TSR Collaboration

Feb 3, 202113 min read

2021 D2 Indoor Top 25 Rankings (Men): Update #2

TSR contributors may value certain aspects and ranking criteria differently between men and women when constructing our Indoor Top 25...

KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

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

The second number indicates where they were ranked in our last update.

25. Wes Ferguson, Rs. Freshman, Nebraska-Kearney (Unranked)

Ferguson has only raced three times as a freshman for Nebraska-Kearney and he has already made an early impression. After debuting with a 1:54 prior to winter break, it seems that Ferguson had a successful training block before toeing the line once again this past weekend.

His time of 1:50.60 for 800 meters is the fastest raw time in the NCAA this season and it currently has him sitting at NCAA #2 on the national performance list. Both of those performances are good enough reasons for the redshirt freshman to find himself within our Top 25 just two races into his indoor career.

Ferguson is now part of a field that no longer has the D2 record holder competing in the NCAA and we have yet to see anyone take command of the title contender spot. With a little more than a month to go to until the NCAA Championships, Ferguson could find himself in a comfortable position to earn All-American honors.

24. Josh Pierantoni, Junior, Colorado Christian (Unranked)

Josh Pierantoni got behind the 8-ball immediately this indoor season. He opened up his season in mid-January with a 3k win in a time of 8:16, good for an NCAA D2 provisional mark.

This past weekend, Pierantoni built upon his already exciting momentum in a huge way with a 4:05 (converted) win in the mile. He went 1-2 with teammate Nicholas Skinner to rapidly ascend up the national leaderboard in the mile, climbing to NCAA #5.

Pierantoni has built upon a great fall season where he finished 9th at the RMAC XC Championships, and there’s still a month or so left for him to improve before the postseason kicks off. He looks incredibly sharp right now and we're convinced that he still has more to offer, potentially in the 5000 meters.

23. Dillon Powell, Rs. Freshman, Colorado Mines (Unranked)

Powell joined fellow redshirt freshman and Colorado Mines teammate Loic Scomparin in what was likely one of the deepest 3k races ever assembled by a singular D2 team. Powell, along with Scomparin and three other teammates, secured auto-qualifying marks for the national meet in the 3000 meters.

Powell was the last of the five to auto-qualify, notching a time of 8:00 (converted) for the distance. While some may not get too excited about his overall placement, it doesn’t make Powell’s effort any less impressive. If anything, it simply highlights how deep this Mines team is and how Powell has proven to be a key contributor and great individual racer.

The Oredigger rookie is coming off of a cross country season where he took 10th at the RMAC XC Championships and was named First-Team All-RMAC. He’s now an indoor national qualifier and there’s basically still the entire month of February left.

If there’s any question with Powell, it has to be whether or not he can replicate this kind of performance later this season.

22. Adam Wright, Sophomore, Queens (N.C.) (-2 / 20)

Adam Wright came into this year as a returning national qualifier in the 800 meters and quickly secured a provisional mark this season. So far, Wright has raced twice this year. He opened up with a mile race, winning in a time of 4:14. Then, the Queens (N.C.) runner notched a time of 1:51 over 800 meters the following weekend, also in a winning effort.

While the marks aren’t super outlandish, Wright does have a provisional mark and seems to be in solid shape. It’s important to note that Wright also hasn’t raced since last indoor season, and he only just ran in his primary event for the first time this past weekend.

It's not that 1:51 is anything to brush off, but his next performance will likely be even more eye-catching.

21. Enael Woldemichael, Senior, Grand Valley State (-7 / 14)

The GVSU distance runner has suited up just once so far this season and truthfully, he came out a little flat. However, it’s worth noting that GVSU didn’t compete at all this past cross country season, so for Woldemichael, it’s been almost an entire year since he last raced collegiately.

The senior holds personal bests of 8:07 (3k) and 13:54 (5k outdoors). His first race was a mile which, safe to say, is not his specialty. After a little more time to shake off the rust, Woldemichael could be very dangerous to almost anyone in the longer distance races not named Christian Noble.

20. Titus Winders, Junior, Southern Indiana (-7 / 13)

The decorated low-stick from Southern Indiana has seemed a little quiet this season. Winders has raced only once so far, running a modest 14:34 in the 5000 meters at the Samford January Open. He currently sits at NCAA #11 on the D2 national leaderboard in the 5000 meters, but is just short of having a provisional check next to his name.

