TSR Collaboration
Nov 6, 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. Lewis Flyers (-1 / 9)
The Flyers drop one spot in our rankings this week due to no fault of their own.
Lewis took home runner-up honors at the Midwest Regional XC Championships with 104 points. Sean Ryan had a great day with his 11th place finish and was followed by teammates Charlie Wirth (15th) and Evan Horgan (19th) who cracked the top-20 to give the Flyers some very respectable scoring potency.
Daniel Arimi (23rd) and Evan Jamrozy (36th) rounded out Lewis' scoring group while Casey Quintana added some depth security in 37th place.
The Flyers' lineup has changed and shifted in every race this season, and they don't necessarily have any true front-runners or low-sticks. Despite this, they still manage to post very solid results with a relatively compact group of men.
Having so many moving parts in their lineup while lacking truly potent firepower may not be the most conventional strategy in top-end fields, but Lewis is flying high with this approach. And if everyone runs well on the same day, then this team is probably better than TSR #10.
9. Chico State Wildcats (-1 / 8)
Chico State unsurprisingly won the West Regional XC Championships with 47 points to remain undefeated on the season.
The Wildcats had three men in the top-10 and six in the top-20. Brayden McLaughlin (4th), Dylan White (5th) and Daniel Hernandez (7th) led the way as usual while Joshua O’Neill (14th), Matthew Gordon (17th) and Mario Giannini (18th) provided backend scoring stability and depth.
This result somewhat validated Chico State's performances from earlier this fall since it was the first time that we saw them line up against another top team, in this case Western Washington.
While they easily defeated the Vikings, we are still left with some questions about the Wildcats' overall competitive prowess against the best teams in the country. That, however, is still due to their limited racing schedule than anything that they've done.
That being said, their consistent lineup and the program’s historic legacy indicates they are set for a top-10 performance to end the season in Joplin, Missouri.
8. East Central Tigers (Unranked)
The emergence of East Central is the most interesting development in our rankings this week. After continuing to display immense firepower by dominating the Central Regional XC Championships, we had no choice but to put the Tigers at TSR #8.
East Central emerged on our radar after they won the Southern Stampede with just 38 points and put four men in the top-11 of a respectable field. Then they won the DBU Old Glory Gallop in 16 points and the Great American XC Championships with a perfect 15 points.
While the latter two meets were not particularly competitive, their lineup combination of Aspel Kiprob, Peter Kipkemboi, Amos Pkiach, Paul Korir, Oliver Kiptoo and Melvin Kipkemboi was clearly talented and couldn’t be ignored. The former three names are, in our eyes, All-American-caliber low-stick talents on their best days.
The Tigers' lineup has been pretty interchangeable thus far and most of these men are admittedly new to the top of the Division Two scene. All of that leaves us curious to see how they perform in a truly elite field.
But just like we mentioned with Lewis, if each of these men are firing on all cylinders on the same day, then they could post a pleasantly surprising result at the upcoming cross country national meet. In fact, you could argue that they have the highest ceiling of any team in our rankings relative to their ranking.
7. Colorado Christian Cougars (-2 / 5)
Colorado Christian drops two spots in our rankings this week after their 5th place finish at the South Central Regional XC Championships.
This wasn’t necessarily a bad result, but after losing to Western Colorado and West Texas A&M, and not fielding many of their top men at the RMAC XC Championships, we had to push them back to TSR #7.
The Cougars scored 130 points on Saturday with Matthew Storer (4th), Trent Cochran (15th), Zachariah Vance (32nd), Caleb Hershey (39th) and Alexander Vance (40th) making up their scoring lineup. Individually, these men performed about how we would have expected.
However, CCU's backend trio will need to move up to match the firepower of programs like West Texas A&M in order to have a shot at the podium appearance that they seemed destined to earn after finishing runner-up at the Lewis XC Crossover.
Of course, this was really only the second time that we’ve seen Colorado Christian run at full force this season. It's hard to tell if we overestimated the Cougars or underestimated other programs, but Colorado Christian ideally should have been closer to the top-three on the regional stage.
Western Colorado was only seven points ahead of them, although that was without their top runner. But despite some of the (very minor) concerns that this result carries, the Cougars' overall talent and stable lineup structure still makes them one of the nation's best teams.
6. Western Colorado Mountaineers (0 / 6)
The Mountaineers stay at TSR #6 this week, but they deserve some massive kudos after their 4th place finish at the South Central Regional XC Championships.
Western Colorado managed to take down Colorado Christian despite lacking their top runner, Simon Kelati. The ongoing consistency of this team, even without their main star, indicates that the Mountaineers are likely even better than we expected.
