First Thoughts: 2023 Nuttycombe Invitational (Part One)

No time for a fancy intro, let's jump right into the analysis...

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Additional analysis, photos and a few post-race interviews coming soon.

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Women's Analysis

Individual Race

Oh boy, here we go...

It's one thing to beat Katelyn Tuohy.

But to simply outrun her? Convincingly?

Well, that wasn't on my bingo card for Friday's race.

That isn't to suggest that Parker Valby wasn't already wildly elite in her own right -- that's something that all of us already knew. Even so, I didn't see a scenario where Tuohy would be gapped so extensively to the point where she would essentially fall out of frame on a handful of occasions.

Valby's victory is a massive performance. It completely alters our understanding of the individual national title race in November. It also leaves us with a handful of questions.

Did Valby really elevate her aerobic talent to a level so far beyond Tuohy? Did Tuohy, who still ran fairly well, just have a bit of an "off" day? Did the NC State ace simply mistime a final surge (by a good bit) to catch her Florida rival?

I think all of those are fair questions, but some more so than others.

Valby's aggressive front-running style isn't anything new, and she's always had success with that approach, but it had never been as effective as it was on Friday.

1. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (52 points)

Welp, I said that the Northern Arizona women were built to upset the NC State women and sure enough, that was exactly what happened.

Would I have had the courage to actually make that part of my predictions if Gavin didn't do them? No, probably not, but this development isn't exactly stunning to me, either.

Elise Stearns (4th) is still really, really good at this whole running thing. That's not surprising. Gracelyn Larkin (8th), meanwhile, delivered a huge performance that was more on par with what we were expecting from her at the Virginia Invitational a few weeks ago. Annika Reiss (10th) is now showing far greater consistency when it comes to racing at an ultra high-level and that is huge for a team that needed more firepower this fall.

In my eyes, those three results were probably at the higher ends of what I thought that trio was capable of producing on Friday. That trifecta of low-sticks, however, is not the reason why NAU won so convincingly.

Ali Upshaw, who we have been so high on for so long, finally delivered the performance that we knew she was capable of. A 12th place finish is easily the best result of her career and it validates all of the optimism that we've had for her over the last few years. No, I didn't think she would be in the top-15 at Nuttycombe, but regardless, that was a monster performance.

Keira Moore (18th) proved that her Virginia Invitational performance wasn't a fluke. In fact, she was only just getting started. Ruby Smee (24th), meanwhile, posted a result which suggested that she would be an All-American -- but she didn't even score for her team.

Maisie Grice (44th) and Maggie Congdon (47th) both cracked the top-50 for what will potentially be the most impressive team performance of the year.

Now, that being said, the NC State women were missing a few key names, specifically Sam Bush (who was a DNF) and Amaris Tyynismaa. If those women were to reenter this lineup, then the final scores would be much, much closer.

Regardless, this NAU squad looks scary good.

2. NC State Wolfpack (95 points)

We already spoke about Katelyn Tuohy, so let's skip the individual aspect of this.

The NC State women had an elite top-two in Tuohy (2nd) and Kelsey Chmiel (3rd) which was hardly surprising (but still impressive). However, Leah Stephens (14th) just proved that she is, in fact, the real deal. Her poise on two major stages has been so impressive and her scoring value has been desperately needed for a team that is trying to stay in the national title conversation.

Grace Hartman (26th) had a very strong effort of her own, offering excellent scoring value, while Hannah Gapes (51st) deserves some respect for a performance that kept the Wolfpack's team score in check.

Yes, NC State did get upset by NAU and yes, questions about this team winning NCAA gold are fair to ask at this point. Even so, this team didn't have Amaris Tyynismaa or Abby Loveys. We're also seeing that Sam Bush was a DNF, but that was before the 2k split, so it's unclear what actually happened there.

Make no mistake, even if Tyynismaa had finished 10th in this field, the Lumberjacks still would have won this race -- but it would have only been by a few points. Sure, her absence isn't super encouraging, but her delayed start is something that was expected to happen during the preseason.

