Wes Ferguson is one of America’s best distance runners, but runs in Division 2!

 When an athlete says they want to run track in college, they almost always mean that they want to do it in Division 1. It’s where Matthew Boling ran past everyone indoors, twice in the 200 meter dash indoors before winning his own World Gold medal in the mixed 4x4. It is also where Will Sumner dominated the NCAA in the 800 meter run before turning pro right after his freshman season in 2023. But if you were paying very close attention to the all college leaderboards last season, you would have noticed that all the fast runners weren’t actually in D1. In fact the two fastest men behind Will Sumner on the clock ran the 2023 season in Division 2. But only 1 of those men is still there in D2. And he is once again ranked inside the top 10 right now.

Wes Ferguson runs the 800 meter for the University of Nebraska Kearney. Not to be confused with Nebraska Lincoln which is in D1 and a member of the Big Ten. And to be honest, he was never supposed to be this fast! If he was he probably wouldn’t have ended up outside of D1 entirely. Wes Ferguson has already won a bunch of National championships at the D2 level. But if he can keep this up, he might do the unthinkable and finish the season as the fastest 800 meter runner in all of college, regardless of division. 

Wes Ferguson was third on the all college leaderboard outdoors in 2023. The only reason nobody notices is because he runs for the Nebraska Kearny Lopers. With Will Sumner already out of college, he is one of the favorites to take the crown at the top of the charts. But his journey to the top is proof of everything wrong with track and field recruiting at the D1 level. 

How did Wes Ferguson end up in D2?

In high school Wes Ferguson was pretty good in the state of Nebraska. He would have rated as a high 3 star recruit on SCArecruiting.com at the end of his junior year. That’s good enough to go D1 obviously, but not good enough to do it in the Big Ten which is what the Nebraska Cornhuskers are looking for. His only other D1 options in state were Creighton, which is severely underfunded and the University of Omaha. If you’ve never heard about the in track, it’s because they don’t have a men’s team! Simply put Wes Ferguson basically had to leave his state if he was going to get a legit shot to compete in D1. And evidently many of the schools that could use even a 3 star runner like him weren’t coming to Nebraska to find him.

As a senior he actually won his state meet in the 400 and 800 meter races and would have bumped up to 4 star level. However, junior year track season is often what determines your recruiting stock. The signing period for D1 track begins in November, and his state meet was not until May of the following year! So for that reason Wes Ferguson ended up running for the Nebraska Kearney Lopers.

Wes Ferguson’s rise to the top of the NCAA

The moment Wes got there he proved he was way better than anyone gave him credit for. As a freshman in 2021 he ran a new PR in the 800 to win the MIAA conference indoors. That launched him into the 800 meter final at the D2 national meet where he finished 7th. He got hurt outdoors that season but came back indoors in 2022 to not only repeat as conference champion, but win his first NCAA title in the 800. This is still only his sophomore year season. Outdoors was the same story, where he would win the conference and win the nation. The only reason he didn’t repeat the feat in 2023 indoors is because somebody else in D2 actually ran faster than Wes’s PR and, almost everyone else in D1 at the indoor national meet. But outdoors Wes came back to win the outdoor national title in 1:45.56. That was a brand new PR and the third fastest time in all of college.

All of that brings us to what just happened, because by now Wes Ferguson must be aware that the transfer portal is a thing. He simply chose not to use it. He returned back to Nebraska Kearney, and did what he does. For his second 800 of the indoor season he ran one of the top 10 fastest times again in all of college! It’s not even close to his PR, but the point is that it doesn’t need to be. Wes Ferguson is legit! He’s one of the fastest runners in college, and has been now for years. He has won 3 NCAA championships in the 800 for Division 2, and never lost an 800 meter race in his conference. 

The only problem is that Wes Ferguson was never supposed to be doing this for Nebraska Kearney. He belongs in Division 1! He was a 3 star recruit whom nobody came to find out in Nebraska. Not even the only big time D1 school in his home state. So he played the hand he was dealt, and now he simply goes out to win almost every race he gets a chance to run. It is unclear what the future of Wes Ferguson’s career will look like, but I do know that we’ve seen this movie before. Wes Ferguson is on pace to win another D2 national title, which will no doubt fill his trophy case. But the only title that really matters at this point is the fastest man in college. And there’s hardly anyone around who can stop him from claiming that title. That’s even if they run track on scholarship in Division 1.

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