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Three Sentences Or Less: 2023 D3 NCAA Outdoor Championship Men's 5k Preview
- Brett Haffner
- May 25, 2023
- 7 min read
Written by Brett Haffner, 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 meet. Stay tuned!
The below list is ordered by seeding
1. Alex Phillip (John Carroll)
In what will be his final race as a Division Three athlete for John Carroll, Alex Phillip sits upon no greater opportunity to close things out in this 5k final. The 10k sitting in his legs will be tough to manage, but he has shown resiliency when doubling at national meets and still sits as the de facto favorite to bring home another national title.
2. Christian Patzka (UW-Whitewater)
He’ll likely have a steeplechase final stuffed in his legs heading into this final, but there’s no better name to contest for a national title than Christian Patzka. He struggled in the 5k final at the 2022 outdoor national meet, placing 12th, but is now leaps and bounds ahead of the runner that he was last year. Patzka has proven time and time again that he can run fast at any time, meaning that he may be able to handle any race scenario as long as his steeple effort isn't too taxing.
3. Christopher Collet (Wartburg)
We’ve very clearly seen a new version of Christopher Collet in 2023 than we did in 2022, and his 13:57 (5k) performance at UW-Platteville is just one facet of his fantastic outdoor track season. The steeplechase/5k double is simply brutal, but he still battled in 2022 to place 10th in this event after winning the national title in the steeplechase just hours before. It’s pretty reasonable to say that Collet could still vie for the win in his second race of the day in this 5k final, but it's more likely that he'll settle for an All-American honor.
4. Ethan Gregg (UW-La Crosse)
As Ethan Gregg boldly displayed at this year’s indoor national meet, anything’s possible when you tackle the race by its horns. It would not shock anybody to see Gregg try and control the pace early in this 5k when he’ll have the 10k already in his legs. If anything, he might need to make an early move to help defend himself against the raw speed of guys like Phillip, Patzka and Collet.
5. Elias Lindgren (Williams)
Out of this entire field, Elias Lindgren may be one of the best doublers, especially when it comes to the 10k/5k double. He nearly came away with the 5k national title in 2022 after running really well in the 10k, and it wouldn’t be surprising in the least to see some heroics out of him in his racing tactics. This might be Lindgren’s year to finally win a national title, but he'll need to be better in the final stages of this race in order to contend for gold.
6. Max Svienty (North Central)
Max Svienty’s unbelievably strong indoor national meet was no fluke as he’s come out swinging this spring by running 13:59 (5k) and 29:14 (10k). We’ve seen him race a lot during this outdoor track season, but has been in many different scenarios which should prepare him very well for the varying amount of racing styles that could happen at the national meet. Svienty is a prime candidate to earn double All-American honors given how steady and reliable he has been this spring.
7. Gunner Schlender (UW-Whitewater)
Gunner Schlender stepped up big time during this outdoor track season, completely crushing his personal bests along the way to become one of the best long distance guys in Division Three. Running 14:00 (5k) at the UW-Platteville Invitational was a really strong indicator that he can hang with the best, finishing right behind names like Patzka, Collet and Svienty. After only running the 10k at last year’s outdoor national meet, Schlender looks far more refined and prepared to legitimately contend with the top men in this field.
8. Logan Bocovich (St. Olaf)
After a mysteriously poor end to his brief indoor track season, Logan Bocovich has been unreal this spring and will now take on his first national meet double in the 10k and the 5k. Running 14:01 (5k) was an unbelievably strong performance, let alone solo, which speaks to his ability to crush the pace in any scenario. Bocovich is one of the prime contenders who we think could bring home two All-American performances via the 10k and the 5k this weekend.
9. Henry Pick (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps)
Henry Pick is back from the dead…again! Heroically running 14:01 in the 5k wasn’t on our bingo cards before the season started, but is it really all that surprising? Pick’s 4th place finish in last year’s outdoor nationals in this event should weigh heavily in people’s minds as almost no one in Division Three peaks better than he does.
10. Jack Rosencrans (Pomona-Pitzer)
Jack Rosencrans will be taking on the 1500/5k double at the outdoor national meet which will provide a very quick turnaround after the finals of the 1500 meters. This will be his first time doubling at a national meet, but his speed is to not be counted out as his 1:51 (800) and 3:46 (1500) personal bests could make him a problem in a late-race kicking scenario.
