.png)
Three Sentences Or Less: 2023 D2 NCAA Outdoor Championship Men's 10k Preview
- Marissa Kuik
- May 23, 2023
- 6 min read
Written by Marissa Kuik, edits and additional commentary by John Cusick & Garrett Zatlin
Do you have an interest in writing for The Stride Report? We're looking for high school coverage writers and Division Three writers. Want to know more? Read this and send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com to let us know!
Editor's Note: Our TSR writers were asked to produce three sentences or less of analysis on every entrant in every distance event for every division. We will be slowly rolling out these previews leading up to the outdoor national meets. Stay tuned!
Predictions coming soon
The below list is ordered by seeding.
1. Cameron Allan (Adams State)
After Adams State failed to make the national meet during the cross country season, many people forgot that Cameron Allan was consistently finishing runner-up (and sometimes winning) in certan races for the Grizzlies. His indoor track season didn't entirely go according to plan, but Allan has really shined this spring despite only racing three times. He will have an incredible challenge from his teammate Awet Beraki and an army of Orediggers, but expect to see Allan in the mix for the national title.
2. Awet Beraki (Adams State)
Like Allan, Awet Beraki has raced only a few times during this outdoor track season, meaning that he has likely put together some huge training blocks this spring. Though Beraki did not have the best of outings at the Bryan Clay Invite, he does have a 10k PR of 28:12. And with Dillon Powell no longer in this field, he e should be one of the favorites to win the national title.
3. Jan Lukas Becker (Mississippi College)
Jan Lukas Becker has always been known as a steeplechaser who could also put together a really fast 10k, although that has seemingly changed as the veteran is all-in for this event. He is one of the only guys in the field who has run under 29 minutes for this distance and his skillset should theoretically allow him to thrive in most race scenarios. The only negative for Becker is that he will be challenging guys who train at altitude, so he will have more than just his competitors to deal with.
4. Matthew Storer (Colorado Christian)
Matthew Storer opened up his season at CSU-Pueblo, the venue for the outdoor national meet, and ran under 30:00 for 10,000 meters without an altitude conversion. Even just a replication of his performance from late March puts him up with the likes of Beraki and Allan. Storer also ran 13:54 (5k) earlier this spring, backing up his 10k performance and firmly etching himself into the conversation for gold.
5. Josh Pierantoni (Colorado Christian)
What Josh Pierantoni has over his teammate, Matthew Storer, is experience. Pierantoni essentially ran the same 10k time earlier this season, but it's his extensive exposure to championship stages (and his ability to thrive at altitude) that will give him an edge over some of his opponents.
6. Duncan Fuehne (Colorado Mines)
After a (somewhat) surprising 3rd place finish at the cross country national meet this past fall, Duncan Fuehne did not reach the high expectations that we had for him during the winter months. He has only raced twice this season, both in Golden, Colorado, so he is another athlete whose fitness is a little bit of an unknown. Nevertheless, the altitude at this weekend's venue favors Fuehne and the Orediggers.
7. Paul Knight (Colorado Mines)
Paul Knight was also a part of the massive group that ran at the Orediggers’ home meet in the 10k to get a qualifying time for the national meet which, again, makes it difficult to see where Knight’s fitness is truly at. However, what we do know is that Knight can race well at altitude and he can use that to his advantage. The unfortunate/fortunate part of this field (depending on how you look at it) is that he has a lot of his own teammates who he is going to have to fight in order to reach the podium.
8. Steven Goldy (Colorado Mines)
There seems to be a pattern developing with this Oredigger group because Steven Goldy competed in the same races as many of his teammates, running a 5k race and a 10k race at both of his team’s home meets. Goldy did miss out on the indoor national meet, so he may be carrying the least amount of momentum of his teammates going into this race, but that does not change the fact that he races well at higher elevations. He has a lot of people to work with in this race, so we should expect Goldy to also be a part of the main pack battling for those coveted All-American spots.
