2021 D1 Outdoor Top 25 Rankings (Men): Update #1

These rankings do take some indoor track performances from this past winter into account. However, the introduction of events like the 10k and the steeplechase, as well as the return of certain seniors who have not raced in over a year, has forced us to reshuffle our rankings and leave out some highly accomplished distance talents.

This ranking is a bit unique. Sean Dolan, who is actually a sophomore by age, but a freshman via his eligibility, had an incredible postseason this past winter. He ran 4:01 at Camel City which eventually earned a flat-track conversion of 3:58. That mark qualified him for the indoor national meet.

In Fayetteville, Dolan looked like a new runner. He beautifully navigated himself out of a historically fast mile prelim with a shockingly strong personal best of 3:57. Dolan later came back in the finals to settle for a 6th place All-American, once again running 3:57.

However, what really separates him from the guys who beat him in that mile final is what he did a few weeks ago. At the Raleigh Relays, the rising Villanova star put together a huge 3:39 effort, taking home the overall win against a field that featured experienced 1500 meter veterans like teammate Casey Comber and Washington star Mick Stanovsek.

Consistency is one thing, but to see Dolan running so well on such a consistent basis against high-level fields (despite his youth) is super encouraging. Not only that, but he's showing positioning and race tactics that we would typically see from experienced veterans. I really like what he's done so far this year and I don't see any sign of him slowing down.

Kigen Chemadi is quietly one of the nation's best distance talents. He hadn't raced since the 2020 indoor track season, but his emergence as a top-tier steeplechaser, a high-level 5k runner and a respectable miler makes his resume too good not to rank.

With personal bests of 4:00 (mile) and 13:36 (5k), Chemadi would've already been in contention for a ranking. However, his steeplechase PR of 8:38 is very impressive and it's clearly the best time on his profile. This is also a guy who finished 3rd at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships in that very event.

This redshirt senior can be a problem for his fellow competitors if they aren't careful. He can do a little bit of everything and when he's building momentum, he rarely falters.

The 5k at the Hayward Premiere meet this past weekend was headlined by Herrera and Mantz, but the efforts that we saw out of both Clinger and Garnica were just as impressive. Clinger secured a personal best of 13:24.90 while Garncia also ran a personal best of 13:26.62.

I would like to stay that I'm super shocked by this result, but truthfully, I'm not. Sure, running 13:24 and 13:26 is a bit faster than what I may have expected out of these two, but it's not like it was unrealistic.

Back in February, Clinger ran 13:28 and Garnica ran 13:29 on an indoor 300 meter track. When you consider that they were racing on outdoor 400 meter track, were part of an elite-level field, were chasing someone other than Mantz and were coming off of cross country fitness, it's not exactly shocking to see this duo run this fast.

Does any of that make their times less impressive? No, definitely not. In fact, we've been spoiled by some crazy fast times this year and some people may have grown numb to the unbelievable level of depth that we've seen out of BYU over the last few years. That, however, shouldn't stop these two men from being ranked at TSR #22 and TSR #23.

Not much to say here. Hedeilli was excellent during the indoor track season, running 1:45 (800) and 3:56 (mile). He won the BIG 12 indoor title in the 1000 meters and finished runner-up in the mile. His bronze medal in a wildly memorable 800 meter final at the indoor national meet was potentially overshadowed by the craziness that took place in front of him.

Overall, Hedeilli is dynamic, knows how to earn top finishes and is straight-up fast. On paper, that usually helps you get listed in our rankings.

There isn't much to say here with Eliud Kipsang. He split 3:51 on Alabama's DMR this past winter and eventually ran a time of 3:55 at the NCAA Indoor Championships en route to a silver medal. Kipsang can clearly be one of the nation's best 1500 meter runners and his 3:40 win at the Pepsi Florida Relays seems on par with our expectations.

He falls quite a bit in our rankings compared to our indoor list, but that's only because we have introduced two new distance events (steeple and 10k), have taken recent outdoor track performances into consideration and are adding elite-level returnees back into our Top 25.

James West was, without question, the most difficult name to rank. The Oregon veteran was an absolute star during the 2020 indoor track season, running elite-level times in numerous distance events, showing off some of the best versatility of any distance athlete in the NCAA and emerging as the best distance doubler/tripler that the country had to offer.

