TSR's 2024 D1 Outdoor Top 25 Rankings (Men): Update #4 (FINAL)

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

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

TFRRS is used as a general, but not strict, guide when determining eligibility.

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REMINDER: These rankings are meant to be an aggregate of an athlete's overall season. These rankings are NOT based solely on one race/meet.

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25. Damien Dilcher, Senior, Iona (Unranked)

Damien Dilcher was having a good outdoor track season, maybe even really good. But saying that the Iona runner was going to be an All-American at the national meet felt a bit unrealistic back in March.

The Gael veteran had a mile PR of "only" 3:59 (and still does) and began his spring campaign with a 3:41 (1500) effort to place 11th at the Raleigh Relays. But towards the second-half of the season, Dilcher began to pick up some outstanding momentum. The Iona ace ran 3:39 for 1500 meters at the Wake Forest Invite, ran 3:38 at the East Regional Championships to qualify for the national meet and stunned many with a huge 5th place All-American finish in his season finale!

Did Dilcher have the same raw fitness that other men in the top-five had? No, not quite. However, his fitness did reach a high enough level that he was able to be nationally competitive and the development of his finishing kick did him wonders. He should be incredibly proud of how he took advantage of every in-race opportunity that he could.

24. Yusuf Bizimana, Junior, Texas (-14 / 10)

I have to admit, we're a bit torn on Yusuf Bizimana. By no means did he have a poor season -- he was great -- but it did feel like he had more to offer in terms of talent and potential.

In total, Bizimana ran 1:46 for 800 meters five different times this season, the most recent coming at the outdoor national meet where he placed 6th in the finals. However, you could argue his most impressive race this season came at the BIG 12 Championships where he ran 1:46-low to fend off great efforts by Darius Kipyego and Sebastian Fernandez.

But in a year where you need to run at least 1:45 (800) to match many of the best names in the nation, we never quite saw that upside from Bizimana. Even so, he was a super solid and steady name who seemingly had a high floor. And considering that he didn't even make it out of the 800-meter prelims at the indoor national meet, that's a very big compliment.

23. Ernest Cheruiyot, Freshman, Texas Tech (Unranked)

The NCAA was first introduced to Ernest Cheruiyot during the winter months. However, the Texas Tech product didn't truly make himself a nationally recognized name until he got to the Bryan Clay Invite and toed the line for the 10k.

There, Cheruiyot chose to be an aggressive font-runner while being shadowed by North Carolina standout, Alex Phillip. And despite a few minor tactical miscues, Cheruiyot more than held his own, running a fantastic time of 27:52 (10k) for runner-up. The Red Raider rookie would eventually advance to the national meet where a very favorable race scenario allowed him to rely more on his pure fitness rather than his championship acumen. That ultimately led to the freshman running 28:10 (10k) for a 4th place All-American finish.

With a sub-28:00 effort over 10,000 meters and a top-half All-American honor, it's very hard to say that there are 25 men between the middle and long distances who were better than Ernest Cheruiyot this spring.

Being able to execute in more tactical settings will certainly be a point of emphasis moving forward as his BIG 12 Championship showing suggests that he needs work in that area. But given the race scenarios that were presented to him over the last few three months, Cheruiyot made sure to put his fitness on full display.

22. Liam Murphy, Junior, Villanova (-9 / 13)

Yes, we are well aware that Liam Murphy placed 11th overall in the 1500-meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. And yes, we are also aware that there were multiple All-Americans who we chose not to rank in front of Murphy despite his finish.

However, when you look at Murphy's entire body of work this spring, it's hard to make the argument that some of the men who beat him on the national stage were better overall. The Villanova star ran a fantastic time of 3:36 for 1500 meters at the Bryan Clay Invite, ran under 3:40 (1500) three separate times after that and then threw down a pair of vicious kicks to win two Penn Relays wheels in impressive fashion.

There is no denying that Murphy will need to become a bit more reliable on the national stage for his senior year. Even so, he was one of the most complete and all-around best milers (in terms of how he can beat you) in the NCAA this spring.

