Kevin Fischer
Sep 6, 20225 min
Edits and additional commentary by Garrett Zatlin
The Lynchburg men have been quietly rising through the D3 ranks over the last few years.
After earning a cross country national meet bid in 2012 and finishing 26th, the Hornets spent 2013 through 2018 in relative obscurity in the D3 scene, not recording a single top-five regional meet finish during that time.
However, a 4th place finish at the 2019 South/Southeast Regional XC Championships was a sign of progress, one that would ultimately spark an eventual rise to national prominence that has left the Hornets trending upwards ever since.
Now, in 2022, Lynchburg could capitalize on a scary-good amount of talent that is scattered throughout their current cross country roster.
Last fall, the Lynchburg men toed the line for the Louisville XC Classic where they held their own against other D3 stalwarts. Max Sparks was phenomenal with his 4th place individual finish while Frank Csorba and Sam Llaneza earned respectable finishes of 26th and 30th, respectively, in the loaded field.
With their final two scorers placing in the top-90, the Hornets were able to finish 7th overall, losing to a few top-tier programs and lacking the necessary depth to keep pace with the other teams.
Still, that result would spark a boost in their season-long performances.
Lynchburg went on to earn runner-up honors at the Rowan Interregional Border Battle, taking down Johns Hopkins, Haverford, Saint Olaf and Dickinson in the process. Their top-three was even more lethal than it was in Louisville and their backend, while not yet amazing, was also improved.
Winning the ODAC title and later finishing runner-up behind Emory in the South region (without Csorba) all led to Lynchburg eventually placing 18th at the national meet. That was a solid result, but it was clear that there was room to improve. Their low-stick trio could have been better and their fifth runner was still a ways back.
But that isn't necessarily the end of Lynchburg's story. In fact, one could argue that the Hornets are just getting started.
Not only can this team replicate last year's success, but we're extremely confident that they'll build on the momentum that they have seemingly stacked with each passing year.
When you return all five of your scorers and six of your top-seven men from a top-20 national meet team, there will almost always be tons of promise leading up to the following season. That is especially true in Lynchburg’s case given the mass improvements that we’ve seen in some of their top returners ever since last fall.
Frank Csorba, for example, placed 99th at the NCAA XC Championships after missing the regional meet due to injury. And prior to said injury, he was in better shape than almost anyone in the country.
Csorba is our TSR #13 runner in our individual preseason rankings for a reason. You have to think that he will make a big improvement on last year’s placing, especially if he's healthy. If that happens, then that development alone could provide a big point swing for the Hornets.
Maximilian Sparks is also in a great position to improve upon his national meet finish from last year. The South regional champion and an All-American on the track, Sparks ended up posting a somewhat underwhelming 63rd place finish at last year's national meet.
But this is a guy who was also 4th at the Louisville XC Classic. That is an outstanding result which, if translated to the national stage, makes Sparks a comfortable All-American and a truly elite low-stick scorer. He currently sits at TSR #15 in our preseason rankings.
Csorba and Sparks can be one of the best 1-2 punches in the country this year, and if they record national meet finishes anywhere close to where they are ranked, then they’ll score almost 100 fewer points for Lynchburg compared to last year.
That alone would already put Lynchburg in the top-12 of last year's standings.
We should also note that the Hornets' 3-4-5 runners of Sam Llaneza, Connor McCroy and Bryce Davis all return as well. And when they do toe the line this fall, we're expecting them to make significant improvements.
Llaneza, while known for his 800 meter and 1500 meter prowess, also ran 8:27 for 3000 meters this past indoor track season. McCroy, meanwhile, went 9:08 in the steeplechase while also running a sub-15:00 for 5000 meters.
Those two men will be pivotal scoring pieces this fall. Their combination of their prior cross country success and recent outstanding track performances suggests that they can only go upwards in terms of their impact on the grass.
Of course, trying to gauge exactly how much of an impact their improvements will have this fall is something that we're still trying to figure out.
If they each emerge as top-100 national meet finishers, and if McCroy replicates last year's postseason success on a more consistent basis, then this TSR #10 team ranking looks much more realistic.
Outside of the men who competed in last year’s national meet lineup, there are two more sub-15:00 guys over 5000 meters on this roster. The duo of Cooper Hurst and Jonathan Cobb, if they can continue to rise, will look to become key members of this team in 2022, and maybe even occasional scorers.
We should also highlight Tor Hotung-Davidsen who is an interesting wild card. He was an 800 meter All-American during both the indoor and outdoor track seasons this past year, but only raced once during the 2021 cross country season. He has very little experience with longer distance races in general.
As a result, we don’t know exactly how well his middle distance success will translate to the grass. Still, the ceiling is still very high for Hotung-Davidsen. He did run 3:50 for 1500 meters this past spring, so we know that there is at least a little bit of strength and versatility.
So while there may be some questions about his aerobic capacity, we absolutely cannot rule out the potential for Hotung-Davidsen to become an important contributor for this team in the coming months.
Last year’s Lynchburg team was the best group that they have had in over a decade.
Of course, with their recent national-caliber rise has also come growing pains.
The Hornets were somewhat inexperienced last fall in terms of racing at an elite level and it showed on a few occasions.
We also don't know how certain performances of theirs from the indoor and outdoor ovals will be reflected during this upcoming fall campaign.
And yet, despite the learning curve, the Hornets didn’t let the pressure of national-caliber expectations get to them. They achieved a national meet finish that was roughly on par with projections and they didn't crumble at the regional meet when one of their low-sticks was out with an injury.
This year, the Lynchburg men are going to be even better across the board. They have the potential for major improvement at the top of their lineup and they could expand upon their depth in the coming months.
Even if they aren't a top-10 team at this year's cross country national meet, there's a very good chance that the Hornets will prove during the regular season that they are more than deserving of this ranking.