2022 D1 Outdoor Top 25 Rankings (Men): Update #3

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. Victor Kiprop, Freshman, Alabama (-2 / 23)

There are a handful of names who could've taken this spot. Butler's Barry Keane, Campbell's Athanas Kioko, BYU's Casey Clinger and Colorado's Eduardo Herrera all had good arguments to be ranked given their high-level firepower in the longer distances.

However, Kiprop's 5k mark of 13:24 and 10k mark of 28:15 -- the latter of which resulted in a win amongst collegiates -- makes him one of the best overall distance runners in the country between those two distances.

Of all of the names I mentioned, none of them are ranked in the top-10 of two events with the exception of Kiprop (although Keane and Clinger are close).

When you consider that Kiprop's 28:15 resulted in a top finish over some of these top-tier elite talents, and the fact that he just flexed some 3:40 speed for 1500 meters, it's hard to put anyone else ahead of the Alabama standout.

24. Matthew Pereira, Senior, Harvard (Unranked)

Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking.

"How on Earth does a guy who ran 27:45 for 10,000 meters only get ranked at TSR #24?"

Pereira is an outstanding talent and there were signs that he was going to be a nationally competitive name for Harvard over the last year or two. He was, after all, a cross country All-American this past fall.

It's obvious that Pereira thrives in the longer distances, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he's one of the best 10k runners. Did I expect him to run 27:45? Definitely not, that shattered expectations, but at the very least, that mark shows us that he can hang with aggressive paces if necessary.

The biggest reason why Pereira sits at TSR #24 is because despite his time, I'm not fully convinced he'll be a top-five finisher at the national meet.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that he can't be a top-five finisher -- or even a top-three finisher -- but Pereira is still so new to this elite tier of competition. He has never toed the line for a national meet on the track and the 10k is incredibly deep this year with four other men also under 27:50 in the same race as him.

And frankly, you could probably argue that there's still three or four others capable of running under the 28:00 barrier.

For that reason, Pereira sits at TSR #24. Still, his result deserves some respect. Harvard is doing something special with a handful of men and Pereira looks like he's one of the key pieces of that puzzle.

23. Anass Essayi, Freshman, South Carolina (-3 / 20)

Since our last update, Essayi dropped down to the 800 meters to run a mark of 1:47. For the most part, that's hardly surprising, especially when you consider that he has a 3:34 personal best for 1500 meters before he entered the NCAA.

There's not much to say here with Essayi's ranking. He simply drops due to the introduction of certain NCAA stars who had incredible performances over the last two weeks.

22. Jonathan Davis, Senior, Illinois (-6 / 16)

Not a whole lot to discuss here with Davis. Since our last update, he worked on his speed with an appearance in a sprint medley relay at the Drake Relays as well as an open 800 meter effort where he ran a surprisingly underwhelming time of 1:53.

We shouldn't overreact to his results from this past weekend. We're simply moving Davis back a few spots to allow for certain 10k and steeplechase runners to be rewarded for their great results.

21. Amon Kemboi, Rs. Senior, Arkansas (-8 / 13)

I feel like I'm committing a crime by placing Kemboi this low, but his ranking drop is more based on the success that we've seen from others, not necessarily for anything that he has done.

Kemboi has run 13:30 (5k) and 28:01 (10k) so far this season, but when you consider how deep those two events are this year, it's hard to really keep Kemboi that high up in our rankings.

Even so, this is someone who was outstanding in the postseason this past winter, earning two All-American honors in what was probably the best overall national meet performance of his career.

If Kemboi didn't have the postseason that he had this past winter, then there's a good chance he wouldn't be in these rankings based strictly on his current marks.

Still, he deserves to be amongst the best and I can understand any argument that put Kemboi in the top-15.

20. Dylan Jacobs, Junior, Notre Dame (-8 / 12)

Has not competed since our last update.

19. Duncan Hamilton, Junior, Montana State (Unranked)

Hamilton is just so. darn. good. He was great in 2021, but he has really broken out even further in 2022. This spring, the Montana State superstar has run 3:39 for 1500 meters, 13:30 for 5000 meters and now, most recently, 8:26 for the 3000 meter steeplechase.

Wow.

Hamilton can do it all and he can do it all at a very high level. After running 7:45 for 3000 meters this past winter, it's hard to argue against the overall value that Hamilton boasts.