21. Sean Dolan, Senior, Villanova (-5 / 16)

A 5th place finish in the 800-meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships is probably not what Sean Dolan was looking for this past weekend. Of course, let's not act like that is a poor performance -- he still ran very well!

Dolan's final 800-meter race for Villanova resulted in him posting the second 1:45 mark of his season (and his career). That result effectively validated the breakthrough 1:45 performance that he had at the BIG East Championships.

Overall, there isn't much to say about Dolan who raced sparingly during the regular season. He was as solid and as reliable as ever and clearly saved his best races for the postseason. The Villanova product will be missed by TSR as an often reliable name to choose in our national meet All-American predictions.

20. Denis Kipngetich, Freshman, Oklahoma State (Unranked)

The freshman from Oklahoma State only raced four times this spring, toeing the line for three 10k races and one 5k race. Admittedly, the three efforts that he strung together leading up to the national meet weren't all that exciting, although they certainly didn't hurt his resume, either.

But on the national stage, the Oklahoma State freshman got to show just how dangerous can be when he can rely on fitness rather than tactics on the national stage. With an aggressive pace being set in the men's 10k, that seemingly benefitted Kipngetich who was running near the front of the pack for much of the race. Sure enough, the Cowboy rookie dropped a 28:10 PR for 10,000 meters to secure bronze.

There truthfully isn't much to say about Kipngetich who was simply really fit this year. He found himself in a very favorable race scenario on the national stage and he didn't let the moment get to him despite being a freshman.

Sure, we still need to learn more about Kipngetich in terms of his racing tendencies, but knowing that he can deliver top-tier results on a massively important stage is something that even established veterans can't always say that they've done.

19. Gable Sieperda, Senior, Iowa State (Unranked)

I will fully admit, I was not very high on Gable Sieperda going into the national meet. Yes, he had run 8:26 in the steeplechase at the Virginia Challenge, but other efforts left me a bit cautious about his potential to be an All-American.

Sieperda showed throughout the spring months that he was an aggressive front-runner. And while that approach often gave him a time and/or finish that was nationally competitive, it did seem to take away from his ceiling.

Thankfully, Sieperda recognized that at the perfect time as he was arguably the most conservative and patient runner in the steeplechase finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. That turned out to be a brilliant decision as a fantastic last lap gave the Iowa State senior a (small) PR of 8:25 and a praise-worthy bronze medal.

If this is the last season that we'll see of Gable Sieperda in a Cyclone singlet (TFRRS says he has one season of cross country left), then it's important that we give him our kudos while we can. This guy has been a steady and patient veteran who has provided so much value to an Iowa State team that has often surpassed expectations, specifically on the grass.

And while others have gotten the shine, Sieperda seemingly hasn't. Thankfully, he'll go into the summer months with some well-deserved hardware.

18. Tarees Rhoden, Senior, Clemson (+7 / 25)

Few men showed greater growth in their tactics and championship racing acumen than Clemson veteran Tarees Rhoden. After establishing a reputation of being a hyper-competitive front-runner in recent years, the Tiger veteran showed more restraint over the last month in terms of how he approached his races.

Make no mistake, Rhoden still chose to be the aggressor on a handful of occasions this season. The difference, however, is that he knew when to flip on his final gear. In other words, Rhoden sustained his front-running style while simultaneously developing greater reliability in his finish -- and that's really hard to do.

Rhoden threw down his third 1:45 (800) effort of the season on Friday evening to place 4th overall in the 800-meter finals. It was the perfect cap to a spring campaign that truly held no flaws. An ACC title, greater reliability and improved fitness are all good reasons to move Rhoden into our top-20.

17. Abdelhakim Abouzouhir, Senior, Eastern Kentucky (-2 / 15)

There was no denying that Adelhakim Abouzouhir was one of the three main national title favorites in the steeplechase this year (along with Victor Kibiego and Nathan Mountain). However, at the national meet, the Eastern Kentucky star just simply didn't look like himself, failing to respond to certain moves as effectively as he did throughout the spring months.

