TSR's 2023 D3 Outdoor Top 20 Individual Rankings (Men): Update #3

TSR Collaboration
May 17, 2023
11 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.

20. Scott Sikorski, Junior, Rochester (-3 / 17)

He may be dropping our rankings, but this Rochester ace is still looking really good as we (eventually) enter the outdoor national meet.

Scott Sikorski ran 1:50.80 over 800 meters at the Rochester Alumni Invitational before finishing 2nd in the 1500 meters and winning the 800 meter title at the Liberty League Outdoor Championships.

"Productive" is probably the best way to describe Sikorski's last few races. However, with results from a couple more "last chance" meets still to come in (mainly from tomorrow, Thursday), it's possible that he doesn't make the national field for the half-mile...but that could actually be a blessing in disguise for him.

This Rochester standout is clearly one of the best 1500 meter talents in D3 this season. And if he contests that event at the outdoor national meet without an extra preliminary round in his legs (during a theoretical double), then that could help him a lot.

19. Jamie Moreland, Sophomore, Haverford (Unranked)

Prior to this season, we thought of Jamie Moreland as a 1500-meter specialist with impressive 800 meter speed. That, however, may be changing.

After running 1:49.10 for the half-mile distance at the Widener Final Qualifier, this Haverford ace has to be considered as a genuine contender to make the 800 meter final at the outdoor national meet and hold his own against some of the best half-milers in the country.

Of course, that's not to say that he hasn't also had success over 1500 meters. He ran 3:47 at Penn Relays and 3:46 to win a Centennial Conference title in a loaded field. He is a serious threat to complete the 1500/800 double at the national meet and has the ability score points in both events.

In fact, there may even be an argument for Moreland to be ranked slightly higher

18. Matthew Kearney, Junior, MIT (-8 / 10)

Matthew Kearney has only raced once since our last rankings update. In that race, he produced a fairly underwhelming 14:24 (5k) mark at the Sean Collier Invitational.

This MIT veteran has only raced twice throughout this entire outdoor track season, but with his big 10,000 meter mark in March still sitting among the top-three, nationally (for D3), he hasn't needed to do too much more. Hopefully his lack of racing isn't a cause for concern.

One positive, however, is that when he toes the line at the outdoor national meet, he will have some of the freshest legs in the field, making his case as a potential dark horse when it comes to contending for the national title...depending on how you feel about recent momentum.

17. Gunner Schlender, Junior, UW-Whitewater (+1 / 18)

Gunner Schlender ran 29:20 over 10,000 meters at the Ohil Esten Challenge, beating Spencer Moon on his way to the win. He raced again at WIAC Outdoor Championships, going 1-2 in the 5000 meters with teammate Christian Patzka in a race where it never looked like either of them had to push too hard.

He has raced sparingly this spring, but when he has run, he has looked very good. There's no reason to think that he won't be one of the top finishers over 10,000 meters and 5000 meters at the outdoor national meet.

When looking at his season as a whole, Schlender just looks more refined.

16. Tor Hotung-Davidsen, Sophomore, Lynchburg (-5 / 11)

Tor Hotung-Davidsen hasn't done anything crazy since his 1:49 (800) mark this season, but his recent performance at the Widener Final Qualifier was a welcomed sign.

After running 1:54 and 1:53 in his last two half-mile efforts, he put down a 1:50.33 mark that allowed him to finish 2nd place among Division Three runners.

This was an encouraging sign that Hotung-Davidsen's fitness hasn't gone anywhere and that he still is in a great position to navigate the national meet prelims on his hunt for another All-American honor.

And if the 800 meter finals next weekend are tactical (which seems unlikely, but is possible), then the high racing IQ of this Lynchburg ace could make him a fringe contender for NCAA gold.

15. Travis Martin, Junior, Trinity (CT) (0 / 15)

Travis Martin has experimented with the longer distances since our last rankings update, contesting the 5000 meters on two occasions, going 14:22 and 14:19, respectively.

While neither effort will get him into the outdoor national meet, it is good to see that his strength still at the better end of what it has been. He only has one 1500 meter race under his belt this year, but that's all he has needed to run one of the top marks in the nation (3:44).

Having both the history of speed as an 800 meter All-American and the long distance strength that he has flexed in the last few weeks could serve him well in a variety of race situations at the outdoor national meet.

On paper, Martin is one of the more complete distance talents in all of Division Three.

14. Matthew Lecky, Sophomore, RPI (0 / 14)

Matthew Lecky put down a really solid 5000 meter mark at the Penn Relays a few weeks back, running 14:07 for that distance. He then secured a very solid 1500 meter win over Scott Sikorski at the Liberty League Outdoor Championships.

But what really caught our attention was that Lecky posted a 3:44 (1500) result at the Widener Final Qualifier which was good for a PR by a few hundredths of a second.

