2022 D1 Outdoor Top 25 Rankings (Men): Update #2

Click here to see our Just Missed names, Honorable Mention names and Notes.

Listed eligibility takes redshirts and Covid-related extensions into consideration.

TFRRS is used as a general guide when determining eligibility.

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. Kenneth Rooks, Sophomore, BYU (Unranked)

The men's steeplechase feels wide-open this year, although you could have probably made the same argument last year. Rooks' recent 8:32 mark is a new NCAA lead and it's an incredible time that certainly puts him in the "Is this someone who could realistically challenge for a national title?" category.

Will Rooks actually reach that point? It's certainly possible, but for now, this is an excellent display of his fitness. I'd like to see him build off of this performance and produce some consistency after an underwhelming opener, but for the most part, there is a lot more to like about Rooks than dislike.

24. Casey Clinger, Rs. Sophomore, BYU (Unranked)

This spot could have gone to a handful of names. Kieran Lumb, Eduardo Herrera, Alec Basten, Ryan Schoppe, Luke Houser and a few others all had good arguments to be ranked in this spot.

However, if we didn't rank Clinger, then he would have been the best combined 10k/5k specialist this season who wasn't in our Top 25.

And that just didn't seem right.

Lumb is more dynamic, Herrera has had more recent national-caliber success and Basten is a potential steeple title contender depending on who you ask. Still, Clinger's momentum between both of the longer distance events is just better.

It's absurd to think that Herrera's 13:20 isn't going to get him ranked right now and I don't feel great about that. In fact, I'm pretty positive I'm going to regret leaving him out. Even so, Clinger's value in the 10k and the 5k is arguably a bit more than what Herrera can offer in just the 5k.

23. Victor Kiprop, Freshman, Alabama (0 / 23)

A 13:24 mark for 5000 meters seems to be on par with our expectations. It's an excellent time and it matches his recent 28:15 performance from the Stanford Invite where he beat a loaded field.

I think the 10k is Kiprop's best event and running 13:24 only validates the idea that he can be a nationally competitive name at that distance. That, of course, is hardly a hot take ever since his aforementioned 10k performance.

22. Ed Trippas, Senior, Princeton (-11 / 11)

Has not raced since our last rankings update.

21. Aaron Las Heras, Junior, Wake Forest (-1 / 20)

Has not raced since our last rankings update.

20. Anass Essayi, Freshman, South Carolina (Unranked)

It's time to start respecting Anass Essayi. This Moroccan has run 3:34 for 1500 meters and was an Olympic qualifier last summer. Since entering the NCAA, he has won the SEC indoor title in a mark of 3:57, has run 3:40 for 1500 meters to earn a win at the Florida Relays and later ran 3:39 for 1500 meters at the Joe Walker Invite to defeat Mario Garcia Romo.

In other words, Essayi has yet to lose a single mile or 1500 meter final so far in his still-young NCAA career. I know it's early, but I think it's time to seriously consider Essayi as an outside contender for the national title.

He not only has an elite-level mark, but he has shown that he can defeat numerous top-tier talents on a consistent basis.

We'll obviously need to see him run faster, but I think that's a very reasonable ask for someone of his caliber.

19. Ryan Smeeton, Senior, Oklahoma State (0 / 19)

Has not raced since our last rankings update.

18. Charles Hicks, Sophomore, Stanford (0 / 18)

Has not raced since our last rankings update.

17. Olin Hacker, Rs. Senior, Wisconsin (-3 / 14)

Hacker was listed as a senior on TFRRS last spring, but he only has three seasons of outdoor track competition on his resume. We'll aim to clarify if he is returning, but for now, he'll stay in our rankings.

16. Jonathan Davis, Senior, Illinois (Unranked)

In retrospect, it was maybe a bit hasty to bump Davis out of our first update for these outdoor rankings. He did, after all, run 3:54 in the mile this past winter.

However, Davis did fade in the Stanford Invite 5k and the introduction of new talents to this year's 1500 meter field made it a little more challenging to keep certain men in the first edition of our top-25 (especially one other name who we'll to go in a moment).

This past weekend, however, Davis left no doubt. He ran a jaw-dropping mark of 3:36 for 1500 meters at Bryan Clay, finishing 6th overall and losing only to Abdi Nur and Eliud Kipsang. Then, if that wasn't enough, Davis went to the Beach Invitational and ran 1:48 for 800 meters.

Davis is on fire right now and while he does seem to thrive in aggressively-paced settings compared to tactical scenarios, it's hard to dislike anything about him right now.