And yet, despite that, Abouzouhir still salvaged a more-than-respectable 4th place finish in the steeplechase finals on Friday evening.

Even if you were expecting more from the EKU ace, it's vitally important that we don't forgot how good Abouzouhir was over the last few months. A win at the Stanford Invite over a strong field was followed-up by an outstanding 8:25 steeplechase effort at the Bryan Clay Invite where he also emerged as the top collegian (finishing with the leaders).

With an 8:27 mark this past weekend, Abouzouhir's overall resume is the perfect example of what seasonal consistency should look like. That reliability was enough for us to keep him within our top-20.

16. Nathan Green, Rs. Sophomore, Washington (-7 / 9)

Placing 10th in the 1500-meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships isn't what you would expect from the defending national champion in this specific event. Even so, we struggle to say that a guy who ran 3:34 for 1500 meters this season wasn't one of the 20-best distance runners in the NCAA.

Truthfully, Green's overall spring campaign outside of that all-time metric mile effort at the Bryan Clay Invite was fairly unexciting. And if someone wanted to push him back a bit more. in our rankings because of that, we wouldn't argue (too much). Even so, when you have an all-time performance as good as Green's, it's hard to justify ranking him much lower than this.

15. Finley McLear, Junior, Iowa State (Unranked)

Yet again, Finley McLear's positioning brilliance was on full display this past weekend...even if he didn't win gold.

The Iowa State talent has a knack for always putting himself in the right place at the right time, at least on the stages that matter the most. A 3rd place finish in the 800-meter finals at the outdoor national meet was huge for a guy who also earned bronze in that same event at the indoor national meet.

We had mentioned once or twice this season that McLear had the potential to peak perfectly for the postseason -- and he seemingly did. He finally dipped back under 1:46 (800) on Friday, marking the third time in his career under that barrier while simultaneously signaling that he is at (or near) his best-ever form.

If McLear has an extra year of eligibility that he can use -- and he seemingly does -- then there's reason to believe that he could be a true national title contender next year. The eye test tells us that he is one of the most complete half-milers in the NCAA.

14. Victor Kiprop, Senior, Alabama (Unranked)

Prior to the national meet starting, both myself and my fellow Blue Oval Podcast co-host, Ben Weisel, explained how Habtom Samuel was virtually untouchable over 10,000 meters. However, we also both agreed that if anyone was going to give the Lobo freshman a run for his money, it was going to be Alabama veteran Victor Kiprop.

For the most part, Kiprop had a strong regular season, running times of 13:24 (5k) and 28:07 (10k). Those were great marks, but for someone who holds a 10k PR of 27:57 from last spring, it was hard for this Crimson Tide ace to separate himself from a handful of talented names this season.

But Kiprop was still one of the most complete long distance runners that Thursday's 10k field had. He was highly experienced, had further developed an understanding of championship racing and held a skillset that was going to benefit the aerobic strength that he has so often put on display. And sure enough, Kiprop walked away from the national meet with silver, the best national meet finish of his career.

13. Joe Waskom, Senior, Washington (Unranked)

Alright, here is where things get interesting.

Let's be blunt: The Joe Waskom who we saw this season (and in the latter-half of the winter months) was not the same Joe Waskom who we saw in the spring of 2022 and throughout 2023. His kick was lacking for most of this year and his fitness was simply not strong enough to match men who were throwing down blistering times.

Waskom struggled quite a bit at the Bryan Clay Invite and settled for a shoulder-shrugging 3rd place finish over 1500 meters at the Payton Jordan Invite. He did no crack 3:40 in either of those races. The Husky star later faded to 4th place at the PAC-12 Championships (although he did win the steeple title) before eventually qualifying for the national meet.

But on the national stage, Waskom's peak was incredible. He ran 3:37 in the 1500-meter prelims, his fastest time of the season, and then down an incredible kick to win the national title in 3:39.