Don’t count Winders out just yet, though. He didn’t race at all this past cross country season, so it should be fair to assume that he’s a bit rusty and is still working through whatever prevented him from suiting up in the fall.

Given a little more time, Winders is likely to bounce back in a big way.

19. Afewerki Zeru, Junior, UC-Colorado Springs (Unranked)

Afewerki Zeru currently holds two provisional marks in the 3k and 5k, respectively. Zeru opened up his season at the CSU-Pueblo vs UCCS Duals in the 3000 meters, running a strong converted time of 8:13. He followed that up this past weekend with a victory in the 5000 meters at the UCCS Invite, securing yet another strong converted mark, this time in 14:01.

With that win and time, Zeru has soared up to NCAA #3 on the 5k national leaderboard and has punched his ticket to the national meet with an auto-qualifying time. Zeru held provisional marks in both events last year as well, and he’s markedly improved in both races given the performances that we've seen from him so far.

18. Loic Scomparin, Rs. Freshman, Colorado Mines (Unranked)

Loic Scomparin joined the army that is Colorado Mines’ men’s distance team in the 3k this past weekend and the results were nothing short of amazing.

Five of the Mines men secured auto-qualifying marks for the D2 national meet in that 3k race and Scomparin was 2nd amongst them, with only esteemed teammate Dylan Ko beating him. It’s worth noting that Ko was only victorious by fractions of a second.

Scomparin is coming off of a cross country season in which he placed 6th at the RMAC XC Championships and took home RMAC Freshman of the Year. He now can add being a member of the sub-8 minute (converted) club as well as being an indoor national qualifier to his resume.

However, just like we mentioned with Powell, we'll be eager to see how Scomparin attacks the rest of the 2021 indoor track season.

17. Nathan Hood, Senior, CSU-Pueblo (Unranked)

Nathan Hood currently sits atop the D2 leaderboard in the 800 meters for the second week in a row. The half-mile specialist from CSU-Pueblo opened up his season at the CSU-Pueblo vs UCCS Duals and immediately climbed to the top spot on the D2 national leaderboard.

He then defended that top mark by earning a win this past weekend at the Western Colorado Triangular in a time of 1:50.68 (converted). So far, Hood has won both 800 races that he has toed the line for this season. It’s a small sample size, but he’s been consistent with his times throughout his entire career and has won both races by at least four seconds so far this winter.

Hood is hovering right around where he left off last year when he qualified for the NCAA Championships in a converted time of 1:50.15. It’ll be worth keeping an eye out for when he races in a more competitive field later this year.

16. Caleb Futter, Rs. Freshman, Grand Valley State (+9 / 25)

Redshirt freshman Caleb Futter has already started to build quite the resume for himself in his first competitive season for GVSU. Futter opened up his season with an impressive win in the mile over his teammates, including mid-distance ace Dennis Mbuta, in a very strong mark of 4:06.

Futter later notched a provisional mark in the 3000 meters with a time of 8:10 since then, putting him at NCAA #12 on the D2 national leaderboard. After posting a strong mile time out of nowhere, the GVSU youngster posted a 3k time that validates his overall talent.

Turns out that he's more than just a great miler...

15. Ryan Riddle, Senior, Missouri Southern (Unranked)

Missouri Southern product Ryan Riddle opened up his season at the Crimson & Gold Invite back in mid-January with a solid 8:18 (3k). However, Riddle immediately bested that mark by three seconds the next weekend at the Wendy’s/PSU MIAA Challenge.

And yet, that still wasn't his best race of the season.

His best eye-catching performance has to be the 4:04 mile performance in that same exact meet where he ran a new 3k personal best. Both events were wins for the veteran who ran 4:05 to qualify for last year’s national meet. Riddle currently sits at NCAA #4 on the D2 national leaderboard this year.

That is a very impressive double from the Missouri Southern star and it shows us that he has built up a lot of fitness over the past year. The next time he toes the line to race will be one to watch, especially if he’s not loading up on two events one day.

14. Blake Jones, Sophomore, Illinois-Springfield (+10 / 24)

Blake Jones has been keeping his momentum from the fall cross country season going strong into this winter season. Jones added a huge 14:02 (5k) personal best to his resume at the Samford January Open where he finished behind only Austin Nolan.

Like Nolan, Jones’ time earned him an auto-qualifying mark for the national meet, currently giving Jones two top-10 marks on the D2 national leaderboard. Few men have been on the streak of success that Jones has been on so far this winter. We knew he would good this winter, but we didn't think it would be to this extent.

