John Cusick
Sep 16, 202210 min
Edits and additional commentary by Garrett Zatlin
Adams State has been one of the most dominant programs in Division Two history.
Year-in and year-out, they have one of the most lethal squads in the country. They have depth, they have firepower and they have experience. And after their 2nd place team finish from the 2021 NCAA XC Championships, the Grizzlies are back again in 2022 with a squad that is arguably better than it was last year.
And while they had some key losses from their 2021 national meet lineup, their additions for the 2022 season more than make up for those departures.
The Grizzlies' first real test of the 2021 cross country season came at the Paul Short Invite. There, they contested the "Gold" section against numerous Division One programs and they ended the meet with an encouraging 7th place team finish.
Ahmed Sado led the team by finishing 18th overall in what would be considered a very good low-stick score for the D2 powerhouse. Meanwhile, James Dunne was the team's second scorer in 40th place with Mikah Paiz finished 47th.
While those three men had successful races, holding great scoring value and even a low-stick spark, we couldn't necessarily say the same thing about the rest of this team.
Isaiah Rodarte finished 73rd overall while Yonas Haile finished 88th, Davonte Jett-Reynolds placed 99th, Alec Hall settled for 106th and De La Cerda was 109th. For a team that was known for their depth, these string of results was admittedly a bit surprising.
The Grizzlies finished with 259 total points, but left us feeling like they could have been better. Usually, the amount of talent within the Adams State program is on par with many Division One programs.
Despite feeling like they left points on the table, it was still an impressive showing from the Grizzlies. They were able to finish inside the top-10 against 40 other teams, even taking down Cornell, Army and Navy, the latter of which won the Patriot League XC Championships.
Not too shabby for a Division Two program, huh?
To give some of their backend runners some extra experience, the Grizzlies attended the Fort Hays State Tiger Open. At that meet, their "B" team took home the team title over a pair of very solid programs in Nebraska-Kearney and NW Missouri.
The Grizzlies scored 84 points to the Lopers' 90 points and the Bearcats' 93 points.
Mitchell Dervin and Andrew O'Keefe led the team in 9th and 12th, respectively. Meanwhile, this year's TSR #22 runner, Clement Duigou, finished in 28th place. David Cardenas was two spots back in 30th place while Elias Perez was the final scorer in 32nd place.
But for as good as those results were, it was an entirely different lineup that would be responsible for scoring at the RMAC XC Championships, a meet that was by no means easy to win
Rodarte, Sado and Haile put together terrific races, finishing in 6th, 7th and 8th place, a string of performances which kept things at least somewhat interesting with Colorado Mines. Adams State also welcomed the return of Carson Bix as he finished 12th while Paiz closed out the scoring in 14th place.
Having five finishers inside the top-15, with only 24 seconds separating them, is usually enough to take home a team title. Unfortunately, they ran into Colorado Mines, a program that was having a historic year.
The Grizzlies would finish 2nd as a team with 47 points, somehow 19 points behind the Orediggers who may have flexed the most impressive firepower of any D2 program at that point in the season.
Two weeks later, at the South Central XC Championships, the Grizzlies inched their way closer to the Orediggers, but ultimately fell short by 12 points. Adams State scored 54 points to Colorado Mines' 42 points.
The Grizzlies placed three men inside the top-10 yet again. This time they were led by Sado, who finished 4th place overall. Rodarte was 7th and Paiz settled for 10th.
Through the first three runners, the Grizzlies had the advantage in the team race, giving them a puncher's chance. Unfortunately, their following three athletes would finish 16-17-18, a trio that was directly behind Colorado Mines' final few athletes who went 13-14-15.
Despite the 2nd place team finish, the results were encouraging as the Grizzlies appeared to be peaking at the right time. The step up in racing distance clearly worked in their favor.
And sure enough, Adams State thrived at the national meet, peaking right on time just like they do every. single. year.
Rodarte and Bix finished inside the top-10 as they placed 5th and 7th overall, a massive jump up from what we had seen from them earlier in the season. Those stunning performances, paired with Sado's 18th place finish, kept the Grizzlies in contention (somewhat) for the title, even with GVSU getting a clear scoring edge.
While the Lakers would ultimately pull away with gold, the Grizzlies were able to land a fourth All-American in Mikah Paiz who finished in 26th place. The team's fifth scorer, Andrew O'Keefe, finished 41st overall, one spot out from All-American honors.
