TSR's 2023 Preseason D2 XC Top 10 Rankings (Men): Just Missed & Honorable Mentions

Written by Gavin Struve, additional commentary and edits via Garrett Zatlin

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 University of Illinois-Springfield men enjoyed a true breakout campaign last fall, vaulting all the way up to 6th place in the team standings in their first-ever appearance at the NCAA XC Championships.

Unfortunately for the Prairie Stars, multiple top scorers from last year’s group will not be returning this fall, but they should have enough returning scoring to not be a one-year wonder.

We started to get an idea of what last year’s UIS group was capable of when they finished runner-up behind Colorado Christian at the Lewis XC Crossover. From there, they finished toward the top of several strong fields, including placing 4th at the UAH D2 Festival Year Showcase and later winning the GLVC XC Championships over Lewis by one point.

Even so, few could have predicted such a comfortable top-10 finish on the national stage -- and the Prairie Stars achieved that result with a balanced and cohesive scoring lineup. However, the biggest blow to that foundation is the graduation of lead scorer, Wyatt McIntyre, who won the GLVC conference title and finished 26th on the national stage.

UIS will also enter this fall without Christopher Cherry who was their third scorer at the cross country national meet. However, he flashed even greater potential on the track and has since transferred to newfound SEC power, Tennessee.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that Noah McIntyre returns after nearly finishing as an individual All-American in his sophomore season (he placed 43rd on the national stage) and will be a capable lead scorer for a team of Illinois-Springfield’s quality. He’ll be joined by Cortland Ross who just barely slipped inside the top-100 at the national meet last fall, and Ryan Jones, who wasn’t significantly far behind in 120th place. Gabe Martinez, the sixth runner for much of last fall, also returns.

After a ceiling-raising 2022 campaign, the Prairie Stars look to have the pieces to back up their newfound expectations and hype.

The men of West Texas A&M have long been one of the more consistently "good" teams in the Division Two ranks. Since 2013, they’ve amassed eight top-20 finishes at the NCAA XC Championships, but have never placed higher than 10th on that stage.

After finishing 15th in their season finale last year, we expect more of the same from the Buffaloes in the fall of 2023. The Canyon, Texas-based group will have veteran Harry Louradour to lead the way. The Frenchman placed 18th at last year’s national meet, finishing as his team’s sole All-American.

Despite a relatively underwhelming year on the track, we have similar expectations for him as he is slotted at TSR #20 in our preseason individual rankings. However, he’ll shoulder a larger scoring burden with the Buffs’ second and third scorers from last fall departing.

Fortunately for West Texas A&M, the cupboard is not bare of high-level experience, and other teams have suffered arguably greater scoring losses.

Gustavo Posada and Calvin Allen were both backend scorers for this team at the national meet and will have a larger expectation now that they’re both upperclassmen. The Buffaloes will also need at least two more men to establish themselves as varsity scorers.

That being said, this program has enough of a track record of success to grant them the benefit of the doubt in constructing another team who will win the Lone Star Conference XC Championships and finish in the top-20 at the NCAA XC Championships.

The most straightforward projection may place Augustana among the top-10 teams in the country which is where they finished at last year's national meet. The Vikings return their top scorer, who’s a veritable top-half All-American low-stick, as well as one of their other leading men from last fall.

However, after losing three scorers — Matt Steiger, Jesse Kaas and Henry Klitzke — as well as another varsity runner to graduation, we’re going to be a bit more cautious with our preseason ranking of this team. After all, this group’s 7th place finish at the 2022 national meet did not necessarily come on the strength of their depth.

Entering this fall, having someone as talented as Ryan Hartman on their roster has to give Augustana an injection of confidence. He was rock-steady throughout the fall of 2022 and we have enough belief in the midwest native to slot him at TSR #12 preseason in our individual rankings.

The Augie men also return Colten Brand who was a strong complementary scorer en route to placing 58th at the 2022 cross country national meet. He made sizable improvements on the track and holds a ton of experience.

But from there, the continuity from last year’s top group ends. Augustana does boast an enticing developmental prospect in Erik Gundersen, who raced in their varsity lineup as a freshman last fall, but we’re not positive where the rest of the scoring potency will come from on a team that seemed a bit "off" (although certainly not bad) at certain times last year.