13. Nate Beamer, Senior, Western Washington (-5 / 8)

Has not yet raced this winter.

12. Ezra Mutai, Sophomore, American International (-5 / 7)

Has not yet raced this winter.

11. Tanner Chada, Junior, Grand Valley State (+5 / 16)

After an unexciting opener in the 3000 meters, Chada made sure to brush aside any doubts about his current fitness. The once national runner-up in the 5k has moved up six spots in our rankings after running a huge personal best in the mile.

How much of a personal best? How does 13 seconds sound?

Chada ran 4:03.74 and finished 2nd behind teammate Isaac Harding two weekends ago as they both dusted the field by six seconds. This moves Chada up the rankings in all three disciplines. He’s now a legitimate threat in the mile and despite already having run 8:08 for 3000 meters, this mile performance suggests that he can do better than that. Heck, we haven't even seen him run a 5k yet!

There is still a lot more in store for Chada and if he can use this most recent performance as a spark plug for future success, then you can imagine he'll be moving inside the top-10 of our rankings in the near future.

10. Isaac Harding, Junior, Grand Valley State (Unranked)

Harding, much like his teammate Chada, wasn’t extremely impressive in his opening race for the Lakers this season. Of course, any concerns now seem moot given his most recent performance.

Harding bested Chada by six-tenths of a second in the mile two weeks ago, solidifying himself as one of D2’s best distance runners after just his second race with a huge time of 4:03.

Depending on what Christian Noble wants to do at the NCAA meet, Harding might have the target on his back as the early national title favorite in the mile. A 5k is probably on tap next for Harding (and maybe Chada) and that will give us more of an idea in terms of what race he will want to focus on this season.

9. Austin Nolan, Rs. Senior, Southern Indiana (Unranked)

Nolan was considered to be someone who could be part of our "Honorable Mentions" section during the preseason. As competition on the indoor oval began, there hadn’t been much thought as to where he fit in with the best names of D2.

That lack of attention, however, quickly changed. Nolan recently ran a monster 13:58 (5k), beating out rising star Blake Jones and securing an overall personal best by 21 seconds.

Don’t get us wrong, Nolan's marks of 14:19 (5k) and 8:10 (3k) were nothing to scoff at, but we didn't expect him to drop this much time in his first race back in almost a year. In fact, his time of 13:58 would have been the fastest raw time in the NCAA last year, three seconds ahead of Christian Noble.

If Christian Noble didn't exist, Nolan would have been considered to be a true 5k national title favorite in any other season.

8. Carson Bix, Senior, Adams State (-3 / 5)

Bix has not raced yet this season, but Adams State is set to host a triangular meet this weekend. Rumor has it that some fast 3k times will be run in an effort to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

7. Taylor Stack, Rs. Senior, Western Colorado (+2 / 9)

The last time we saw Stack toe the line was at the RMAC XC Championships where he faltered a bit to finish 7th overall. That's why it was so encouraging see him come away with a strong performance at 7700 feet this past weekend.

Stack's mark of 8:36 for 3000 meters is very impressive and it was a facility record...well, it would have been if he didn't finish behind his teammate. On any other weekend, Stack’s converted mark of 8:04 mark likely leads the NCAA and headlines the weekend results.

Even so, we already knew that Stack was a legitimate threat at the 3k and 5k distances, and this only reassures that sentiment. The Western Colorado veteran will be looking for his first NCAA title this winter and despite his early success, he’ll have his hands full taking down the competition in front of him, teammates included.

6. Kyle Moran, Rs. Junior, Colorado Mines (+4 / 10)

Moran gets a four spot boost because, well, he was part of the greatest race in Steinhauer Fieldhouse’s history (close second is 2018 RMAC indoors).

Moran finished 3rd overall in the 3000 meters behind teammates Loic Scomparin and Dylan Ko en route to breaking the facility record (along with two others).

Moran’s raw time was 8:21 received a huge conversion down to 7:57. That’s six seconds better than the automatic qualifying mark. If you weren’t already convinced about Moran being just as good as his teammate Ko, this should probably incentive you to think otherwise.

5. Dennis Mbuta, Senior, Grand Valley State (-3 / 2)

Mbuta has seemed to be a bit "off' early on this season. His marks of 1:52 (800) and 4:09 (mile) are not quite what we had expected from him in his final season. Of course, whether or not Mbuta is still rounding into shape isn’t a question, but more of a fact at this point.