The Grizzlies still lost to Grand Valley State by 41 points when it was all said and over. It would have taken quite the performance from some of Adams State's backend scorers to keep pace with a GVSU team that had all five of their athletes across the line before the Grizzlies had four athletes finish.
For a team that is so accustomed to winning national titles, settling for a 2nd place finish almost feel like a "down" year. Of course, from an outsider's perspective, the fall of 2021 could be considered a successful season for Adams State.
The Grizzlies will return five of their seven athletes from last year's national meet. That fact alone would be enough for us to rank them as a top-three team in our preseason rankings, even if those two departures are Ahmed Sado and Carson Bix, two high-octane scorers.
Of course, Coach Damon Martin was still able to add athletes who could/will put this team into the comfortable status of being national title favorites in 2022.
But first, let's start with their returners.
Long-time veteran Isaiah Rodarte was the team's top finisher at the 2021 national meet with his 5th place finish. He had an impressive postseason stretch which saw him finish 6th at the RMAC XC Championships and 7th at the South Central regional meet. He bested both performances with his national meet performance and played a massive role in the team finishing 2nd overall.
However, Rodarte only raced twice on the indoor oval before recording two DNF results. After those DNFs, he skipped the rest of the indoor track season and then the outdoor track season entirely.
It will be interesting to see what kind of fitness Rodarte is in when he returns to Adams State this coming season. We fully expect him to be a top runner for this team, and his ability to be a low-stick can potentially put Grizzlies atop of the podium. However, his season-long consistency may need to improve based on last year's results.
The next returner for Adams State is Mikah Paiz, a name who makes us feel like he was robbed of an individual ranking in our preseason list.
On paper, Paiz would be considered a middle distance specialist as detailed by his 1:53 (800), 3:46 (1500), 4:07 (mile) and 8:19 (3k) personal bests. However, the one thing that Adams State does incredibly well is getting the most out of all their athletes when translating their track success to the grass -- and Paiz falls directly in line with that thinking.
He ran very well at Paul Short via his 47th place finish, but shined when it mattered the most. He was 14th at the RMAC XC Championships before finishing 10th at the South Central XC Championships, finally finishing 26th at the national meet.
Paiz was a valuable asset to this team throughout last fall who consistency aided in the Grizzlies' three silver-medal team finishes. While we shockingly expect him to be more of a second-half varsity runner in 2022 (which we'll explain in a moment), his experience will be crucial to this team finishing on the podium again.
If someone has an "off" day or a lineup gap begins to form, having someone like Paiz will be necessary to fill any scoring holes that could make Adams State vulnerable to an upset.
We then come to Andrew O'Keefe who is viewed as an another middle distance athlete. Of course, much like Paiz, he has also found success on the grass in the Adams State program. On the oval, he has comparable times to his teammate Paiz, having run 1:50 (800), 3:46 (1500), 4:06 (mile) and 8:21 (3k).
O'Keefe got better each time he toed the line during the 2021 cross country season, a fall campaign which ended with him placing 41st at the national meet. He will bring valuable experience to the backend of this lineup and when we reach the 2022 national meet, he could very well be the difference maker for this team in 2022 if scoring insurance is needed on the national stage.
We also need to highlight Yonas Haile who was the team's sixth runner on their 2021 national meet team. He fits the mold of being a "true" cross country runner more than the previous two names who we just mentioned.
Haile has run 8:32 (3k), 14:33 (5k) and 30:34 (10k) on the oval. And while those are not the fastest times ever, they're good enough for him to play a crucial role on this Adams State team in 2022. Two of those personal bests (the 3k and the 5k) came after last fall.
That improvement tells us that Haile is on the right trajectory to be an impact runner for the Grizzlies in 2022. He's another national-caliber athlete who was already 43rd at least year's national meet. If he carries his improvement from the track to the grass, then could he be a top-35 All-American? And if so, would that even make him a scorer?
The final varsity returner for this team is Davonte Jett-Reynolds -- and you could argue that he now has the best resume of all of these returning athletes.
After his disappointing 111th place finish at last year's cross country national meet, Jett-Reynolds lit the indoor track on fire. He ran 1:53 for 800 meters and followed that up with a blazing mile time of 4:01. He would eventually run 8:02 for 3000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships and finish in 11th place.