Tyler Nord (12th) continues to deliver on low-stick expectations, Kyle Partin (17th) appears to have made a jump in fitness, Michael Grabowski (25th) and John Houdeshell (28th) were solid as usual and Albert Hesse (41st) and Branden Davis (44th) provided adequate depth.
The Mountaineers scored 123 points compared to West Texas A&M’s 70 points and Colorado Christian's 130 points. Adding Kelati back into their lineup likely wouldn’t have changed the order in which these teams finished, but it certainly has promising implications looking ahead to the cross country national meet.
5. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (+2 / 7)
Coming off of a dominant win at the Lone Star XC Championships, West Texas A&M was ready to go head-to-head with some of the best teams in the RMAC.
And sure enough, the Buffaloes more than held their own at the South Central regional meet as they finished in an automatic qualifier position with a 3rd place finish. Their overall team performance came behind a fantastic run from William Amponsah who took home the individual win. The rest of their scorers crossed the finish line with only 42 seconds between them.
What also helped this team succeed was the performance of Harry Louradour who has always been a great asset for this team, but is thriving in a more complementary role thanks to the introduction of Amponsah.
Louradour finished in 8th place on Saturday which, compared to how he has been performing all season, was one of his stronger results. If he replicates that kind of performance at the national meet, then the Buffaloes may very well crack what seems to be a clear top-four.
4. Wingate Bulldogs (0 / 4)
With a perfect score, Wingate predictably took home the team title at the Southeast Regional XC Championships. Though this region is one of the weaker ones, a perfect score at a championship meet is still incredibly impressive.
But what makes this team even more dangerous is their tight spread and depth. The Bulldogs' top-five scorers posted a time spread of 46 seconds and they continued their sweep of the individual race through seven spots.
Not only that, but we didn't see Cas Kompfels, Scott Nutter and Ricardo Barbosa race! Those three men were expected to be significant contributors to this team in 2023.
The challenge we have in gauging the Bulldogs is that they have not raced top Division Two talent this season, so we are unsure how they will fare against the likes of Grand Valley State, Adams State or Colorado Mines. However, what we do know is that they have incredible depth and that they are among the top class of Division Two which makes for strong odds at another podium run.
3. Adams State Grizzlies (0 / 3)
The Grizzlies may still have outside odds at a national title, but the important development is that they'll at least have a chance to achieve that goal after finishing a close runner-up behind Colorado Mines at the South Central Regional XC Championships.
Although Duncan Fuehne did not compete for the Orediggers, finishing so close to their RMAC rivals had to feel great for the Grizzlies after missing the national meet entirely in 2022.
Another positive development was Adams State star Awet Beraki, our preseason TSR #1 individual, looking closer to the star we expected him to be as he finished 9th overall (although he's still not in top form).
The rest of the squad looked sound beyond Beraki with Romain Legendre taking 2nd place overall and a nice tight spread of 29 seconds separating their next four scorers behind him. If Beraki hangs with Legendre towards the front of the field at the cross country national meet, then Division Two could be a three-team race for gold.
2. Grand Valley State Lakers (0 / 2)
There really isn't a whole lot to analyze from the Lakers' performance at the Midwest Regional XC Championships. Once again, they came away with the title, and it seemed like they chose to race in a pack instead of going all-out. Their first through fourth scorers all finished in 31:10, virtually crossing the finish line at the same time.
GVSU's fifth scorer was about nine seconds back, but the meet was just an opportunity for the squad to practice pack-running on the way to grabbing another regional title.
While the Lakers boast a head-to-head win over Adams State from earlier this fall, there could be less separation than expected among podium aspirants. Either way, Grand Valley State still feels like a good bet for a top-two finish.
1. Colorado Mines Orediggers (0 / 1)
Once again, the Orediggers took home a South Central regional title. Though the score was much closer than usual, with only eight-point advantage over Adams State, the Orediggers did not have lead scorer Duncan Fuehne.
A big reason why the Orediggers won was thanks to the impressive showing of veteran star Loïc Scomparin who finished 3rd place overall in just his second race this fall.
No matter what kind of lineup this team puts together, they find a way to win, and different men consistently step up. The Orediggers' pairing of depth and firepower combines to make them a dominant outfit and a worthy favorite to win back-to-back national team titles.
East Central Tigers
KICKED OFF
Western Washington Vikings
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Lee (Tenn.) Flames
Azusa Pacific Cougars
Western Washington Vikings
Saginaw Valley State Cardinals
Cal Poly Pomona Broncos
Fort Lewis Skyhawks
Walsh Cavaliers
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars
Charleston (WV) Golden Eagles
UC-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions
Alaska Anchorage Seawolves
Missouri Southern Lions
Washburn Ichabods
NW Missouri State Bearcats
Pittsburg State Gorillas
Cedarville Yellow Jackets
Florida Southern Moccasins
Mississippi College Choctaws
- N/A