In other words, the women's team title race is still very, very close.

3. Georgetown Hoyas (208 points)

I don't know how Coach Mitchell Baker did it, but the Hoyas are somehow even better than they were last year -- and they lost A TON of scoring value from their 2022 team!

Chloe Scrimgeour (7th) proved that she truly is one of the best cross country runners in the nation and Melissa Riggins (15th) effectively did the same. It's not surprising that Scrimgeour is a top low-stick for Georgetown and it's not surprising that Melissa Riggins is an impact scorer for this team.

But truthfully, I never thought that either of those women would be as good as they have been so far this fall. What's even more interesting is that Maggie Donahue (54th) could be even better in the future after making her season debut and Chloe Gonzalez (61st) continues to be a really solid support scorer.

And with Kelsey Swenson (74th) doing exactly what she was recruited to do (bring stability to the backend of Georgetown's lineup), it's hard to see how there are any flaws within this team's top-five!

Admittedly, the depth after those five women drops off...a lot. This team can't afford anyone to have a poor day if they want to contend for the podium in November. Even so, I can't help but shrug my shoulders and say, "I was wrong about them."

4. Stanford Cardinal (227 points)

Yep! This is about what we expected from the Stanford women.

Amy Bunnage (13th) was great, although her early-race aggression may need to be reevaluated. Behind her, we saw Lucy Jenks, Riley Stewart, Grace Connolly and Zofia Dudek go 43-46-55-72, respectively, in the overall results.

...I don't really know what else there is to say here. I'm not sure that we learned anything new about the Stanford women since their last race. That's not necessarily a good or bad thing, but this is all on par with what we expected to happen.

Yes, Dudek still needs to return to top form, although you have to commend the fact that she's still emerging as a scorer. It would also be good to see someone offer more firepower alongside/near Bunnage.

Nonetheless, this was a good effort that the Cardinal can be happy about.

5. Florida Gators (262 points)

This is a really good result!

Yes, Parker Valby won the individual title, but from a team scoring perspective, her finishing 1st instead of 2nd or 3rd didn't really make a difference. She was, however, supported by Flomena Asekol (16th) and Elise Thorner (30th) who did exactly what they were recruited to do -- give the Florida women more low-sticks to rally around.

However, it was Allison Wilson, the former Alabama runner, who made a significant impact. Her 38th place finish was monumental for a squad that simply needed a complete top-five to compete for the podium. In fact, her performance may have been the most important singular result for any team at this meet.

Of course, I know what you're thinking, "Garrett, this team finished 5th overall, Allison Wilson was their fourth scorer (not fifth) and Florida's final scorer was in 180th place. Why are you so excited about this performance?"

Well, in case you didn't notice, Amelia Mazza-Downie didn't race on Friday. And sure, I can admit that her absence is a little concerning, but if she had finished 10th in this race, then the Florida women score 98 points and, after displacement, only settle for bronze after losing a tie-breaker to NC State for runner-up.

The margin for error on this team is zero, and we still need Mazza-Downie to come back to this lineup, but I have no issues keeping the Gators in the podium conversation.

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (292 points)

They may have had a slightly higher ceiling than this, but I can't say that I'm too shocked about this result for the Notre Dame women.

Olivia Markezich (9th) ran as well as we expected her to while Grace Schager (56th) and Erin Strzelecki (58th) offered really solid value at the middle portion of this lineup. However, seeing Siona Chisholm (85th), Andrea Markezich (88th) and Ericka VanderLende (96th) fade to the latter-half of this lineup wasn't the greatest development.

And yet, despite that, the Fighting Irish still snagged a 6th place finish in a loaded field!

The depth and scoring options are clearly plentiful in South Bend, Indiana. If those latter three women who I just mentioned run up to their full potential in the postseason, then the ceiling for this team is a fringe podium result.

That, however, would require a lot of different things breaking in their favor.

7. Oregon State Beavers (315 points)

If you had the Beavers finishing in the top-10 of this race and you're not connected to Corvallis, Oregon, then you're flat-out lying to me. I know you are.