15. Cole Sprout, Sophomore, Stanford (0 / 15)

Has not raced since our last rankings update.

14. John Rivera, Senior, Ole Miss (-1 / 13)

In a loaded 800 meter field featuring multiple superstars at the Tom Jones Memorial meet, Rivera held his own and earned a strong 1:46 mark to earn a 3rd place finish and a placement over Brandon Miller.

For the most part, there isn't a ton to talk about here. Rivera matched expectations with a very fast time and still earned a top result in a loaded field, further validating his elite middle distance prowess.

I'm not sure this race necessarily told us anything new about Rivera (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), but at least we have additional confidence in his reliability to deliver on a big stage (which is something that he has already proven to us).

13. Amon Kemboi, Rs. Senior, Arkansas (-3 / 10)

It seems pretty crazy that Kemboi can run 28:02 for 10,000 meters and yet he drops three spots in our rankings. That, however, is just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

Either way, Kemboi's move up in distance was excellent. He stayed close to a long distance specialist in Dylan Jacobs and he beat a really solid field.

Is this a race that Kemboi will pursue at the national meet? That's hard to say for sure. If I had to guess, I would say no, mainly because of his prowess in the 5k. However, regardless of his postseason plans, this recent 10k race feels like it validated the incredible All-American performances that we saw from Kemboi at the indoor national meet.

I'll admit, a TSR #13 ranking seems a bit low for Kemboi. You could realistically argue he's a top-10 talent right now and I don't think I would argue with that.

12. Dylan Jacobs, Junior, Notre Dame (+5 / 17)

Jacobs is a challenging name to rank.

There is, currently, zero question about his talent and fitness. His marks from this past winter were truly elite and he just earned a huge 10k win at Mt. SAC in an NCAA-leading time of 28:01.

And yet, somehow, none of that feels surprising.

The only difference between Jacobs now and Jacobs two months ago is that we've seen how he recently fared on the national stage where he failed to earn American honors. At the same time, I'm not pinning Jacobs as someone who struggles in the postseason.

That would be flat-out inaccurate.

At this point, we can expect to see Jacobs throw down some crazy impressive times this season. And yes, his ranking will reflect that as the season goes on.

Of course, at the same time, his ranking will also be conditional on the idea that he can deliver a top All-American performance like we thought we would see during the winter.

I don't know if anything I just said made any sense, but it did in my head, so let's just go with that.

11. Jonathan Jones, Junior, Texas (-3 / 8)

Sure, he ran two 45-second 400 meter races since his last 800 meter effort, but that's not the biggest takeaway. The biggest takeaway is that at the Texas Relays, Jones ran 1:45 to beat Moad Zahafi, a guy who just ran 1:43.

No two races are the same, but that win looks A LOT better right now than it did three weeks ago. That's why it pains me to put Jones back three spots. And honestly, I think there is an argument for him to be ranked as high as TSR #8.

However, for the moment, he'll settle at TSR #11 and I'm sure I'll come back to this ranking in a few weeks regretting my decision.

10. Nico Young, Sophomore, Northern Arizona (-3 / 7)

Nothing too crazy to report here. A recent 3:37 mark for 1500 meters is very on par with what we were expecting out of Nico Young this weekend. We'll likely see him in the 5k or 10k very soon when he runs something absolutely crazy and skyrockets back up our rankings.

9. Morgan Beadlescomb, Rs. Senior, Michigan State (-3 / 6)

If it weren't for one of the best kicks I have seen in a long time by Brian Fay, we would be talking about Beadlescomb as the winner of this Bryan Clay 5k race and we would be talking about him differently.

Alright, well maybe not that much differently.

Is it crazy to say that his recent 13:17 mark for 5000 meters is unsurprising? This Michigan State superstar was so good this past winter and when you look at his 13:17 mark, it aligns fairly well with his indoor marks.

The 5k will likely be Beadlescomb's postseason focus and while the attention from this past weekend will likely go to Fay's incredible kick, it should be known that Beadlescomb has just as many tactical racing tools to earn a top finish at the national meet.

8. Brian Fay, Junior, Washington (+4 / 12)

Fay threw down one of the best finishing kicks I have seen in a very long time en route to a 13:16 win at Bryan Clay over a superstar talent in Beadlescomb. If he can stay close enough to the leaders in the postseason and replicate that same kick, then there isn't anyone in the country who can beat Fay.

Of course, saying and doing are two very different things.

