2024 Lewis XC Crossover First Thoughts: Colorado Mines Dominates While Hartman & Ramsey-Rutledge Earn Statement Wins

The Lewis XC Crossover was a grand success! Not only did we have a blast covering the meet, but we also got to see plenty of highly impactful performances that have shaken up the NCAA landscape in the Division Two realm.

Below, we highlighted the top-seven teams in the men's and women's fields as well as made a few notes on a handful of individual performances. Let's dive right in...

Men's Analysis

1. Colorado Mines Orediggers (62 points)

It's one thing to earn a convincing win over a national-caliber field. However, it's another thing to do that without fielding nearly all of your top scorers.

The Colorado Mines men thrived on Saturday despite not having Loic Scomparin, Paul Knight or Logan Bocovich. Each of those three men could be argued as top-half All-American favorites come November. And yet, despite not having their focal stars, the Orediggers had multiple new names step up in a major way.

Ethan Grolnic (3rd) was easily the biggest breakout runner of this race, producing a low-stick performance that came out of nowhere. Suddenly, he looks like he can be a fourth All-American candidate for Colorado Mines and maybe even a top-half All-American contender on a good day. That's an important development for a team that is aiming to make things somewhat competitive with Wingate at this year's national meet.

You could also argue that Jeremiah Vaille (7th) has entered the All-American conversation following his low-stick performance. While previously a respectable talent in the RMAC, Vaille had never proven to be as potent of a distance runner as he was on Saturday. Paired with Grolnic, the firepower of Colorado Mines wasn't all that diluted.

Braden Struhs (14th), Alberto Campa (20th) and Matt Mettler (22nd) each showcased solid depth. Of course, it was Struhs who showed the most promise, offering valuable scoring stability when thinking about the full version of this lineup.

All things considered, this was a promising race for the Colorado Mines men. It would still take a heroic effort for this team to upset Wingate, but the depth and firepower of this program is a bit better than we thought it would be in 2024.

2. Western Washington Vikings (122 points)

Excellent run from the Western Washington men! It was plenty realistic for them to earn a runner-up finish in this field, but to do so as convincingly as they did admittedly surprised us.

Kevin McDermott (9th) was unsurprisingly awesome, but it was Ryan Clough (13th) who gave the Vikings a second lead scorer. That firepower felt necessary in a field where nearly all of the top teams had two low-sticks of their own.

Of course, the team's final three scorers -- Jared Alderfer (31st), George Karamitsos (34th) and Sten Brakstad (40th) -- were the ones who truly stabilized this lineup. It also didn't hurt that Jeret Gillingham (44th) offered nice insurance even if it wasn't needed.

On paper, Western Washington is a complete team with good low-sticks, great depth, limited gaps and valuable experience. I'm not sure I would call them podium threats, but they aren't going to be an easy team to shake in the postseason.

3. Colorado Christian Cougars (194 points)

Considering that the Colorado Christian men were without key scorers Zachariah Vance and Caleb Hershey, I was pleasantly surprised to see them place 3rd in this field. The Cougars have historically had very top-heavy lineups, but they have also been vulnerable to significant scoring drop-offs. Without Vance or Hershey, we thought Saturday could have been (very) ugly for CCU.

Instead, Klay Grant (12th) had the race of his life to complement veteran star Matthew Storer who snagged a runner-up result. Grant was largely a non-factor last year, but he suddenly looks like a low-stick. That is a massive development for Colorado Christian if they are able to get Vance and Hershey back for the postseason.

With Mateo Luna (21st) offering sneaky-good scoring value, you could make the argument that the Colorado Christian men have a complete top-five if Vance and Hershey are healthy. Sure, their low-stick scoring may not be quite as potent as it was last fall, but that may not matter if they avoid major gaps.

Admittedly, CCU's final two scorers faded to 78th and 85th, only barely holding on for long enough to keep them ahead of Lewis. Of course, as we mentioned above, it's the performances of their top-three men that matter the most for the postseason as long as Vance and Hershey return.

4. Lewis Flyers (200 points)

We'll admit, we thought Lewis would give Western Washington a greater challenge and we figured that they would be able to take down a limited Colorado Christian team. Settling for 4th place at this meet is far from bad, but the Flyers are an experienced group that are capable of more.

Thankfully, the rise of Evan Horgan (5th) is extremely exciting. This team had solid lead scoring talents previously, but not a national-caliber standout like Horgan appears to be now. That's huge for a team that, generally speaking, has had solid depth in recent years.

Sean Ryan (19th) also had a solid outing, offering a nice upfront scoring presence to pair nicely with Horgan. However, from there, gaps began to form as their final three scorers placed 50th, 67th and 71st.

