John Cusick
Sep 6, 20229 min
Edits and additional commentary by Garrett Zatlin
NOTE: Earlier this summer, The Stride Report reached out to nearly every team that was considered for a possible ranking this summer. While we did receive numerous responses and great clarity, we did not get a 100% response rate. On some occasions, we are referencing TFFRS or team rosters in order to properly and accurately talk about returners and athletes who are out of eligibility.
This historic Western Colorado distance program is the first team that we find inside the top-10 of our 2022 preseason cross country rankings.
When you begin to sit down and decipher the best teams in Division Two each and every year, it becomes harder and harder to leave the Mountaineers out of our rankings. They’ve been a consistent staple at the top of the Division Two distance running scene and the 2022 season will likely stand to be no different.
The Western Colorado teams that we have seen over the last couple of seasons haven't quite been the same caliber that we have seen in the years where they were more dominant. That’s likely because there haven't recently boasted a consistent high-octane top-20 low-stick like Charlie Sweeney and Taylor Stack once were.
And we won’t lie, when you take a look at their results from last year, it’s hard to believe that this was a team that finished 7th at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships.
Admittedly, Western Colorado's 2021 cross country season began slowly at the Wyoming Invite where they contested an early-season 5k on the grass. There, they were led by Ryan Outler, but finished 3rd overall out of four teams behind Division One programs Colorado State and Wyoming.
At their annual home meet two weeks later, it was a 1-2 sweep from the likes of Cade Michael and Ryan Outler. Teammates John Houdeshell and Michael Grabowski also finished inside the top-10 of their September rust-buster.
Albeit, none of those results really moved the needle for us and they didn't inspire much confidence for their future races, either. But this was a normal start to the season for the team from Gunnison, Colorado.
After all, it’s not about how you start, but rather how you finish.
The next time we saw the Mountaineers was at the Chile Pepper XC Festival where we could finally gauge them against some of the better competition in Division Two. And that’s exactly what we got to see.
Grabowski finished 16th overall and served as WCU's low-stick, leading the team to a strong 3rd place finish against the likes of Colorado Mines, Augustana (SD) and an underrated Alabama-Huntsville team.
The backend is where we finally saw what can be considered the true strength of the Mountaineers in 2021 and something that they will need to rely upon once again during the upcoming 2022 campaign.
Michael finished 43rd, Outler finished 49th, Simon Kelati was 57th, William Johnson was 60th, John Houdeshell was 61st and Riley Howard was 63rd.
The time between those final six runners? Just 15 seconds.
That would be the last time that we saw the Mountaineers race during the regular season. And while that result was nothing to write home about, it was an encouraging performance heading into the gauntlet that is the RMAC XC Championships and the South Central Regional XC Championships.
At their conference meet, we finally saw some of that high-level scoring that we’ve seen in the past from this program. And it came at a good time, especially since WCU would be racing against some of the best competition that they had seen all season.
Michael secured a clutch 10th place finish while Outler was five spots back in 15th place. Grabowski was just outside the top-20 individually, a third scoring role that left this team with a lot to be happy about. But when everything was said and over with, the Mountaineers found themselves as the 4th place team in the final standings.
The traditional D2 distance powerhouse finished behind juggernaut rivals of Colorado Mines, Adams State and UC-Colorado Springs. They did, however, finish ahead of Colorado Mesa, New Mexico Highlands and a far-from-full-strength team in Colorado Christian.
Despite not earning a top-three finish, the Western men proved that they were capable of racing up to their potential when the time was needed. We saw a clutch performance from their lead runner in Michael and it appeared that they were developing an impressive three-man rotation with him, Grabowski and Outler.
Two weeks later at the South Central Regional XC Championships, we saw the Mountaineers take 5th place as a team in what was another solid run for them.
The WCU men scored 121 points and were just 22 points behind the likes of UC-Colorado Springs, improving upon the 34-point gap that separated those two teams just two weeks earlier at their conference meet.
Once again it was Michael leading the way as he finished 12th overall in another impressive run over the 10k course. Grabowski, Outler and Houdeshell all finished in the top-30 going 22-26-29 with just 20 seconds separating them. Riley Howard rounded out the scoring in 33rd place, finalizing another encouraging team effort for this Western Colorado group.
After punching their ticket to the NCAA XC Championships, we saw what could be considered the best performance from this team during 2021 cross country season.
Michael and Grabowski outperformed expectations as both men finished as All-Americans. Michael was 28th and Grabowski was 31st, respectively, and that set the table for how the team as a whole performed in Florida.
With two low-stick finishers that high up in the results, Western Colorado had little bit more flexibility in terms of what could happen behind those two -- something that they would end up needing.
Instead of their normal three-man rotation of Michael, Grabowski and Outler, it was instead Howard who served as the team's third scorer with a 65th place finish. Houdeshell was the last man inside the top-100 via his 86th place finish.
To be clear, those finishes were all fairly solid. On paper, none of those four men had a legitimately poor showing. However, Outler ended up in 133rd place, a result that wasn't indicative of his true talent.
And in the end, Western Colorado had to settle for a 7th place team finish.
Let’s say that Outler did indeed have his normal day on the grass. We could have expected him to be, at the very least, with Howard in the top-70, giving the Mountaineers' five athletes inside the top-80 instead of just four.
That would have been nearly 60 points that we could have removed from their team total of 302 points, pushing them ahead of Wingate (290) and UC-Colorado Springs (255).
Alas, that is not how these things work. What happened has happened, but it only leads us into 2022 for what should be yet another strong season for this RAMC powerhouse.