No matter which way you slice it, Waskom's second national title was an upset win -- he simply did not have a resume that was worthy of a ranking. That, of course, is what makes his performance so phenomenal. Even in a season where nothing was going his way, he still came out on top.

So how do we balance the two very different extremes of his overall season? Truthfully, we don't know if there's a good answer to that, but a TSR #13 ranking seems like a good middle ground for Waskom.

12. Nathan Mountain, Junior, Virginia (-1 / 11)

Not winning gold in the men's steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships is a bit tough to see for Nathan Mountain. The Virginia veteran was outstanding this spring, running times of 13:32 (5k) and 8:20 (steeple). He was somewhat clearly the most complete steeplechase talent in the NCAA this spring as far as skillsets are concerned and his resume was littered with accolades.

But in the final moments of the steeplechase finals this past weekend, Mountain just didn't have a response for Parker Stokes who pulled away to win NCAA gold. Of course, an iffy final water jump didn't help the Virginia star, either.

Regardless, Mountain had an overall great season and he was favored to win every steeplechase race that he was entered in (at least among collegians). We struggled to drop him anymore than a singular spot.

11. Parker Stokes, Senior, Georgetown (Unranked)

Most of us at The Stride Report weren't prepared to call Parker Stokes a national title favorite in the steeplechase going into the national meet.

Even so, this was a guy who held far greater leg speed than every other steeplechaser in the NCAA (with the possible exception of Estanis Ruiz) and his 8:18 PR from 2022 led us to believe that the top form of Stokes was just as good as the top form of anyone else in the steeplechase.

No, Stokes never returned to his PR (or got all that close to it), but he peaked perfectly. An 8:24 mark to win the steeplechase national title was outstanding, especially with a kick that Nathan Mountain simply couldn't match. Stokes simply looked more sure of himself than we've seen from him as of late and his middle distance speed from the winter months clearly came in handy.

There is certainly an argument to be had that a few men, including Nathan Mountain, were better than Stokes this spring. Even so, an 8:26 regular season effort over the barriers and water pits gave his resume enough overall value (when paired with his national title) to sit in the top-half of our rankings.

10. Brian Musau, Freshman, Oklahoma State (+7 / 17)

Sure, Brian Musau may have "only" finished 4th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships over 5000 meters, but it's important that we put that performance (and his season) in perspective.

Musau may have "only" placed 4th, but he was racing in a historically top-heavy field headlined by guys like Parker Wolfe, Nico Young and Ky Robinson. Not only that, but Musau was only a freshman this year and was still able to defeat Habtom Samuel TWICE over 5000 meters. The first time came at the Bryan Clay Invite en route to a 13:13 PR while the second time came at the NCAA Championships (when Samuel was on the double).

We'll admit, Musau's struggles over 1500 meters at the BIG 12 Championships weren't exactly encouraging. Even so, in the moments that mattered the most, you would have never guessed that this Oklahoma State star was only a rookie.

9. Sam Whitmarsh, Junior, Texas A&M (-2 / 7)

Well, it wasn't the gold medal result that some of us thought we would see out of him, but that's hardly the end of the world for Sam Whitmarsh.

The Texas A&M star was brilliant this spring with a huge 1:44 (800) PR at the beginning of the season and a convincing 1:45 effort to win the half-mile title at the SEC Championships. In fact, you could maybe argue that his overall body of work this season was better than what Cohen put together.

But regardless of whether or not Whitmarsh won gold, we have to say that this spring was a grand success for the Aggie star who at one point had a heart condition which made it unclear what his future in running looked like. The fact that he is now an NCAA silver medalist makes his last few months of running a great story to look back on.

8. Colin Sahlman, Sophomore, Northern Arizona (-4 / 4)

I imagine that a 4th place finish in the 1500-meter finals of the national meet isn't quite what Colin Sahlman wanted after the incredible season that he had. Even so, it's hard to say that the NAU sophomore wasn't a top-10 name, nationally, this spring.