It's clear that this RPI star is running at the top of his game right now. It's hard to imagine anyone upsetting Ryan Wilson in the 1500 meters at the outdoor national meet, but if anyone can do it, then Matthew Lecky has arguably the strongest case.

13. Max Svienty, Junior, North Central (-1 / 12)

After a burning-hot start to his 2023 outdoor track season, Max Svienty has continued to execute a heavy racing schedule while getting more experience under his belt.

The most impactful of his recent efforts came over 5000 meters, an event that he contested at the Drake Relays where he ran 14:06 against a really strong field of D1 athletes (as well as Ethan Gregg). That time was only a few seconds off of his 13:59 (5k) personal best, so it’s still a solid result for the Cardinals’ ace.

The few 1500 meters that we’ve seen from Svienty this year haven’t been super quick, with his seasonal best being 3:58, but his 3:54 PR from last year shows us that he may not have some untapped closing speed.

As one of the better 5k/10k runners in Division Three this spring, Svienty will have to rely on his aerobic strength to secure an All-American finish in either event, similar to how he did at the indoor national meet in 5k. But given his consistency and reliability this year, that seems plenty realistic.

12. Sam Llaneza, Sophomore, Lynchburg (-3 / 9)

Sam Llaneza’s progression in the 1500 meters during this outdoor track season has been impressive as we’ve seen him jump from 3:49 down to 3:45. That latter mark now sits at NCAA #6 on the national leaderboard.

The 2023 outdoor track season of this Lynchburg ace has been eerily similar to his 2022 spring campaign which ended in him finishing 5th place in the 1500 meter finals at the outdoor national meet.

The only difference in 2023?

He’s gotten faster.

Llaneza has run new personal bests in both the 800 meters and the 1500 meters this spring, stepping up his game along with the rest of Division Three. All signs point to Llaneza being ready to go for this year’s outdoor national meet and to improve upon last year’s All-American finish.

11. Elias Lindgren, Senior, Williams (+5 / 16)

Seeing Elias Lindgren run 13:58 for 5000 meters just feels right.

In a season where he’s won four out of his five races, Lindgren hasn’t had the same benefits of going to a super-faster California-based meet or a Drake/Penn Relays field to chase a fast 5k mark.

Yet, he did exactly that at the NEICAAA Outdoor Championships, chasing the sub-14:00 barrier and getting a quality win to secure his place in the 5k at the outdoor national meet.

Considering that he has practiced winning for a lot of this season, is it unreasonable to say that Lindgren should be one of the main national title contenders in either the 10k or the 5k at the national meet next weekend?

Remembering last year’s heroics in the 5k at the outdoor national meet should hold strongly in our minds as Lindgren was one of the strongest doublers on the men’s side. He could really make some noise and potentially end his chase for a first national title if he's able to fix his end-of-race shortcomings.

10. Carter Oberfoell, Senior, Loras (Unranked)

9. Garrett Lenners, Junior, Nebraska Wesleyan (Unranked)

Carter Oberfoell and Garrett Lenners have a lot of similarities: They’re great 800 meter runners, compete in the middle distance-heavy American Rivers Conference and commonly swap between being ranked in our top-20 or being listed in our “Just Missed” / “Honorable Mentions” columns.

However, after their most recent efforts, these two men seem to be firmly established names who are now cracking the top-10 portion of our rankings.

At their conference meet, seeing both of these guys not only dip under the 1:50-barrier for 800 meters, but also dipping under the 1:49-barrier prompted this question from TSR's site editor, Garrett: “Why is everyone in D3 really good over 800 meters now?”

Lenners (NCAA #4) and Oberfoell (NCAA #5) now enter an illustrious top-five in the 800 meters where all five men have run at least 1:48 for that distance this spring.

This event is getting seriously crazy with how much growth it has experienced in 2023 alone, and these two men are some of the biggest reasons why.

8. Christopher Collet, Junior, Wartburg (0 / 8)

Christopher Collet has been really busy over the last month, running a bunch of metric miles and steeplechase races, each time producing some really promising results.

The best of those effort was running 8:47 in the steeplechase at the Drake Relays, a great answer to the likes of Colin Kirkpatrick and Christian Patzka to show that he’s ready to compete with them for the national title.

The Wartburg star also took on the 1500/steeple/5k triple at the American Rivers Championships, taking home wins in the 1500 meters and the steeplechase. Collet closed his final two laps of the 1500 meters in 59.6 seconds and 55.6 seconds, showing some nasty closing speed over guys like Ryan Harvey and Wyatt Kelly.

There’s been little-to-no doubts about Collet’s abilities this spring, but uncertainty remains as to whether or not he will be ready to defend his 2022 national championship win in the steeplechase in just a few weeks.

