Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Aug 27, 202310 min
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 rare occasions, we are referencing TFFRS in order to talk about returners and athletes who are out of eligibility.
The Notre Dame men entered the 2022 cross country season in a state of flux.
Their star distance coach, Sean Carlson, had left the team earlier that summer for Tennessee. They also saw the departure of numerous star athletes such as Yared Nuguse, Danny Kilrea, Dylan Jacobs as well as key support scorers such as Andrew Alexander and Matthew Russo.
But instead of rebuilding, the Fighting Irish opted to reload. With numerous transfers, a couple of star youngsters and a handful of proven veterans, the Notre Dame men were primed to be a still-dangerous squad last fall.
For the most part, the Irish delivered on those expectations during the regular season. The postseason, however, was a different (and unfortunately, not as impressive) story.
In 2023, the Notre Dame men are once again going to be hit by a handful of key losses. And yet, somehow, they could be positioned for an even stronger fall campaign than how they started off last year.
The first major meet of the Fighting Irish's 2022 cross country schedule was actually on their home course at the Joe Piane XC Invitational. And in the end, that home course advantage yielded excellent results.
The firepower of Notre Dame wasn't necessarily overwhelming in comparison to teams like Alabama and Tennessee. However, with Kevin Berry (10th), Carter Solomon (13th), Izaiah Steury (14th), Matthew Carmody (18th) and Carter Cheeseman (26th) putting together a compact scoring five, the Fighting Irish were able to take care of business with relative ease.
Despite teams like Tennessee, Alabama and Montana State in the field, it was the Fighting Irish who took home the win by 23 points over the Volunteers -- and their best team result of the season was still to come.
At the Nuttycombe Invite, the Notre Dame were nothing short of fantastic.
In one of the more stunning results of the entire 2022 cross country season, Carter Solomon had the race of his life. The unexpected Fighting Irish ace finished 9th overall after battling with the leaders for a good portion of the race. That stunning low-stick result was later complemented by rookie Izaiah Steury placing 28th overall.
Meanwhile, Josh Methner and Kevin Berry placed 35th and 36th, respectively. And depending on who you asked, those were four low-stick results on one team!
Admittedly, there was a notable drop-off after that group of four, but Quinn Gallagher was another pleasant surprise when he placed 78th overall. That development allowed Notre Dame avoid excessive scoring and end the weekend with a strong 5th place team finish.
Through two major meets, things were going exceptionally well for the Fighting Irish. Multiple men were making significant improvements at different points of their lineup and the firepower was highly potent.
But then the postseason came.
And at the ACC XC Championships, Notre Dame flat-out struggled.
The individual title victory by Solomon was an absolute thrill and great validation of his talent. Steury placing 9th and Methner taking home 10th place were two very solid results as well.
However, after those three men, the Fighting Irish were plagued by significant lineup gaps. Quinn Gallagher posted a passable 31st place finish while the team's fifth scorer, Matthew Carmody, faded to 41st place overall.
In the end, Notre Dame took home 4th place despite being favored to take home the overall team title. It was a tough wake up call for a team that could seemingly do no wrong in their races leading up to that meet.
But at the time, that race was viewed as nothing more than a fluke. Teams have "off" days all the time which aren't indicative of their true talent. And after cruising through the Great Lakes Regional XC Championships, we expected the men from South Bend, Indiana to make a correction and post a comfortable top-10 finish on the national stage.
That, however, didn't happen.
At the NCAA XC Championships, the Irish fell flat once more. Solomon's 18th place was about as good of a result as we could have hoped for. We also saw a fairly strong performance from Steury, a true freshman who finished 63rd overall.
Those two men, however, would be the last Notre Dame runners to crack the top-100. While Jake Renfree (103rd) did hold his own, the gaps throughout the rest of this lineup grew to be far too large for this group to reasonable handle, especially with Methner not even racing.
In the end, that left Notre Dame with a 15th place team finish in their final race of the season.
The 2022 version of Notre Dame's cross country team is hard to analyze, mainly because their postseason performances weren't anywhere close to how good they were during the regular season.
Truthfully, they looked like two completely different teams.
