Second tier?
Alexander, along with our 3 Olympians, Andrews, Ben and Centro, ran 3:34. They all ran 3:34 last year. In the annual T&F News issue, those 4 were the only Americans to make the world list for fastest times run word wide.
Alexander won Tracktown over one of the best fields of the year and almost stole the show at the 5th Ave mile, almost beating Centro in a field even better than Tracktown. Throw in 3:34 and 3:50 for those two efforts.
That is not 2nd tier.
Merber has shown he
can take Alexander on any given day and he also has a 3:34 PR. Not 2nd tier.
Manzano 2nd tier? Well I guess if you want to call one of the greatest milers in American track history second tier it's your choice. Just doesn't lend to your credibility.