TSR's 2023-24 D1 Indoor Top 25 Rankings (Men): Update #4 (FINAL)

Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Mar 13, 2024
17 min read

Click here to see our Just Missed and Honorable Mention names.

Listed eligibility takes redshirts and Covid-related extensions into consideration.

TFRRS is used as a general, but not strict, guide when determining eligibility.

KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

First number indicates how much the individual has moved in our rankings.

The second number indicates where the individual was ranked in our last update.

25. Abel Teffra, Junior, Georgetown (Unranked)

Seeing Abel Teffra secure a 5th place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the mile was an excellent way to cap a fairly underrated winter season. The Georgetown talent consistently improved his marks over the last few months, showcasing promising speed and nationally competitive mile prowess via his 3:54 PR.

Even so, Teffra is still a young runner and his personal best put him near the back of the national meet field in terms of seeding. Of course, you wouldn't have known that given how calmly and patiently he navigated through the rounds (and the crowded mass of late-race kickers).

There is still plenty of growth left for Teffra, especially when it comes to being more aggressive at the top of competitive fields. But given his ongoing improvements and subtly great consistency, you can see why he's ranked at TSR #25.

24. Jackson Sharp, Senior, Wisconsin (Unranked)

Shocker: Jackson Sharp is an All-American (again).

After an indoor track season that was comparatively modest to a handful of top stars, Jackson Sharp attacked the 5k at the indoor national meet. And despite numerous men holding faster PRs and stronger momentum, the Badger star was able to snag the final All-American spot, placing 8th overall.

The reliability and consistency of this Wisconsin veteran is highly admirable. He has always been at his best on the national stage and he very rarely has a true "off" day. His steadiness can be seen in the fact that he ran 13:25 (5k) in December as well as 7:45 (3k) and 7:46 (3k). He also went on to earn two BIG 10 titles and now, of course, another All-American finish.

Was it the flashiest season that we've ever seen from Sharp? No, maybe not, but there is something to be said about an experienced distance star who always delivers when you need him to.

23. Colin Sahlman, Sophomore, Northern Arizona (-7 / 16)

Was a 6th place finish in the mile finals the best result that we thought Colin Sahlman was capable of producing this past weekend? No, not quite. I thought he could have finished as high as 2nd place while many of our writers had him in the 4th to 5th place range.

Even so, Sahlman put together a respectable effort. His positioning could have improved and the one time that he did try to surge didn't necessarily work out for him. Regardless, he found a spot in the chase pack and was able to hang for an All-American honor.

While his tactics and positioning will need to be a bit more refined moving forward, this season as a whole was still incredibly encouraging. Sahlman was incredibly poised in nearly every field that he toed the line for. He ran 3:53 in the mile and flexed some impressive speed via a 1:47 (800) mark.

As he continues to growth and mature, Sahlman will becoming increasingly more dangerous in the coming seasons.

22. Ethan Strand, Junior, North Carolina (Unranked)

Ethan Strand didn't begin his indoor track season until the second weekend in February, giving him a fairly limited resume. And while he was not ranked until just now, no one had questioned his explosive talent. He had, after all, secured a key win over Gary Martin en route to a 3:54 PR. Strand also put together a 3:58/7:55 (mile/3k) double at the ACC Indoor Championships for a pair of top finishes.

The North Carolina star was excellent on the national stage, being aggressive when he had to and clearly coming in with a plan to contend for the win. Sure, neither of his surges worked out for him, but hanging on to finish 4th place overall isn't something that most guys can do after taking the risks that Strand did.

We didn't necessarily learn anything new about Strand this season. We knew that he was a dynamic distance runner with explosiveness qualities in the way he approaches certain mile and 1500-meter races. However, this past weekend did show us that Strand now holds greater poise, stronger control of his fitness and a more refined understanding of tactics.

21. Nicholas Plant, Sophomore, Virginia Tech (Unranked)

Gosh, it's hard to dislike Nick Plant.

The Ohio native came to Virginia Tech because the Hokies were considered a middle distance powerhouse (and in some respects, still are). Now, despite being a sophomore in his third-ever collegiate track season, Plant has won an ACC title, become a sub-four miler, run 1:47 (800) five separate times and emerged as a top-half All-American.

The men's 800 meters was easily the most chaotic that I have ever seen a middle or long distance event be on the national stage. With numerous top-level stars failing to make it out of the prelims, the half-mile finals looked like an odd mix of names.