We're fairly confident that Gavin Jenkins and Charlie Wirth can be better moving forward. The former is an 8:44 steeplechaser and the latter was 17th at this meet last year. For those reasons, we're confident that the Lewis men can still emerge as a top-10 team later this fall. They will, however, have to improve in the latter-half of their races.

5. Biola Eagles (202 points)

Really nice result for the Biola men. Their lineup structure wasn't going to make any national headlines, but they were very solid through four runners.

With Melt Von Molendorff (17th) giving his team a scoring spark, the Eagles were able to follow suit with strong efforts from Rouxan le Roux (26th), Jerry Baltzer (32nd) and Aidan Tomasini (43rd). That challenge, however, is that their fifth man faded back to 89th place while Charlie Bailey just had a flat-out bad day, fading outside of the top-200.

This team still has room to improve, specifically at their final scoring spot which held them back the most on Saturday. If that scoring role is addressed in the postseason, then the Biola men will have a complete top-five that could be within striking distance of Western Washington.

6. Grand Valley State Lakers (286 points)

For a team that didn't field their top lineup, I thought the Lakers fared relatively well. Look for Colin Kachlic (38th) and Zach Fenton (41st) to potentially crack Grand Valley State's top-seven later this fall. Otherwise, this was simply a meet to better determine how strong the Lakers' depth was this fall.

7. Michigan Tech Huskies (292 points)

I was really happy to see both Samuel Lange (25th) and Tucker Ringhand (27th) emerging as solid lead scoring talents for Michigan Tech. The Huskies desperately needed the upfront scoring last year, but have seemingly addressed that issue this fall.

Michael Dennis (51st) offered some much-needed stability for a team that had their final two scorers fade to 91st and 104th place. This top-heavy lineup will be successful because of their top-two men, but it's their latter two scorers who will determine their ceiling.

Notable Individuals (not already mentioned)

Ryan Hartman was brilliant in his win over Matthew Storer. I don't know if I would call him a national title contender yet, but he certainly seems to be the headline name of the tier below that. His ability to counter the push made by Storer and the aggressor later in the race was incredibly impressive.

Great run from Elias Bergman, a GVSU athlete who no longer has cross country eligibility. Among attached athletes, you have to give major kudos to Washburn's Donald Kibet (6th), Azusa Pacific's Felix Perrier (8th), Findlay's Noah Fisher (10th) and Anderson (SC)'s Elliot Dotson (11th). Each of those men proved that they will be contenders for All-American honors this year. That's not necessarily surprising, but with the exception of Fisher, each of these men had some of their better cross country performances on Saturday.

Women's Analysis

1. Colorado Mines Orediggers (69 points)

Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge, the individual champion, was incredibly impressive on Saturday. In a wide-open year for the women's individual national title, we now have to ask if Ramsey-Rutledge could legitimately contend for NCAA gold in November.

That low-stick performance was complemented by a fantastic effort from Grace Strongman (6th) who looks like she's still an All-American threat. Margaux Basart (14th) had a solid outing that was roughly on par with expectations while Lexi Herr (17th) fared well in just her second race back since last fall.

Admittedly, there was a drop-off to their fifth scorer who placed 38th overall. Even so, with four women in the top-20, it was going to be extremely challenging for any team to match the firepower of the Orediggers.

This team isn't quite as potent as they were last fall and the final spot in their lineup could make things tricky on the national stage. Even so, it feels safe to call the Colorado Mines women podium favorites this fall, although I'm not sure we would necessarily go ahead and call them podium locks...yet.

2. Lewis Flyers (114 points)

I thought this was a really great run from the Lewis women. Sure, they didn't come all that close to beating Colorado Mines, but they soundly defeated the rest of the field.

Sarah May (15th) has been a terrific offseason addition, giving her team the extra firepower that they were looking for last fall. Of course, with Abbey Kozak (18th), Caroline Pacer-Ryan (22nd) and Hannah Smrcka (29th) running as well as they did, it was hard to find a single flaw in this team through four runners.

In fact, even their fifth woman, Naylah Allen (40th), had a really solid race in their own right. She offered great stability and ensured that the team score didn't get out of hand.

With two others in the top-60, it's hard to see too many scenarios where the Lewis women will truly struggle this fall. They have a fairly complete lineup with firepower that is seemingly better than it was last year. All things considered, they did everything that we could have realistically asked for.

3. Grand Valley State Lakers (157 points)

The absences of Abby Olson, Lauren Kiley, Allie Arnsman and Abby VanderKooi makes it hard to take this result seriously for the Lakers. If those women had run, then it's plenty likely that the Lakers could have won this race.