And in 2023, this cross country lineup is going to look quite a bit different in terms of personnel. Multiple scorers from last year's roster are now on their way out from the program.
One of the biggest losses that Notre Dame has sustained is Izaiah Steury. Despite being a true freshman last year, he was wildly consistent and even emerged as a lead scorer for the Fighting Irish at various points last fall.
But the toughest part about Steury's departure (who has since transferred to Oregon), is that he was going to be a long-term low-stick for this team. Not having him for his continued growth and still-rising value is arguably the hardest pill to swallow.
Not only that, but Kevin Berry is no longer with this program. He was, at times, a lead scorer for this team as well and often provided tremendous scoring value. His absence from this roster, as well as the departure of backend contributors Matthew Carmody and Carter Cheeseman, leaves this group a bit thin based on returners.
However, in their place are numerous rising youngsters, a pair of top recruits and multiple high-impact graduate transfers. And together, all of those aspects could actually make this team even stronger in 2023 compared to last fall.
There truthfully isn't a whole lot to talk about when it comes to Carter Solomon. He's just really darn good. We were surprised to see him make such a big and unexpected jump last fall, but over the last year, this guy has more than validated his talent.
In an absolutely perfect scenario, Solomon has a legitimate chance to be a top-five runner in this NCAA this fall. He's currently ranked at TSR #13, but that could very easily change after showing stronger control of his fitness in the spring compared to the winter.
That, however, is where our conversation ends with Solomon. Even if he becomes the best cross country runner in the NCAA, his improved point scoring would have a fairly limited impact on Notre Dame's team score.
It's everyone else who will dictate just how far this team goes in 2023.
One of the more interesting names on this roster is Josh Methner. The long-time veteran has a great resume, but he's been fairly quiet over the last year and his performance haven't been quite as strong as they have been in the past.
In the winter of 2022, Methner ran 13:32 (5k) and later posted a time of 28:40 (10k) the following spring before qualifying for the outdoor national meet in the latter event. All of that came after a tough 2021 fall cross country season, but let's also not forget that Methner earned 36th place All-American honors at the 2021 NCAA Winter XC Championships.
Last fall was evidence that Methner can be a consistent low-stick when he's at his best. Placing 35th at Nuttycombe and 10th at the ACC XC Championships were really strong results. And if Notre Dame had him at the national meet, then you're looking at a team finish that is (probably) closer to 11th place.
But what if we told you that Methner may not be the second low-stick of this team?
That's because the Notre Dame men are adding a top graduate transfer in Vinny Mauri (via Arizona State) to their 2023 roster -- and we feel like he is a fairly underrated name in the eyes of the NCAA.
Mauri is entering this season with personal bests of 7:55 (3k) and 13:39 (5k). However, he also ventures to South Bend, Indiana listed at TSR #48 in our preseason individual cross country rankings. Last fall, he was 9th at the PAC-12 XC Championships, 11th at the West Regional XC Championships and then 87th at the NCAA XC Championships.
Look out for this former Sun Devil later this fall, specifically at the Joe Piane Invite which is a course that will benefit his impressive turnover and speed.
As long as this guy can hold his own on hillier courses and improve upon his fitness from last fall, then Notre Dame may have three low-sticks in the next few months. And the best part about Mauri is that he is usually at his best in the postseason, an area that the Irish obviously needed to be better in last fall.
We may be entering a new section of this article, but it's plenty possible that yet another graduate transfer, Tyler Berg, could also be a low-stick for this team in 2023.
The incoming distance talent from Columbia had a solid year on both the grass and the track prior to joining the Fighting Irish. Last fall, Berg was 6th at the Coaching Tree Invite, 8th at the Penn State National Open, 10th at the Ivy League XC Championships, 3rd at the Northeast Regional XC Championships and 78th at the NCAA XC Championships.
However, it's his upside that leaves us excited about the 2023 cross country season. After posting new personal bests of 7:55 (3k) and 13:41 (5k) this past winter, we can't help but ask if this former Columbia ace is going to be even better this fall than he was last year.