However, his recent results have been...well, fairly unexciting. He ran a solid, but unimpressive time of 3:42 for 1500 meters at the Texas Qualifier back in February. Then, this past weekend, he ran 1:52 for 800 meters. For perspective, he owns personal bests of 1:48 (800), 3:34 (1500) and 7:43 (3k).

It's only been two races, but West doesn't seem to be at his absolute best right now, which is why we have him ranked at TSR #19. There is still a ton of time for him to rebound and rally, but it's tough to know when that will happen.

This Colorado State Ram is on a huge hot streak. Outside of Cole Hocker, I'm not sure there is any distance runner who has more momentum than Hamer. He was outstanding this past winter, running under 13:40 for 5000 meters (once converted) on three separate occasions.

He ran a perfect race at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing runner-up in a time of 13:29 and just ran a huge 10k personal best of 28:08, taking down two top-tier names from Cincinnati in Aaron Bienenfeld and Alec Sandusky.

No, he doesn't have the flashy 1500 meter speed or an amazing finishing kick that a few other athletes do, but this year's aggressive front-running field will surely favor Hamer. I have a hard time finding any flaws in how he has gone about his recent rise in fitness.

Vincent Kiprop has already experienced competitive heartbreak, finishing runner-up at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 10,000 meters, losing to Ben Flanagan on a final kick over the last 200 meters. That, however, could be the motivating factor that pushes him to a new level this year.

With a personal best of 28:19 and a willingness to assert an aggressive pace, this year's 10k field should favor his strengths. In fact, we already saw him run 28:23 at the Raleigh Relays a few weeks ago. The only issue? He was edged by Robert Brandt.

Kiprop is more than capable of winning a national title, but his finishing speed needs to be refined and he must figure out a way to win these close races. That may not be quite as important this year based on how Mantz and Kiptoo like to run, but it should still be addressed.

This is a tough ranking to figure out. Mario Garica Romo's best event this past winter was arguably the 3000 meters, an event he finished 3rd in at the NCAA Indoor Championships, matching his personal best of 7:48. He also ran 3:56 for the mile.

However, with the 3k no longer part of the outdoor slate, what event should Garcia Romo pursue? Is the 1500 meters his best option? Or does his 3k suggest that he would be better in the 5k? It's hard to say for sure, but what we do know is that this Ole Miss star has been incredible as of late. Whatever the season holds, he'll be amongst the top contenders in the field.

His winter cross country season was incredible, even if it didn't end like he wanted it to. Still, running 13:24 in your season debut and taking down an elite trio of BYU runners (including the cross country national champion) is quite the statement performance.

If Herrera was going to take down that group on the final lap, I thought it was going to be via an injection of speed over the final 100 meters. However, he slowly pulled away from that trio over the last 300 meters, a method that theoretically would've benefitted the strength-based Cougars. That is what makes his win that much more impressive and gives him a TSR #15 ranking.

Honestly, the basis for this ranking is mainly that McLear barely missed an upset win over an elite talent in Charlie Hunter. He was solid all winter long, but 1:45 effort at the NCAA Indoor Championships, barely finishing runner-up to Hunter by 0.01 seconds, is too good to ignore.

The Miami (Ohio) RedHawk also ran 1:47 at the Raleigh Relays en route to an overall win. Seeing some versatility and different event selection from McLear would be nice, but there isn't a whole lot more that he has to do. His biggest chance to prove himself will likely come in the postseason.

This guy just ran 3:34 for 1500 meters this past February...on an indoor track. It feels like robbery to be listing Tanner, who also ran 3:55 in the mile this past winter, at only TSR #13. However, his inability to get out of the prelims at the indoor national meet does not bode well for his ranking.

 Even so, this is a ranking that will surely improve as the season unfolds. Tanner is simply too good to not eventually earn a top ranking, although it's unclear what his plans for this spring season may be. Tanner will surely contest the 1500 meters at the Australian Olympic Trials later this month.

We knew that Lagat was a top talent during the 2019 outdoor track season, but him running a monster time of 1:45 for 800 meters to finish 3rd at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships validated the Iowa State senior as a top middle distance ace.