Maggie O'Malley (20th) looks like she'll offer sneaky-good scoring value moving forward while Madison Ebright (30th) and Annika Sandman (33rd) had solid outings as well. Those are key names to monitor as GVSU aims to find their spot on the podium and fend off a strong Colorado Mines team on the national stage.

We didn't learn too much about Grand Valley State on Saturday, but their depth and scoring reinforcements do look fairly solid.

4. Augustana (SD) Vikings (188 points)

At first glance, this result is a little concerning. The Augustana (SD) women were viewed as legitimate podium threats coming into this season and their initial win at the Roy Griak Invite was encouraging to see.

However, a 4th place result in a race that we thought they could have won doesn't necessarily bode well for their podium aspirations.

The first three runners for the Vikings were, for the most part, on par with our expectations. Ella Bakken (12th) offered great scoring value while Ashley Overgaauw (16th) had a strong day as well. If Eleni Lovgren (25th) had been the team's fifth scorer, then we would have been thrilled about the Vikings' performance. Instead, she was their third scorer while the team's final two scorers faded to 69th and 77th place.

And yet, despite that, it's important to note that neither Aubrey Surage nor Amanda Overgaauw toed the line on Saturday. The former is an All-American ace while the latter was 72nd at last year's national meet.

If those two women had run on Saturday, then the team standings would have looked very different for Augustana. We're not too worried about the absence of Surage who already raced this season at the Roy Griak Invite. However, this is the second major race where we haven't seen the other Overgaauw sister.

Simply put, it's best not to make any major proclamations about this team until we see how they fare in the postseason. That will also give us a better idea of what the status is for both Aubrey Surage and Amanda Overgaauw.

5. Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks (200 points)

The 1-2 punch of Kendall Kramer (2nd) and Rosie Fordham (4th) was awesome on Saturday as they battled with the leaders for a good portion of the race. That lethal low-stick duo ultimately carried this team which had a backend group that was a good ways back.

Even so, it's important to give credit where credit is due, The Nanooks' final three scorers -- Katharine Brigham (54th), Tabitha Williams (70th) and Lucca Duke (78th) -- were a bit better than we'd thought they'd be. However, their youth leaves Alaska Fairbanks with a lot of volatility, both in terms of upside and inexperience.

Even so, the Nanooks should be very happy with how they fared on Saturday. They'll likely be contenders for a top-15 finish at this year's national meet.

6. Western Washington Vikings (237 points)

This truthfully wasn't the performance that we expected to see from the Western Washington women. Although, at the same time, the Vikings didn't necessarily run terribly, either.

Ashley Reeck (32nd) had a fine outing, but we thought she was capable of being slightly better. We also thought Ila Davis (64th) would have played a larger scoring role for Western Washington. Sophie Wright (42nd) matched expectations, Ella Edens (50th) had a respectable day and Emma Smith (59th) closed out the scoring fairly quickly.

Could the upfront scoring potency of this team improve moving forward? Yes, almost definitely. However, with eight women in the top-76, you can see how it's going to be hard for this team to truly ever crumble. The depth on this team is quietly super impressive.

7. Colorado Christian Cougars (274 points)

Shannon King (11th) looks like she can be an All-American this fall, offering great low-stick value to her team on Saturday. The middle portion of this scoring group was quietly great as well as Lucy Pidek (48th), Britta Holmberg (57th) and Kathryn Miller (60th) stabilized this lineup in a significant way.

Their fifth runner dropping back to 118th place created a gap that sent the Cougars' team score out of reach from the teams listed ahead of them. Even so, the top-four portion of this lineup looks awesome and in a smaller field like the RMAC XC Championships, that backend opening may not be as much of an issue.

Don't sleep on Colorado Christian moving forward. Structurally, this team is better than what their result from Saturday showed.

Notable Individuals (not already mentioned)

Nice run from GVSU alum Klaudia O'Malley who took 3rd place and was hard to shake for a good portion of the race. Among attached runners, Khot Juac (5th) had a solid outing, although she's seemingly still trying to get back to the same form that we saw from her in November of last year.

Reagan Justice (Wayne State), Jessica Kampman (Azusa Pacific), Sophia Taarud (Winona State) and Bethany Mapes (Biola) went 7-8-9-10, respectively, in the final results. Justice is the best she has ever looked and Kampman is translating her success from the NAIA level to the D2 level seamlessly. Taarud has given Winona State a new low-stick (which they very much needed) and Mapes continues to be one of the more underrated lead scoring talents in Division Two.