9. Loic Scomparin (Colorado Mines)
Taking an alternative route to his racing schedule, Loic Scomparin raced the 1500 meters, the 5k and the 10k, all at sea level this spring -- and ran impressive times in all three events. His 29:09 (10k) mark puts him right with the rest of his team and let us not forget, he nearly broke the Division Two record over 3000 meters this past indoor track season. Scomparin can be a little up-and-down on the national stage at times, but he also has better turnover than most of this field.
10. Chris Cathcart (Colorado Mines)
Chris Cathcart was one of our most improved runners this past fall and was a big reason why Colorado Mines had such a dominant performance at the cross country national meet. After falling off of our radar this past winter, he has contested only one race spring this spring which allowed him to qualify for the national meet. His highly limited racing schedule this year make Cathcart a bit of a wild card for Thursday's race.
11. Isaac Russo (Colorado Christian)
Isaac Russo will join his other teammates at the national meet after a strong 10k performance at the Mines Mini-Meet, demonstrating his ability to run well at altitude. Russo has also demonstrated some great leg speed, qualifying for the indoor national meet in the mile and running the metric mile in a new PR of 3:49. Russo will definitely have his hands full with the Colorado Mines men, but his speed, in theory, should allow him to pull away from that group if the race turns tactical.
13. Zach Kreft (Walsh)
This 2023 outdoor track season was probably not what Zach Kreft expected after finishing 4th at the cross country national meet and 4th in both the 5000 meters and the 3000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships. It admittedly feels like this Walsh star has his All-American chances stacked against him given that he'll have to battle with mostly altitude-based athletes. That said, Kreft has proven to be a very good racer at the Division Two level and this field isn't necessarily the most challenging that he's ever faced.
13. Jacob Hernandez (Western Colorado)
Jacob Hernandez does not have the same overall personal bests as the other men in this field and he does not have national meet experience on the oval. However, this Western Colorado runner finished 4th in his 10k heat at the Bryan Clay Invite and 3rd in the 5k at the RMAC Championships. In competitive fields, he has fared exceptionally well this spring.
14. Noah Fisher (Findlay)
Noah Fisher finished just behind Zach Kreft at the GMAC Outdoor Championships, being pulled to a fast time to get himself into the national meet. Fisher did race the 10k at last year’s outdoor national meet where he finished 15th overall, so he does have some much-needed experience. However, it's hard to know how Fisher will fare in a field that feels very different in comparison to what he saw in 2022.
15. Scott Nutter (Wingate)
Scott Nutter may be peaking just at the right time after running 13:54 for 5000 meters which is more than 30 seconds faster than his previous 5k mark from this outdoor track season. Nutter also seems more suited for the 10k, so he may be much faster than his seed time suggests. Sure, the Wingate distance talent will again have the task of fighting the altitude, but if that doesn't faze him, then Nutter could be in the All-American conversation.
16. Evan Leist (Cedarville)
Evan Leist is riding a huge wave of momentum, running 30 seconds faster in the 10k than ever before while taking home a bronze medal behind Zach Kreft and Noah Fisher at the GMAC Outdoor Championships. For Leist, he has never raced a 10k at the outdoor national meet, so his inexperience could catch up to him. However, he may have yet to reach his full potential considering how much he has improved over this past season.
17. Aron Orar (Adams State)
Aron Orar does not have the experience on the national stage like most of his competitors, but he will have a significant pack to pace with. There are just 30 seconds between the 4th seed and the 19th seed which means that Orar should be able to pace with his competition just fine in Pueblo, Colorado. If he races properly, he could be the third Grizzly to make their way into the All-American range at the night's end on Thursday.
18. Marcus Graham (UC-Colorado Springs)
Coming in as the last seed time in this race does not make Marcus Graham any less likely to be in the mix for an All-American finish. He ran well in the fall, finishing just outside of the top-50 at the cross country national meet and he put together some decent marks in the 3k and the 5k at altitude during the indoor track season. And considering Graham is better suited for the longer races, he should be able to hang with most of this field.
