Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Sep 3, 20177 min
2016 Nationals Finish: 26
Significant Departures: Rich Brian, Kevin Serrao, Brendan Wood
Returners: Ascension Aispuro, Harrison Knowlton, Connor Evans, Miles Meijer
It’s going to be hard for Middlebury to make up what they lost this year. Brian Rich was a very useful top man to have he was ninth in the New England Regional meet and scored 40 points at Nationals.
Ascension Aispuro had an 80 point finish last year and Harrison Knowlton showed promise on the track. The rest of the team really thins out after that.
The Panthers are in the same region as MIT, Williams, and Amherst so they are going to need depth if they want an at-large bid to NCAA’s.
2016 Nationals Finish: 28
Significant Departures: Matt O’Neil
Returners: Preston Meyers, Nick Thomas, Adam Sopchak, Colten Trimble, Jon Bach, Josh Thorne.
Mount Union followed the pattern for younger teams performing poorly at Nationals in 2016. This year they lose their number two runner but they still have stud freshman Preston Meyers who was an impressive 54th as a freshman. However, they have a lot of work to do if they want to move up. Their returning runners were all 210th place and higher.
They did show they can be a competitive team at their Regional meet but that’s only part of the formula for success. Watch for Meyers throughout the season this year. If his teammates can give him some support, Mount can be a competitive team in the Great Lakes region.
2016 Nationals Finish: 30
Significant Departures: Andrew Tedeshi, Brandon Mazzarella
Returners: Luke Prothero, Quinn Wasko, Dale Johnson, Matthew Saponara, and Brian Mitchell
After a surprise third place in the Atlantic region last year, TCNJ will have to make some moves in order to replicate their success. They return five of their top seven from last year, but they lose their number one and two runners. Their top returner was 234th place at Nationals.
The Lions are going to need a few guys to make a jump in their fitness if they want to be competitive in a region that brought six teams to nationals last year. Matthew Saporna ran 14:56 in the 5000 this past spring, but was 238th at NCAAs last year, he will need to replace Tedeshi.
2016 Nationals Finish: 16
Significant Departures: Dan Cheung, Randy Violette,
Returners: Carter smith, John Hughes, Matt Svetz
Allegheny had a better top two than North Central did last year with Dan Cheung and Randy Violette combining to score just 14 points. Unfortunately, it really trailed off after that with their last three runners all finishing above 200th place. They are going to need to do some work of they want to make it back this year after losing such a strong one-two punch.
2016 Nationals Finish: 29
Significant Departures: None
Returners: Spencer Fields, Dominc Voehler, Adam Hearn, Ryan Phillips, Toler Freyaldenhover, Alex McTaggart
Another young team with a high ceiling, the Rhodes Lynx were led by Spencer Fields last year who was the 150th place and the 105th scorer, which isn’t bad for a sophomore. If Fields can be in the top 100 finishers with Voehler and Frevaldenhover close behind, Rhodes has the potential to win their region and crack the top 20 on the right day. However, the South region sent four teams to Nationals in 2016, which is rare for them and it might not happen again. Rhodes was the last team in from their region; they can miss Nationals just as easily as they can make it.
2016 Nationals Finish: 31
Significant Departures: None
Returners: Keenan Leary, Brody Barkan, Austin Sankaran, Thomas Robertson, Jovani Barajas
While lacking a traditional “low stick”, Occidental definitely has potential to be a top 20 team. In 2017, they return their top six runners, most of whom are now juniors.Last year, they beat Pomona at regionals but couldn’t repeat their success at NCAAs. Senior Keenan Leary and junior Austin Sankaran both had decent 10k’s this spring and if they can get a tight top three then look for Occidental to surprise some people this November.
2016 Nationals Finish: 19
Significant Departures: Jordan Kramer, Zac nowicki, Nathan Vanhaitsma
Returners: Andrew Phillipose, Mark Dejong, Nathanael Dick, Jamison Koeman
Calvin loses 14th place finisher Jordan Kramer and two of their top five. Things aren’t all bad though as Andrew Philipose emerged as one of the top DIII distance runners this past outdoor season, coming in 6th in the 5000 and 7th in the 10,000 at Nationals. If he can translate his success on the track to cross country while Calvin’s number two and three runners make a notable improvement, then they should be in good shape. However, their questionable depth will keep them ranked 19th for now.
2016 Nationals Finish: 17
Significant Departures: Charles Watson, JD Keiffer, Parker Head
Returners: Andy Reischling, Colin Mulligan, Julian Degroot-Lutzner, Nicholas Vucovich
The Pelicans were ranked top ten in the nation for most of last year, but they weren’t quite able to live up to that expectation and weren’t even able to get an auto-spot out of their region.