Running a jaw-dropping time of 3:33-high for 1500 meters to win the Bryan Clay Invite was beyond fantastic, as was his follow-up effort of 3:34 a few weeks later. Pair that with a monster 1:45 (800) win over indoor half-mile national champion Rivaldo Marshall and you have a regular season resume that is arguably just as good as anyone in the country.

A 4th place finish in a super tactical setting shouldn't take away from someone who was among the most fit individuals that the NCAA had to offer this spring. For that reason, we kept him in our top-10.

7. Shane Cohen, Senior, Virginia (Unranked)

Wow...what an incredible end to his collegiate career.

Shane Cohen was a consistent and promising Division Two talent over 800 meters last year, earning backend All-American honors at that distance. However, to suggest that Cohen would even make the D1 national meet, much less earn All-American and much much less win a national title, was a stretch.

But throughout the spring months, Cohen built up some of the best momentum that I can't ever remember seeing. This season, the Virginia graduate student went from 1:49 to 1:47 to 1:47 (prelims) to 1:46 to 1:49 (prelims) to 1:45 to 1:46 (prelims) to 1:44-high en route to a monster upset 800-meter national title win over Sam Whitmarsh.

I can't remember the last time someone peaked so effectively as Cohen did, at least not when you think about initial expectations. To be blunt, this former Tampa runner had no business winning NCAA gold before this season began. Now, he has developed enough fitness and an insane kick to be considered one of the most lethal half-milers in the country.

6. Ky Robinson, Rs. Junior, Stanford (0 / 6)

Gosh, it's so hard to rank Ky Robinson.

The overall season of this Stanford star was admittedly a bit more quiet compared to prior regular season campaigns that we have seen from him before. A 13:35/28:15 (5k/10k) double at the Stanford Invite was great, but that was clearly done with the purpose of regional qualification and not much else. A few speed-based effort before winning 5k and 10k gold at the PAC-12 Championships set Robinson up to earn bronze over 5000 meters at the national meet before Young and Wolfe.

Despite a good, but comparatively quieter, outdoor track season, Robinson was still very clearly part of the same tier that Nico Young and Parker Wolfe resided in. He was in arguably the most top-heavy distance field of the national meet and still stayed competitive enough to earn bronze.

No one is going to look at Robinson and suggest that he was anything other than a top-10 guy in the country. Where within that top-10 you put him is up to you, but we think he did enough to deserve this spot.

5. Adam Spencer, Junior, Wisconsin (-2 / 3)

A 3rd place in the 1500-meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships doesn't match the gold medal potential that Spencer very clearly holds. Even so, Spencer had a truly excellent season.

His 1500-meter performances may not seem amazing on TFRRS, but we can't forget that the Wisconsin ace ran 3:37 at the Australian Championships to win the metric mile title over some outstanding names! Pairing that win with a 1:46 (800) effort for the BIG 10 crown (against more established half-milers) gives Spencer a resume that is plenty complete and chock-full of value. For that reason, we opted to keep him in our top-five.

4. Elliott Cook, Rs. Junior, Oregon (+18 / 22)

After the top-three in our rankings, things drop off a bit. With so many major upsets happening at the outdoor national meet and superstars struggling in their season finale, it felt like numerous men were qualified enough for this position -- and Elliott Cook was one of those men.

In retrospect, the Oregon star was a good bit underrated after our last rankings update. Cook had run 3:38 for 1500 meters and had won double gold at the PAC-12 Championships over 800 meters and 1500 meters, taking down Washington's "Big Three" in the process. Then, after qualifying for the national meet and running 3:37 in the 1500-meter prelims, Cook snagged silver at the NCAA Championships, barely losing to Joe Waskom.

Overall, Cook had a brilliant season. He ran 3:37 and 3:38 for 1500 meters, won two conference titles, defeated some outstanding names and peaked perfectly for the postseason. When you really think about it, he didn't seem to have a single flaw on his resume this spring.

3. Habtom Samuel, Freshman, New Mexico (+2 / 5)

Winning the 10k national title is one thing and winning that title in a time of 28:07 is another. However, to fall during that national title bout (late in the race) and still come out on top is brilliant.

