TSR Collaboration
Oct 9, 20239 min
Written by Marissa Kuik & Grace McLaughlin
Additional commentary and edits by Gavin Struve & Garrett Zatlin
Do you have an interest in writing for The Stride Report? We are looking for knowledgable high school coverage writers, D2 coverage writers and D3 coverage writers who can help us with our rankings and previews! Want to know more? Read this and send us an email at contact@thestridereport.com to let us know!
NOTE: These rankings are based on how a team fared throughout the entirety of a season, not just how they ran at a singular meet or (eventually) at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships. Click here to learn more about our ranking criteria.
Was not ranked in our last update.
First number indicates how much the team has moved in the rankings.
The second number indicates where the team was ranked in our last update.
After two wins in the Pacific Northwest and a solid showing at the Lewis XC Crossover, Western Washington remains in our top-10 team rankings, albeit with a two-spot drop.
At the WWU Bill Roe Classic, the Vikings ran their “A” group and won the meet with a score of 47 points. Low-stick Kevin McDermott placed 4th and was followed by Andrew Oslin (7th), Samuel Lingwall (12th), Jalen Javurek (13th) and Jeret Gillingham (16th). Those were solid results, but the real test of Western Washington’s talent would come at the Lewis XC Crossover.
Upon venturing to Illinois, the Vikings placed 4th overall and ran more or less on par with our expectations. McDermott placed 12th and Oslin had another impressive showing in 14th, offering greater scoring potency which we had been asking for.
There was a substantial gap to their third runner, but fortunately, the depth at the backend of their lineup made up for it as Javurek (49th), Gillingham (58th) and Lingwall (62th) rounded out the scoring group.
With McDermott’s firepower, the development of Oslin as a possible low-stick and their overall depth, the Western Washington men haven't given us a reason to say that they aren't a top-10 team in the country this fall. They will, however, have to work on bridging the gap between their top-two and latter-three scorers.
9. Lewis Flyers (Unranked)
Lewis flies into our rankings this week after a solid season opener and a commendable performance on their home course.
The Flyers got their season rolling at the National Catholic Invite in early September. Five scorers between 21st and 31st place carried the team to a bronze medal result. That performance was in line with our “Honorable Mention” preseason spot for the Flyers, but their next outing would be a different story.
The men of Lewis toed the line on their home course at the Lewis XC Crossover and made a statement to the rest of the Division Two scene. They placed 3rd despite their lack of a true low-stick and once again showcased some very impressive pack running.
A compact lineup allowed them to upset Western Washington and made it nearly impossible for us to leave them out of our rankings.
The Flyers' most recent lineup of Charlie Wirth (17th), Evan Horgan (22nd), Sean Ryan (29th), Daniel Arimi (36th) and Casey Quintana (51st) wasn’t flashy, but it was effective. We knew Lewis would be solid this fall, but this result surpassed our expectations and their somewhat gap-less lineup structure has brought them into the top-10.
8. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (Unranked)
The West Texas A&M men were a major question mark for TSR heading into this fall, but they very quickly showcased their infusion of international talent at their first meet.
The Texas Tech Open was where the Buffaloes first truly emerged as a nationally competitive team with a key victory. William Amponsah won the individual title with ease, Aziz Mohammed and Enrico Oddone tied for 6th place and Harry Louradour and Adrian Legarreta finished 13th and 14th, respectively.
Louradour was an All-American last fall, a fact that further highlights just how talented his new international teammates are.
While the first two meets brought solid results, West Texas A&M’s 4th place finish at the Live in Lou XC Classic was what solidified the Buffaloes as a top-10 program. Amponsah won the race and proved himself as a force to be reckoned with, nationally. However, it was the group behind him that produced scoring which was highly complementary, if not exceedingly potent.
Oddone (21st) gave this team a high-impact secondary name and two other men cracked the top-50 of the overall results. With Louradour quickly cutting off the scoring in 56th place, the West Texas A&M men looked like a stacked distance squad with a lot of budding firepower.