But of the men in that group, Nick Plant looked to be among the more poised individuals. He found a strong position, made a move to stay in touch with the top group and looked strong throughout the entirety of his race. If you didn't know any better you'd think that you were watching a long-time NCAA veteran.

However, what really boosts Plant's stock to our TSR #21 spot is the fact that he also ran on the 1200-meter leg of Virginia Tech's DMR. More specifically, he was undeniably the best lead-off leg in that field -- and that was after he ran the 800-meter prelims 70 minutes earlier!

Kudos to Nick Plant on a fantastic season that has set him up for a very bright future. He has raised his floor significantly, but now we must ask, just how high does his ceiling go?

20. Ryan Schoppe, Junior, Oklahoma State (+2 / 22)

Overall, it was a very strong season for Ryan Schoppe who finally earned individual All-American honors after placing over 3000 meters at the indoor national meet. And of course, how could we forget that he anchored the Cowboys to their second-straight DMR national title?

Schoppe's national meet weekend was hardly overwhelming, but it was nice validation that he is truly a competitive name, even when toeing the line against superstar-caliber men. Pair that with times of 3:55 (mile) and 7:38 (3k) this season, the latter of which puts him at NCAA #8 all-time, and you get an all-around great distance runner worthy of a top-20 spot.

We're still looking for a bit more national meet success, individually, from Schoppe, but this past winter was undeniably the best season of his career (so far).

19. Theo Quax, Rs. Senior, Northern Arizona (-10 / 9)

It was a brutal weekend for Theo Quax, a Kiwi distance runner who was entered in both the 5000 meters and the 3000 meters. With a plethora of experience, as well as times of 3:54 (mile), 7:39 (3k) and 13:16 (5k) -- the former being converted -- it felt like the NAU veteran was due for his first individual All-American result.

That, however, didn't happen as Quax faded to 13th place and 14th place in both of his efforts. Those are challenging results to stomach for someone who had posted multiple elite-level times this season and was seemingly on an unstoppable hot streak.

Even so, despite the underwhelming national meet showing, it would be silly to suggest that Quax wasn't one of the 20-best distance runners in the nation this winter. He's now one of 13 collegians to have ever run under 3000 meters on the indoor oval (regardless of track size) and his indoor 5k PR currently puts him at NCAA #15 all-time in that event.

In our eyes, those are good enough performances to keep Theo Quax in our rankings and at our TSR #19 spot.

18. Nathan Green, Rs. Sophomore, Washington (-13 / 5)

Welp...that was crazy, huh?

Nathan Green not making the 800-meter finals, after somewhat surprisingly scratching the mile in favor of that event, was an absolute stunner. The Washington redshirt sophomore put himself near the back of his prelim heat early-on and then, in my personal opinion, seemingly waited too long to begin his kick. By the time that he did, the pack was simply too far ahead to make up enough ground.

I struggle to look at Green's surprisingly poor weekend effort as anything other than a tactical fluke. This is someone who held the second-fastest 800-meter time of the season (it's the fastest if you exclude conversions) and was a national champion as recently as this past spring.

Plus, when you tack on the fact that he ran 3:53 (mile) and 2:18 (1k) earlier this winter, suggesting that Green wasn't a top-20 talent in the nation over the last few months would be ridiculous.

17. Yusuf Bizimana, Junior, Texas (-15 / 2)

It's not often that you see a clear-cut national title favorite simply fail to make it out of the 800-meter prelims. That, of course, is exactly what happened with Yusuf Bizimana.

Unlike Nathan Green, there did seem to be brief moments where Bizimana recognized that he needed to make a move in his prelim. However, with Tinoda Matsatsa seemingly in the way every time he tried, the Texas star was simply unable to make up the lost ground.

Much like we mentioned with Green, saying that this Longhorn star wasn't one of the best runners in the nation this winter would be flat-out wrong. Bizimana held the fastest 800-meter time on the national leaderboard this winter, held the only mark of 1:45 after conversions and briefly held the 1000-meter collegiate record until Tinoda Matsatsa broke it a week later.

If you polled all of the men in that national meet 800-meter field from this past weekend and asked them who they would least like to race in a rematch, I imagine that many (maybe even most?) would say Bizimana.

16. Anass Essayi, Junior, South Carolina (-6 / 10)

There aren't many runners in the NCAA who left us more conflicted than Anass Essayi did this past weekend. The South Carolina star had a fantastic regular season, dropping monster mile and 3k times of 3:51 and 7:39, respectively.