However, what really gave him a boost in these rankings was his recent 3:39 for 1500 meters. That is some surprisingly great strength and it really gives his resume quite the edge. Lagat also ran 1:47 on the weekend double and looks like he's just as strong as he was in 2019...except now he's almost equally as dangerous in the 1500 meters as he is the 800 meters.

Few men in the NCAA are as experienced and consistently great on the national stage as Brandt is. The graduate transfer from UCLA has found major success with the Hoyas over the last year, even if he wasn't able to officially compete in a Georgetown singlet until the Raleigh Relays.

In a time trial back in the fall / early winter, Brandt threw down a sub-four mile effort. He later ventured to the Sound Running Track Meet where he ran a jaw-dropping time of 27:39 for 10,000 meters, just two seconds behind Kiptoo. Then, just a few weeks ago, Brandt ran 28:23 for 10,000 meters, beating out title contender Vincent Kiprop and validating himself as a gold medal contender.

The four-time All-American on the track also owns personal bests of 7:50 (3k) and 13:36 (5k). However, those marks came in the spring of 2019 and it feels very safe to say that Brandt has only elevated his fitness to a much higher level since then.

The Canadian steeplechaser had a massive breakout season in the spring of 2019, emerging as a true title contender and running the NCAA's fastest time by a heavy margin. His breakout performance at Payton Jordan, where he ran an incredible mark of 8:27.90, suddenly thrusted Smeeton into a tier that no other collegiate steeplechaser could match.

No, the Oklahoma State star didn't win the national title, but he took advantage of an absolutely crazy steeple final to finish runner-up. Now, Smeeton is the NCAA's top returner based on time and based on national meet finish. A TSR #12 ranking seemed perfectly appropriate all things considered.

Some people will understandably get upset that Grijalva is only ranked at TSR #9. However, I think it's fair to say that he wasn't at his absolute peak in Stillwater a few weeks ago. Grijalva was absent from racing for a good portion of the winter cross country season (racing only once during the regular season) and then placed 9th at the NCAA XC Championships.

With a 13:17 (5k) personal best from this past December, which resulted in a win over Cooper Teare and Drew Hunter, it's understandable why this NAU superstar should be given a higher ranking. However, until we see him running at his absolute best form, he'll stick at TSR #9.

It's hard to really get a gauge on what Edwin Kurgat can/will do this spring, but posting a time of 27:58 for 10,000 meters this past weekend, finishing right alongside teammate Edwin Kurgat, was pretty darn impressive.

Kurgat's 2020 indoor track season was also super strong, running 7:49 for 3000 meters and soloing 13:24 for 5000 meters. There are still questions about his finishing speed, but just because we hadn't seen him race in a while doesn't mean that he isn't a title contender or one of the nation's best talents.

A cross country national title, which came over Iowa State superstar Wesley Kiptoo, helps Mantz's rankings quite a bit. However, a surprise loss to Colorado's Eduardo Herrera this past weekend, even if he did run 13:24, does hold Mantz back a bit.

Even so, this BYU runner is one of the nation's best 10k/5k specialists. He's an aggressive front-runner and that should bode well for him this year in the postseason given the similar approaches that we've seen from other long distance talents like Kiptoo and Kiprop.

Sure, it wasn't ideal to see Herrera hold off Mantz for the win this past weekend, but 13:24 is no joke of a time and the speed work has likely not been a priority for Mantz as of late when you consider that the cross country season just ended. By June, he should primed for a national title run.

In a world without Bryce Hoppel, this Texas A&M veteran would've been a national title winner. Dixon owns a personal best of 1:44 and is a super aggressive front-runner who has consistently battled for All-American spots and national titles. He's improved his national meet finishes over the years and the outdoor track suits his fast-paced approach.

Charlie Hunter is more dynamic when it comes to the middle distances and is coming off of an indoor national title at 800 meters. However, the Aggie ace is probably the main favorite to take him down. In fact, some would argue that Dixon is probably the 800 meter title favorite.

