2022 D2 Outdoor Top 25 Rankings (Men): Update #3

John Cusick
May 3, 2022
13 min read

Additional commentary by Garrett Zatlin

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. Drew Dailey, Sophomore, Shippensburg (Unranked)

Dailey is a different runner this year. He's been a dominant name in the PSAC for the last few seasons, but his evolution into a top-tier middle distance threat has been wildly impressive.

This past winter, Dailey built up a handful of promising 800 meter results, including a 1:50 result that caught our attention. However, Dailey's momentum from the winter months has since followed him into the spring.

So far in this 2022 outdoor track season, Dailey has run 1:49, 1:50 and, most recently, 1:48 for 800 meters.

Dailey isn't just producing consistently great performances, he's also improving as the season goes on. With a 3:49 mark for 1500 meters showcasing his strength, there is a lot like about this Shippensburg ace as we near the postseason.

24. Nathan Hood, Senior, CSU-Pueblo (0 / 24)

Not too much is new with Hood since our last update, but he did run 47.90 for 400 meters at altitude the other week. That is far better speed than we were expecting to see from him this season, leaving us encouraged about the damage he could do in the postseason if he's near the leaders on the final stretch.

23. James Dunne, Sophomore, Adams State (0 / 23)

Has not competed since our last update.

22. Miguel Coca, Junior, Adams State (0 / 22)

Coca not recorded a result since our last update. He was, however, a DNF in the 1500 meters at the RMAC Outdoor Championships, a result that may indicate that he was pacing.

21. Mason Strader, Rs. Sophomore, Pittsburg State (-2 / 19)

There's not a whole lot to say about Strader. He competed only once since our last update, ultimately posting a modest time of 1:51 for 800 meters.

Strader has admittedly been quiet this season and hasn't run faster than 3:47 for 1500 meters in his one attempt at the event this spring. He still has some time, but the clock is ticking for Strader to produce a nationally competitive mark if he wants to make it to the national meet.

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

Another rankings update, and another slide for the Screaming Eagle athlete. Yes, he ran a really nice 10k the last time out on the track, but we were hoping to see a bit more from Winders this past weekend.

At the Davenport Invitational, Winders took home a key 5k victory over some very good D2 names. That’s all great news...expect for when you look at the time. Winders posted a solid, but modest mark of 14:00 and all things considered, that's a little underwhelming for the recent double indoor title winner as it’s not an improvement for him on the NCAA leaderboard.

We have a lot of questions about Winders right now, but given that his conference meet is right around the corner, we’re not sure if we will get any of the answers that we are looking for from him before the NCAA meet.

Our biggest question being, will Winders run a time that puts him in the national title conversation?

Winders doesn't seem to have the same spark that we were expecting to see from him this past winter after his miraculous double gold campaign at the indoor national meet. We were hoping that he would have more momentum going into the outdoor national meet, but Winders also stunned us before.

Who's to say that he can't do it again?

19. McCauley Franks, Senior, Western Washington (+2 / 21)

It was a somewhat calm weekend for McCauley Franks as his team stayed home for the WWU Ralph Vernacchia Invitational. At the end of the day, Franks was walking away with two victoires, one in the mile and one as part of the 4x400 relay team.

While the 4x400 team is a solid indicator of Franks continuing to work on his foot speed, it’s his mile effort that has us feeling a little more confident this week. He ran 4:03.64 and finished two seconds ahead of his teammate Drew Weber.

When you see 4:03, it doesn’t quite catch the eye the same way as 3:42 does for 1500 meters. Yes, one is objectively faster than the other, but we don’t think that means Franks is going in the wrong direction. With more competition, it’s easy to see that Franks could have run 4:00 for a full mile, if not go under that 4:00 barrier.

Franks has got one of the top 1500 meter times in D2 this season and as we head into championship portion of the season, we would expect him to start sharpening up those racing tactics as he’ll be contesting at least two preliminaries come late May.

