.png)
Three Sentences Or Less: 2023 D3 NCAA Outdoor Championship Men's 1500 Meters Preview
- Brett Haffner
- May 22, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: May 25, 2023
Written by Brett Haffner, edits and additional commentary by 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. Ryan Wilson (MIT)
Attempting the 1500/800 meter double is a tall task at the outdoor national meet, but Ryan Wilson’s national-recording setting abilities can be trusted in nearly any scenario. When you consider that he has run nearly four seconds faster than everyone in this field, expect Wilson to take control in the late stages of this race with his patented closing speed in tow.
2. Travis Martin (Trinity (CT))
After a breakout indoor national meet, Travis Martin continued his hot streak during the outdoor track season, solidifying the 1500 meters as his specialty by running the second-fastest time in Division Three this year. What makes his 3:44 (1500) mark even more impressive is that it was his only attempt at the distance this spring! His lack of racing at that distance isn't ideal going into a national meet, but alternatively, he may have even more upside in this event which is rare for someone who is seeded this highly.
3. Matthew Lecky (RPI)
Matthew Lecky ran 3:44 for 1500 meters not only once, but twice, during this outdoor track season, displaying some great consistency along the way. As one of the top contenders in this field, along with a ton of postseason experience under his belt, this may be Lecky’s prime shot at contending for a national title if Wilson were to slip-up, tactically.
4. Scott Sikorski (Rochester)
With last year’s 3rd place finish in this event at the outdoor national meet still fresh on our minds, Scott Sikorski serves as a serious threat to do some major damage this weekend. Running 1:50.59 in the 800 meters last week certainly helps his stock as his closing speed seems to be intact and he is seemingly beginning to peak at just the right time.
5. Sam Llaneza (Lynchburg)
Sam Llaneza’s terrific 2023 outdoor track season has led to him pursuing the 1500/800 meter double on the national stage. Seeing him run 3:45.15 for 1500 meters at the Widener Final Qualifier last week was a really great indicator of his current fitness, but how he's able to rebound from an 800 meter prelim (along with his 1500 meter prelim) is something to watch.
6. Wyatt Kelly (Loras)
This Loras middle distance talent has been a star in 2023, splitting the reins with Ryan Harvey as the Duhawks' focal 1500 meter guy. Wyatt Kelly has been on a tear this year, earning double All-American honors during the winter months (one of which came in the mile). Seeing him run 3:45 (1500) and 1:51 (800) on the outdoor oval has been really encouraging and it's hard to find too many flaws in his resume going into this weekend.
7. Ryan Harvey (Loras)
Even with a slow start to his outdoor track season, Ryan Harvey has really rounded into form over the last few weeks, especially after recently posting a time of 3:46 for 1500 meters. Harvey is capable of big things on the national stage, especially given his moments of tactical excellence in the past. He is easily one of the biggest dark horses in this field to mix things up in the championship final.
8. Daniel Chen (Johns Hopkins)
Daniel Chen ran a heroic race at the Widener Final Qualifier, running a three-second 1500 meter PR of 3:46 to put himself into the national meet. He previously qualified for a national meet individually in 2022 (the indoor mile) and his experience will come in handy as he chases his first individual All-American honor. Plus, if you look at his seasonal resume, you'll see that his recent PR was the extension of a hot streak -- it wasn't a fluke.
9. Henry Hardart (MIT)
With MIT’s squad being lightly raced throughout the 2023 outdoor track season, Henry Hardart had to leave his national qualifying hopes up to the New England DIII Outdoor Championships where he ran a four-second 1500 meter PR of 3:46 to secure yet another bid to the national stage. His experience from the mile prelims at the indoor national meet should pay strong dividends and it seems like he is still maturing as a runner which should give him some valuable upside.
10. Jamie Moreland (Haverford)
Even though he only comes in as the 10th seed in this event, Jamie Moreland’s ceiling is high…really high. His exploits from the indoor mile this past winter were the first inklings of how great he can be, but running 1:49 for 800 meters last week at Widener was how we knew that he could be a problem this weekend. As long as his disappointing performance from the indoor national meet mile prelims was a fluke, then there's no telling how high Moreland could go this weekend.
11. Justin Krause (UW-Whitewater)
Justin Krause is a gamer when it counts as he has been racking up consistent All-American honors over the last year in the mile and the 1500 meters. It would not be surprising in the least to see Krause outperform his seeding by a good margin given how reliable and steady he has been since 2022.