However, once championship racing rolled around, Essayi looked like a different runner. He was shockingly upset by Florida freshman Parvej Khan for the SEC mile title and in the mile prelims this past weekend, Essayi simply stepped off the track...with one lap to go! To make matters even more puzzling, the Gamecock star would later toe the line for 3000 meters, although he had to settle for 10th place.

This is not the first time that Essayi has underwhelmed in the postseason. In fact, it's not even the first time that he has stepped off of the track in the late stages of a national meet prelim. And yet, despite that, there are very few men in the NCAA with as much raw talent as this Moroccan distance star. In terms of times, he is absolutely one of the best out there.

15. Finley McLear, Rs. Senior, Iowa State (Unranked)

The seasoned veteran has come through on the national stage once again!

After an extended time off from racing, Finley McLear returned to the track this past winter and looked strong in each of his efforts. The RedHawk-turned-Cyclone ran 1:47 for 800 meters three separate times this winter and also posted a 1:46 mark as well.

Outside of an underwhelming performance at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships, McLear was very reliable and you could see that veteran poise in his 800-meter final. As madness unfolded in front of him, McLear stayed calm and slowly picked off runners in the final 100 meters, sneaking into the inside rail to claim a bronze medal.

Was this the best version of McLear that we've ever seen? No. And was this the strongest 800-meter field on the national stage that we've ever seen? Also no.

But even though this wasn't the flashiest season for the middle distance star, he was still incredibly productive throughout the entirety of this past winter, something that we truthfully didn't recognize until now.

14. Lucas Bons, Junior, BYU (Unranked)

This time last year, some of us had written off Lucas Bons. The BYU star was incredible in his debut indoor and outdoor track seasons with the Cougars, but he later underwhelmed in the ensuing seasons.

Bons still held solid utility, but we had been waiting for this Provo-based miler to return to the same upper-echelons of fitness that he had flashed as a rookie. And sure enough, Bons showed the country that patience pays off.

After running a fantastic mile PR of 3:54 earlier this season, the question surrounding Bons coming into this national meet was, "Is he actually back to top form? Or was that mile PR just a fluke?"

Well, Bons showed us that his competitive revival was anything but a fluke. In the mile finals, while Luke Houser and Adam Spenecer pulled away, it was Lucas Bons whose turnover clearly outpaced everyone else in the field. That rapid kick gave the BYU standout a 3rd place finish and, maybe more importantly, redemption.

13. Brian Musau, Freshman, Oklahoma State (+2 / 15)

It's sometimes easy to forget that Brian Musau is just a freshman. Outside of the obvious fact that most rookies aren't usually as talented as he has proven to be, Musau has also boasted impressive consistency.

The Cowboy freshman never had a poor race this winter, despite racing often and against top-tier fields. His 3k personal best of 7:38 from December sits at NCAA #5 all-time and he also produced a pair of 3:55 mile efforts going into the national meet. And when he reached the national stage, Musau placed 6th over 3000 meters after putting together a strong lead-off leg for his title-winning DMR.

There isn't necessarily anything new that we learned about Musau this past weekend. For the most part, he ran right on par with our expectations. That, of course, doesn't make him or his accomplishments any less impressive.

12. Peter Maru, Freshman, Arkansas (+8 / 20)

It admittedly feels a little odd to give Peter Maru an eight-spot jump in our rankings after a 5th place All-American finish. Make no mistake, this Arkansas freshman certainly deserved to improve in our rankings, but I didn't expect us to ultimately place him at TSR #12.

Part of the reason why he made such a big jump is because multiple top-tier stars struggled this past weekend and therefore dropped considerably in our top-25. The other part, however, is that Maru was incredibly consistent for the short time that he has been in Fayetteville. He also ran 13:17 for 5000 meters, a time that sits at NCAA #18 all-time.

With a 5th place All-American result in the 5k, a pair of SEC titles and an all-time mark, Peter Maru put together a more complete season in a month than most men do over the entirety of an indoor track season.

11. Alex Maier, Rs. Senior, Oklahoma State (+14 / 25)

Going into this past weekend, I felt confident that Alex Maier was going to emerge as an All-American. He had quietly been improving throughout the winter months and a pair of victories at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships deserved major respect.

And when you pair his rising momentum with his elite pedigree, it was more than fair to suiggest that this Oklahoma State veteran could earn an All-American honor on the national stage.