For a team that needs to build greater consistency and scoring stability in the postseason, having a true veteran like Berg is a massive asset. That's why he was listed as an "Honorable Mention" in our preseason individual rankings.
And if he is, then this team's top-four really isn't going to be all that different than what we saw from them at the 2022 Nuttycombe Invitational.
Alright, now for everyone else.
Rishabh Prakash is yet another graduate transfer who is also from the Ivy League. The former Cornell runner had a great breakout year on the track, posting times of 7:55 (3k) and 13:51 (5k) on the indoor oval. He may not be quite as potent on the grass by comparison, but his recent efforts suggest that he'll be far more valuable in cross country than he was in the past.
Notre Dame doesn't need Prakash to be a star this fall. If he can simply offer some backend lineup stability, then that will be a welcomed development. But if he can continue to improve, then the Irish will have earned every bit of their TSR #7 ranking.
We also like rising redshirt freshman Ethan Coleman quite a bit. After sitting out for the 2022 cross country season, this Washington native was fantastic as a rookie on the oval. Personal bests of 13:52 (5k) and 28:46 (10k) suggest that this still-young distance talent could be due for a big year on the grass in 2023.
It's hard to say how Coleman's lack of collegiate cross country experience will impact him this fall, but we only see upside with him as we enter September, October and November. He's a major reason why this team is ranked as high as they are, even if we don't have him listed or mentioned anywhere in our preseason individual rankings.
The Irish also boast a top-tier steeplechaser in Tom Seitzer, although his cross country potential is harder to project than a few others.
In the spring of 2022, Seitzer had a breakout season and we expected him to translate that success to the grass...but he never did. He has since improved his steeplechase PR to 8:34 and has continued to look strong, but after an unexciting fall campaign last year, it's hard to know what the expectations should be for him in 2023.
We also can't ignore Jake Renfree, a veteran who has left us a bit confused about his true ability since he first came into the NCAA.
The former high school superstar has made decent improvements over the last year and a half, but a lack of consistency continues to be a weak point. Even so, this is someone who finished 22nd at the 2021 NCAA Winter XC Championships as a redshirt freshman!
The potential is very clearly there for Renfree to be a star at his absolute best. However, we haven't seen a result like that from him in quite some time. That could change at any point this fall, but we don't know when (of even if) that's going to happen.
For now, if he can just offer depth and scoring support, then that will be perfectly fine.
Be sure to also look out for Quinn Gallagher. He was highly underrated last fall despite acting as an extremely backend scorer for this squad. Sure, this veteran wasn't all that exciting on the track, but placing 78th at Nuttycombe deserves tons of respect.
The rest of this team is loaded with redshirt rookies, incoming recruits and underclassmen who were all studs in high school. Guys like Sam Rich, CJ Singleton, Daelen Ackley, Brody Hartley and Kevin Sanchez are just a few names who stick out, but there are likely a few others who I'm robbing of a mention.
Truthfully, it would stun me if one of these young men didn't have a breakout season and contribute to this roster is some way. They are all way too talented to not (eventually) make an impact on this team.
We'll admit, when our TSR crew sat down to craft our rankings, we were surprised at where we placed Notre Dame. A team that had struggled so much in the postseason and lost so many key names was still ranked fairly highly.
From a quick glance, that didn't make sense.
But as you look into this team and dissect their talent, you can begin to understand why we placed them at TSR #7.
The first-half of Notre Dame's 2022 cross country season suggests that this ranking is plenty fair. They have plenty of firepower and they boast great experience. There are numerous underclassmen who hold tons of upside and they are far deeper than last year's team showed. Many of these men have championship pedigree from their prep days and a lot of these guys have also shown tremendous improvement as of late.
So...what are we supposed to dislike about this year's team?
Sure, the Notre Dame men don't have a perfect squad. We would like to see a bit more proven (and consistent) firepower behind Solomon for a ranking this high. It's also not 100% clear what the backend of their lineup is going to look like and their postseason woes from last fall leave us the slightest bit cautious.
However, as we look ahead to the fall months, we struggle to see how the Fighting Irish aren't a top-10 team in the country. But I guess we're about to find out if that's the case, huh?