony Torres (Colorado Mesa)

Torres has proven to be an all-around distance talent with elite miler capabilities and after two top-three finishes on the national stage, we are fully expecting him to be in the mix for the national title.

11. Evan Graff (UC-Colorado Springs)

Graff has progressively gotten better each time he’s gone down to sea level, so with a hot pace, he could set yet another PR and find a way to earn an All-American honor with his recent momentum.

12. Simon Kelati (Western Colorado)

Kelati raced once in January and has not competed since, leaving us with a lot of questions about this Western Colorado runner who lacks national meet experience to begin with.

13. Mikah Paiz (Adams State)

Paiz has all the tools needed to be a factor in this race, except for experience, but his constant improvement this winter increases our confidence in him being a potential All-American.

14. Isaac Russo (Colorado Christian)

Russo has only broken the 4:20 mile barrier once and he has shown us that he is more of an endurance athlete than a speed-based one, so he could be part of the group that aims to keep these preliminary and final rounds from being too tactical.

15. Alec Hall (Adams State)

A little experience goes a long way and that’s the hope here for Hall as this will be his third national meet which could produce an All-American honor for him if this mile race is an honest one.

16. Gavin Harden (UC-Colorado Springs)

Harden has shown flashes of promise when racing at altitude, but with so few sea-level performances on his resume and a lack of national meet experience, it's tough to properly gauge this UCCS runner heading into this weekend.

17. Hunter Kurz (Mississippi College)

Kurz will be making his national meet this weekend and is fresh off of a mile PR, which is encouraging from a momentum perspective, but he will need to improve upon that mark if he wants to make it out of the preliminaries.

18. Caleb Futter (Grand Valley State)

A slow start to the season caused us to drop any stock that we had in Futter from last spring, but the Grand Valley State ace has shown great poise in championship-style races and has a PR which suggests that he will be better than what we’ve seen this winter.

19. Jeremy Miller (Colorado Christian)

Miller will need a lifetime performance to be considered as any kind of threat to an All-American bid this year, although his sub-4:10 effort at Grand Valley State did validate his altitude converted marks.

Final Predictions:

1. Mason Strader (Pittsburg State)

2. Christian Noble (Lee (Tenn.))

3. Aaron Ahl (Simon Fraser)

4. Luke Julian (Colorado Mines)

5. Callum Elson (American International)

6. Tony Torres (Colorado Mesa)

7. Austin Miller (Augustana (SD))

8. Charlie Dannatt (Simon Fraser)