The aerobic capacity of this New Mexico freshman was flat-out excellent this season and the 10k was clearly where he thrived. Despite his racing style also benefitting a large handful of other men over 10,000 meters at the national meet, that didn't matter as Samuel was flat-out better than everyone else by a decent margin.

Yes, he did take a (very narrow) loss to Brian Musau over 5000 meters at the Bryan Clay Invite back in April, but if that's his "worst" race of the season, then that's a good problem to have.

2. Parker Wolfe, Junior, North Carolina (0 / 2)

1. Nico Young, Junior, Northern Arizona (0 / 1)

This is a controversial ranking, but one that we could not possibly avoid.

At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Nico Young and Parker Wolfe battled for the men's 5000-meter national title. And yet, despite Young being the clear favorite, it was Wolfe who came out on top with gold.

Most people would say that Wolfe deserves to be listed at TSR #1 after the monumental win he just had. And frankly, we wouldn't disagree with anyone who suggests that. However, Young ran the NCAA 10k record of 26:52 earlier this year before dropping a monster 1500-meter time of 3:34 to pair with marks of 1:47 (800) and 13:36 (5k), the latter time coming on the double.

Make no mistake, Wolfe still had a fantastic season of his own with a 3:36 (1500) effort to pair with a great 13:19 (5k) mark. Even so, Young posted two top-three all-time performances and barely took silver. In our eyes, his overall body of work this season justifies the idea that he was still the best overall distance runner in the NCAA this spring.

But like we said, we would more than understand if you disagree.

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ADDED

Damien Dilcher (Iona)

Denis Kipngetich (Oklahoma State)

Gable Sieperda (Iowa State)

Finley McLear (Iowa State)

Victor Kiprop (Alabama)

Joe Waskom (Washington)

Parker Stokes (Georgetown)

KICKED OFF

James Corrigan (BYU)

Gary Martin (Virginia)

Rivaldo Marshall (Iowa)

Parvej Khan (Florida)

Ethan Strand (North Carolina)

Anass Essayi (South Carolina)

Luke Houser (Washington)

Fouad Messaoudi (Oklahoma State)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

James Corrigan (BYU)

Gary Martin (Virginia)

Rivaldo Marshall (Iowa)

Parvej Khan (Florida)

Ethan Strand (North Carolina)

Luke Houser (Washington)

Fouad Messaoudi (Oklahoma State)

Kimar Farquharson (Texas A&M)

Nick Plant (Virginia Tech)

Camden Marshall (Indiana)

Rynard Swanepoel (Wake Forest)

Oussama El Bouchayby (Alabama)

Darius Kipyego (Iowa State)

Caden Norris (Texas A&M)

Handal Roban (Penn State)

Wes Porter (Virginia)

Ezekiel Rop (Iowa State)

Alex Phillip (North Carolina)

CJ Singleton (Notre Dame)

Estanis Ruiz (Portland)

Yasin Sado (Virginia)

Rob McManus (Montana State)

Graham Blanks (Harvard)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Rheinhardt Harrison (Oregon)

Alex Stitt (Oklahoma State)

Peter Smith (Iowa State)

Isaac Basten (Drake)

Damian Hackett (Cornell)

Toby Gillen (Ole Miss)

Jesse Hamlin (Butler)

Cael Grotenhuis (Northern Arizona)

Jackson Sharp (Wisconsin)

Chandler Gibbens (Kansas)

Ian Kibiwot (Louisville)

Sanele Masondo (Iowa State)

Patrick Kiprop (Arkansas)

Alex Maier (Oklahoma State)

Alexander Korczynski (Northeastern)

Logan Measner (Wisconsin)

Jackson Shorten (Princeton)

Levi Taylor (Montana State)

Brett Gardner (NC State)

Evan Jenkins (Washington)

Wil Smith (Gonzaga)

Abel Teffra (Georgetown)

Victor Shitsama (Oklahoma State)

Kirami Yego (Arkansas)

Aaron Las Heras (Northern Arizona)

Notes

- N/A