TSR Collaboration
Oct 23, 20237 min
Written by Marissa Kuik & Grace McLaughlin
Additional edits and commentary via Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve
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.
10. Western Washington Vikings (0 / 10)
Western Washington holds steady at TSR #10 in our second rankings update after taking home the GNAC XC title. The Vikings scored 37 points and produced the individual winner via their now-developed low-stick ace, Kevin McDermott.
Andrew Oslin’s 5th place finish was in line with what we’ve seen from him thus far this fall while Ryan Clough had one of his better days with a 9th place finish. Jeret Gillingham (10th) and Jalen Javurek (12th) rounded out the scoring lineup capably.
Western Washington could have been even sharper, but Samuel Lingwall, a usual scorer for the Vikings, had an "off" day and faded to 16th place.
Western Washington looked great this past weekend, although their solid performance admittedly didn’t tell us much about where they stand in the national picture. Luckily, their 4th place finish at the Lewis XC Crossover was strong and it gave insight as to how they will fare in more competitive fields.
McDermott continues to be impressive, Oslin is inching closer to that low-stick role, Clough appears to have made a jump in fitness, and Gillingham and Javurek are consistently solid backend scorers. We expect Lingwall to be closer to the front of the lineup at WWU's next outing which will add more scoring value to this lineup.
9. Lewis Flyers (0 / 9)
After their win at the GLVC XC Championships this past weekend, it’s hard not to like the current trajectory of the Lewis Flyers. Their 3rd place finish on their home course at the Lewis XC Crossover was impressive and it brought them into our rankings.
However, Lewis' most recent performance validated that result and showcased a slightly different lineup structure. The Flyers went 4-6-7-13-14 to score 44 points and win the title over a solid Illinois-Springfield squad that scored 55 points.
The biggest surprise from this race was freshman Evan Horgan’s 4th place finish. He is clearly building momentum and his next two races will allow us to get a better understanding of whether or not he can be a true low-stick this fall.
Daniel Armini and Sean Ryan performed as expected while Evan Jamrozy has proven to be a solid transfer addition. And just to show how many working pieces and depth this team has, Zach Dunn and Jacob Kodrick were nearby in 14th place and 16th place, respectively.
This performance proved that the Flyers are the real deal and that they have tons of depth to cover their bases. After all, their top scorer, Charlie Wirth, had an "off" day and this team didn't even flinch! With all of these positives, we can't help but wonder just how high the Flyers can "fly" throughout the rest of the postseason...
8. Chico State Wildcats (-1 / 7)
The CCAA XC Championships went as expected with Chico State dominating their competition. They scored just 18 points and put a number of men in the top-20.
While not a terribly competitive conference, the Wildcats' positioning at the front of this race, and a win over an emerging Cal Poly Pomona team, indicates that they have solid momentum building ahead of the regional stage.
Dylan White took home the individual title with Mario Giannini and Daniel Hernandez joined him on the podium. Brayden McLaughlin (4th) and Hunter Dougherty (8th) rounded out their scorers in the top-10. Dougherty’s performance showed us that he’s made progress in being able to keep up with his teammates, adding great stability in the process.
We didn’t learn much about the Wildcats from this race other than they are performing on par with expectations. Their top trio and slew of potential backend scorers makes this team incredibly solid and we don’t see a scenario where their basement drops below TSR #8.
7. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (+1 / 8)
The Buffaloes move up one spot to TSR #7 after another display of immense international firepower at the Lone Star Conference XC Championships. While they didn’t have much competition, the fact that West Texas A&M flooded the top-six spots and scored a perfect 15 points ultimately validated their results from the Louisville XC Classic.
William Amponsah won the individual title by a comfortable margin and is solidifying his case as a breakout national title contender. Enrico Oddone, Aziz Mohammed, Harry Louradour, Louis Moreau and Adrian Legarreta finished in that order immediately after him and brought the Buffaloes to victory.
While this team was compact scoring-wise, there were considerable time gaps between their runners that will be noticeable in larger fields.
Even so, despite that potential flaw in their lineup, the 'Buffs have firepower at the top and some level of stability through their sixth man. With the level of talent that we’ve seen from this team thus far, the Buffaloes are a top-10 group that is only getting better.
6. Western Colorado Mountaineers (0 / 6)
Western Colorado had a fantastic day in Denver at the RMAC XC Championships. On that stage, the Mountaineers earned bronze and had two men in the top-10. Low-stick ace Simon Kelati was the individual runner-up, further solidifying himself as a possible national title contender, while Tyler Nord (7th) continues to translate his track success to the grass.
However, the true value of this team comes from their ability to run as a pack throughout the rest of their lineup.