18. Butare Rugenerwa, Rs. Junior, West Texas A&M (-1 / 17)

Nothing crazy from the West Texas athlete this last weekend. Rugenerwa ran a 1500 meter race for the first time this season at the TTU Corky Classic. he walked away with a respectable time of 3:49.87.

After the conversion that works it way down to 3:47, and just a second off of his personal best.

It’s good to see Rugenerwa continuing to work on his strength this late in the season as it’s going to be necessary when he gets to the national meet, especially if Sharman-Newell tries to run away from the field.

Would we have liked to see him run a bit faster? Sure, but it’s not the end of the world for him.

17. Charlie Dannatt, Freshman, Simon Fraser (-2 / 15)

Dannatt has not raced since our last update.

16. Reece Smith, Sophomore, NW Missouri (+2 / 18)

After running 8:39 in the steeplechase earlier this season, the rest of Smith’s times didn’t necessarily lineup with that kind of fitness. That, however, changed after Smith competed at the Drake Relays this past weekend.

Opting for just one race (the 5000 meters), Smith was able to achieve two things. He broke 14:00 for the first time in his career and he shattered his previous best of 14:12 by 15 seconds, running 13:57.62.

Not only was that a personal best, but that mark was also good enough to take home the win by nearly 10 seconds.

We would classify these last few weeks as a breakthrough for Smith who had shown some promising flashes of talent in the past, but nothing quite like we have seen over the last month. He was already a serious All-American contender when it came to the steeplechase and now he has an outside shot of doing the same in the 5k.

There is still potential for him to run faster in this event and if he can do that at the NCAA meet, there’s a real chance Smith could be a two-time All-American in less than 24 hours.

And given his recent momentum, that's not unrealistic.

15. Afewerki Zeru, Junior, UC-Colorado Springs (+1 / 16)

Zeru was one of the few big name athletes to run at the RMAC Outdoor Championships this past weekend in Pueblo, Colorado and he walked away with another title in the process.

Zeru took home the RMAC 5k title in a mark of 14:14 and finished 14 seconds ahead of Colorado Mines’ up-and-coming talent Duncan Fuehne. For as encouraging as this result is, there aren't many takeaways from this race for Zeru.

Still, a win over Fuehne is no joke of talent and if anyone in this race was going to give Zeru a challenge in the 5000 meters at altitude, it was probably going to see one of Colorado Mines' top men.

Each time Zeru toes the line, he builds a little bit more confidence for us as we head into the most important time of the season. Momentum is on his side and right now, he's one of the more consistent and reliable names in D2 right now.

14. Jan Lukas Becker, Rs. Junior, Queens (NC) (+6 / 20)

Becker took a big leap forward in this edition of our rankings because of how well he ran in the steeplechase this past weekend. However, we will start with the weekend before that where we saw him run 14:00 at the Virginia Challenge.

That mark is nine seconds off of his personal best which he set during the indoor track season, admittedly leaving us with wanting more from the Queens star. After running 28:27 for 10k, we did expect him to run faster in the endurance-centric event.

However, if we fast forward to this past weekend, we'll find that Becker won the steeplechase at the Charlotte Invitational and ran a huge time of 8:45 .80. That’s a 12-second improvement and a monumental statement from the Queens athlete.

That time is currently NCAA #5 on the national leaderboard and it puts him in great shape to contest two events at the NCAA Championships later this month. With his success in two drastically different events, it will be hard to say what Becker will run at the national meet meet.

The 10k/5k double was already hard (but doable) and if Becker swaps out the 5k for the steeplechase, that’d mean that he will be running three times in three days when you include prelims.

Normally not a big deal, but we normally don’t see this kind of double, and barring any changes in that 5k time, it’d be hard for us to see Becker being extremely successful in both events.

Yet, nonetheless, Becker's steeplechase is another top-tier mark and it pairs nicely with his incredible 10k result. We know that he still has more to offer in the 5k, but his two nationally competitive marks on his resume this season, he bolts up our rankings.