Combine those marks with his 5000 meter time of 14:06, and he's one of the best all-around distance talents that Division Two has to offer.
Jett-Reynolds opted to skip the outdoor track season, but make no mistake about this Arizona native, he will likely force his way onto this varsity team come December. His talent level is too good to be ignored and with another year of racing on the grass, we should see him continually improve each time.
Alright, here's where the rich get richer.
Awet Beraki was not part of this team in the fall of 2021. He actually transferred from Cloud County Community College to Adams State for the 2022 indoor and outdoor track seasons...and we all saw how good he was.
He finished 8th in the 5000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships after qualifying with an incredible time of 13:36. Then, in his first outdoor track meet of the season, he ran 28:12 for 10,000 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays and then 13:38 two weeks later at Payton Jordan.
He'd go on to take home two 2nd place finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 10k and 5k, respectively.
Beraki will now don an Adams State singlet during the 2022 cross country season and almost certainly be the lead runner for this team. His ability to race from the front will be an immediate game-changer for a team that already has numerous All-American returners.
Yes, the Grizzlies already had/have a low-stick in Isaiah Rodarte last year, but Beraki has a serious chance to take home the individual national title in December. And even if he doesn't do that, then the expectation is that he will change the dynamic of the Grizzlies' scoring lineup, making them incredibly tough to beat on any stage over the next few months.
And remember, that's just one of many newcomers or rising stars on this roster.
We have already mentioned Clement Duigou once in this article, and while he isn't necessarily new to this team, his newfound level of fitness certainly is.
Since last fall, the Frenchman has made a name for himself on the track across all divisions, something that we think will seamlessly translate to the grass in 2022. On the oval, Duigou ran 13:53 for 5000 meters and while that time is strong by itself, what Duigou did in the steeplechase is what truly inspired our confidence in him.
Duigou ran 8:29 for the steeplechase last spring which was the fastest time run in Division Two since former Adams State legend, Tabor Stevens, ran the collegiate record of 8:26.
Stevens was a two-time national champion on the grass and while we are not predicting Duigou to do the same thing, it would be hard to believe that Duigou won't be a contributing member of this team in 2022.
At the very least, Duigou should be a top-25 talent on the grass this fall, although his ceiling is likely closer to a top-15 or even top-10 level.
We then come to Cameron Allan who joins the Adams State men by way of Northern Ireland, a common recruiting ground for Coach Damon Martin. And in our eyes, Allan will likely be inside the top-seven of the Grizzlies' lineup in 2022.
Allan holds jaw-dropping personal bests of 1:51 (800), 3:41 (1500), 4:03 (mile), 8:07 (3k), 13:42 (5k) and 29:59 (10k). Those times immediately make him one of the most potent Division Two runners in the country. His international experience makes him better when it comes to racing in high-leverage situations, something that should translate nicely to racing at the Division Two level.
The Stride Report also reported earlier this year that former Nebraska standout, Dais Malebana, has transferred to Adams State. He is not currently listed on their 2022 roster, but if he were to run for the Grizzlies this fall, then he would be another immediate impact runner.
Malebana is an incredible talent, owing a resume similar in caliber to what Allan boasts, having run 3:39 (1500), 3:59 (mile), 8:00 (3k) and 14:04 (5k). Not only that, but Malebana was the 19th place finisher at the BIG 10 Winter XC Championships, so we know that he can be an effective scorer on the grass.
Admittedly, Malebana's consistency isn't great, but his talent is arguably top-three on this roster. If he runs to his full potential this fall, then there may not be any team that can even touch the Adams State men this fall.
Other potential varsity names for the Adams State men this fall are James Dunne, Elijah De La Cerda, Devin Paredes, Mitchell Dervin and Aron Orar.
With the Grizzlies' insane amount of depth, cracking the postseason roster for Adams State will be a major challenge, but all of these men will be invaluable depth pieces in case they are needed.
The Grizzlies fell short of NCAA gold in 2021. That, however, seems unlikely to happen in 2022. Even if certain names don't deliver on their full potential in the coming months, there are simply too many weapons on this roster for this team to fail.
Knocking them off of this top spot will take a legendary effort from anyone else.
And truthfully, we just don't see that happening in 2022.