There may be some questions about the Buffaloes' depth after their top-five as well as what we can expect from Louradour moving forward. Even so, it may be fair to question if we have West Texas A&M ranked high enough in our top-10.
7. Chico State Wildcats (0 / 7)
Chico State maintains their ranking in our first update after largely coasting through their first three meets. The Wildcats ran to a perfect score at the Ash Creek Invite in their season opener and next won the Cougar Challenge with just 27 points as Daniel Hernandez took the individual title.
The Wildcats went on to win and showcase their depth once again at the San Francisco State Invitational. On that stage, Hernandez continued his individual winning streak and Mario Giannini earned runner-up honors. Those men were chased by a strong contingent of Dylan White (5th), Joshua O’Neill (6th), Brayden McLaughlin (8th) and Jesus Villarreal (9th), keeping their final point total to a mere 22 points.
Chico State clearly has a talented lineup with firepower in Hernandez and solid depth through their scoring five, but winning small non-competitive meets does not tell us much about what their potential will be on a national stage. These performances underscored that they’re a top program, but their ranking will likely stay stagnant until we see them in a competitive setting.
6. Western Colorado Mountaineers (-1 / 5)
The Mountaineer men have had a solid season thus far despite dropping a single spot in our first rankings update.
Western Colorado opened their season on their home turf and dominated the field. Simon Kelati unsurprisingly took home the win and Tyler Nord made his collegiate cross country debut for the Mountaineers with his runner-up finish. Aidan Scott (4th), John Houdeshell (5th) and William Johnson (6th) displayed impressive pack-running efforts while Sean McCauley (8th) joined them in the top-10.
Western Colorado then went to Arkansas to test their fitness at the Chile Pepper XC Festival. There, they fielded a more complete lineup and finished runner-up behind a talented Arkansas team. Kelati ran to an impressive 7th place finish while Nord (most importantly) validated his talent on the grass in 15th place.
Albert Hesse and Michael Grabowski ran well with their respective 19th and 20th place finishes while Kyle Partin rounded out their scoring group in 32nd place.
So far, the Mountaineers have performed on par with our expectations and these results indicate that they have a lot of moving parts in their varsity group behind low-sticks Kelati and Nord. It's hard to find flaws in this team’s lineup and their small drop has more to do with other teams’ success rather than anything that they’ve done.
5. Colorado Christian Cougars (+1 / 6)
When one front-runner leaves, another emerges. This statement definitely rings true for Colorado Christian, a program that recently graduated low-stick ace, Josh Pierantoni. However, the team has found a new low-stick in Matthew Storer who has been nothing but fantastic for the Cougars.
CCU was the runner-up team at the Lewis XC Crossover behind the always-dominant Colorado Mines men. Storer took home the individual win and Trent Cochran was close behind him in 4th place. Even better, Alexander Vance finished in 9th place, giving this team a lethal top-three that can seemingly contend with almost any trio in D2.
Nevertheless, with such dynamic talent up front, even just small improvements for the back-half of this team’s lineup would mean big improvements for the Cougars as a whole. Although, that's not to say that Zachariah Vance (25th) and Caleb Hershey (38th) ran poorly.
Even so, if Colorado Christian can work on closing the gap between their top-three and everyone else, then they could make another run at the podium and even improve upon their finish from last year's national meet.
4. Wingate Bulldogs (-1 / 3)
Wingate came away with one really strong showing at Paul Short, finishing 2nd overall behind a very respectable Yale team.
At the 2022 cross country national meet, Wingate’s top-four time spread was only 10 seconds. That pack-running tactic was perhaps even more refined at Paul Short where the Bulldogs’ time spread was only 29 seconds between their top-five guys, much better than the gap at national meet last year where they were weighed down by their final scorer.
But wait, there's even more good news! Ricardo Barbosa (7th) looks like he can be a true low-stick ace this fall and Hamza Chahid didn't even run, leaving room for even more scoring potency in the future.