Andy Reischling returns as a junior after an All-American finish in the 5k this past spring. Reischling was 41st last year which indicates that he should be able to grab an All-American spot on the grass as well. Teammate Colin Mulligan shouldn’t be far behind.
If Pomona-Pitzer can get their three through five guys to step up, then this team should be able to improve on their finish from last year.
2016 Nationals Finish: 14
Significant Departures: Andrew Harden, Kassey Schalois
Returners: Ian McVey, Bobby Borger, Samuel Boyd, Spencer Schulze
Ohio Northern didn’t even get an auto-qualifier spot last year, but ended up being the top team from their region at Nationals. They return sophomore Ian McVey who had the unlucky privilege of being the first guy out of an All-American spot last fall. He should be an All-American this year, but I don’t know if his low-stick will be enough for the team to repeat their finish from last year after losing their two and three man.
2016 Nationals Finish: 20
Significant Departures: Curtis Watro, Ryan Archer
Returners: Mitchell William, Ryan Auld, Paul Fleming, Jared Moore, Aaditya Mhatre
Last year, Carnegie was consistently ranked top 15 in the country and tied Wash U. at their conference meet (although Wash U. was missing All-American Ryan Becker). However, they started to lose momentum after that, coming in third at regionals and then 16 places behind Wash U. at Nationals.
Carnegie can be dangerous this year. They lose only one of their top five and most of their returners are juniors. If Mitchell William and Ryan Auld can repeat their performances from last year, then they should be a top 20 team.
2016 Nationals Finish: 5
Significant Departures: Kyle Lund, Joshua Sealand, Jesse Joseph, Nico Bancs
Returners: Kevin Huang, Thomas D’Anieri
Kyle Lund and Joshua Sealand were the best one-two in the country last year scoring just 13 point between the two of them, but unfortunately they both graduated. Losing their top two is going to be difficult to recover from for the Stags. Top returner Kevin Huang should be a contender for All-American (he was 60th in 2016) and Thomas D’nieri ran 14:40 in the 5000, but that probably won’t be enough for them to get top 5 again.
2016 Nationals Finish: 15
Significant Departures: Joe Coffey, Jacob Eggers
Returners: Thomas Lerdall, William Anderson, Alex Berhe, Keith Ketola, Jack Henschel
Losing top runner Joe Coffey who was 23rd last year is a tough loss for St. Olaf, but they return their two through five scorers who finished within twelve seconds of each other last year. This team has a history of excellence and knows how to perform at Nationals. If they can keep that spread, then they should be able to stay in the top 15, but without a top runner it will be hard for them to go beyond that. Most of their squad are now juniors, 2018 will probably be when this team will really shine.
2016 Nationals Finish: 12
Significant Departures: Raymond Meijer, Steven Lucey
Returners: Mohamed Hussein, Craig Nelson, Scott Nelson, Cosmo Brossy, Kristian Sogard
Rather than having one standout runner, Amherst followed the impressive strategy of having a strong pack with no poor performances. However, they lose two of that main pack, so it might be difficult to do that again.
Mohamed Hussein can definitely be a top 50 finisher, but the rest of the team remains a bit of a question mark.
2016 Nationals Finish: 8
Significant Departures: Schaffer Oschsetin Tom Pavarini
Returners: Scott Pourshalchi, Oliver Hickson, Louis Levine, Alex Doran, Geoffrey Kazlow
Halfway through the 2016 season, it seemed that Hopkins was not going to be a national contender. At Rowans Border Battle, they came in 10th with their top runner coming in 45th. The Blue Jays scored 305 points there and then 316 points at Nationals with the same top three.
It will be hard for Hopkins to repeat their success this fall after losing their top two finishers. Their returning runners all had very solid performances at Nationals but they still are young and lack a top runner that can score under 30 points. They will be a strong team this year, but top 10 is most likely out of the question.
2016 Nationals Finish: 18
Significant Departures: Jimmy Gorman, Charlie Hale
Returners: Henry Woods, Ryan Herlihy, Greg Morgan, Dylan Gearinger, Graham Peet
By returning five of their top six runners, including All-American Henry Woods, Haverford is set up for a big year. They had a slow start with a mediocre finish at Paul short last year, but they were able to pick up some momentum later on in the season, placing 5th at the Rowan Border Battle and eventually getting an auto-bid out of the Mideast Region.
Haverford is definitely a threat to win their region this fall after only finishing one point behind a Johns Hopkins squad that placed 8th at Nationals last year.
Watch out for them to be a top 10 team come November.