Sure, we had this squad just on the outside of our top-20 in our preseason rankings, but depth was a major question mark for the Beavers and I just didn't know how they would handle the mass amount of talent in this race.

Well, as it turns out, that wasn't much of an issue at all.

Kaylee Mitchell (5th) and Grace Fetherstonhaugh (22nd) were unsurprisingly excellent, but it was Sage Brooks (60th) who came through with a huge result of her own. And while we knew that she was talented based on prior races, seeing her back near/at top form was clearly critical to this team's success.

Ruby Broadbent (92nd) and Kate Laurent (139th) weren't exactly the most potent backend scorers compared to other teams in the top-10, but that didn't really matter. Those two women just needed to be good enough and they offered exactly that.

Massive congratulations to this team. Coach Louie Quintana has consistently done a great job developing this often-overlooked PAC-12 program into a nationally competitive squad. If this is what we can expect from the Beavers for the rest of the fall months, then I would say that this is his best work yet.

8. California Baptist Lancers (322 points)

I've now known Grace McLaughlin for years. She has been such a fantastic contributor to our writing team at TSR, both as an analyst and as a person. That's why it was so rewarding to see her earn a 29th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational to lead her squad to a top-10 finish!

Of course, she wasn't the only one offering firepower to the Lancers. Veteran Yasna Petrova (35th) wasn't far behind at all and Greta Karinauskaite (52nd) still offered great scoring value even if she wasn't at her best.

With Emilia Mikszuta placing 75th, the California Baptist women looked like they had a strong lineup with great scoring options across the board. However, with their fifth runner fading to 134th place overall, it felt like the Lancers left some points on the board, although that's not a terrible result in a field of this size.

Even so, the CBU women snagged an 8th place finish a loaded field with their top low-stick not racing at her best and with a significant gap being formed at the final spot in their lineup. In those scenarios, most teams aren't even sniffing the top-10.

9. Michigan State Spartans (342 points)

This is certainly on the higher end of where I thought Michigan State would place, but I did emphasize how important of a role their depth would play in the field.

Katie Osika (27th) ran fairly well while Makenna Veen (32nd) and Lauren Freeland (48th) may have just had the best races of their lives, specifically the latter. Oh, and by the way, the Spartans' usual third scorer, Kaitlyn Hines, didn't even race!

Emily Bardwell (117th) and Grace Molloy (121st) didn't blow us away, but in a Nuttycombe field that was as big as I can ever remember it being, those aren't necessarily poor results, either.

If Hines returns to this lineup and the rotation of depth pieces unveils a new impact name for the Michigan State women, then I would not want to face this team in the postseason. There are a lot of different ways that they can beat their opponents and you can't bank on them having a bad day.

10. Lipscomb Bison (363 points)

If you're a Lipscomb runner, parent, alum, coach, fan, etc., then you should be feeling euphoric right now. What a run. That was just an outstanding performance and a true team effort across the board.

The Bison were a fairly competitive team this fall, we knew that. However, we didn't have this mid-major program in our team rankings and we simply shrugged our shoulders after seeing them place 4th at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational.

But on Friday, this team SHATTERED expectations.

The combination of Mackenzie Barnett, Kiara Carter, Lydia Miller, Harley Kletz and Liza Corso went 53-66-68-79-102, respectively, in the overall results. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you run as a team.

Miller has the chance to be even better moving forward, Barnett came out of absolutely nowhere and Ellie Brewer emerged as the team's sixth runner in 132nd place to offer encouraging scoring insurance.

I'll be honest, I can't quite figure out who directly works with the women's distance team at Lipscomb. But whoever it is -- Director Nick Polk, Associate Head Coach Franz Holmes, Assistant Coach Grace Oettng or a combination of that group -- they deserve a raise.

11. Iowa State Cyclones (381 points)

Good race for Iowa State!

...and yeah, that's pretty much all I've got for the Cyclones.

