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Three Sentences Or Less: 2023 D3 NCAA Outdoor Championship Men's Steeplechase Preview
- Brett Haffner
- May 24, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: May 25, 2023
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. Colin Kirkpatrick (Pomona-Pitzer)
A tough fall at last year’s national meet steeplechase prelims may have set back Colin Kirkpatrick in the final, but the Sagehen star has since proven himself to be the top dog of the steeplechase in Division Three in 2023. Running 8:41 at the Sound Running Track Fest was the highlight of his season, but he’s also run 8:51 and 8:44 as well, giving him a plethora of unreal performances in this event. Will he be able to simply run away from his very-elite competition?
2. Christopher Collet (Wartburg)
As the defending national champion in this event, Christopher Collet has shown both his ability to handle a fast pace as well as close incredibly hard over the final water jump and final barrier. Those key attributes let him grab the national title last year, but he’ll have to bring his "A" game to defend his title as Kirkpatrick and Patzka look stronger than ever before. The good news for Collet is that as long as he can execute some race tactics, he'll have a shot at the win.
3. Christian Patzka (UW-Whitewater)
Christian Patzka’s runner-up finish at last year’s national meet in the steeplechase final was heartbreaking after making a bold move with 400 meters which resulted in him getting caught at the line. His unbelievable 2022-2023 campaign has shown his resiliency, including running a completely solo 8:47 (steeple) mark at the Phil Esten Challenge as his season debut. If there’s gonna be a guy to break this final open, then it’s going to be Christian Patzka.
4. Will Kelly (St. Olaf)
Will Kelly’s 2022-2023 campaign keeps getting better and better as he has now proven to be an elite steeplechaser on top of his exploits in cross country as well. Breaking 9:00 over the barriers once is no joke, but Kelly has done it twice, running 8:58 and 8:56 this season. Aside from the top-three men in this field, Kelly is the surefire “next guy up” to do some damage in the final.
5. Adam Loenser (UW-La Crosse)
Adam Loenser took advantage of a great field at the Drake Relays, running 8:57 in the steeplechase to prove that he’s one of the best talents in Division Three. After a bitter experience of finishing 20th in last year’s national meet steeplechase prelims, this will be Loenser's opportunity to secure a place in the finals where his gained experience should benefit him.
6. Cameron Hatler (Pomona-Pitzer)
Similar to 2022, we’ve seen Cameron Hatler run SIX steeplechases already this season – much more than anybody else in this field. At last year’s national meet, he finished 19th in the prelims, so that abundance of racing may have hurt him. However, with an 8:57 (steeple) PR under his belt in his most recent attempt, it’s clear Hatler is simply more capable of handling the field around him from a fitness perspective.
7. Ethan Domitrovich (John Carroll)
Since his 4th place finish at last year’s steeplechase final, Ethan Domitrovich has had a quiet 2022-2023 campaign, but flipped that around at the Payton Jordan Invite by running 8:57 in the steeplechase, toppling his PR from last year. If his postseason peak from last year is any indication of what he could do this weekend, then we would not want to toe the line next to him come the finals.
8. Caleb Silver (Central College)
Caleb Silver’s heroic performance at the cross country national meet this past fall turned some heads and he could do the same with another opportunity on the national stage, but this time in the steeplechase. After running an eye-catching steeplechase time of 8:57 at the Drake Relays, might we see Silver resurrect that “clutch” ability this weekend?
9. Sam Elsen (Wheaton (Ill.))
After Kevin Riley’s success in 2022, this is Wheaton’s second-consecutive year with a high-profile steeplechaser, as Sam Elsen ran 8:58 in the event to decisively earn a win at the St. Francis Invite. That victory came with a massive 18-second PR as well, marking a clear jump up in his abilities. Elsen's first appearance on the national stage will be in a historically loaded field, but his huge jump in time may give him a boost in confidence to be compete with these other men.
10. Ezra Ruggles (SUNY Geneseo)
He might be known more for his 1500/mile speed, but Ezra Ruggles is also a very apt steeplechaser…apt enough to run this event fresh! He hasn’t run a ton of steeplechase races in his career, but is still good enough to debut in under 9:00 this year, speaking to his clear abilities. Ruggles’ speed should prove to be dangerous in the late stages of the national final which could call for some surprises if he’s in contact with the leaders.
11. Carter Grove (St. John’s (MN))
After missing the 2022 track season, Carter Grove came back with a vengeance in qualifying for the national meet in the steeplechase this year. In 2021, he hadn’t broken 10:00 in the event and now has broken 9:00 in 2023 – that has to be the biggest season-to-season improvement in this field by far! It’ll be really interesting to see how Grove will fare in his first national meet, although he has known nothing but success this year.
