First Thoughts (Men): Stanford Makes Statement, Robinson Edges Young, BYU Thrives Without Clinger

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1. Stanford Cardinal (54 points)

So...Stanford is going to win the national title, huh?

In 2019, we declared the Stanford men as the best team in the NCAA, listing them at TSR #1 in our preseason team rankings. That, however, turned out to be a mistake as the Cardinal faltered throughout the season and then didn't even finish on the podium.

But as it turns out, we were just three years too early.

Ky Robinson (1st), Charles Hicks (3rd) and Cole Sprout (7th) are good. Really good.

Either of those men could realistically win the individual national title in November.

But if you're a TSR reader, or even just a fan of this sport, then you probably know that the Robinson-Hicks-Sprout trio is one of the best three-headed scoring monsters that the NCAA has ever seen.

Are we all clear on that? Cool, let's move to the stuff that we're still trying to figure out.

Thomas Boyden and Robert DiDonato were the third and fourth scorers for a Robinson-less Stanford team at the Cowboy Jamboree, finishing 16th and 21st, respectively. In theory, they were supposed to be the final two scorers for the Cardinal on Friday.

But then DiDonato faded to 111th and Boyden faltered to 119th place. The two backend Stanford scorers were suddenly non-factors for the Cardinal men, leaving us wondering who was going to fill-in the rest of this scoring group.

Well, Devin Hart answered those questions with a MONSTER 13th place finish which was beyond impressive. He was a solid backend contributor in the past, but he went from, "Oh he's pretty good" to "Oh my gosh, he might be one of the 30-best runners in the NCAA."

With Stanford effectively boasting four elite low-sticks, it didn't matter too much how their final scorer performed as long as they didn't totally collapse. But Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau ran well anyway, scoring a massive 30th place finish to close-out the Cardinal's scoring and basically shutting out any other team from contending with them.

Here's the thing: On paper, Stanford has all of the necessary pieces to win NCAA gold come November. That much we know.

If Boyden and DiDonato don't run well, then at least Hart and Beaudoin-Rousseau can fill their spots (and vice versa). But Hart was only 75th at the Cowboy Jamboree, Beaudoin-Rousseau was 15th at the University of San Francisco Invitational (which may have been a conservative effort) and both Boyden and DiDonato just struggled mightily on Friday.

Having that much inconsistency in the final two scoring spots of this lineup is slightly concerning. But all Stanford needs is just two of their four backend scorers to run to their full potential. If that happens, then they should win it all in Stillwater, Oklahoma one month from now...I think.

2. BYU Cougars (89 points)

I am SO impressed by the BYU men.

I'm not sure the last time I saw pack-running this strong in a field that was this good. Maybe the Notre Dame men at the winter cross country national meet, but...this was exceptional.

The combination of Joey Nokes, Brandon Garnica, Aidan Troutner, Creed Thompson and Davin Thompson went 15-16-17-20-21, respectively, in an overwhelming display of scoring.

And here's my favorite stat of the day which I feel compelled to put in all caps: THE BYU MEN HAD A 1.9 SECOND TIME-SPREAD BETWEEN THEIR TOP-FIVE SCORERS ON FRIDAY.

Have you EVER seen a time-spread like that? In this kind of race??? I've been covering this sport for about seven years now and I don't think I have ever seen a top-five time-spread as compact as that.

And if you're an observant distance running fan, then you'll also notice that this team was without their best runner, Casey Clinger. For whatever reason, he didn't toe the line on Friday...but honestly, it didn't matter.

Even if Clinger had won this race, Stanford still would have won this race by over 10 points (after displacement), making the Cardinal's victory that much more impressive.

But there's one more name who we failed to mention in the initial publication of this article: Christian Allen.

The Weber State graduate transfer and two-time top-20 All-American ALSO didn't race on Friday which is a HUGE deal. This means that BYU just put five men in the top-21 at Nuttycombe without their two best runners.

But if Clinger was in this race and had won, then Allen would have had to finish 7th in order for BYU to simply tie with Stanford at 62 points (after you factor-in displacement). And even in that tie-breaking scenario, the Cardinal still take home the win.

It would also be quite a lot to ask Clinger to win this race AND for Allen to be a top-seven finisher. Both of those individual scenarios would have been possible, but it still would have been a monumental effort by both men.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of the Cougars' performance on Friday. So many guys had to have (some of) the best cross country races of their career in order for BYU to have this kind of success.

Troutner and the Thompson brothers had never been this good before (although Davin Thompson ran fairly well at the Cowboy Jamboree), Garnica has been battling some career-long inconsistencies and Nokes is in the middle of a breakout season.

And yet, regardless of those hurdles, BYU came through on a major stage and flexed their phenomenal scoring prowess.