Madelynn Hill (36th) was a more potent lead scorer than I expected, Janette Schraft (59th) and Maelle Porcher (64th) were as strong as I thought they would be and Dana Feyen (90th) offered some scoring stability as well. Bella Heikes (136th) had a decent enough race to close out the Cyclones' top-five.

I said that ISU would finish inside the top-15 in our meet preview and that's exactly what happened. I saw that their depth and pack-running made them challenging to take down and they perfectly validated those thoughts.

12. Ole Miss Rebels (382 points)

Wow. After a 2nd place finish at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational, I felt like the Ole Miss women were taking a step in the right direction...but I didn't think that they would then take a leap this big on this stage.

Finishing 12th in this field after being non-factors last fall is huge. Ryann Helmers (28th) is emerging as a true low-stick nowadays while Loral Winn (72nd) continues to translate some of her track success to the grass.

However, I told you in a previous article that Kristel van den Berg (78th) would be better than she was in her last race -- and that was absolutely the case. She is a key reason why the Rebels ran so well. With Skylar Boogerd (93rd) Sarah Schiffmann (125th) both holding their own, you can see how Ole Miss was able to upset so many key teams.

It also helped that they just, ya know, ran a lot better than last time. That usually works, too.

13. Washington Huskies (383 points)

It was a fine day for Washington, although I'm sure they wanted more.

Chloe Foerster (40th), Julia David-Smith (50th) and Sophie O'Sullivan (65th) produced a trio of results that the Huskies should be happy with. The former two sophomores have been great so far this fall and O'Sullivan is always going to be a nice scoring option in this lineup.

India Weir (113th) and Tori Herman (119th) were respectable backend scorers, but there were a handful of women in the latter-half of Washington's top-seven that likely have room for improvement. We did, after all, see many of these ladies run a good bit better at the Virginia Invitational a few weeks back.

Regardless, there is still a collection of solid talent throughout this roster and I don't expect them to be too quiet at the PAC-12 XC Championships.

14. Colorado Buffaloes (395 points)

The trio of Ella Baran (33rd), Karrie Baloga (39th) and Emily Covert (42nd) all posted respectable marks, although it may be fair to say that Baran and Covert could have been more potent as low-sticks.

However, challenges for the Buffaloes arose when their final two scorers settled for 120th and 164th place. It also didn't help that 2022 All-American Samree Dishon had yet another tough outing in her second race with Colorado.

Yes, it's true, the Buffs didn't have Bailey Hertenstein, Natalie Cook, Marlee Starliper or Hannah Miniutti for this race, but you would still expect more out of a team of this caliber, especially one that we originally viewed as a podium contender.

15. Utah Utes (419 points)

You could maybe argue that the Utah women could have been a few spots higher, but generally speaking, I think this is about right.

Annastasia Peters (23rd) continues to emerge as a legitimate low-stick that this team can lean on despite her youth and Mckaylie Caesar (76th) has clearly reached a new level of fitness. With Katarzyna Nowakowska (97th) posting a solid result of her own, you had to commend the Utes for staying fairly competitive through three runners.

In fact, Morgan Jensen (112th) and Clara Mayfield (115th) were actually great backend support scorers, especially at this point in the team results.

For a team that has a bunch of a new faces, a handful of inexperienced women and lost a ton of scoring from last fall, this was a really great run for Utah.

16. Wisconsin Badgers (421 points)

This is pretty on par with our expectations for a Wisconsin team that has been good, but has yet to fully capitalize on all of the talent on their roster.

Leane Willemse (34th) continues to be a very nice surprise for the Badgers this fall while Alexa Westley (64th) leaned on her experience to produce a solid effort. Danielle Orie (94th), Emma Watcke (104th) and Vivian Hacker (124th) were the women who closed out the scoring for Wisconsin.

There are a small handful of areas where Wisconsin could have been better, but it should also be said that the Badgers didn't field Shea Ruhly who was initially listed in the entries. With that in mind, this was a pretty decent effort, although it's unclear if we'll even see Ruhly this fall.