He is still among the NCAA's best in both the mile and 800, but we know that he's capable of faster times. A strong result next time out for Mbuta would make us feel much better about leaving him at TSR #5.

4. Luke Julian, Rs. Sophomore, Colorado Mines (0 / 4)

Julian was part of the Oredigger parade that trounced the facility 3k record over the weekend. He was 4th overall, but was only a single second behind Ko. The last time we saw Julian on the indoor track, he ran 8:14 at the NCAA Championships. However, just this past weekend, he ran 8:22 at altitude on an undersized flat track, leaving him with a 7:58.

Say what you will about altitude conversions, but that is downright impressive. Whether or not he can run sub-8 unconverted has yet to be seen, but the fact that he might be in that kind of shape tells us that he could be a title threat in whichever event(s) Noble doesn't run.

However, what’s also getting lost here is where Julian fits in on the Orediggers' DMR. They have got to have one of the deepest teams in NCAA history and Julian might (potentially) be the best miler they’ve ever had.

3. Charlie Sweeney, Rs. Junior, Western Colorado (+3 / 6)

Much like his teammate, if Sweeney had done what he did this past weekend any other time over the last couple of years, we’d be talking about it more. Prior to this winter, Sweeney ran 13:46 for 5000 meters the last time we saw him on a track, albeit it was on an outdoor oval.

This past weekend did nothing to tell us that he is in any worse shape. He ran 8:29 for 3000 meters at his home track and broke the facility record by 10 seconds which was previously held by Adams State’s Kevin Batt. That time converts to an automatic qualifying mark of 7:58 and he joins the string of runners who have submitted sub-8 marks (oftentimes converted) so far this season.

Sweeney is up against some of the toughest competition in D2 history while he looks to maneuver his way to an NCAA title. He’s got all the makings to win one, but can he take down guys who are emerging as D2 all-time greats?

2. Dylan Ko, Rs. Junior, Colorado Mines (+1 / 3)

We have made it. We are finally at the forefront of the Orediggers' incredible 3k assault. Ko crossed the line in a time of 8:20 for 3000 meters, three seconds better than the previous mark of 8:23 held by Celedonio Rodriguez of Adams State.

That mark after conversion now sits as the second-fastest time in the NCAA (D2) at 7:57. We saw Ko make a massive leap in fitness during the 2019-2020 season and he’s only improved upon that fitness during the 2020-2021 seasons.

We aren’t sure what he will race next, but if this is any indication of what to expect from him moving forward, then it’s pretty easy to call him the odds-on favorite to take down our TSR #1 runner.

1. Christian Noble, Rs. Senior, Lee (Tenn.) (0 / 1)

There is only so much you can say about what Noble has been doing this season. He’s broken two D2 records in the span of a week, and those came on the heels of running 4:00 in the mile.

Starting with his 5k time, his 13:37 is the best-time in D2 history by almost four seconds. Meanwhile, his time of 7:51 in the 3k is three seconds faster than the previous official mark. Oh, and not to mention, he ran the second-half of those races entirely alone.

Noble has to know that he has a chance of being the greatest D2 runner ever and clearly, he’s not letting that moment slip through his fingers. He’s the national title favorite in all three distance events right now, and if he chooses to race in all three, then it's not entirely unrealistic that he wins all of them.

ADDED

Wes Ferguson (Nebraska-Kearney)

Isaac Harding (Grand Valley State)

Ryan Riddle (Missouri Southern)

Nathan Hood (CSU-Pueblo)

Loic Scomparin (Colorado Mines)

Afewerki Zeru (UC-Colorado Springs)

Dillon Powell (Colorado Mines)

Josh Pierantoni (Colorado Christian)

Austin Nolan (Southern Indiana)

KICKED OFF

Jake Mitchem (Colorado Mines)

Luc Hagen (Colorado Mines)

Connor Schwartz (Grand Valley State)

Gidieon Kimutai (Missouri Southern)

Joshua Chepkesir (UNC Pembroke)

Hugo Arlabosse (Franklin Pierce)

Ayman Zahafi (TAMU Kingsville)

James Young (Academy of Art)

Seb Anthony (Queens (N.C.))

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Titus Lagat (Lee (Tenn.))

Nicholas Skinner (Colorado Christian)

John O’Malley (Colorado Mines)

Max Sevcik (Colorado Mines)

Evan Del Rio (Mississippi College)