The Mountaineers are going to return a very good portion of their 2021 lineup...except for Cade Michael and Riley Howard. Those two men were huge in terms of scoring value last fall, meaning that there will likely be some significant gaps left behind that Western Colorado will need to fill.
Yes, Michael was listed in our preseason individual rankings, but since then the standout All-American has gone from being listed on Western Colorado's 2022 cross country roster to not listed at all. That is the biggest reason why this team starts out at TSR #10.
Howard, meanwhile, served as the team's third scorer at last year's national meet. That result is by no means easy to reproduce, but there may be avenues where his scoring potency can be covered by the collective efforts of Western's returners. Like we already mentioned, Outler is likely someone capable of matching Howard's national meet result.
Luckily, low-stick All-American talent Michael Grabowski is going to be back this fall. He has shown some promising improvement throughout the winter and spring months. Given his level of experience and proven ability to come up clutch when it matters the most, some of the lost scoring from Michael and Howard could be replicated just by Grabowski alone.
Despite not seeing him as much as we have seen some other athletes over the course of the last few years, it’s clear that Grabowski has made an impact in a short amount of time.
The Western Colorado talent dropped his 5k personal best down from 15:32 to 14:24 earlier this year and when pairing that with his 8:55 steeple mark, there's a good chance that he will build upon last year's success.
Outler will be back for his junior season and last year was a huge testament to the work he has put in over the course of his career. For someone who has been considered mainly a miler, he’s been a viable option for this team dating back to 2020.
Outler might be the biggest name who could change the tides in any given way for the Mountaineers in 2022. He had an extremely successful 2021 cross country campaign that he can build upon going into this season. If he can be a consistent second or third scorer for this team over the next few months, then there’s a good chance that this lineup is going to be better than just TSR #10.
Houdeshell will also be back for the Mountaineers in 2022. The Colorado native put together one of the better overall years of performances over the last 12 months. After his successful racing on the grass, he proceeded to run well on the track.
He posted times of 3:51 (1500), 8:23 (3k) and 14:21 (5k) between the indoor and outdoor seasons, giving us some confidence in him coming into this fall. He raced well on the grass in 2021 and continued to show improvement as the competition around him got better.
Lastly, we should expect Albert Hesse to be back for the Mountaineers in 2022, a guy who could be a major x-factor for this team over the next few months.
The last time that we saw Hesse truly race on the grass was back in 2018 when he finished 46th at the NCAA XC Championships while serving as the team's fifth man, helping Western Colorado secure a huge 3rd place team finish.
Since then, Hesse hasn't flashed any of that potential on track...well, not until this past outdoor track season, that is.
Hesse ran 8:55 for the steeplechase this past spring and finished 14th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He was the third Western athlete under the 9:00 barrier for the event and if he’s anywhere close to the level of Grabowski, then we could be talking about two potential All-Americans for this group like they had last fall.
If Hesse returns to his top form, then the scoring drop-off associated with Cade Michael's departure shouldn't be nearly as severe as it could have been.
There are a few other names who we can consider to fill out the rest of this lineup and they are as follows...
Jackson Schwartz was a transfer from Tulsa heading into the 2021-2022 academic calendar and it appears that he has already benefitted from his program change. One of the newest Mountaineers was part of their DMR team this past winter that finished 11th at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The middle distances, however, are not really his strong suit.
Instead, Schwartz holds highly respectable times of 3:51 (1500), 8:21 (3k), 14:31 (5k) and 9:02 (steeple) with those 1500 meters and the steeplechase marks coming as recently as this past outdoor track season.
Unfortunately, we have next to nothing for Schwartz when it comes to racing on the grass. His only cross country season was back in 2019 when he contested one race and then disappeared from competition.
We understand that times don’t always translate to the grass. However, the pressure will be put on Schwartz to produce good results in 2022 after showing so much promise on the oval.
Simon Kelati is another middle distance athlete who will be looking to get the most out of his racing on the grass this fall. After starting out strong, Kelati was ultimately left off of Western Colorado's postseason roster last year.
Since then, he's run 14:18 for 5000 meters (altitude converted) on the track, flexing great aerobic capacity in addition to his already-promising mile results.
William Johnson also returns, another athlete who seems vastly improved in 2022. He finished the outdoor track season with a new personal best of 14:24 for 5000 meters (altitude converted).
We also saw Johnson act as a varsity contributor at the cross country national meet last fall. If he can build upon his recent success in 2022, then that would go a long way for the Mountaineers in the coming months as they look to collectively cover the scoring losses of Michael and Howard.
Aidan Scott will also be returning to this team in 2022 and he’ll look to improve upon his finish from last year's national meet. He has most recently ran 14:44 for 5000 meters at Bryan Clay and while that's not anything that will turn our heads, we can still expect him to continue his improvement with another year of training.
The Western Colorado men always seem to be in the mix at the national meet. Their continued development of athletes often provides them with the necessary depth to be competitive when racing on the grass.
We detailed how there might be duo of Grabowski and Hesse leading this team in 2022 similarly to how Grabowski and Michael were leading the team in 2021. And if that happens, then the lost scoring from last fall won't be quite as damaging as it could have been.
The depth has always been there, but this year that scoring support could be more valuable than it has been in years past. The expectations for the athletes who fill the 3-4-5-6-7 spots in this lineup are going to be incredibly high and they’ll need to deliver if they want to better their performances from the fall of 2021.
But the good news is that we think most of these men can deliver on those expectations.
If all of that comes to fruition, then it won’t come to anyone’s surprise that Western Colorado is going to be near the top of the RMAC and a nationally competitive team once again.