TSR's 2023 D3 Outdoor Top 20 Individual Rankings (Men): Update #1

TSR Collaboration
Apr 4, 2023
7 min read

Written by Kevin Fischer & Brett Haffner

Additional edits and commentary by John Cusick & Garrett Zatlin

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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 guide when determining eligibility.

NOTE: Because we are in a new season, we are treating this week's rankings update as a new series of top-20 names. Therefore, we are not indicating any movement from our winter lists.

20. Logan Bocovich, Junior, St. Olaf

Any concern over Logan Bocovich’s fitness stemming from his limited racing this past winter, as well as his performance at the indoor national meet, has disappeared.

He is right back into the thick of things, kicking-off his outdoor track season with a new personal best of 14:14 for 5000 meters at the Washington U. Distance Carnival.

It’s clear that this Saint Olaf ace is back to clicking on all cylinders yet again and that should set him up nicely for the remainder of the spring months.

In terms of raw talent, Bocovich might be just as good as some of the other guys ranked ahead of him. However, we'll need to see him show that consistently before we move him any higher.

19. Garrett Lenners, Junior, Nebraska Wesleyan

Garrett Lenners has potentially earned the title of the most consistent middle distance runner in Division Three -- and he is already making sure that doesn’t change this spring with a 1:50.32 (800) opener.

That is Lenners' sixth time running 1:50 for the half-mile distance and the 10th time in his last 11 attempts at the event where he has run faster than 1:51. He has displayed a metronomic-level of reliability over the last couple of seasons.

Lenners is just about as dependable as they come and he’ll be hungry this spring to finally break through that 1:50 barrier for 800 meters. And when he does that, he'll jump into consideration as a top threat to try and land an upset for the 800 meter national title.

18. Sam Acquaviva, Junior, MIT

Sam Acquaviva competed in the 10,000 meters at the Raleigh Relays with teammates Matthew Kearney and Andrew Mah. However, he ultimately recorded a DNF result.

17. Simon Heys, Junior, Wilmington

Simon Heys had a strong opener to his outdoor track season, running 14:11 over 5000 meters at the Raleigh Relays, just three seconds shy of the personal best that he set this past winter. That time is also the second-fastest mark in Division Three so far in the first couple of weeks of competition.

After finishing in an All-American spot at the indoor national meet, there is clearly no rust in Heys' transition to the outdoor oval. That's a big deal. Because if this long distance veteran is stacking fitness AND entering a season where he has his (potentially) ideal event (the 10k), then the sky is the limit for Simon Heys.

16. Haiden Diemer-McKinney, Freshman, Wabash

After an extraordinary breakthrough race at the indoor national meet, true freshman Haiden Diemer-McKinley experimented with some faster, quick-turnover races to start his 2023 outdoor track campaign.

The Wabash rookie ran 50.00 seconds in the open 400 meters before coming back to split 48.90 seconds in the 4x400 meter relay. That's some solid speed from someone who is still so young. But knowing his talent, it's not necessarily shocking, either.

It will be exciting to see what the Diemer-McKinley does when he moves back up to his speciality, the 800 meters. Because if the end to his winter campaign left him with room for growth, then this true freshman will be incredibly dangerous.

15. Ezra Ruggles, Junior, SUNY Geneseo

Ezra Ruggles has not yet raced this season.

14. Max Svienty, Junior, North Central

Max Svienty's unprecedented 4th place finish over 5000 meters at the indoor national meet was only the start for him. That's because last weekend, the North Central star replicated that caliber of performance at the Washington U. Distance Carnival for 10,000 meters.

The Cardinal standout ran an incredible 10k time of 29:14 in his first-ever attempt at the 25-lap affair. Not only that, but he ran the race solo after the first 1000 meters, only adding to how impressive this race truly was for him.

Considering this kind of performance and his recently ability to perform well at the indoor national meet, Svienty looks like a serious threat in either the 5k and/or the 10k come the outdoor national meet this year.

13. Matthew Lecky, Sophomore, RPI

Matthew Lecky has not yet raced this season.

12. Elias Lindgren, Junior, Williams

The Mangrum Invitational gave Elias Lindgren some quality competition over 5000 meters as he ran 14:13 to bring home the win...but only by roughly half a second.

Regardless of the narrow victory, it’s good to see Lindgren pull out a win in a fast race as his closing abilities have been up and down over the last few seasons of racing.

If he can continue to improve upon his closing tactics, all while continuing to throw down great times, then this same Williams veteran that we’ve seen contend for national titles could maybe reach that level again.

11. Tor Hotung-Davidsen, Sophomore, Lynchburg

Tor Hotung-Davidsen’s outdoor track season has been up and down over the first few weeks of competition. Seeing him post a mark of 4:01 in the 1500 meters at the Raleigh Relays was certainly disappointing given that his PR is 3:50 from the 2022 outdoor track campaign.