Could the Cougars eventually win the national title? Yes, absolutely. They're not favored in the same way that Stanford is, but the floor for BYU might be higher than any other team.

If they can run this well without Clinger, then what happens when he returns to the Cougars' lineup and one of Stanford's backend scorers has an "off" day?

I'll leave you to answer that question.

3. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (145 points)

I can't believe I'm saying this, but is it time to hit the panic button for Northern Arizona?

Now, before I continue, let's make one thing clear: Hitting the panic button for NAU is not the same as hitting the panic button for literally any other team in the NCAA. Hitting the panic button for the Lumberjacks simply means that we're not sure if they can win the national title this year.

And truthfully, I'm not even willing to definitively say that they CAN'T win the national title this year -- I'm just saying that I'm not entirely sure if they can or will. They're probably not favored for gold anymore, but they could still win it all on the right day.

Nico Young nearly had the overall individual win, but probably started his final gear about 10 meters too early. Regardless, his runner-up result was fantastic. Teammate Drew Bosley was also excellent, running strong the entire way and crossing the finish line in 5th place.

But for as good as that NAU duo was, the rest of their lineup simply wasn't able to match Stanford or BYU. Teammate Santiago Prosser earned a promising 33rd place finish, but right away, that result was clearly not enough for the Lumberjacks to contend for the win.

Ryan Raff (45th) and freshman superstar Colin Sahlman (60th) closed out the scoring, forcing Northern Arizona to settle for a 3rd place finish with Air Force just four points behind.

In terms of what these NAU men have done in the past, I feel confident when I say that pretty much everyone outside Young, Bosley and Prosser did not run well. Pretty much everyone else in this varsity group (which includes Sahlman) has at least shown the capability to be dramatically better in future races.

And that should be a good sign for the Lumberjacks!

But the fact that most of these men haven't run to their full potential halfway through the season is worrisome for their national title hopes.

Will they probably be better on the national stage?

Yes, almost certainly.

Will it be enough to contend for a national title?

I'm not sure I'd be willing to say that right now.

4. Air Force Falcons (149 points)

There's always one.

Every year, there is always one team that comes out of absolutely nowhere and blows us away with a jaw-dropping performance. And while everyone knew that the Falcons would be a very talented team in 2022, I don't think anyone saw them finishing 4th in this field.

And I might be very wrong when I say this, but I would be surprised if Air Force thought they could finish in the top-five on Friday and four points away from NAU.

But here we are, stunned as ever that this team, without Nick Scheller, was able to convincingly take down the Notre Dame men and legitimately threaten a modern-day dynasty.

Sam Gilman had what was arguably the best cross country race of his career with a 10th place finish. That was a great result, but it wasn't necessarily a complete shock. We already knew how good Gilman is.

However, what we didn't expect was the Falcons running so well (and fairly close) behind him.

Luke Combs recorded a huge 29th place finish while teammate Ethan Marshall was 31st. With Ryan Johnson (39th) and Scott Maison (40th) closing out the scoring, the Falcons were able to put five men across the line before NAU even had four men finish the race.

In fact, the Air Force men actually had SIX men cross the line before NAU had five with Sean Maison snagging an excellent 49th place finish. They even had Bryce Lentz, their seventh man, finish 79th overall!

I don't know what to say. We knew that this team ran well as a cohesive unit, and we felt pretty confident in their depth, but the entirety of this varsity lineup exceeded our expectations in almost every way imaginable.

How do we analyze a team like this? How do we analyze a team where nearly everyone had the best race of their lives? How good could this team be if/when Nick Scheller, last year's 19th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite, returns to this varsity group?

Honestly, I don't have the answers to that, but congrats to Air Force. If they can flex a similar level of dominance at the Mountain West XC Championships, then we'll have no choice but to consider them as true podium contenders...if they're not at that point.

5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (186 points)

No Carlson? No Jacobs? No Nuguse? No Kilrea?

No problem.

The Notre Dame men are just as good as they were last year.

The Irish were due for a few breakout performances on Friday, but I didn't expect Carter Solomon to be contending with the leaders and eventually finish 9th place overall. If anyone was going to be the star low-stick of this team, it was going to be Josh Methner.

But Solomon has made the jump that this team absolutely needs in order to be considered as a podium threat. Now, we just need to see him race closer to this level on a more consistent basis rather than what we saw from him at Joe Piane (where he still earned a respectable 13th place finish overall).

However, for as good as Solomon was, it was the rest of this lineup that really shined in a major way.

Izaiah Steury (28th) is probably the best freshman in the NCAA this fall (right?) thanks to a huge validating performance. Meanwhile, Josh Methner (35th) and Kevin Berry (36th) were outstanding in the middle portion of this lineup.

The fact that Methner and Berry settled as the third and fourth scorers for this team and the Irish still placed 5th overall in this field is super impressive. Methner is probably closer to a top-15 name at his absolute best and Berry could be closer to the top-20.