Michael Grabowski, Kyle Partin and John Houdeshell went 19-20-21, respectively, to round out the scoring and keep their point total relatively low. Having firepower in Kelati and Nord, as well as a solid trio behind them, has proved to be a fruitful formula for the Mountaineers. Not only that, but Albert Hesse (25th) can likely be better in the future, too!
There’s not too much else to say about the Mountaineers. They continue to be impressive, and seeing them place 3rd at the RMAC XC Championships validated what we thought they were capable of.
However, seeing them race against a full Colorado Christian lineup would have helped determine just how high their ceiling is. Either way, with their strong foundation and current momentum, it's hard not to root for this Western Colorado team.
5. Colorado Christian Cougars (0 / 5)
Colorado Christian stays at TSR #5 after (unsurprisingly) not racing any of their top men at the RMAC XC Championships.
4. Wingate Bulldogs (0 / 4)
Wingate continues to prove that they're a team ready to return to the podium. Even without their "A" lineup, the Bulldogs produced a dominant win by placing six guys in the top-10 at the SAC XC Championships.
Jakob Rettschlag led the team and finished as the conference champion in a blistering time of 22:51 (8k). The rest of the group was not far behind him.
The question for Wingate will be if their actual scoring group is better than that of their close competitors. We've rarely seen the Bulldogs race at full strength or against level competition this fall. And at the moment, they feel pretty locked-in to this ranking.
In a year in which many Division Two teams seem to have a similar structure, Wingate has strong odds at a podium spot or better if they can once more showcase a cohesive scoring group of five men on the same day.
3. Adams State Grizzlies (-1 / 2)
After a tough-ish outing at the Louisville XC Classic, the Adams State men did a great job of regrouping. They came away with a solid runner-up finish at the RMAC XC Championships this past weekend.
The Grizzlies were still 27 points behind the men of Colorado Mines, but they did not have one of their low-sticks in Awet Beraki. Although the Eritrean ace has not appeared to be the national title contender that we thought he may be before the season, his presence makes the Grizzlies even more of a podium lock and perhaps something more.
Even without Beraki, the Grizzlies looked very strong, led by Romain Legendre and Dayton Brown in 6th and 8th place, respectively. Yonas Haile and James Dunne also placed well in 10th and 12th while their fifth scorer crossed the finish line in 23rd place.
The potential return to form of Beraki raises this team's ceiling and floor substantially. However, his recent absence during a major postseason race makes it challenging to keep the Grizzlies above a Grand Valley State team that already beat them (by a point) this fall.
Nonetheless, the Adams State men just showed the country that they are still a fairly cohesive and effective unit without their traditional low-stick in Awet Beraki.
2. Grand Valley State Lakers (+1 / 3)
At the GLIAC XC Championships, Grand Valley State placed each of their top-seven men within the top-10, producing a mere 25-second time spread. It was largely an unsurprising result for a team that was expected to overwhelmingly dominate.
Arguably the most positive development for Grand Valley State was seeing Caleb Futter look a bit sharper. Expectations were fairly high for Futter going into this season with the belief that he may be the team’s focal low-stick star. And although he has still had a solid fall campaign, he had not been the front-runner for this team until the conference stage where he finished runner-up to Ransom Allen.
With Futter now rising to the front of the pack, the battle-tested Lakers have a higher ceiling and a (very slightly) better chance of taking down Colorado Mines in a few weeks. That will still take a historic effort, and some may say that Adams State is the Orediggers' biggest threat, but we're only seeing positives from GVSU right now.
1. Colorado Mines Orediggers (0 / 1)
Another year, another RMAC team title for Colorado Mines.
The Orediggers once again looked incredibly dominant at their loaded conference meet, taking home the win with 32 points overall. They almost had all of their scoring five within the top-10 while their time spread was a minuscule 20 seconds.
That level of scoring in the most challenging conference in all of Division Two is absolutely ridiculous and it's the reason why this team remains at TSR #1. The only way this squad can get beat is if another group has just as tight of a pack and (somehow) puts their group ahead of the Orediggers' contingent which seems very unlikely.
The men from Golden, Colorado also did not race all of their top guys, including Andrew Kaye, at the RMAC meet and should have some margin for error as they seemingly aren't overly reliant on any one star.
Make no mistake, this is the team to beat.
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Kicked Off
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JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Lee (Tenn.) Flames
Azusa Pacific Cougars
Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars
Augustana (SD) Vikings
Michigan Tech Huskies
East Central Tigers
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Walsh Cavaliers
Wayne State (MI) Warriors
Saginaw Valley State Cardinals
Charleston (WV) Golden Eagles
Alaska Anchorage Seawolves
Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs
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