7. Ethan Gregg, Junior, UW-La Crosse (-3 / 4)

After getting his national qualifying marks out of the way earlier this season, Ethan Gregg has kept a pretty low profile, only racing four times in total so far this spring.

His recent conference title in the 10k was no surprise as his primary competition came from his teammate, Corey Fairchild. And truthfully, he has likely been preparing for the more important task at hand: the outdoor national meet.

Gregg's highly memorable indoor national meet showing back in Marsh should sit in the minds of everyone competing against him next weekend as he’s not going to make things easy for anybody. If he tries to run away with either the 10k or the 5k fields, then who will give him a serious challenge?

6. Bennett Booth-Genthe, Sophomore, Pomona-Pitzer (+1 / 7)

Bennett Booth-Genthe has been doing some major damage out west, continuing his 2023 hot-streak in full splendor. Bringing home two SCIAC titles in the 800 meters and the 1500 meters was really nice as he showed some good tactical prowess.

His big race, however, was last weekend at the APU Franson "Last Chance" meet where he ran 1:48.31 (800) to bring home a huge win over a very talented field. And sure, we knew this Pomona-Pitzer star was an elite D3 middle distance runner, but this is (debatably) the best result of his career.

It’s really hard to figure out which event Booth-Genthe is better at! Sitting at NCAA #3 in the 800 meters and NCAA #4 in the 1500 meters doesn’t really make that guessing game any easier, but he does feel like a legitimate national title contender this spring.

5. Christian Patzka, Sophomore, UW-Whitewater (-3 / 2)

Unlike Collet and Colin Kirkpatrick, Christian Patzka had to do all of the work in his fast steeplechase of the year as he ran 8:47 in solo fashion.

This isn’t a new ordeal for Patzka as he knows how to run fast solo or with little competition, priming him for competitive experiences in the latter half of the season.

Could this be another scenario where finally getting competition brings out the best of Patzka’s abilities at the national meet? Might we see the national record truly fall to his name?

4. Colin Kirkpatrick, Junior, Pomona-Pitzer (+1 / 5)

With names like Matthew Wilkinson, Christopher Collet and Christian Patzka all having made a serious attempt at the Division Three national record in the steeplechase in recent years, it was bound to fall at some point.

Sure enough, Colin Kirkpatrick took advantage of a great field at the Sound Running Track Fest to run an insane mark of 8:41.92, dipping under the previous record of 8:43.78 which has stood since 2008.

However, due to how the meet was structured in terms of event selection and entries, that time does not officially count for national qualifying purposes. Luckily, it will remain as a D3 collegiate record despite the time not being updated on USTFCCCA.

We should also note that Kirkpatrick brought home a SCIAC title in the steeplechase, running 8:57 while also earning a runner-up honor in the 5k. His 14:27 (5k) mark from the APU Franson "Last Chance" meet wasn’t great, so he’d have to give it another go to try and qualify for the national meet if that is something he is keen on.

Regardless, Kirkpatrick’s time to shine is certainly in the steeplechase and it’s going to be really fun to see him finally battle Collet and Patzka on the biggest stage in just a few weeks.

3. Mike Jasa, Junior, Loras (+3 / 6)

The month of May for Mike Jasa has been simply ridiculous.

In two consecutive weekends, Jasa has run 1:47.81 and 1:48.01 over 800 meters, winning both races by getting the job done himself. And to make his conference-winning time of 1:48.01 even more impressive, his splits were 54.2 seconds through the first 400 meters and 53.7 seconds for the final 400 meters.

Are you kidding me?!

These results only seem to lead us to believe that Jasa will do something mind-blowing at the outdoor national meet. He has shown time and time again this year that he’s prepared for any race scenario in this event.

2. Alex Phillip, Sophomore, John Carroll (0 / 2)

Racking up two more OAC titles in the 10k and the 5k was just another box to check off for Alex Phillip in his final season in Division Three.

However, it was a little unexpected to see him rip his second 1500 meter race of the season, running a really nice personal best of 3:46. Even though there’s essentially no chance that he contests that event at the national meet, he sits at NCAA #8 (D3) in the event.

Everything that Phillip has done this season has only pointed in a very solid direction. But will he be able to assess the tactical situations of the national meet more accurately this time around and reclaim glory once again?

1. Ryan Wilson, Junior, MIT (0 / 1)

Ryan Wilson continues to do Ryan Wilson things.

Since his unreal exploits at the Bryan Clay Invite, we haven’t heard too much from him, but he’s only run 1:49 in the 800 meters and 3:43 in the 1500 meters since then.

Since when do those times go under the radar in Division Three?

He’s won every race he’s been a part of since the Bryan Clay Invite, continuing to be the dominant force that he is at the Division Three level. It seems pretty likely that we’ll see him double on the national stage, especially when you consider MIT’s strong chances for a team podium finish (or team title).