While people will understandably highlight Fay's recent 5k performance, we also need to recognize that he ran a fantastic 10k mark of 28:22 at the Raleigh Relays. This is on top of the fact that he ran 3:55 in the mile this past winter, split 3:52 on a DMR anchor leg and has run 8:29 in the steeplechase before he came to Washington.

Fay is arguably the most dynamic distance talent in the country and frankly, that reason why he ranks so highly in our Top 25.

7. Mario Garcia Romo, Junior, Ole Miss (-3 / 4)

Garcia Romo's 3:40 mark for 1500 meters was fine, but the conditions weren't great and he lost to Anass Essayi, making him look a bit more human than usual. Then, the next day, he ran an outstanding mark of 1:46 for 800 meters as if to say that his 1500 meter performance can be forgotten about.

That 1500 meter loss does drop him a few spots, but gosh, that amount of turnover and speed that he has right now has to make him a factor for the 1500 meter national title. After all, we saw a speedy kick give him NCAA gold in the mile this past winter.

For the most part, Garcia Romo only falters because of the performances from a few others.

6. Ky Robinson, Sophomore, Stanford (-1 / 5)

Has not raced since our last rankings update.

5. Moad Zahafi, Senior, Texas Tech (+17 / 22)

Wow. What a statement race by Moad Zahafi.

Don't get me wrong, we knew that this Texas Tech superstar was going to be great and that he thrived in fast fields, but he has looked human in a couple of past occasions. He was a DNF at the indoor national meet (due to a possible fall) and later lost to Jonathan Jones at the Texas Relays this spring.

That's why Zahafi's 1:43 mark is so incredible. It was finally the right setting for him where he was able to go out, hammer the pace and pull away from a field that featured elite superstars in John Rivera and Brandon Miller.

All of the sudden, the national title picture looks a little bit different. I would still argue that Miller is the favorite for NCAA gold, but the idea that Miller can go out and hammer a strong pace without anyone following him seems far less likely now.

The season is still young, but gosh, this was one heck of a statement performance.

4. Eliud Kipsang, Junior, Alabama (Unranked)

Alright, alright. Let's address the obvious.

Kipsang was previously unranked because of how his indoor track season ended. He finished 4th in an SEC indoor mile race that we were expecting him to win. At the national meet, he struggled in the DMR (following the mile prelims) and later placed 8th in the mile finals which, all things considered, was actually a decent way to salvage an All-American result.

Still, coming into this outdoor season, there was a lot of uncertainty and plenty of cautionary aspects about Kipsang's resume after his indoor postseason races. Plus, with certain 3k stars from the indoor oval dropping down to the 1500 meters and key names returning with their eligibility, the metric mile seemed extremely crowded this spring.

But of course, as fate would have it, this Alabama superstar made me look pretty darn stupid.

That's because Kipsang just dropped a mind-boggling mark of 3:33.74 for 1500 meters.

And yes, if you haven't already heard, that's a collegiate record by a pretty sizable margin, at least relative to the 1500 meters it is.

If anyone was going to have the raw fitness to run this record, it was going to be Kipsang if he was at 100%. However, based on his indoor season, I sincerely wasn't sure if he was at 100%.

That, of course, was something that I was far too cautious about.

And it's not like Kipsang just hit the gas and hammered a fast pace all by himself. He just took down one of the best overall 1500 meter fields that we're going to see this spring, collegiate or pro. Will Paulson is one of the more underrated milers who is training in the States and Kipsang was still able to edge him for the overall win.

That's incredible.

Is Kipsang automatically guaranteed NCAA gold with this result? No, admittedly not. After all, we've seen with plenty of different men how quickly things can change in terms of momentum.

Tactics, after all, are a fair aspect to consider.

Still, a 3:33 mark just puts Kipsang at another level, even with Nuguse in the mix. And while many people will point to the leg speed that we've seen from guys like Garcia Romo via his 1:46 mark, it's important to remember that Kipsang has also run 1:46.99 for 800 meters before.

3. Yared Nuguse, Senior, Notre Dame (0 / 3)

Has not yet raced this spring.

2. Brandon Miller, Sophomore, Texas A&M (0 / 2)

Yes, I know Miller "struggled" at Tom Jones Memorial meet in the 800 meters. Zahafi completely burned him and the rest of the field and Miller just faded too hard in the final moments, losing to a few other top names as well.

In the end, the Texas A&M star finished with a 1:47 mark.

While it would be easy to overreact to this result, I would encourage everyone to take a deep breath. This is the first "bad" race I have seen from Miller...and he still ran 1:47! Everyone is allowed to have at least one off day and if you were to ask me who I'm picking for NCAA gold in June, I think I would probably still go with Miller.