13. Tanner Maier, Rs. Sophomore, Minnesota State (+1 / 14)

Maier took aim at the Drake Relays over the weekend and we are sure he would have liked things to have gone a bit better than they did. Still, it’s hard to be upset with yet another mark under the 1:50 barrier this season.

Maier's latest half-mile effort makes it the fourth (!) time that he has run under 1:50 this outdoor season after never doing it once prior in his career. But that is not all that Maier did this past weekend as he was also part of two relay teams: the SMR and the DMR.

Maier was the 800 meter leg on the SMR team and he didn’t disappoint. After getting the baton nearly two seconds back, Maier began to work and when he crossed the line, he had reeled in the team in front of him (Harding) and had rrun 1:50 in the process.

That’s two 800-meter races in less than five hours – both of which were very impressive in their own right.

Maier also was the anchor for his DMR team that finished 4th in the collegiate section on Saturday morning. While we know that Maier is more of a half-miler than anything, it was nice to see him step up and take a challenge on.

Maier split 4:16 on the anchor and while that time is nothing noteworthy, he was still able to separate himself from others in the field. When you consider that his anchor leg was his third event in less than 24 hours, then that’s all that you can ask for.

12. Jake Mitchem, Rs. Senior, Colorado Mines (-1 / 11)

Mitchem has not raced since our last update.

11. Austin Miller, Rs. Senior, Augustana (SD) (-1 / 10)

Miller has not raced since our last update.

10. Tanner Chada, Rs. Junior, Grand Valley State (-1 / 9)

Chada has not race since our last update.

9. Wes Ferguson, Sophomore, Nebraska-Kearney (-2 / 7)

Ferguson headed to Iowa for the Drake Relays and he nearly walked away with a title in the process. In a close race, Ferguson was edged by Ackeen Colley of Western Illinois, 1:48.57 to 1:48.91.

This is the second time under 1:49 this outdoor season for Ferguson and while the sub-1:49 consistency is encouraging, the time doesn't necessarily tell us anything new.

But the tactics? Well, we should analyze that.

Ferguson continues to perform well in big races and that’s the biggest takeaway from his Drake Relays appearance. Ferguson's recent performance also includes another head-to-head victory over Minnesota State’s Tanner Maier, one of the top D2 middle distance talents in the country.

For the most part, the Drake Relays had to be a significant confidence booster for this Nebraska-Kearney athlete.

8. Dillon Powell, Sophomore, Colorado Mines (-2 / 6)

Dillon Powell is your RMAC champion for 10,000 meters this spring and that doesn’t come as much surprise. Powell took home the title in a time of 30:52.52 (unconverted). He was one of six Orediggers inside the top-eight as they dominated the 25-lap affair with ease.

There’s not much to dissect from Powell’s effort, but it’s worth nothing that he only falls two spots this time around because of some very good performances that happened during the same weekend.

He’s just as strong of a contender now as he was two weeks ago.

7. Aaron Ahl, Rs. Senior, Simon Fraser (-2 / 5)

Ahl toed the line for an 800 meter race at the SFU High-Performance Meet #2 this past weekend and there has been some clear development for this Simon Fraser athlete.

Ahl ran 1:49.01 for 800 meters and that’s now the NCAA #11 time in the country. It also tells us that he’s continuing to improve his fitness as we head into the championship portion of the season.

That time may not place him among the top contenders in the 800 meters this spring, but that mark puts him into contention to run with any of the challengers in the 1500 meters, including Christian Noble, especially if the race turns tactical.

This is a step in the right direction for Ahl who should be the biggest challenger to Noble later this month given his overall personal bests from this past winter and last summer.

6. Clement Duigou, Junior, Adams State (+6 / 12)

5. Awet Beraki, Sophomore, Adams State (+3 / 8)

The RMAC Championships were this weekend and a select few of Grizzly athletes were nowhere to be found. Amongst those not present were Clement Duigou and Awet Beraki.