Welcome back to the rankings, Yared Nuguse. The Notre Dame superstar has been the definition of elite when it comes to the mile and 1500 meter distances in the NCAA over the past few years. That likely hasn't changed, we just haven't seen him on the track prior to this spring thanks to cross country taking precedence for the Fighting Irish.

Nuguse just ran a very impressive 5k PR of 13:40 at the Raleigh Relays, showing off his cross country strength that he might not have previously had if a cross country season didn't happen in the winer. His newfound strength will be incredibly valuable in this year's 1500 field which will likely feature Cole Hocker trying to pull away from the field if this spring is anything like the winter.

A dominant win at the NCAA Indoor Championships, which led to a national meet record of 13:23, obviously helps his case in these rankings. However, the introduction of the 10k really boosts his resume. He ran 27:37 back in December and just ran 27:58 this past weekend, edging teammate Edwin Kurgat in the process.

Between the 5k and 10k, this Iowa State sophomore is bound to win at least one national title this spring. Both races will likely be super fast at the national meet, regardless if Kiptoo were to push the pace, and that should ultimately favor him in the postseason.

In a year where the 10k is historically deep, Kiptoo being the title favorite (or at least ONE of the title favorites) boosts his resume even further.

What can we say about this trio that hasn't already been said? They were dominant on the indoor oval, were super versatile and won multiple national titles between the three of them. They dominated this past winter and Hocker just put together a very impressive weekend double with ease. Could there be someone who challenges and interrupts the success of this trio this spring? Absolutely.

But for now, these three will stay at the top of our rankings.

Ahmed Jaziri (Eastern Kentucky)

Tom Dodd (Michigan)

Lucas Bons (BYU)

Yusuf Bizimana (Texas)

Colton Johnsen (Washington State)

Aaron Bienenfeld (Cincinnati)

Adriaan Wildschutt (Florida State)

Morgan Beadlescomb (Michigan State)

Amon Kemboi (Arkansas)

Jason Gomez (Iowa State)

Reed Brown (Oregon)

Waleed Suliman (Ole Miss)

Clayson Shumway (BYU)

Isaiah Jewett (USC)

Nico Young (Northern Arizona)

Abdi Nur (Northern Arizona)

Samuel Voelz (Notre Dame)

Gilbert Boit (Arkansas)

Kameron Jones (Clemson)

Luke Meade (Arkansas)

John Dressel (Colorado)

Isai Rodriguez (Oklahoma State)

Charles Hicks (Stanford)

Patrick Dever (Tulsa)

Nathan Mylenek (Iowa)

Alex Masai (Hofstra)

Kenneth Rooks (BYU)

Alec Basten (Minnesota)

Michael Rhoads (Air Force)

Kyle Mau (Indiana)

Alex Ostberg (North Carolina)

Adam Fogg (Drake)

George Kusche (Nebraska)

Talem Franco (BYU)

Kasey Knevelbaard (Florida State)

Samuel Abascal (Eastern Kentucky)

Luis Peralta (Oregon)

Davis Bove (LSU)

Juan Diego Castro (Oklahoma State)

Alec Sandusky (Cincinnati)

Alek Parsons (Stanford)

Shea Foster (SE Louisiana)

Jacob McLeod (Arkansas)

Duncan Hamilton (Montana State)

Cameron Ponder (Furman)

Baldvin Magnusson (Eastern Michigan)
 Andrew Kent (Georgia Tech)

Brandon Tubby (North Carolina)

Ben Veatch (Indiana)

Juan Diego Castro (Oklahoma State)

Alec Sandusky (Cincinnati)

Bashir Mosavel-Lo (Virginia Tech)

Kieran Taylor (Arkansas)

Ackeen Colley (Western Illinois)

Cooper Williams (Indiana)

Thomas Ratcliffe (North Carolina)

Adam Swanson (Eastern Illinois)
 Roshon Roomes (Iowa State)

Mick Stanovsek (Washington)

Carlton Orange (Texas A&M)

Stan Niesten (Portland)

- There are clearly a TON of names listed in our "Just Missed" sections and "Honorable Mention" sections. This is because, at the moment, it is hard to differentiate certain distance talents from one another. The inclusion of the steeplechase and the 10k this season allows some collegiate resumes to get a fresh start in our eyes. Therefore, they need to be considered in our rankings.