TSR Collaboration
Dec 27, 20209 min
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Written by Sam Ivanecky
The men of Oregon have brought in a well-rounded recruiting class which should bolster an already-strong veteran lineup and provide substantial development opportunities over the long term. This group looks hard-pressed to make any huge changes in the current team dynamic of Oregon, but they should provide promising reinforcements which may be exactly what the men from Eugene need.
This group of rookie Ducks consists of five runners: Evan Holland, Elliot Cook, Michael Abeyta, Abdinasir Hussein and Quincy Norman. All five of these men are solid runners and have proven their abilities at the high school level.
Of this group, Evan Holland is easily the best recruit (on paper) who could play a key role on this team relatively early in his collegiate career. He comes to Oregon having run 3:46 for 1500 meters and 14:30 for 5000 meters during cross country. He is also the only one of this group to have major success on the national stage, finishing 6th at the 2019 NXN Championships and 16th in 2018. He also won the Oregon state title in a time of 14:30, breaking the previous course record held by former Oregon Duck Matthew Maton.
Looking at Oregon’s current roster, Holland should have a good shot at positioning himself as a scorer in a lineup that hasn't always looked complete at times. While we don't know where in this cross country lineup Holland will reside, his prowess on the cross country course should be huge for the Ducks as they look to fill in the gap of their varsity lineup while awaiting the eventual introduction of graduate transfer Aaron Bienenfeld in the fall of 2021.
Outside of Holland, it is a bit hard to guess where exactly Oregon’s other recruits will land. Elliot Cook and Michael Abeyta are a middle distance duo who come in with exceptional range. However, they could have a variety of developmental paths.
Cook and Abeyta have run 1:51 and 1:52 for 800 meters, respectively, but also own 5k cross country personal bests of 15:01 and 14:34. Both men look like they could have potential in anything from the mile to the 5k, but it's hard to say what kind of immediate impact they'll have. Abeyta might be a contender for the sixth or seventh spot in cross country if he is able to make a leap from his 14:34 mark.
The other Oregon recruits, Quincy Norman and Abdinasir Hussein, are even harder to predict. Both men have a handful of modest personal bests with no time immediately jumping off the page. Norman has run 4:01 for 1500 meters, 8:33 for 3000 meters and 15:06 for 5000 meters in cross country. Meanwhile, Hussein has run 8:36 for 3000 meters and 15:20 for 5000 meters in cross country.
Based on those marks, it seems highly unlikely that either runner will have a chance at breaking into Oregon’s cross country or track lineups in the short-term. Still, having two other recruits with 3k personal bests under 8:40 should, at the very least, provide solid depth.
It's too early to give projections on their long-term success, but both men should be looking towards the future more than the present. With a handful of top-ranked Oregon veterans nearing the end of their eligibility, the career development of these two recruits will be just as important as any progress that we see from Holland, Cook and Abeyta.
Unlike previous years, this Oregon recruiting class features more depth which is a nice change for a team that needs just that. The current roster has a handful of star power up front, but they now have a handful of younger guys who can now take the time to develop.
Written by Sam Ivanecky
NOTE: Some of the athletes mentioned below are not currently listed on the BYU roster. However, many BYU commits often take mission trips prior to joining the collegiate ranks. As a result, we have opted to rank BYU based on their commitments from the Class of 2020, not the freshmen who are currently listed on their roster.
As the saying goes, “The rich get richer”.
The men of BYU were already one of the top teams in the country when it comes to the distance events, but they have added yet another strong recruiting class that will surely be their foundation for future success.
This current freshman class includes eight men who have run under 15:30 for 5k in cross country, another recruit who has run 9:18 for 3200 meters and another recruit who has run 4:18 for the mile. This class provides a mix of established high school stars and strong depth to an already proven and historically deep program.
Leading the way for this recruiting class is the Utah Men’s Gatorade Player of the Year, Carson Belnap. As a high school runner, Belnap showed outstanding prowess on both the track and cross country course. He was the Utah state champion in cross country and went on to finish 9th at the 2019 NXN Championships.
On the track, Belnap has run 4:10 for 1600 meters and 8:51 for 3200 meters, putting him among some of the best American youngsters in the country. His experience on the national stage in cross country should benefit him when moving to the NCAA where he will be tasked with competing in similar settings.
On paper, few recruits boast the overall recruiting value that Belnap does.
Two other incoming Cougars who showed out at previous NXN meets are Easton Allred and Stetson Moss. This duo put up strong showings at the 2018 NXN Championships with Allred placing 5th and Moss close behind in 11th.
Moss has modest track times relative to his NXN finishes, but he did place 17th at NXN in 2017. That consistency on the national stage is a great indicator that his results were not just “lightning in a bottle” and that he can be reliable contributor at the collegiate level.
As for Allred, he was 22nd at the 2017 NXN Championships and 38th at the 2019 NXN Championships, pointing to more of that reliable championship consistency. However, unlike Moss, Allred has been among some of the best distance runners on the track, owning a mile personal best of 4:05. He has also run 9:08 for 3200 meters.
The trio of Belnap, Allred and Moss have a long way to go, but BYU has historically had groups of strong runners at the front (think Young, McMillan, Linkletter), so there could be a trend here. These three could be a lethal 1-2-3 punch in the future if their high school results are any indication of their true talent.