Nevertheless, he bounced back at the Dr. Jack Toms Alumni Invitational, running 1:52.48 for 800 meters and then 50.42 seconds for 400 meters. That's not Hotung-Davidsen at his best, but it was a decent-enough rebound meet.

The true abilities of this Lynchburg star shine when they matter most, so that sub-par result at Raleigh isn’t all too concerning. After all, this guy just got silver at the indoor national meet not too long ago.

10. Nick Andrews, Junior, SUNY Geneseo

Nick Andrews opened up his outdoor track season in the 10,000 meters at the Geneseo Early Season Invitational, but his race was clearly designed as a workout as he ran with a big group of teammates who all finished in the 32:30 range.

It’s safe to assume that Andrews was pretty comfortable in that race, so this result doesn’t give us too much of an indication of anything in regards to his true fitness level.

9. Matthew Kearney, Junior, MIT

Continuing his remarkable exploits from the last few months, Matthew Kearney opened up his outdoor track season in the 10k at the Raleigh Relays, running 29:13 in his first-ever (!) attempt at the distance.

It’s been wildly impressive to see Kearney transform from a solid, borderline All-American talent to a national contender on the Division Three stage right along with his fellow MIT teammates.

It’s clear that Kearney thrives in the longer distances and his 8:04 (3k) speed will be a strong asset to harp on in the late stages of a tactical, championship setting like the 10k at the outdoor national meet.

8. Colin Kirkpatrick, Junior, Pomona-Pitzer

After a few races without securing a spot to the indoor national meet, Colin Kirkpatrick got his spring season off to an early start…and a potent start, to boot.

Running 14:19 for 5000 meters wasn’t even his best performance of 2023 as the Pomona-Pitzer star ran an unbelievable season opener in the steeplechase, posting an 8:51 mark at the Mangrum Invitational.

It’s hard to fathom that Kirkpatrick nearly broke 8:50 in the steeplechase in the month of March. This bodes really well for him to potentially take a crack at the Division Three record in this event which is 8:43. And if he peaks like he did last year, then watch out...

7. Christopher Collet, Junior, Wartburg

The steeplechase is Christopher Collet’s bread and butter, highlighted by the fact that he is the reigning national champion in the event from last year’s outdoor national meet.

His 8:57 season opener over the water pits and barrier was an impressive effort as he sat back for the majority of the race, only to seize the lead in the final stages and bring home a decisive win.

As we know from his national meet effort last year, you can’t leave a steeplechase race with Collet down to a kick. His ability to close hard over the final water jump and the final barrier is unmatched in Division Three.

6. Bennett Booth-Genthe, Sophomore, Pomona-Pitzer

Quietly starting off his outdoor track season with a leg on Pomona-Pitzer's 4x400 meter relay, Bennett Booth-Genthe’s open debut in either the 800 meters or the 1500 meters will be highly anticipated in the coming weeks.

5. Mike Jasa, Senior, Loras

Picking up where he left off from the winter months, Mike Jasa traveled down to Texas to compete in the 4x400 meter relay at the Texas Relays with his fellow Duhawks. However, the Texas Relays weren't his true focus.

The real highlight of Jasa’s weekend was running a statement 1:48.47 mark in the 800 meters at the Bobcat Invitational, crushing his personal best in his season opener.

There’s no question about it: Mike Jasa has made his Division Three rivals very aware of his sharpness this early in the season and there are still two months left of the outdoor track season to run. He's clearly on a hot streak after making a statement just a few months ago en route to NCAA gold.

4. Ethan Gregg, Junior, UW-La Crosse

This was it. This was the race that we were waiting for.

Ethan Gregg tackled the 10k this past weekend at the always-loaded Stanford Invitational. And it was this event where Gregg's strength and ability to grind with a tough pace beautifully met at the perfect intersection of his aerobic capabilities.

The result? How does 28:40 sound?

That time just missed the Division Three 10k record by under two seconds.

When you consider that Ethan Gregg had not run faster than 14:27 (5k) in 2022, the realization that he ran two consecutive 14:20 (5k) splits is an unbelievable feat for the Eagles’ ace. His performance was a direct replication of his incredible indoor track season and the momentum that he carries heading into the rest of the spring months is sky-high.

3. Alex Phillip, Sophomore, John Carroll

Another day, another Division Three record for Alex Phillip.

Running 13:47 for 5000 meters at the Stanford Invitational was a great start to the outdoor track season for Phillip who is looking to add to his vast collection of records, fast times and national titles in his final season at John Carroll. He'll be heading to North Carolina in the fall as a graduate transfer.

After walking away from his indoor track campaign with no national titles, Phillip’s already made quite the bold assertion of his fitness by snagging the top 5k time ever run in D3. Although funny enough, Phillip's 5k record from the indoor oval is actually faster than what he just ran in Palo Alto.