However, what I didn't expect was for Maier to earn two All-American honors, one of them being a 3rd place performance over 3000 meters after placing 6th over 5000 meters. In other words, this long-time Cowboy veteran peaked perfectly.

Now, with a ton of momentum at his back going into the spring months, Maier will return to his ideal distance (in theory), the 10,000 meters. In other words, we see a ton of upside for this Oklahoma State star moving forward.

10. Rivaldo Marshall, Junior, Iowa (Unranked)

Where do we even begin?

Rivaldo Marshall was a former JUCO star from Indian Hills CC, joining the Iowa men with a 1:47 personal best over 800 meters. In his first indoor track race of the season (back in December), Marshall took down Wisconsin's Abdullahi Hassan by a full second. And after the winter break, Marshall later took down Finley McLear with a 1:46 (800) PR a couple. It was those results that forced us to recognize that this Hawkeye runner was a national-caliber threat.

However, the rising Iowa talent would later falter at the BIG 10 Indoor Championships, placing 5th in the 800-meter finals, and questions about his Division One inexperience began to creep in our minds.

But this past weekend, Marshall showcased incredible poise. In what felt like a chaotic 800-meter final, the Iowa star maintained his composure, avoided any excessive movement and unleashed a monster last lap to run 1:46 en route to gold.

There are some people who may say that Rivaldo Marshall deserves to be ranked at an even better spot. And yes, there may be an argument for that. However, a tough showing at his conference meet and an undeniably light year for the event in general made it challenging to list this Hawkeye star any higher.

That, of course, doesn't mean that he wasn't fantastic.

9. Aaron Las Heras, Rs. Senior, Northern Arizona (-1 / 8)

Placing 7th over 5000 meters and 9th over 3000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships are both solid results. However, those performances also aren't quite to the level that we expected of Aaron Las Heras this past weekend.

Even so, the Northern Arizona standout still earned an All-American honor and put together a brilliant overall season. The Lumberjack ace ran times of 3:58 (mile), 7:37 (3k) and 13:16 (5k) this winter, giving him one of the more complete resumes of any distance runner in the NCAA this season.

For that reason, we felt like Las Heras held plenty of staying power in our top-10 even if he didn't quite match expectations. And frankly, it's hard to complain about a 7th place All-American finish.

8. Sean Dolan, Rs. Senior, Villanova (+9 / 17)

Sure, he may not have won the national title, but Sean Dolan had the most complete and consistent indoor track season of any collegiate 800-meter runner from start to finish.

In a year where there was plenty of chaos and fluctuating results over the half-mile distance, Dolan was one of the few top-tier contenders who avoided having a poor race. The Villanova veteran produced three separate 1:46 (800) clockings going into the national meet, one of which resulted in a win over Georgetown's Tinoda Matsatsa for the BIG East title.

And with a 2nd place finish on the national stage after choosing to be the aggressor, it's hard to find many middle distance talents who were as strong as Dolan over the last three months. Could there be an argument for Rivaldo Marshall to be ranked over Dolan? Sure, I don't think we would totally disagree. But without a single poor performance on his resume, we'll give this Wildcat ace the nod.

7. Habtom Samuel, Freshman, New Mexico (0 / 7)

I'd love to tell you that we learned something new about Habtom Samuel after this past weekend...but we didn't. In fact, the New Mexico star had one of the more predictable series of performances out of any distance runner this past weekend.

A 4th place finish over 5000 meters makes sense for the Lobo rookie. He was going to thrive in that strength-based race, but his turnover wasn't as strong as the three men who finished in front of him. Samuel later produced a 7th place finish over 3000 meters. That result largely aligned with the idea that the New Mexico standout was an All-American favorite in that event, but probably not for a top-half honor.

Now, Samuel will shift his attention to the outdoor oval where he'll be able to concentrate on his ideal distance, the 10,000 meters.

6. Liam Murphy, Junior, Villanova (+7 / 13)

What an incredible season from Liam Murphy! We knew that this Villanova star was talented, but he surpassed our expectations this winter. That's hard to do given how accomplished he already was.

The range of this Wildcat is incredible. Even in an era where everyone is seemingly super fast in every event, Murphy stood out as one of, if not the, most dynamic distance runners in the NCAA. In fact, the only men who could challenge him for having the best range are also the top-two men in these rankings.