17. Colorado State Rams (437 points)

After an underwhelming outing at the Griak Invitational, I think this result has to be viewed as a success for the Colorado State women. In fact, a result like this will likely give them enough Kolas points to get out of the Mountain region and into the national meet.

Sarah Carter (20th) continues to be the focal low-stick ace for the Rams while Quinn McConnell (80th) has come into her own this fall and deserves a lot of credit for that. Yasmin Austridge (89th) also had a respectable bounce back race and Emily Chaston (114th) did enough to get by. Kensey May (138th) closed out the scoring.

For a team that lost so multiple high-impact scorers (more than we realized) from last year, Friday's performance was fairly solid. The front of their lineup should make the Rams very clear favorites for the Mountain West title in two weeks.

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Men's Analysis

Individual Race

Where do I even start?

Drew Bosley (8th) deserves a lot of credit for taking control of this race, but at the same time, that's probably the thing that cost him the win. He was the aggressor for most of the race, but the rest of the field just never fell off. And in the end, the NAU star didn't have a final gear to contend in the final moments of the race.

Even so, I respect the grittiness, especially in those conditions.

Ky Robinson (4th) is someone else who was prominent at the front of this field. All things considered, he ran fairly well and held on to the top group. He could have very easily finished runner-up if a few strides broke his way.

As for all of the other top individuals (who didn't win) -- Nico Young (2nd), Habtom Samuel Keleta (3rd), Jackson Sharp (5th), Rocky Hansen (6th) and Parker Wolfe (7th) -- they ran smart races. Each of those men put themselves in the pocket of the lead pack and simply stayed there for as long as they could.

At the end of the day, Graham Blanks saw an opportunity and took it. When it was clear that Bosley was working hard at the front and the rest of the pack was caught sleeping, the Harvard star put in a huge surge and put a gap on the field that couldn't be fixed by any response.

You obviously need to have the raw fitness to pull off a move like that, but Blanks' understanding of the race scenario highlights his potentially improved tactical acumen. I love the boldness to go when he did and clearly, that risk paid off.

1. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (76 points)

Do I really have to talk about NAU? Like at all? They were very clearly the better team and everyone ran up to par with our expectations (for the most part).

Nico Young (2nd), Drew Bosley (8th) and Aaron Las Heras (12th) were lethal low-sticks as expected while Theo Quax (25th) and Santiago Prosser (29th) were easily the best fourth and fifth scorers in the field by a heavy margin. Every other Lumberjack finished inside the top-70.

There's not much else to say here. NAU is elite and Oklahoma State is probably the only team that can challenge them. They ran well, but we didn't learn anything new.

2. BYU Cougars (162 points)

For a team that is without Casey Clinger and Davin Thompson, you have to be impressed by the number of top scoring options that the BYU men were able to flex in this race.

Creed Thompson (10th) provided a huge low-stick result after an unexciting rust-buster race a few weeks back. Joey Nokes (13th), meanwhile, had a very strong race that surprised pretty much no one.

The rest of this team wasn't crazy flashy, but they all did their jobs incredibly well. Kenneth Rooks (31st), James Corrigan (44th) and Aidan Troutner (64th) were all plenty solid (some more than others), although none of them gave BYU any legitimate low-stick value in the same way that Davin Thompson or Clinger would have.

Either way, BYU remains a podium favorite and I don't think anyone is shocked by this result.

3. Syracuse Orange (251 points)

After losing a few strong men from a talented 2022 lineup, we believed that the Orange would still be a competitive team that would fare well in a handful of fields this fall.

And while their performance at the Virginia Invitational was better than I expected, I wouldn't have guessed that they would place 3rd in a field as loaded as this, especially with Nathan Lawler not being a scorer.

Perry Mackinnon (19th) and Paul O'Donnell (20th) offered this team an excellent 1-2 punch, giving the Syracuse men more upfront scoring potency than we expected. Not only that, but Sam Lawler (34th) had the race of his life, giving the Orange a valuable lead trio.