Now, that said, it's not like Miller is the same unstoppable force that we once viewed him as. Zahafi and the rest of this field made him look human. Miller is no longer guaranteed to hammer a fast pace and walk away with a win, at least not if Zahafi can replicate his 1:43 result.

Miller will likely need to go back to the drawing board and reevaluate his future game plan. Still, a lot can change from mid-April to June. Let's see how the rest of this season plays out before we jump to a new title favorite.

1. Abdi Nur, Rs. Sophomore, Northern Arizona (0 / 1)

A recent 3:36 mark for 1500 meters would usually be the talk of the town in a weekend were someone didn't run a collegiate record of 3:33.

That said, Nur deserves some credit for the way that he rebounded from a 10k performance at the Stanford Invite where he finished 4th overall in a race that he was supposed to win (while still posting a quick time).

And as fast as Nur was in the mile this past winter (running 3:55), even that mark didn't quite indicate that he had the leg speed for a 3:36 mark.

People will likely look at the 5000 meter race from Mt. SAC and see that Nur ran a somewhat slower time of 13:42. However, that was clearly a coordinated effort by NAU as the Lumberjacks took the top-four spots in their section, each running 13:42.

As great as this performance is, Nur's prowess in the 10k is what we should really be watching moving forward. I'm anticipating a sub-28 result from him sometime in the next few weeks, likely at the end of this month or, more likely, in the early portion of May.

ADDED

Kenneth Rooks (BYU)

Casey Clinger (BYU)

Anass Essayi (South Carolina)

Jonathan Davis (Illinois)

Eliud Kipsang (Alabama)

KICKED OFF

Athanas Kioko (Campbell)

Barry Keane (Butler)

Finley McLear (Miami (OH))

Alec Basten (Minnesota)

Adriaan Wildschutt (Florida State)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Thomas Vanoppen (Wake Forest)

Athanas Kioko (Campbell)

Barry Keane (Butler)

Finley McLear (Miami (OH))

Alec Basten (Minnesota)

Crayton Carrozza (Texas)

Evan Dorenkamp (Penn State)

Eduardo Herrera (Colorado)

Drew Bosley (Northern Arizona)

Kieran Taylor (Arkansas)

Alex Maier (Oklahoma State)

Navasky Anderson (Mississippi State)

Cebastian Gentil (Iowa State)

Jason Gomez (Iowa State)

Cole Johnson (Michigan)

Reed Brown (Oregon)

Adam Fogg (Drake)

Isaac Basten (Drake)

Yaseen Abdalla (Texas)

Andrew Kent (Colorado)

Michael Power (Tulsa)

Duncan Hamilton (Montana State)

Felix Kandie (Liberty)

Matt Wilkinson (Minnesota)

Yusuf Bizimana (Texas)

Matthew Payamps (Georgetown)

Jack Salisbury (Georgetown)

Sam Gilman (Air Force)

Luke Houser (Washington)

Ryan Schoppe (Oklahoma State)

Isaac Green (Washington)

Kieran Lumb (Washington)

George Kusche (Northern Arizona)

Nick Dahl (Duke)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Antonio Lopez Segura (Virginia Tech)

Tiarnan Crorken (Ole Miss)

Ayman Zahafi (Miami (FL))

Sam Austin (Florida)

Jack Yearian (Oregon)

Baylor Franklin (Ole Miss)

Jesse Hamlin (Butler)

Cathal Doyle (Portland)

Ahmed Muhumed (Florida State)

Matthew Carmody (Notre Dame)

Isai Rodriguez (Oklahoma State)

Sam Voelz (Notre Dame)

Tom Dodd (Michigan)

Baldvin Magnusson (Eastern Michigan)

Andrew Alexander (Notre Dame)

Brandon Garnica (BYU)

Scott Beattie (Tulsa)

Patrick Kiprop (Arkansas)

Estanis Ruiz (Loyola Marymount)

Zach Litoff (Santa Clara)

Levi Taylor (Montana State)

Tim Zepf (Notre Dame)

Darius Kipyego (Iowa State)

Colton Johnsen (Washington State)

Abdirizak Ibrahim (New Mexico)

James Mwaura (Gonzaga)

Notes

• Yes, we are aware how long and extensive our "Just Missed" and "Honorable Mentions" lists are. However, this is simply what happens at the beginning of a certain season as many names return to a level playing field in terms of expectations (to an extent).

• According to TFRRS, Wildschutt has contested four outdoor track seasons which we would expect to make him ineligible for this spring. We are, however, looking further into it.