Running 8:26 is a next-level mark in the steeplechase. That's one of the faster times you've probably ever seen over the last few years. Hamilton was an All-American in this event last spring and since then, he has made clear improvements.

Could he win a national title in the steeple? Sure, anything is possible, especially in a race that could cause a title favorite to fall on the final stretch.

Even so, this year's steeplechase field has the potential to be very top-heavy with names like Alec Basten, Ed Trippas and a few others yet to fully assert their dominance in the event.

And yet, despite all of that, the momentum that Hamilton has right now will make him an incredibly challenging name to stop in the postseason.

18. Reed Brown, Senior, Oregon (Unranked)

Reed Brown is a different runner than he was before the pandemic. Don't get me wrong, the Oregon veteran has always been a top-tier miler in the NCAA, but we're now beginning to see a level of top-tier consistency that we haven't seen from him before.

Brown is now two for three when it comes to All-American honors in his last three national meets on the track. Not only that, but the times that we've seen from Brown put him amongst the most elite talents in the nation.

After running a 3:54 mile during the indoor track season and finishing 3rd at the national meet, Brown toed the line for the 1500 meters on his home track at the Oregon Relays and dropped a time of 3:36, losing only to Christina Noble by a small margin while comfortably defeat rising Wisconsin star Adam Spencer who ran 3:37.

Right now, it's hard to dislike anything about Brown. He's gone from being one of the most inconsistent names in the country (specifically on the national stage) to one of the more reliable talents who the NCAA has to offer.

Brown is one step away from truly competing for a national title. He's arguably just as talented as guys like Mario Garcia Romo in terms of his 1500 meter prowess, but Brown now needs to show that he has enough control over fitness to give himself the win in a positional battle.

17. Olin Hacker, Rs. Senior, Wisconsin (0 / 17)

Hacker was incredible during the indoor track season. Flat-out incredible. The Wisconsin veteran ran times of 3:56 (mile), 7:46 (3k) and 13:37 (5k) and didn't lose a race until the indoor national meet where he placed 4th overall in a tactical 3k.

As incredible as his indoor times were, many of those marks were actually on the slower end of national qualification. Hacker was one of the last seeds at the national meet in the 3k, would've been one of the last seeds in the mile if he contested the event and wasn't all that close to qualifying in the 5k.

Despite his incredible range, tactics, experience, consistency and ability to win, it felt like Hacker's resume needed a truly big standout mark that solidified him as an all-star in the distance events.

Well, sure enough, we saw that from Hacker at the Oregon Relays as he cruised the field and soundly defeated his competition, running 13:19 for 5000 meters in what was one of the most impressive marks of that weekend.

Unbelievably, we couldn't muster any rankings improvement for Hacker in this week's update, but when you consider how many big names fell this week, that's quite the complement.

There is certainly an argument for Hacker to be ranked higher. His intangibles are far better than some people realize and now he has an elite PR to back that up. But for now, a TSR #17 ranking seems fair, especially in this year's 5k field.

16. Ahmed Jaziri, Junior, Eastern Kentucky (Unranked)

I have been saying for a while now that Ahmed Jaziri is a title contender. In fact, I was saying this last year. Although, admittedly, even if Jaziri didn't fall at the national meet last year, he still wouldn't have won...but that didn't ncessarily change my opinion.

Well, sure enough, Jaziri toed the line for the steeplechase at Payton Jordan and came away with a win and a monster mark of 8:24 -- a time that now puts him at NCAA #23 all-time. For perspective, this is the fastest steeple time that we've seen in the NCAA since 2015 when Arkansas' Stanley Kebenei ran 8:23.

Jaziri has some of the best raw talent in the country when it comes to the steeplechase and he's one of the most experienced distance runners in this event. He has had this potential in him for a while and while I knew that he was capable of running this kind of mark, it just felt like we had to wait a big longer than expected.

Given his accolades in other events and his experience in this race, Jaziri has to be the national title favorite this year, at least in my opinion he does.

However, just like I mentioned with Hamilton, the men's steeplechase has the potential to be much faster come the postseason. Princeton's Ed Trippas ran 8:19 this past summer and Minnesota's Alec Basten is one of the nation's top returners in this event. Hamilton is on fire, Stokes has tons of potential, Smeeton is one of the most established collegiate steeplechaser in the NCAA and Robinson has yet to seriously pursue an all-out steeplechase.