Alex Comerford (74th) and Matthew Scrape (106th) ultimately did enough to get by. Those were great results despite Assaf Harari having an "off" day. I don't know how Coach Brien Bell is doing it, but this team is seemingly immune to setbacks and it showed in Madison, Wisconsin.

4. California Baptist Lancers (272 points)

I'll fully admit, I was not nearly as high on the California Baptist men as a few other people were. I do think my cautiousness was justified -- they easily defeated a relatively unexciting field at the Griak Invitational -- but I just wanted to see them to validate that early-season win.

Update: They did that and then some.

What's interesting about the Lancers is that they didn't have a crazy amount of firepower or low-stick scoring prowess. They did, however, have a complete top-five that collectively brought great value and was void of flaws.

Arturs Medveds (23rd) certainly gave this team an upfront scoring edge, but it was Giedrius Valincius, Matias Reynaga, Rikus Van Niekerk and Valentin Soca who went 48-57-69-76, respectively. Altogether, that was good enough for a program-defining 4th place finish.

Admittedly, the depth on this team after five men takes a steep drop-off, leaving the Lancers with very little room for error. The good news is that CBU does have a fairly interchangeable top-five as far as their order is concerned.

Well done, Coach Adam Tribble. He has wasted no time in making this program a legitimate problem for their opponents after officially moving up to the Division One scene last year (after a four year waiting period).

5. Texas Longhorns (286 points)

If you had told me that the Texas men finished 5th in this race and I didn't see the results, then I would have assumed that their top-four of Devin Hart, Haftu Knight, Isaac Alonzo and Rodger Rivera were the headline scorers of this team.

That, however, is only partially true.

Hart (17th) was outstanding. His introduction to this program has been huge for a Texas team that has quietly assembled some great pieces as of late. Alonzo (46th) and Rivera (50th) were also great, emerging as the valuable lead scorers that we knew they could be.

However, Haftu Knight, the lone All-American on this team, simply had a bad day and fell back in the results. Instead, we saw sophomore Emmanuel Sgouros (67th) put together what feels like a breakout race (to some extent).

With Nathanael Berhane (107th) closing out the team's top-five reasonably quick, you have to be excited about this Texas team moving forward. Not only can they be a top-10 team in November, but they might actually be favored to be a top-10 at the national meet if Knight is in top form.

6. Harvard Crimson (287 points)

Well, I said on the Blue Oval Podcast that my "bold prediction" was that Harvard would place in the top-10, more specifically 8th place. And yet, as it turns out, that prediction wasn't bold enough.

Blanks (1st) is awesome and Acer Iverson (36th) continues to offer underrated scoring value to this team. However, what we didn't expect to see was Ben Rosa, Joe Ewing and Shane Brosnan go 60-94-98, respectively, in the overall results.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Harvard men may actually have (some) depth!

I'll admit, if the Crimson were going to run as well as they just did, then this is not how I expected them to do it. Ben Rosa and Joe Ewing both turned out to be far more impactful for this team compared to a few others who I thought would take a leap.

It's not perfect, but Harvard has to be very happy with this result.

7. Colorado Buffaloes (312 points)

Now THIS is what we were expecting to see from Colorado. After a fairly underwhelming effort at the Virginia Invitational, it was hard to see where/how the Buffaloes were going to make significant improvements in their scoring.

Their fix? Just running better than last time.

Isaiah Givens (24th) was a pleasant surprise as Colorado's lead scorer while Austin Vancil (35th) continued to offer steady and solid scoring value as well. The rest of this scoring group -- James Overberg, Paul Stafford and Noah Hibbard -- collectively came together to finish in spots 79-88-89, respectively.

With an improved scoring presence at the front of their lineup and the backend of their top-five looking MUCH tighter than last time, the Buffs are beginning to look like the team that we thought they would be in then preseason.

They still need to make a few improvements at other areas in their lineup, but they're back in the top-10 conversation.