12. Steven Potter (UW-Oshkosh)
Usually, we’d be seeing Steven Potter running in both the 1500 meters and the 800 meters on the national stage, but he only qualified for the 2023 outdoor national meet in this event. Since he only has to focus on one event, might Potter’s ceiling be higher than expected? He’s always been a great doubler, but has shone best when given the opportunity to focus on one event, namely when he finished runner-up in the 800 meters back in the winter of 2022.
13. Aidan Cantine (Swarthmore)
Aidan Cantine’s outdoor track season was smooth sailing after a breakout winter campaign, finding ongoing progress throughout the course of the spring months. Ending the regular season with personal bests of 3:47 (1500) and 1:52 (800) was certainly a great sign for Cantine as he aims to repeat his All-American performance from the indoor national meet.
14. Jack Rosencrans (Pomona-Pitzer)
After a stumble in last year’s 1500 meter prelims gave him some trouble, Jack Rosencrans seems poised and ready to contend for another All-American performance in this event after placing 7th on the national stage in 2022. Even though his 3:47 (1500) mark has gone under the radar this spring, he’s a pretty savvy performer and now has a shiny 14:01 (5k) PR to his name, too. He’s definitely proven that he’s in a great spot heading into the national meet.
15. Michael Madoch (UW-La Crosse)
One of many names to have qualified for this meet from the Augustana Twilight Qualifier, Michael Madoch revived his somewhat-underwhelming 2023 track season with a bid to the outdoor national meet. When firing on all cylinders, Madoch is a beast, putting together an All-American honor back in 2022 at the NCAA Indoor Championships. He’s certainly capable of repeating a performance of that caliber with the momentum that he's building right now.
16. Jinwoo Kang (Williams)
Qualifying for his first individual event on the national stage, Jinwoo Kang actually hadn’t contested the 1500 meters in his college career until 2023! That makes his spring season even more impressive as did lowering his PR in the 800 meters down to 1:52.63. The inexperience in this event, however, is something that may need to be considered when making your predictions.
17. Joe Lemna (U. of Chicago)
Joe Lemna showcased perfect progression over 1500 meters this spring, getting faster in every single race that he toed the line for to get down to 3:47, earning himself a place at the outdoor national meet. That kind of momentum is very dangerous as his fitness is clearly peaking at just the right time.
18. Cal Yackin (Otterbein)
After an underwhelming first three-quarters of his 2023 outdoor track season, Cal Yackin has flipped a switch in his last few meets, recently having a clutch performance to get him on the starting line for this year's outdoor national meet. We know Yackin has a ton of ability to perform on a high level, so we wouldn't at all worry about his low seeding, even if his spring campaign has been a little shaky at times.
19. Adam Sylvia (Central College)
Adam Sylvia was one of the more surprising names to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the mile this year, so seeing him once again on this stage is only proving that he can consistently run fast. His winter championship experience should give him a greater edge this time around, but it's his recent streak of running his best times in the postseason that has caught our attention.
20. Ian Kelly (Luther)
On paper, Ian Kelly’s resume wasn’t amazing heading into the 2023 championship season, but his last three weeks have been especially impressive. He lowered his PR in the 800 meters down to 1:52, then ran ginormous personal bests in consecutive weekends over 1500 meters, starting with 3:50 effort before finally arriving at 3:47 at the UWL Final Qualifier. Could his momentum overcome his clear lack of experience at this level/stage?
21. Colin McLaughlin (Carnegie Mellon)
Making his first individual appearance at a national meet on the track, Colin McLaughlin had some strong wins from the front in his final two races of the season. His win at WVU Last Chance meet, in particular, was a six-second victory en route to a 3:47 (1500) mark. With a strong field to run against, might that boost his chances at putting together a strong performance and a new PR?
22. Arthur Beyer (Johns Hopkins)
Arthur Beyer is no stranger to national meets, having been a member of the Blue Jays’s runner-up DMR performance from this this past winter as well as having qualified for last year’s outdoor national meet over 800 meters. Beyer had a big clutch performance at the Widener Final Qualifier, running 3:47 (1500) to secure the last national qualifying spot after scratches. Most last-minute qualifiers like Beyer don't have the experience that he does, potentially separating himself from these other backend seeds.
