2019 Men's Recruit Rankings: #6 Portland Pilots

Recruit rankings data has been manually collected by TSR contributors from multiple, reliable sources. Transfers and foreign recruits who are not expected to have four years of eligibility are excluded from these rankings. Order of rankings was decided by all TSR contributors. Despite our research, it is possible that certain names have been erroneously omitted.

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The men of Portland finished an impressive 3rd last year at the NCAA Cross Country Championships following their runner-up performance from 2017. They return three of their top seven from last year’s podium team led by All-American Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse. Even though they lose the likes of Logan Orndorf and Nick Hauger, they have a full roster and have signed some extremely talented freshmen.

Coach Rob Conner has had plenty of success over the past few seasons with All-Americans and NCAA podium finishes. With his team’s accolades, it makes a lot of sense why incoming recruits want to come to a team with a growing history of developing talent.

Let’s start with Bradley Peloquin from Washington. Peloquin will join his older brother Tristan (redshirt senior) on the Pilots' roster. Peloquin has made a name for himself in Washington high school cross country and track over the past couple of years and his resume shows why. He enters college with outstanding PR's of 4:11 and 8:56. His two-mile PR recently came from the 2019 Brooks PR Meet where Peloquin finished 9th amongst some of the best long distance runners in the country. And not to be overlooked, Peloquin boasts a 15:06 5k best in cross country. His success at the longer distances should help Peloquin find himself near the top of a roster that needs some extra firepower.

Wisconsin’s Henry Chapman is crossing the country to attend Portland and brings with him PR's of 4:15 and an 8:58 (converted from New Balance two-mile). Much like Peloquin, Chapman will be an integral part of Portland's rebuilding/reloading plan as they prepare for future success.

From California, Chris Anderson will be traveling upwards to the Pacific Northwest. On the cross country course, Anderson has dropped an impressive 14:35 for three miles. Having a time like this proves he is stronger over the longer distances races and that the 10k will be a distance Anderson can handle on the grass. He will continue to add depth one of the quietly deeper teams in the country.

Joining Anderson from California is AJ Reyes. Reyes owns a respectable three mile PR in cross country of 14:39. Even though Reyes doesn’t have much experience at larger meets, he is from California - a state that produces many top recruits across the nation. Signing with Portland will only help Reyes’s running due to who he will surrounded by. He'll likely be a key developmental piece of this roster.

The same can be said for Luke Knoblich of Washington who is entering Portland with times of 4:21 (1600), 9:20 (3200), and 15:38 (5k XC). I imagine Knoblich will redshirt his first year so he can gain some experience and get used to the training routines and distances.

An incoming freshman who has speed in the 800 and endurance in the 5k in cross country is Colorado’s Aidan Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald has run 1:53 (800), 4:18 (1600), 9:15 (3200), and 15:05 (5k XC). Even though he seems to be more of a middle distance runner, Fitzgerald could work his way up to the longer distances and eventually find his way in Portland’s top seven. However, his extensive range is what truly makes him a valuable pickup. That middle distance speed is often a staple of Portland's program.

Coach Rob Conner always does an excellent job of bringing in some top international student-athletes and 2019’s signing class is no different. Jonas Gertsen will be making the journey from Denmark to Portland this fall and will be bringing with him a roughly converted 3200 PR of 8:50 and a 14:40 5k on the track. His 5k track PR lands him as Portland's top incoming freshman for this distance. He'll bring some much needed firepower to a team that could use him almost immediately with Hauger and Orndorf now gone.

Louis Vandermessen of France will most likely make some noise on the track as well with his PR;s of 1:53 (800), 3:48 (1500), and 8:51 (3200 conversion). Also, one cannot overlook Vandermessen’s 2k steeplechase PR of 5:46. I am unsure about how much success he will have at the longer distances, but when you consider his times mentioned above, it is obvious that Vandermessen will be a top name for the Pilots. He will be the perfect replacement for Logan Orndorf who ran a sub-four mile earlier this year.

If the Pilots are able to regroup and fill the missing spots, they could once again be a threat to make some noise in cross country this fall. A lucky freshman listed above may even find himself competing for one of the coveted top seven spots during the championship season.