12. Nikhil Denatale (Williams)
The first of TWELVE sub-9:00 performers this year, Nikhil Denatale has probably been the least raced guy in this entire list, only racing the steeplechase twice this outdoor season and nothing else. Debuting in 8:59 is a very dangerous performance and speaks to his raw talent in this event. His ceiling could be a lot higher than we realize, but his floor is already very impressive as a freshman.
13. Pablo Arroyo (MIT)
Pablo Arroyo has almost exclusively raced the steeplechase spring, running his last four races over the barriers, getting faster each time and winning every single contest. That last factoid is a very important fact to note as he hasn’t benefited from a crazy field of competition in any of these races and has still been able to pull off fast times as well as wins. Arroyo certainly is a big dark horse to walk away with an All-American honor while taking on this loaded field.
14. Mason Shea (UW-Eau Claire)
We hadn’t seen Mason Shea steeplechase since 2021 after he ran 9:23 as a freshman, but he experienced some massive growth in 2023 after running 9:01 at the St. Francis Fighting Chance Invite. His progression in the steeplechase this year has been kind of nuts, running 9:43, then 9:21, then 9:01. If he’s really figured things out over the last few weeks to such a strong degree, how high can his ceiling go this weekend?
15. Nathaniel Getachew (Pomona-Pitzer)
We’ve seen Nathan Getachew’s name thrown around in the steeplechase conversations over the last two seasons even though running 9:01 in the event is now “quiet” for Division Three. His 3:48 PR over 1500 meters may be just as impressive considering he’s been more focused on the steeplechase, but the Sagehen runner has clearly made a solid improvement with his speed. As a veteran in this event, he should be a contender to waltz into the final despite his backend seeding.
16. Lance Sobaski (Wartburg)
As a freshman, Lance Sobaski has shown some really solid poise in the 1500/mile as he ran 4:12 on the indoor oval, but has really established himself as a great steeplechaser, having run 9:01 this year. Considering that his debut steeplechase was 9:17, it’s been pretty clear that the steeplechase is his bread and butter and he has only gotten better since then. How much growth does that mean that he'll have for this weekend?
17. Gavin Grass (George Fox)
Gavin Grass made a huge jump at the Portland Distance Carnival, running a 10-second PR of 9:02 in the steeplechase to clutch his way into the national meet. Considering that he hadn’t broken 9:32 in the event last year, this has been a great breakout season for him. As a relative unknown, could Grass opt to be a bit more aggressive knowing that he has nothing to lose?
18. Jayden Zywicki (UW-La Crosse)
UW-La Crosse has a strong history of developing great underclassmen in the steeplechase and Jayden Zywicki is an excellent example. He’s gone from 9:20 to 9:17 to 9:07 to 9:02 in his four steeplechase attempts this year, getting faster with each attempt. With seeing how teammate Adam Loenser has developed over this last year, it wouldn’t be a surprise to also see Zywicki dip under 9:00 in the near future – maybe even this weekend!
19. Jared Briant (Rhodes)
Jared Briant is one of the more veteran steeplechasers in this field as he’ll be making his third-consecutive appearance in this event at the national meet. He previously placed 11th and 10th in his last two attempts at the national meet for this discipline. Despite his seed time, the Rhodes standout should definitely be in strong consideration to earn his first All-American honors given his lengthy experience.
20. Jake Krause (UW-Oshkosh)
Jake Krause has bounced around between schools over the last few years, but has found a home at UW-Oshkosh where he has developed into a fantastic steeplechaser. He’s gotten faster in each consecutive steeplechase race that he has contested in 2023, starting at 9:32 earlier in the season and getting down all the way to 9:02 last week at Augustana where he took home the win. There are a lot of signs that point to Krause having great momentum and potentially finding a postseason peak.
21. Elias Ritzke (UW-La Crosse)
Elias Ritzke has been a bit up-and-down with his steeplechasing this spring, but his last two weeks have been incredible, running 9:07 and 9:03 in consecutive races. He’s carrying some good momentum with him and having Loenser and Zywicki with him make the national meet setting a little more familiar.
22. Elijah Sech (Carnegie Mellon)
Elijah Sech has been an established steeplechaser for his entire career at Carnegie Mellon, but really made a nice jump in 2023. He ran 9:03.87 to secure the last national qualifying spot in this incredibly deep field. Not only that, but we like the consistency that he showed by running 9:04 last week.
