Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Aug 22, 20204 min
As mentioned in our rankings rubric article, we are aware that certain conferences and universities will not be competing this fall due to ongoing concerns surrounding COVID-19. However, for the sake of content, we have constructed these rankings as if a regular cross country season will happen.
One of the biggest and best breakout stars from the 2019 cross country season was Carson Bix. In a year where Adams State needed a little extra scoring potency, Bix delivered, especially at the national meet.
Admittedly, his 2019 cross country season was a bit on the quieter side, racing only twice before he reached the national meet. Bix started his season with a 33rd place finish at the Paul Short Gold race. It was a solid result and by no means bad, but it didn't necessarily jump off the page or suggest that he would be a top-20 finisher at the national meet. The same could be said about his 15th place finish at the South Central regional meet.
However, Bix showed up when it mattered the most and dropped a huge 10th place finish to give the Grizzlies some pleasantly surprising scoring potency which helped them finish 2nd in the team standings.
But Bix didn't stop there. The rising star was on a mission to prove that his race at the national meet wasn't a fluke as he ran an altitude-converted time of 4:02 in the mile and an unconverted 8:03 for 3000 meters, two marks that ranked inside the top three for Division II last winter. Had the indoor national meet not been cancelled, I don't think it would have been surprising to see Bix win a national title.
Truthfully, his cross country results are limited to only three races where there is really only one major highlight. However, his indoor track results were awfully impressive and there shouldn't be any question as to whether or not Bix is a top distance talent in D2 with those kind of performances.
There may not be any national meet this fall, but if the RMAC does opt to compete in some capacity, then I would imagine Bix will still be a major name to watch.
The NW Missouri men were one of the biggest surprises of the 2019 cross country season, boasting overwhelming firepower that many teams struggled to match. Jhordan Ccope is partially responsible for that unique lineup structure, offering top-level finishes against some of the best competition in the NCAA last fall.
After a pair of 3rd place finishes at the Bearcat XC Invite and the Southern Stampede meet, Ccope proved his value as a scorer by posting an outstanding 6th place finish at the quietly top-heavy Chile Pepper Festival. In the process, he took down men like Sam Worley (Texas) and Dylan Ko (Colorado Mines), two of the better distance runners in their respective divisions.
Ccope would later settle a pair of silver medal performances at the MIAA and Central Regional Championships, finishing behind national title favorite Gidieon Kimutai in both instances.
However, the National Championships is where Ccope truly established his place amongst the D2 elites. The NW Missouri ace finished 9th overall in Sacramento to solidify the success he had experienced leading up to the national meet.
There isn't much to say about Ccope other than he's flat-out talented. Admittedly, we would have liked to see him secure a few wins in those early season meets, but he was otherwise unfazed by the high-level competition that he faced throughout the season.
There are few athletes in these rankings who have the unbelievable raw talent that Chepkesir does. The UNC Pembroke ace owns an unreal amount of strength and is willing to hit the gas early in some of his races.
Last fall was an outstanding one for Chepkesir who was undefeated coming into the National Championships. He took home two very underrated wins at the Trevecca Nazarene Showcase and the Royals XC Challenge before cruising through the Peach Belt conference and the Southeast region.
At the National Championships, Chepkesir went with the top pack and established an extremely aggressive pace early in the race, coming through 5000 meters in 14:27. However, Chepkesir lost at his own game and eventually fell off the pace to finish a highly respectable 8th place overall.
The 2020 indoor track season was just as impressive for the rising junior who ran times of 8:10 (3k, flat-track converted) and 14:09 (5k).
There aren't many athletes in the NCAA who are willing to establish an aggressive pace and simply outrun their opponents, but that is what makes Chepkesir so difficult to take down. If he can find a balance between his aggressive pacing and some refined race tactics, he could be a guy who ends up winning a national title one day.
This Colorado Mines duo would have been a major reason why the Orediggers were once again going to be in the national team title conversation this year...before the national meet got cancelled. Both Moran and Ko emerged as elite names in the star-studded RMAC last fall and didn't give us much reason to doubt their abilities throughout the 2019 season.
After a few early-season rust-busters, the men of Colorado Mines faced their first true challenge of the 2019 cross country season at the Chile Pepper Festival. It was there that they established themselves as the overwhelming title favorites. Ko was the top Oredigger that day, finishing 8th overall in a quietly top-heavy field while Moran settled for a respectable (but relatively quiet) 20th place finish.
But the men of Colorado Mines weren't trying to peak in the regular season and they proved that at the RMAC Championships as Ko took home the most competitive conference crown in the nation while Moran settled for a 5th place finish. After cruising through the South Central Regional Championships (where Moran placed 5th and Ko placed 6th), it was off to Sacramento, California for the national meet.
In Sacramento, both men put together outstanding performances despite the aggressive pace. Moran, in his first-ever collegiate cross country season, emerged with a massive 4th place finish while Ko wasn't far behind in 7th place.
You have to give credit where credit is due. Both Ko and Moran were exceptional last year, specifically in the postseason. They peaked when it mattered the most and even carried their momentum into the winter months where they recorded some (heavily converted) times that ranked among the best in Division II.