11. Lucas Florsheim (Pomona-Pitzer)
The 5k will be on the back-half of the fabled 10k/5k double for Lucas Florsheim who has had a really nice outdoor track season by running 14:03 (5k) and 29:50 (10k). He’s yet to earn an All-American honor on the track, but that 5k PR came just two weeks ago, suggesting that he has some very dangerous momentum going into this weekend.
12. Spencer Moon (Simpson (IA))
For how good Spencer Moon is, we have shockingly not yet seen him earn an All-American honor on the track with a lot of close misses over the last two years. He’s got the 10k to take on first, but might the 5k be his opportunity to bring some points home? Over his career, Moon has been a solid doubler who can put together a strong second race in both fast or slow scenarios.
13. Braden Nicholson (North Central)
Braden Nicholson was one of two names (the other being Alex Phillip) to have qualified for the national meet in the 1500 meters, the 5k and the 10k, but opted to only run the 5k fresh, nevertheless. His range has expanded mightily in 2023 with most impressively running 3:46 over 1500 meters last week at Augustana. With teammates Connor Riss and Max Svienty in tow, Nicholson may be one of the biggest threats for an All-American by being completely fresh.
14. Andrew Mah (MIT)
Andrew Mah has raced a grand total of four times during this outdoor track season, but got the job done by qualifying for this meet in both the 5k and 10k. His indoor national meet showing left some more to be desired, but he’s fairly consistent which should at least keep him in All-American contention.
15. Ryan Kredell (Haverford)
Coming off of the 10k will be a tough challenge for Ryan Kredell, but this 5k final will be a true test of his ability to double and be resilient on tired legs. We’ve never seen Kredell double at a national meet before, but his talent speaks for himself and his ceiling is rather high.
16. Matthew Lecky (RPI)
Taking on the ambitious 1500/5k double, Matthew Lecky will have a short turnaround after the finals of the 1500 meters to take on this loaded 5k field. His 3:44 speed is not to be messed with and he’s been a solid doubler in 2023. He could legitimately score in two events in one day of competition.
17. James Settles (Colorado College)
James Settles is the one “unknown” national meet qualifier in this event. Flying under the radar after finishing 60th at the cross country national meet, Settles found his groove this past spring, ultimately running a breakout 14:08 (5k) mark at the Oxy Invitational which was a 15-second PR. With this being his first appearance at a national meet, he could ultimately be a wild-card that we may not have expected in the slightest.
18. Frank Csorba (Lynchburg)
The Widener Final Qualifier was a great rebound performance for Frank Csorba who ran 14:08 in the 5k to secure his spot on the starting line this weekend. His outdoor track season has been looking eerily similar to the trajectory of his winter season which resulted in two All-American performances in the DMR (4th) and the 3k (8th). Might that bode well for him as he attacks the 5k entirely fresh?
19. Cory Kennedy (RPI)
Cory Kennedy has been on a tear over the last few weeks of this season, running personal bests of 3:52 (1500), 14:09 (5k) and 30:10 (10k), combatting his slow-ish start after the indoor national meet. He’s been especially solid in national meets during his 2022-2023 campaign and should be primed to continue his “clutch” streak in the chase to earn yet another All-American honor.
20. Connor Riss (North Central)
His 3:46 PR in the 1500 meters last week was extremely impressive, but Connor Riss opted to only contest the 5k at the outdoor national meet which was a little…surprising. Riss’ range afforded him to run 14:09 (5k) at the UW-Platteville Invitational and he’ll be coming into this 5k final fresh. And with some of the better turnover in this field, a tactical scenario (while unlikely) could allow this North Central ace to exceed the expectations of his seed time.
21. Simon Heys (Wilmington (Ohio))
This will be Simon Heys’ first time attempting the 10k/5k double at the outdoor national meet. As a solid contender to bring home an All-American honor in the 10k, can Heys prove to be a strong doubler when coming back for the 5k? His newly improved 3:52 PR in the 1500 meters certainly speaks volumes to his potential ability to close better than he has in the past.
22. Nick Andrews (SUNY Geneseo)
Even though he cut it very close, Nick Andrews got his place at the national meet by squeaking out a 14:12 (5k) mark, just one second off of his personal best. To his credit, Andrews is one of the more seasoned national meet performers in this field and should find himself outperforming his seed by a rather significant margin. Considering he’s fresh, might we see some front-running tactics like he has shown in the past?
