TSR Collaboration
Jan 11, 20236 min
Written by Kevin Fischer & Brett Haffner
Additional commentary and edits by John Cusick & Garrett Zatlin
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Despite spending some time in our top-10 rankings this past fall, the Johns Hopkins men finished 12th at the NCAA XC Championships. That, however, was still a massive improvement from their 24th place finish at the 2021 national meet.
Some of that success can be attributed to this year's freshman class as their top finisher at the national was true freshman Emmanuel Leblond who finished in 26th place overall on the national stage, the highest finisher of any true freshman in the country.
Leblond graduated from Mountain View High School in California and brought incredible prep-level times to Johns Hopkins.
Leblond's most impressive high school result was an incredible 9:08 (3200) mark at the Stanford Invitational. He has also run 4:24 (1600) and 15:28 (5k XC), but that 3200 meter mark emphasizes his potential to be a star.
There was an inkling that Leblond would be impactful almost immediately, but there was no telling that he'd be as good as he was for the Blue Jays this year. That early success, combined with his high school pedigree, could translate into him being a top low-stick within Division Three (if he's not there already).
The Blue Jays also brought in Adrian Archer (Pinecrest HS) who has run 4:27 (1600), 9:28 (3200) and 15:57 (5k XC).
Those times are similar to Leblond's resume, but Archer didn't see the same success as Leblond during their freshman campaigns. That, of course, is hardly a concern. With another year in this program, we could see Archer playing a pivotal role on the grass in the fall of 2023.
These two guys are excellent over long distances, but the most impressive aspect of this rookie class is the versatility and the healthy mix of middle and long distance talents. That's some nice event balance that for a program that is more endurance-centric.
Four of the eight Johns Hopkins recruits for the 2022-2023 academic calendar have run under 2:00 in the 800 meters, some by a significant margin. For a program that has somewhat limited depth in the half-mile, that's a big deal.
One of the top incoming freshmen in the country over 800 meters, Fisayo Omonije (St. Marks HS), ran 1:54.37 in high school. He has also run 4:42 (1600), 10:25 (3200) and 17:02 (5k XC).
If he continues to improve steadily over the next few years, he has the potential to be in the All-American conversation. His only downfall is that he has a limited range across events, but there's nothing wrong with being a half-mile specialist. Omonije will be a welcomed addition to a team that needed a bit more event diversity.
Three other guys in this freshman class have broken the 2:00 barrier, all of whom can hold their own going up in distance.
Rowan Cassidy has run 1:57 (800), but he's arguably a better miler given that he has run 4:20 (1600). He's also posted strong marks of 9:43 (3200) and 15:42 (5k XC), making him one of the more well-rounded athletes who have joined the Blue Jays this year.
Connor Oiler (John Hershey HS) and Lance Nicholls (Winchester Thurston HS) are two more guys who have shown high level mixes of speed and strength. Oiler has run 1:58 (800), 4:20 (1600) and 9:27 (3200) while Nicholls has similar marks of 1:59 (800), 4:21 (1600) and 9:27 (3200).
The similarities of these athletes should bode well for their development while attending Johns Hopkins. All three of these young men can be critical pieces within a varsity lineup on the grass and could eventually compete nationally in multiple events.
That's fairly rare to say about multiple rookies in one class.
Of course, that's assuming that their development goes according to plan. As of right now, they're three athletes with excellent potential and if they pan out, then the Blue Jays may have found themselves a core to help make multiple national title runs.
The Blue Jays' freshman class is rounded out by Matt Kelly (St. Ignatius HS) who has run 4:34 (1600), 9:32 (3200) and 15:42 (XC 5k) along with Vaughn Decker (Maize South HS) who has run 4:33 (1600), 9:50 (3200) and 16:01 (5k XC).
Compared to the rest of this class, these two could be considered "true" developmental pieces for this program. Even so, their times from high school are not bad! At all! They'd be top recruits on other rosters and should still be viewed as legitimately valuable freshmen.