8. Villanova Wildcats (373 points)

We said this in our meet preview, but the Villanova men have very little margin for error. If someone has a bad day, then it's going to be very hard for the Wildcats to make up for them in the scoring. Luckily, the men from just outside of Philadelphia had a performance that was only "slightly disappointing" rather than something much worse.

Liam Murphy (21st) was as good as advertised. Haftu Strintzos (52nd), however, wasn't quite as potent of a scorer as we thought he could, although he still offered solid value. The projected third scorer on this team, Marco Langon, faded to 110th place, but Ryan Kredell (77th) was better than expected which counterbalanced some of the lost scoring. Xian Shivley (116th) closed out the team scoring.

Villanova is probably better than what they showed on Friday. However, just because we think they can improve moving forward doesn't necessarily mean they ran poorly. A top-10 finish in this field is no joke.

9. Furman Paladins (394 points)

The Furman men were 8th at the Joe Piane Invitational (which was bad). But on Friday, they placed 9th at the Nuttycombe Invitational (which was incredible).

I cannot possibly remember the last time I saw a team pull off that kind of turnaround between meets in a single season. It's night and day. The 8th place team at Joe Piane (at least for this year) should not have come anywhere close to the top-10 standings at the Nuttycombe Invite.

But obviously, Furman doesn't really care what I think.

Dylan Schubert (26th) had a fantastic rebound race, Cameron Ponder (58th) is climbing back into top form, Carson Williams (72nd) could have been even better despite offering great scoring value, David Ahlmeyer (103rd) may have had the most impactful race of his career and Nick Goldstein (139th) clearly took a step up.

I don't know how much more analysis I could offer about this team, mainly because this kind of turnaround is unprecedented. I'm not entirely sure what to expect from the Paladins moving forward, but wow was this a heckuva rebound.

10. North Carolina Tar Heels (399 points)

From a scoring structure perspective, no team was more interesting than the UNC men.

Through three runners, the Tar Heels were incredible. The combination of Parker Wolfe (7th), Alex Phillip (11th) and Ethan Strand (27th) gave this team an outstanding scoring trio. That was the second-best top-three in the field behind only Northern Arizona.

The problem, however, is that North Carolina's final two scorers finished 160th and 204th...which was obviously not great.

Jake Gebhardt was quietly great at the Virginia Invitational and acted a strong fourth scoring option for North Carolina. He clearly had a bad day, but at least he has the proven talent to be better in the future.

The final scoring spot in this lineup remains as a major issue. However, at the same time, there remains enough firepower with this team's top-three (and maybe top-four) to be competitive in most meets.

Of course, UNC's ceiling will only go as high as their backend allows it to go.

11. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (399 points)

The fact that Notre Dame tied with North Carolina for 10th place despite posting the results that they did is actually pretty impressive.

Josh Methner (39th) put forth a strong effort and Ethan Coleman (59th) deserves a nod of respect as well. Carter Solomon, however, put together his second not-so-great race of the season, at least for someone of his caliber. A 66th place finish still helped the Fighting Irish, but it's clear that he hasn't been the same low-stick that he was last year.

CJ Singleton (111th) and Jake Renfree (126th) were decent enough, but generally speaking, we were looking for a lot more scoring out of a handful men in this lineup. However, like I said earlier, the silver lining is that despite dealing with some of these scoring woes, Notre Dame still remained fairly competitive.

12. Princeton Tigers (417 points)

When it came to the Princeton men, my analysis of them was quite clear. The Tigers have fantastic depth, which should be a major help in a field of this size, but their firepower was certainly lacking.

So which aspect would win out?

The answer would be the former.

The combination of Nicholas Bendtsen, Connor Nisbet, Myles Hogan, Daniel O'Brien and Jarrett Kirk went 42-81-90-91-117, respectively. That isn't exactly a flashy top-five, but it clearly didn't need to be. Princeton packed the top-100 spots with four of their scorers and Kirk was clearly good enough to cap things at the backend.

Not having Anthony Monte for this race is also significant. If he's able to come back and provide the value that we know he can, then Princeton is more dangerous than what they showed on Friday.