Instead, that duo opted for the Payton Jordan Invitational and they were rewarded for their efforts on the west coast.

Starting with Duigou, we just saw this Adams State superstar run the second-fastest steeplechase time EVER in Division Two history. And no, that's not a typo.

That’s right, Duigou ran 8:29 to take home the victory in his section at Payton Jordan.

The only person who now sits in front of Duigou in the D2 record books? Tabor Stevens.

That’s not bad company if you ask us.

Now, Duigou may not be on that same elite level of Stevens as of right now, but he’s the clear national title favorite in this event simply because he’s got eight seconds between him and the next-best D2 runner.

At some point tactics only come into play so much, and it might not matter much if there is that much room between him and the field at the national meet.

Beraki also joined Duigou in Palo Alto and despite finishing 15th out of 16 runners in his section, he still came away with a blistering fast time of 13:38, the NCAA #4 time in D2 this season.

No, that's admittedly not an outright personal best as he ran 13:36 this past indoor track season, but things seems to be trending in the right direction for Beraki spring. The fact that he has put together multiple sub-13:40 results in the same year is crazy impressive.

With three more weeks to build for the outdoor national meet, Beraki has got as good of a chance as anyone to take home the title in both the 10k and 5k after all three days are over with.

The question at hand is...how he will fare when it comes to a championship style race? We have no real gauge on his foot speed and his counterparts have proven that they can run strong from 800 meters out.

Beraki will need to do the same to have a chance at NCAA gold.

4. Reece Sharman-Newell, Freshman, CSU-Pueblo (-1 / 3)

Sharman-Newell hasn’t raced since our last update.

**3. Callum Elson, Junior*, American International (+1 / 4)**

Elson moves up on spot this time around for a couple of reasons.

The first is that we finally saw the Yellow Jacket athlete return to the 5000 meters. We also saw him have a pair of outstanding tactical races on a big stage and in loaded fields.

Starting with his 5k at the Penn Relays, Elson ran 13:52 and that’s good enough for the NCAA #7 mark on the national leaderboard this year. It also solidifies the idea that Elson is an athlete with elite range despite being so new in the sport.

Elson followed that performance with a fantastic mile race at the Penn Relays, taking home the victory in a time of 4:04. While the time isn’t anything to boast about, the way Elson went about is worth talking bout.

In a strong tactical race, Elson showed poise and the ability to cover moves as he took down former Iowa State talent Festus Lagat and Penn State’s Brandon Hontz.

With each race comes more experience for Elson and this past weekend only validated our belief that he was a tactical nightmare for his opponents.

In our opinion, Elson has never been more dangerous than he is right now.

2. Isaac Harding, Rs. Senior, Grand Valley State (0 / 2)

Harding hasn’t raced since our last update.

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

In our last published rankings, we talked about Noble's potential for a D2 record after cruising to a 3:39 result. Well, fast forward two weeks and now we’re talking about the new collegiate record holder over 1500 meters.

Noble traveled to Eugene, Oregon and participated in the Oregon Relays where he ran 3:36.00 to break David Ribich’s D2 1500 meter record by more than a second. Noble also took home the victory in that race and took down the likes of Oregon’s Reed Brown (TSR #18) and Wisconsin’s Adam Spencer in the process.

If that was all the Flames athlete had done, that would have been one hell of a weekend.

But of course, that’s not all that he did.

Less than 60 minutes later, Noble toed the line for the 5000 meters. He ran 13:35 and secured the greatest double in D2 history without much argument.

There’s only one thing left for us to ask at this point...and it’s whether or not Noble is going to run the steeplechase this season. He’s just qualified for the US Championships in the 1500 meters and is the clear favorite at the national meet in late May.

Does he really need to run the steeple?

That answer is no, but we sure would like to see how fast he could run over barriers after that insane double...