Along with this trio, Keith Murray, Porter Whitworth, Hayden Gray, Caleb Johnson and Hyrum Nelson have all run between 15:00 and 15:24 for 5000 meters in cross country. That group brings substantial depth to this recruiting class and leaves BYU with a host of “diamonds in the rough” if any of them break out on the NCAA scene.
The reason we have this BYU class ranked so highly is not just because of their depth, but also because of their current roster situation. The Cougars will be able to let this young group develop and slowly gain experience in the NCAA rather than immediately throwing them into the fire, providing valuable knowledge from upperclassmen along the way.
On paper, no one outside of Moss, Belnap and Allred would have been able to have much of an immediate impact -- and even those three are a bit suspect when you consider the amount of talent that is already on this roster.
With extensive championship accolades and plenty of depth, BYU should be able to mold this group into the top scorers that we think they can be. These are names to keep tucked away as they will surely come back around when the opportunity is right, whether that be from mission trips or when they have made enough development.
Written by Eric Baranoski
One big-name coach who is in the second season with his respective program is Vin Lananna at the University of Virginia. Similar to Coach Miltenberg at North Carolina, Lananna has now had two years to add recruits that fit his vision...and boy does this team look different than it did two years ago.
The long-time coaching veteran has brought in a ton of talent as of late and we already saw this past fall what kind of impact a few of these younger athletes had in the ACC.
What separates this year’s class from others is the overwhelming number of talented young men that UVA has brought in. Eleven men (yes, eleven) have pledged to run for the ‘Hoos in 2020. That is an overwhelming amount of eventual lineup options both now and in the future.
Billy Atkinson, a California native, is traveling across the country to be a part of this program revamp. A sub-9 3200 meter performance highlights his high school career at Mira Costa.
With time trial personal bests of 4:11 (1600) and 8:57 (3200) from this past summer, there may not be a Virginia recruit who had more momentum coming into the NCAA than Atkinson. He could be a potentially big name to watch if he is able to carry over the success of those time trials to the collegiate stage.
We also saw a trio of Loudon Valley runners venture south to Charlottesville. Taylor Ney, Kevin Carlson and Kellen Hasle all committed to run for the Cavaliers prior to their graduation and have since joined the program. Together, that group made history as they won back-to-back Virginia state titles and made multiple NXN appearances. With a number of other Vikings already on this Virginia roster, it's understandable why these three wanted to join the Cavaliers.
Hasle actually played a key role for the UVA men this past fall, earning a pair of 10th place finishes at the Virginia Invitational and Panorama Farms Invitational, respectively. That's an encouraging sign for the future as the Cavaliers will soon be losing top veteran scorers.
Two other high school teammates have also committed to run for the Cavaliers. Jack Eliason and Joe Hawkes, both from Western Albemarle, made the joint decision to join the Lananna-coached squad.
This duo comes in fresh-off appearances at the NXN Championships where Hawkes was 41st and Eliason finished 51st. In addition to helping their team qualify for NXN, they dominated the Virginia state meet, winning titles in the 1000 meters, 1600 meters and cross country. That championship experience should come in handy for a team that will likely be facing top ACC competition on a fairly regular basis.
The man with the second-fastest mile time of this recruiting group is Wes Porter who comes to C-Ville with a ton of talent. Boasting a personal best of 4:10 (mile) and placing 4th at the prestigious Festival of Miles in St. Louis are the main highlights of his resume.
However, let’s not forget what he accomplished on the grass as he won a Missouri state cross country title and cracked the 15-minute barrier over 5000 meters. Porter is a phenomenal addition and was already a huge reason why the Virginia men had so much success this past fall.
Porter finished 23rd at the ACC Championships as a true freshman and gave this Virginia team a reliable scorer in the middle of their lineup for the entire season. It's rare to see a talent as young and as inexperienced as Porter having such a notable impact on his respective team.
Another name with plenty of speed is Yasin Sado who opted to join the Virginia men and leave behind the high altitude of Colorado. Arguably one of the biggest recruiting wins for this UVA class, Sado boasts exceptional personal bests of 4:09 (mile) and 14:58 (5k), displaying unique speed and endurance which could make him a true three-season threat.
We then have Conor Murphy who is very dangerous and someone who brings a ton of lethal speed to a roster that is admittedly long distance-heavy. The 1:50 800 meter runner will team up with Liam Bellamy who won the 2019 VISAA state title in the 800 meters. He owns a personal best 1:52.
Adding both Murphy and Bellamy to this roster is huge for the Cavaliers. The ACC is home to a handful of top-tier middle distance programs, making it a difficult conference to compete in, specifically for the 800 meters. However, Murphy and Bellamy at least give this team a chance to stay competitive in those middle distances a few years from now.
A strong senior season led the Montgomery County runner Nick Karayianis to eventually choosing Virginia. Karayianis had quite the improvement from his junior year to his senior year.
A couple of wins during the 2019 cross country season gave us a nice preview to his indoor track season where he ran 9:11 for two miles. Having been a part of the distance team at Bullis, a nationally-ranked sprinting school, Karayianis will likely benefit from joining a program that is more distance-oriented.
This UVA recruiting class had a little bit of everything. They have two true 800 runners, a handful of strong milers, plenty of depth and guys who have already proven to be valuable assets in a cross country lineup.
With Virginia looking to firmly entrench themselves as a top distance running program in the NCAA, this class is only the start of what they are trying to do in Charlottesville.