13. Iowa State Cyclones (426 points)

This was a fine race for Iowa State, and it was a bit better than what they showed at the Virginia Invitational, but based on who they beat, I'm not exactly stunned, either.

Said Mechaal (15th) continues to emerge as an outstanding low-stick for an Iowa State team that would have been in major need of firepower if he hadn't transferred in. Sanele Masondo (80th) and Gable Sieperda (87th) had respectable outings and you could maybe say the same thing about Ezekiel Rop (114th). However, with no one else in the top-130, there was only so much that the Cyclones could do.

Despite all of that, I'm actually pleasantly surprised that Iowa State snagged 13th place. I feel like there are a handful of men who are more talented than they showed. They need to bridge the gap between Mechaal and everyone else, but for now, this was a solid effort that will give them the Kolas points that they missed out on last year.

14. New Mexico Lobos (427 points)

Alright, SO!

Habtom Samuel Keleta (3rd) is really, really, really good. But we already knew that.

Evans Kiplagat (18th) is a legitimate low-stick who offers great firepower.

Lukas Kiprop (45th) may be more of a high-end support scorer, although it feels like the jury is still out on his potential. He may be better than what he showed on Friday.

The Lobos were fantastic, as expected, through their top-three. Of course, depth is still a significant issue as the team's final two scorers placed 156th and 215th. I still believe that Jonathan Carmin (217th) can be a valuable fourth scorer. But regardless, New Mexico took home a strong finish in spite of their backend limitations.

Everything that we've ever explained with Alabama can largely be applied to New Mexico. They have enough firepower to get by, but their final two scorers are going to be the determinants as to how far they go.

15. Michigan Wolverines (427 points)

This is one of the least surprising results of the meet. When you look at Michigan's lineup structure, it's essentially no different than how we described it in the preseason.

Tom Brady (37th) continues to be a strong lead scorer and Nick Foster (73rd) was fairly solid in his own right. The combination of Luke Venhuizen, Owen MacKenzie and Caleb Jarema went 100-108-113, respectively, to close out the team's scoring.

I can't say that this top-five scoring group was super exciting, but they went out, executed and produced a result that was a couple of spots higher than where I was expecting them to finish. For the most part, I'd say it was a successful day for the men of Big Blue.

16. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (430 points)

Truthfully, the Wake Forest squad that we saw at the Nuttycombe Invite was pretty much the same exact team that we saw at the Virginia Invitational.

Rocky Hansen (6th) was elite and Joseph O'Brien (62nd) provided some very solid support at the secondary scoring spot. Gavin Ehlers (96th) had a nice race to stabilize the middle of the lineup while Hunter Jones (133rd) held his own and Luke Tewalt (136th) had another "off" day.

The Demon Deacons are a significantly better team than what they have showed so far this fall, mainly because Tewalt is someone who should be a star low-stick for them. But instead, he's finding himself at the middle and backend portions of this lineup. You could also argue that Charlie Sprott will be better after seeing how well he ran at UVA.

The good news is that Wake Forest at least knows that they have the talent to be better at future meets like the ACC XC Championships and even the national meet (assuming they qualify). If everyone runs at their best, the Demon Deacons aren't easy to beat.

Oh, and before I move on...Rocky Hansen is so, so, so, so good.

Alright, that's it.

17. Eastern Kentucky Colonels (437 points)

I like to think that my pre-race analysis for Eastern Kentucky was spot on.

Mohammed Jouhari (40th) proved that he was better than what he showed at the Virginia Invitational. Ahmed Kadri (68th) and Abdelhakim Abouzouhir (72nd) kept things fairly stable at the middle portion of this lineup.

A freshman as inexperienced as Taha Er Raouy (115th) likely had some challenges with a bigger field, but held on to be a scorer. Keeton Thornsberry (145th) rounded out the top-five.

This is a fairly predictable lineup which isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing. They have some respectable pieces across the board who should be strong enough to get EKU to the national meet, but I'm not quite sure how high their ceiling is this fall.