For that reason, Jaziri settles at our TSR #16 ranking. While his most recent race was incredible, he has shown us that he is human in the past, running 8:39 the week prior and losing to both Stokes and Bouchrak in the process.

Jaziri can sometimes be a challenging name to figure out, but his raw talent is undeniably incredible.

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

Splitting 47-seconds on the 400 meter leg of Ole Miss' DMR and also splitting 1:47 on Ole Miss' 4x800 meter relay, both of which were at the Penn Relays, was a nice display of speed for Rivera who continues to flex his middle distance potency.

Admittedly, I'm not sure there is a whole lot to say here. You could make an argument that Rivera should be ranked higher or lower, but the top-end of the men's 800 meters seems to feature only a few select names and I think Rivera is one of those three or four men.

14. Cole Sprout, Sophomore, Stanford (+1 / 15)

Steady, reliable, consistent and (sometimes) unfairly overlooked. Those seem to be the best ways to describe Cole Sprout.

Despite his youth, the Stanford sophomore posted an outstanding national meet double this past winter, earning two All-American honors. In the craziness of tactics and random surges, Sprout was the one of the few constants in the indoor 3k and 5k races.

Sure enough, that steadiness was on full display this past weekend. Sprout toed the line for the 10,000 meters Payton Jordan alongside his teammates. And while Sprout did fall behind Wildschutt and Hicks, he still produced an outstanding mark of 27:42.

Despite the impressive time, I don't think there's much to say here. Sprout's most recent performance told us everything that we already know. He's racing way above his age, he's a reliable distance talent and generally speaking, he seems to get better as the racing distance gets longer.

Sprout is eventually going to win a national title one day, I just don't know when.

Until then, I see him being far more likely to earn All-American honors this spring than not.

And that is rare for me to say about someone who, generally speaking, is pretty young.

13. Jonathan Jones, Junior, Texas (-2 / 11)

Nothing new for Jonathan Jones since our last update, at least not on the 800 meter side. Jones did, however, run a jaw-dropping time of 44.79 for 400 meters at LSU this past weekend.

Amazingly, that's not even his personal best which sits at 44.64 seconds.

Jones is still in peak shape and still one of the most dangerous middle distance runners that the NCAA has to offer. Zahafi and Miller are in their own tier, but Jones isn't that far behind. Let's not forget, Jones ran 1:45 at the beginning if the season where he beat Zahafi.

Even so, at this point in the season, not a whole lot has changed on that front for Jones.

12. Charles Hicks, Sophomore, Stanford (+6 / 18)

Hicks looks like he's back in peak form.

After an indoor track season where he underwhelmed for about 80% of the season, Hicks suddenly rallied in the postseason. He peaked perfectly, ran a fast time to qualify for the national meet and earned an All-American finish in the 3k.

Since then, Hicks has continued to build momentum, stacking fitness and finding success. He had a nice season-opening 5k earlier this season with a 13:24 personal best, but that was likely to prepare him to move up in distance to the 10k this past weekend -- his marquee event.

Sure enough, Hicks' recent momentum gave him a blistering fast time of 27:40 in the 10k at Payton Jordan this past weekend, a mark that truly puts him in a different category.

The 10k is easily Hicks' best event and we've seen him thrive in long distance scenarios that are aggressively paced. If Wildschutt (or anyone else) takes control of the pace at the outdoor national meet, then that will likely favor Hicks who has shown before that he can outrun a field if he has to.

11. Adriaan Wildschutt, Senior, Florida State (Unranked)*

It admittedly felt like deja vu when Wildschutt ran 27:38 for 10,000 meters this past weekend en route to top collegiate honors at Payton Jordan. That was an absurdly fast time that mimicked the magnitude of his 13:09 (5k) mark that we saw from him this past winter.

But at the same time, this result shouldn't have been surprising. We know that Wildschutt is at his best when he's racing in the longer distances and we know that he thrives in super fast fields that mimic time-trial scenarios.

We didn't just learn all of that this past winter. This has been the case for practically the entirety of Wildschutt's career.

Even so, 27:38 is an insanely fast time. It now sits at NCAA #12 all-time.

And yet, somehow, I'm not ready to crown him as the 10k national title favorite...yet.