If Wingate can continue to tighten their spread, then they could move further up the top of our rankings and maybe even replicate their success from last year. And with a highly-proven supporting cast of Cas Kopmels, Scott Nutter, Soheil Boufrizi and Bastian Mrochen, this may be one of the more complete teams in Division Two.
And yes, despite everything we just said, Wingate does drop one spot in our rankings, although that isn't necessarily related to anything that they did.
3. Grand Valley State Lakers (+1 / 4)
Upset alert!
Going into this season, Grand Valley State seemingly had their work cut out for them. Despite coming off of a podium appearance, they were facing the reality of losing long-time superstar, Tanner Chada. However, it looks like the Lakers may have found a different means of reaching their podium aspirations in 2023.
Instead of relying on a singular low-stick, the team now relies on a tight spread thanks to phenomenal pack-running from their stars. This type of racing pushed the Lakers past Adams State in Louisville as Grand Valley State showcased an impressive top-five time spread of 12 seconds! A few weeks earlier, the team took on some very good talent at the Spartan Invite, finishing 2nd behind only Michigan State with an 18-second spread.
That style of pack-running without a definitive front-runner is a bit different for a team that has had a true lead star for many of the last few years. GVSU may not have replaced Chada, but they may have found something even better with their more developed scoring conglomerate.
Yes, we are opting to keep GVSU one spot behind Adams State in our rankings. The Lakers ran admirably the other week, but their win only came by a one point margin and the Grizzlies had numerous ways in which they could have been better. Awet Beraki did not run his best and there were one or two men who didn't race for Adams State.
Even so, the gap between the Lakers and the heavy podium favorites is seemingly much smaller than any of us initially thought.
2. Adams State Grizzlies (0 / 2)
Awet Beraki is likely going to be the deciding factor on how well this team performs over the next month and a half. That, of course, shouldn’t be a surprise for the man who was ranked at TSR #1 in our preseason top-25 individual rankings.
But for as dominant as the Grizzlies have been, they may not have enough depth to beat some of the best teams in Division Two, particularly when Beraki has an “off" day. The Louisville XC Classic was a prime example of this development when their star ace fell back to 34th and his team finished runner-up.
What could have been an easy win over the Lakers turned into a one-point loss because the Grizzlies could not quite pick up the lost scoring left from Beraki’s tough race.
The good news for Adams State is that Dayton Brown is beginning to look like his former self after finishing an impressive 9th in Louisville. Meanwhile, Romain Legendaire is another bright spot for this team, emerging as a truly elite low-stick in Louisville with a bronze medal effort.
Adams State has all the pieces to be a top team in Division Two, dare we say THE top team, but they all have to avoid another mishap like what we saw on the regional stage last year and they need everyone to run at their absolute best on the same day.
1. Colorado Mines Orediggers (0 / 1)
The Orediggers look like a fairly different team this season without heavy-hitters such as Dillon Powell and Luke Julian. However, they appear to be as dominant as ever, flexing their depth at the Lewis XC Crossover where they defeated a very good Colorado Christian squad by over 40 points.
Oh, and they did that without Loic Scomparin and Paul Knight.
What makes this team so good is their ability to run so close to each other while occupying the front of every race. Though lead scorer Duncan Fuehne separated himself from the rest of the lineup as the individual runner-up, he was still only 12 seconds ahead of the next Oredigger, making the team’s scoring spread a measly 27 seconds.
Colorado Mines seems to have the nation’s largest margin for error with the depth to largely make up for anyone having a poor day. With or without the best runner in Division Two, the men from Golden, Colorado should be just fine throughout the rest of the season.
Lewis Flyers
West Texas A&M Buffaloes
Lee (Tenn.) Flames
Mississippi College Choctaws
Augustana (SD) Vikings
Azusa Pacific Cougars
East Central Tigers
Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars
Lee (Tenn.) Flames
Alaska Anchorage Seawolves
Anderson (SC) Trojans
Charleston (WV) Golden Eagles
Mississippi College Choctaws
Saginaw Valley State Cardinals
Walsh Cavaliers
Wayne State (MI) Warriors
- N/A