With personal bests of 3:53 (mile), 7:42 (3k) and 13:21 (5k), as well as a recent 4th place All-American finish over 3000 meters, Murphy holds extremely rare value. Oh, and don't forget, Murphy ran 3:53 (mile) twice this season, meaning that he has plenty of high-level consistency as well.

5. Adam Spencer, Junior, Wisconsin (+7 / 12)

There was a clear difference between the 2023 version of Adam Spencer and the 2024 version of Adam Spencer. The Wisconsin star showed tons of raw talent as a sophomore, but he didn't seem quite as refined from a speed and tactical standpoint.

That, of course, is no longer the case. After running a 3:52 mile PR at the Millrose Games and comfortably dominating the BIG 10 Indoor Championships, Spencer showcased a tremendous amount of poise and tactical know-how this past weekend.

In the mile finals, Spencer was aggressive, consistently matching surges and ensuring that he physically placed himself on Luke Houser's shoulder for most of the race. That resilience paid off with a narrow silver medal result.

Spencer may not have won the national title that he almost certainly desires, but this past weekend showed us that he is very much capable of eventually doing so. There no longer any question of whether or not this Aussie Badger is one of the best milers in the NCAA.

4. Ky Robinson, Rs. Junior, Stanford (0 / 4)

You could maybe make the argument that Adam Spencer should be listed at TSR #4 ahead of Ky Robinson, but what this Stanford star did over the course of the season is hard to ignore.

The Aussie Cardinal was brilliant leading up to the national meet, running jaw-dropping marks of 7:36 (3k) and 13:06 (5k). Those are both all-time performances and are comparatively stronger than Spencer's 3:52 mile effort.

Finishing 3rd over 5000 meters and 5th over 3000 meters this past weekend wasn't too surprising for someone of Robinson's caliber. However, we did expect him to play more a role near the front of those races.

Even so, Robinson was outstanding this winter. And just because Nico Young and Parker Wolfe put themselves in entirely different tiers this past weekend, it's important that their efforts don't devalue what we saw from the Stanford veteran.

3. Luke Houser, Rs. Senior, Washington (0 / 3)

Most of our writers at The Stride Report were very split about who should take our TSR #2 spot. Half of our staff wanted Houser and the other half wanted Wolfe. In the end, we opted to keep Houser at TSR #3 which feels absurd given that he is now a back-to-back mile national champion.

No one was ever going to question how fit Luke Houser was this winter. He produced a monster 3:51 mile PR earlier in the season and had even run a 7:40 (3k) PR before then.

However, being able to translate that raw talent to a tactical affair on the national stage, and ultimately emerge with a national title, is incredibly impressive. This past weekend, Houser took over the lead in the mile finals with 800 meters to go and proceeded to fight off anyone who was trying to take his spot on the inside rail. And despite the many challenges that he faced, Houser never relinquished his lead and he ultimately secured gold.

Houser is currently the most complete men's miler in the NCAA as far as intangibles are concerned. His tactical execution is top notch, he fully understands what his competition is (and isn't) capable of and he can seemingly thrive in any kind of race that you throw at him.

2. Parker Wolfe, Junior, North Carolina (+4 / 6)

Parker Wolfe entered this weekend with personal bests of 3:54 (mile), 7:37 (3k) and 13:13 (5k), all of which he produced this winter. And while there was no denying that his raw fitness had made a noticeable improvement, we still needed to see how Wolfe would respond to a more nuanced effort on the national stage.

Of course, any doubts about Parker Wolfe being a true "1A" elite distance star were quelled this past weekend as the North Carolina ace secured a pair of silver medals over 5000 meters and 3000 meters. The Tar Heel junior made it abundantly clear that no one other Nico Young could contend with him and, maybe more importantly, he actually gave himself a chance to win both of those races.

While the Chapel Hill-based distance star may not have secured an NCAA title this winter, he did give us everything that we were asking of him. Whether it was multiple all-time marks, subtly great range, underrated consistency or well-thought out tactics, Wolfe was the full package this winter.

1. Nico Young, Junior, Northern Arizona (0 / 1)

We could talk about Nico Young running an all-time 3k mark of 7:37 earlier in the season.

We could talk about Nico Young running an altitude converted 3:48 mile back in January.

We could talk about Nico Young cracking the 13-minute barrier to break the NCAA 5k record.

We could talk about Nico Young win two national titles in fairly convincing fashion.

But sometimes, it's best to keep things short and simple: Nico Young was, without question, the single best distance runner in the NCAA this winter. And frankly, there's nothing more to say other than that.