The Vikings have a robust recent history of top-10 team finishes at the NCAA XC Championships. And while we’d hardly be shocked if they produce another one, we think their losses, along with the fact that we don’t see immediate replacements, may set them back a bit in 2023.

After a very strong 2022 campaign that culminated in a 10th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships, Michigan Tech figures to be near or just outside of that range in 2023.

While that may sound like a mild disappointment, the Huskies’ general roster continuity profiles as a major positive for this team despite being without their top-two scorers from a year ago. All-Americans Clayton Sayen and Drew Kolodge are both damaging departures, as the former graduated and the latter transferred to Gonzaga.

However, Michigan Tech still enters this fall with an All-American candidate in Samuel Lange. He developed from a strong complementary scorer to something closer to a low-stick last year, finishing 49th at the national meet. We have hopes that he'll make a star turn in his third year. He is, after all, an "Honorable Mention" name in our preseason individual rankings.

The Huskies also have a relative wealth of depth returning behind Lange as Tucker Ringhand, Nick McKenzie, Stephen Loparo and Kyle Samluk all raced for this team at the NCAA XC Championships last fall. However, none of those men were close to breaking into the top-100 on that stage, something that we figured would happen based on their lead up to the national meet.

It seems fair to suggest that a couple of those men will need to become stronger middle lineup pieces in order for the Huskies to sniff the success that they enjoyed last year.

An improvement on last year’s finish national meet feels like too much to ask of this team at the moment. But something close to what they produced in their season finale, coupled with a runner-up finish at the GLIAC XC Championships after finishing 3rd last year, seem like fair and attainable goals.

Profiling as a bit of an x-factor in the team race this fall, the Azusa Pacific men have a unique combination of solid baseline talent mixed with intriguing upside. All of that could set this team up for a considerable leap in the hierarchy of D2 teams if all goes according to plan.

This is a team that finished outside of the top-20 at last year’s national meet, did not have anyone in or directly outside of All-American range. Oh, and they're losing their top scorer from that race.

It may take a bit more explaining as to why we have the Cougars in our “Just Missed” group.

While they may not boast returning firepower, what the Cougars do possess in abundance is depth and interchangeable lineup options. Azusa Pacific returns six men from the seven-man lineup that they fielded at the 2022 national meet.

All but Salvador Capetillo, who led the way in 67th on the national stage last fall, return.

Nixon Korir was arguably the Cougars’ top runner last fall, leading the team at nearly every meet save for the last one. He’ll be joined by Riley Burns who earned a solid 80th place finish at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships. Felix Perrier (141st) joins those men as well along with three other varsity contributors who were listed as sophomores a year ago.

But what really makes Azusa Pacific intriguing is not their roster continuity, but rather the bevy of new talent the team is bringing in. Some of these newcomers hold resumes that are admittedly more track-centric, but several of these athletes could still provide an immediate impact on the grass.

Juan Diego Castro was an individual qualifier for the Division One national meet on the track while competing for Oklahoma State. He holds personal bests that include 1:48 (800) and 3:57 (mile). He’s also run 15:08 over 5000 meters on the grass and 24:42 (8k), both set in 2022, suggesting that he could have something to offer on the cross country course.

Another notable transfer is Jared Wright who is coming from up the road and staying in the Golden State. While competing at Dominican, Wright faced many of his new teammates. He would have been the Cougars’ top scorer at the West Regional XC Championships and he later went on to place 98th at the NCAA XC Championships.

Needless to say, he should provide instant help.

With Diego Castro and Wright, as well as a strong freshman recruiting class, the Cougars should be noticeably better than the squad that placed 21st at last fall’s national meet.

The fact that the Cougars will return the bulk of last year’s varsity group means they should again be a top-25 group as a baseline. And if Diego Castro and Wright replicate their production from last fall, then Azusa Pacific should almost certainly be in the 15 to 20 range in our team rankings.

Of course, it’s their transfers’ potential for growth that makes Azusa Pacific intriguing as a potential fringe top-10 squad this fall.