I said something extremely similar during the winter months after Wildschutt's 13:09 mark for 5000 meters, and while he did fare well at the indoor national meet, it was clear that his front-running tendencies didn't favor him as much when he was battling for NCAA gold.

The good news for Wildschutt is that there is more room to operate on an outdoor track compared to an indoor track. There's also more time employ a "run away from the field" strategy and more time to cover any ground should a tactical mistake occur.

I also think that the 10k is Wildschutt's best event. It will also probably help that Wesley Kiptoo's odd pacing tendencies will no longer interfere at the front of this race.

Still, the national meet and Payton Jordan are two very different races. Wildschutt is certainly talented enough to win it all, but how he executes on the national stage will be the real determinant of his postseason success (which seems like a blatantly obvious statement, but you get the gist of what I'm saying).

10. Nico Young, Sophomore, Northern Arizona (0 / 10)

Has not competed since our last update.

9. Morgan Beadlescomb, Rs. Senior, Michigan State (0 / 9)

Two weekends ago, we saw Michigan State star Morgan Beadlescomb post a 3:38/1:47 weekend double at the Indiana Relays which was wildly impressive...but not surprising!

Beadlescomb ran a 3:52 mile this past winter, so a 3:38 mark for 1500 meters is on par with expectations. When you also consider that his previous 800 meter PR was 1:48, seeing him run 1:47 is hardly a surprise.

Beadlescomb had a lot more speed than people realized coming into this past indoor track season. Now, he's flexing his turnover multiple times in the same weekend, likely replicating the quick finishes as the regional and preliminary rounds that he'll have to go through a month from now.

8. Brian Fay, Junior, Washington (0 / 8)

Nothing too exciting here since our last update. Fay put together a very nice 1:50/3:43/8:19 (800/1500/3k) weekend triple at the WSU/UW Dual meet last weekend, giving himself some additional speed work to pair with his 5k endurance.

7. Mario Garcia Romo, Junior, Ole Miss (0 / 7)

A 3:58 anchor split on Ole Miss' DMR (Friday) followed by a 1:47 split on Ole Miss' 4x800 meter relay (Saturday), gave the Rebels two wins at the Penn Relays.

Those are exceptional times and it's nice to see the consistency, but it is hardly surprising that someone of Garcia Romo's caliber was able to split those times.We've seen him run notable faster before.

Still encouraging to see though!

6. Ky Robinson, Sophomore, Stanford (0 / 6)

Bill Simmons is a former ESPN commentator and columnist who eventually began his own website, The Ringer, which covers sports, movies, TV, music and pop culture. Simmons was also known for one of his most popular pieces of content, NBA Trade Value Rankings.

These rankings were not necessarily about who the best basketball players were, but rather, which players held the best value and who could get you the most in return if you were to theoretically trade them away.

When it comes to track and field, those debates could be had all day, but Ky Robinson would absolutely be one of the most valuable names in my theoretical NCAA value rankings.

The Stanford star is young, is wildly consistent, keeps getting better, has earned top finishes, has collected some valuable experience, has run super fast times and has shown off top-level range in a variety of events.

After running 13:20 for 5000 meters on the indoor oval to earn runner-up honors at the national meet, then running 13:23 to win the Stanford Invite, Robinson toed the line for the 10,000 meters at Payton Jordan.

In the end, his fitness translated to a 27:47 mark.

Then, very quietly, Robinson ran 8:53 in the steeplechase (his marquee event last year) at the Cal vs Stanford Big Meet. While that wasn't the fastest steeple time ever, it was the first time this season that Robinson has made an effort to contest the event that gave him All-American honors last year.

Trying to figure out which event(s) Robinson will pursue in the postseason feels like a major challenge. However, at the end of the day, this guy has grown into one of the most dominant collegiate distance runners in the country.

Times of 13:20 and 27:47 are awfully fast and when you pair those marks with his 8:32 steeplechase, it's hard to discount his value in these rankings.

5. Moad Zahafi, Senior, Texas Tech (0 / 5)

Since our last update, we saw Zahafi run 3:39 for 1500 meters at the Drake Relays in his first-ever attempt at the event. While Isaac Basten did get the edge on the Texas Tech superstar, Zahafi has to be commended for how well he ran despite his inexperience.

Admittedly, it's not too surprising that a strength-based middle distance runner moved up in distance and had success in the event, especially when you consider that he's run 1:43 for 800 meters.

Still, it's a strong mark nonetheless.

