NAIA turned D3 guy here...obviously D1 is much more competitive overall than D3, D2, or NAIA. That doesn't, however, mean every individual D1 competition or competitor is going to be superior to their corollaries in other divisions. Aiden Ryan's run at D3 nationals was objectively better than that of anyone in the D1 final. Notably, however, many of those D1 guys ran better in their prelims. That said, Ryan deserves his due for running the best collegiate mile final this year, especially accounting for the flat track that we have to run on. There are, periodically, other non-D1 athletes who produce superior performances to most or all from D1; Zouhair Talbi of the NAIA is one of the fastest collegiate 10,000m runners ever and regularly beats D1 guys at invitationals. Yes, I'm aware of the shady stuff surrounding Talbi's faked transcripts and questionable eligibility, but the fact remains that the man is fast enough to qualify for the Olympics (even if he didn't end up getting to go).