Overall, this class is pretty loaded. When you remember that Leblond became an All-American as a true freshman and the potential for stardom that we could see out of Fisayo Omonije, the top-end rookie talent of Johns Hopkins is among the best of any class in the nation.
Then you go through each name beyond those two and see the necessary depth as well, including several guys who can easily go up or down in distance.
Ultimately, bringing in this group is a massive win for the Blue Jays. They've already gone from 24th to 12th on the cross country national stage and incremental steps forward in the next few years look very plausible.
Regarding the middle distance prowess, it's been a while since Johns Hopkins sent a DMR to the national meet...but that could change fairly soon.
It's not a shock to see the recently crowned national champions from the 2022 NCAA XC Championships on this list. What might be a surprise, however, was that the Engineers brought in the smallest class of any team in these rankings, bringing in just five men to their program.
However, those five men, who now represent the freshmen class for MIT, are all excellent recruits, with no gaps formed and solid talent across the distance event pool. And that's something that some of the best teams in the country can't say about their rookies.
The defining feature of Coach Riley Macon's freshmen class lies in their personal bests in the 800 meters, ranging from 1:56 to 1:58. That is incredible, especially considering that THREE men have run 1:56!
We'll start with Jared Steins (Servite HS) and Tim Neumann (Downers Grove South HS), two young men who are some of the most well-rounded freshmen that we found for these rankings.
Steins boasts personal bests of 1:56 (800), 4:11 (1600), 9:08 (3200) and 15:15 (5k XC). Meanwhile, Neumann has run 1:56 (800), 4:11 (1600), 9:13 (3200) and 15:25 (5k XC).
Having one freshman of this caliber in Division Three is incredible. But having two of these talents at the D3 level? Well, that is genuinely mind-boggling. Each of those men would be considered marquee recruits for a handful of talented team at the D1 level.
Steins and Neumann can be impactful contributors for the Engineers, even as early as this track season. Their 1600 meter personal bests are pretty close to qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships in just a few months and a slight improvement could legitimately put them in contention.
And frankly, you can't say that about a lot of true freshmen these days, especially with Division Three as a whole simply getting faster.
We then come to Jake Cobb (West Deptford HS) who is our next MIT recruit. Much like his aforementioned teammates, he brings fantastic range to the Engineers, having run 1:57 (800), 4:16 (1600), 9:20 (3200) and 15:43 (5k XC).
But here's the unique thing about Cobb: He has also run 6:22 for the 2000 meter steeplechase at New Balance Outdoor Nationals! Is that foreshadowing a potential event specialty for Cobb at MIT?
While Cobb is pretty great at everything else, he has the ability to potentially steeple for a team that can be in podium contention during the track seasons. That, in turn, would make him an invaluable asset with the correct development.
Charlie Glass (Hyde Park HS) is the next member of this class with his 1:56 mark in the 800 meters. He gives MIT plenty of new middle distance potency, something that they'll need with certain names nearing the end of their eligibility.
While his strength truly comes from the 800 meters, he's also run 4:31 (1600) and that time is another mark that makes Glass an intriguing name.
Considering MIT's recent history of developing middle distance runners who can be successful on the grass (Ryan Wilson, this one's for you), there is clear potential for Glass to become more than just an 800 meter specialist for the Engineers.
Rounding out the group is Gordon Su (Bethlehem Central HS) who has run 1:58 in the 800 meters and 4:24 in the 1600 meters, providing yet another middle distance talent for MIT.
Su has run 16:40 (5k XC) and there wasn't a 3200 meter time listed on his resume, making us believe that he'll focus on the 800/1500/mile while at MIT. Much like Glass, and with the proper development, Su could be more than just a single event athlete in a couple of years.
But at the very least, he'll add to an already-promising group of talented youngsters who quietly gave the Engineers great depth in the 800 meters last spring.
While this class is relatively small in numbers, the average quality of each freshman is outstanding. This means that the Engineers are only getting better and that's a scary development for the rest of the country.
We'll begin to see these guys contribute in the coming seasons. And once the MIT seniors graduate this upcoming spring, we'll see some room within that varsity lineup for these younger talents to fill.