4. Eliud Kipsang, Junior, Alabama (0 / 4)

Nothing too exciting here for Kipsang. After running his 3:33 collegiate record for 1500 meters, he's been working on his middle distance prowess, posting a pair of 800 meter marks in times of 1:47 and 1:48.

I like the approach to refine his speed before the postseason begins. Kipsang has been in a handful of tactical scenarios on the national stage and while he has usually come away unscathed, those races have still made you hold your breath for the Alabama star.

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

Has not competed since our last update.

Usually, we would start dropping certain names from our rankings if they haven't raced yet. However, Notre Dame has a history of delaying Nuguse's start to the season.

Let's not forget, the 2021 outdoor season didn't truly begin for Nuguse until May 7th. After contesting the NCAA XC Championships that March and capitalizing on his fitness to run a 5k at the Raleigh Relays, all before the month of April, we didn't see Nuguse until that first weekend in May last year.

We imagine it will be a similar story this spring.

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

After an underwhelming performance from Brandon Miller at the Tom Jones Memorial meet, Miller was able to bounce back on his home track and run 1:46 en route to a comfortable win.

There's not a whole lot to say here, but I did think that this was a good way to build back some confidence and momentum before the national meet.

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

Has not competed since our last update.

ADDED

Ahmed Jaziri (Eastern Kentucky)

Duncan Hamilton (Montana State)

Matthew Pereira (Harvard)

Adriaan Wildschutt (Florida State)*

Reed Brown (Oregon)

KICKED OFF

Kenneth Rooks (BYU)

Casey Clinger (BYU)

Ed Trippas (Princeton)

Aaron Las Heras (Wake Forest)

Ryan Smeeton (Oklahoma State)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Thomas Vanoppen (Wake Forest)

Parker Stokes (Georgetown)

Zach Litoff (Santa Clara)

Athanas Kioko (Campbell)

Barry Keane (Butler)

Alec Basten (Minnesota)

Crayton Carrozza (Texas)

Eduardo Herrera (Colorado)

Drew Bosley (Northern Arizona)

Alex Maier (Oklahoma State)

Navasky Anderson (Mississippi State) Adam Spencer (Wisconsin)

Isaac Basten (Drake)

Andrew Kent (Colorado)

Ahmed Muhumed (Florida State)

Acer Iverson (Harvard)

Luke Houser (Washington)

Ryan Schoppe (Oklahoma State)

Jack Salisbury (Georgetown)

Kieran Lumb (Washington)

Kenneth Rooks (BYU)

Casey Clinger (BYU)

Ed Trippas (Princeton)

Ryan Smeeton (Oklahoma State)

Matthew Payamps (Georgetown)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Aaron Las Heras (Wake Forest)

Nick Dahl (Duke)

Cebastian Gentil (Iowa State)

Jason Gomez (Iowa State)

Cole Johnson (Michigan)

Adam Fogg (Drake)

Andrew Kent (Colorado)

Michael Power (Tulsa)

Jesse Hamlin (Butler)

Yusuf Bizimana (Texas)

George Kusche (Northern Arizona)

Aaron Bienenfeld (Oregon)

El Hocine Bouchrak (High Point)

Isaac Green (Washington)

Felix Kandie (Liberty)

Colton Johnsen (Washington State)

Abdirizak Ibrahim (New Mexico)

James Mwaura (Gonzaga)

Scott Beattie (Tulsa)

Baldvin Magnusson (Eastern Michigan)

Isaac Akers (Tulsa)

Ayman Zahafi (Miami (FL))

Jack Yearian (Oregon)

Finley McLear (Miami (OH))

Hillary Cheruiyot (Alabama)

Baylor Franklin (Ole Miss)

Patrick Kiprop (Arkansas)

Levi Taylor (Montana State)

Tim Zepf (Notre Dame)

Darius Kipyego (Iowa State)

Matthew Carmody (Notre Dame)

Notes

• A simple miscount of Adriaan Wildschutt's eligibility, plus his delayed season debut, led us to believe that he wasn't competing this spring -- an error which needed to be corrected after his last weeks of performances. Our apologies on the error.

• While it may not look like it, we did make an effort to cut-down our Just Missed & Honorable Mention names. So if you're looking for a certain name, just know that we did begin to make a few additional cuts which, as you can see, didn't stop us from going a little over the top.