There was admittedly a bit of a scoring drop-off to their fifth runner, but Quinn Gallagher's 78th place finish was still pretty darn solid.

Not only that, but Matthew Carmody simply had an "off" day. If he runs to his full potential, then he's at least in the top-40 of this field and the Fighting Irish probably edge Air Force. I could also see a scenario where Carter Cheeseman runs a bit better in the future, although I don't know if he's necessarily a scorer yet.

Overall, Notre Dame should be amped about this result. They took down a handful of juggernaut teams and still left room for greater improvement. They may have a star-caliber runner in Carter Solomon and they're only getting better as the season goes on.

I said it earlier this season, but Notre Dame may end up being the last team that I would want to face in the postseason.

6. Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (214 points)

In our TSR Slack group, my fellow podcast co-host Ben Weisel said it best.

"Tulsa is basically BYU without the fifth man."

And he's right!

The Golden Hurricanes were beyond incredible through four runners on Friday, putting together a scoring quartet that sat only behind Stanford and was actually better than what BYU assembled.

Michael Power (11th), Shay McEvoy (14th), Isaac Akers (18th) and Cormac Dalton (19th) each recorded what was likely the top-two cross country finishes of their respective collegiate careers. Each man delivered on their low-stick potential that we knew they had and their scoring potency was second-to-none.

Admittedly, McEvoy was a bit of a surprise. We knew he would be a valuable scorer in 2022, but I don't know if we expected him to be this good.

The problem, of course, is the same thing that we've been harping on since the summer months: Tulsa is still working on their final scorer.

With their fifth man settling for a 155th place finish overall, the Golden Hurricanes' firepower could only take them so far. Placing 6th in this field is, by every measure, a phenomenal accomplishment. But this is a team that likely has podium aspirations, and right now, I don't know if they have a lineup complete enough to put them in the top-four on the national stage.

And yet, at the same time, would I really suggest that Tulsa can't be the 4th place team at the NCAA XC Championships if they end up having four All-Americans? That's hard to imagine.

7. Wisconsin Badgers (221 points)

Bob Liking was fine at the Griak Invitational earlier this season, placing 6th overall, but we couldn't tell if that was a conservative effort or just a modest fall opener to shake off the rust.

Well, it might have been both as Liking battled for the win in the final moments of this race, eventually settling for a fantastic 4th place finish on his home course. I can't say enough good things about how he has progressed over the last year or so.

With Jack Meijer (41st) and Charlie Wheeler (42nd) holding their own, the top-three portion of this lineup looked like it held pretty substantial scoring potency. Evan Bishop (66th) and Rowen Ellenberg (68th) eventually closed out this team's top-five, leaving the Badgers with a very solid and balanced lineup as well as minimal scoring gaps.

But there's a catch: Wisconsin ace Jackson Sharp didn't finish this race.

The Aussie star who has run 7:48 (3k) and 13:33 (5k) could have been one of the better non-low-stick scorers in this race. If he finishes in the top-40, which seems like a more-than-fair projection, then the Badgers jump past Tulsa...but that's it.

For the most part, this finish feels about right. I don't think the Badgers left that much scoring on the table (even with Sharp recording a DNF), and they just simply held their own.

Sometimes, that's all that you can ask for.

8. Colorado Buffaloes (225 points)

I would feel a bit torn if I'm the Colorado men.

Yes, they did settle for an underwhelming 8th place finish in this field after being considered as a potential podium threat during the summer months.

But if you look at these team scores, it's clear that they are closer to the NCAA's main podium contenders than the next tier of teams.

Heck, they beat 9th place Villanova by well over 100 points!

The official season debut of Austin Vancil (21st) went exactly as we had hoped it would and Seth Hirsch (22nd) proved to the country why he was one of the most valuable graduate transfers in the NCAA this past summer.

That 1-2 punch provided crucial scoring value for a Colorado team that didn't have Andrew Kent, their star ace from the Cowboy Jamboree, in the top-40.

Kent settled for a 44th place finish which was still really darn good. With Brendan Fraser placing 62nd and Charlie Sweeney placing 74th, the Buffaloes were able to close out their scoring without any major flaws in their lineup.

And that's why there's no other way to say this: If Colorado wants to be a podium team, then most of these guys just have to be flat-out better. Sure, they may have a super high floor and never truly have a poor outing, but Kent, Fraser and Sweeney are all capable of more.

Would I still give Colorado a shot at the podium?

Yeah, maybe like a 3% or 4% chance, but a lot would need to go their way in the next month in order for that to happen.

9. Villanova Wildcats (343 points)

Good news: I predicted that Villanova would be a top-10 team in this field after a phenomenal Strintzos-less showing at Paul Short.

Bad news: I didn't at all anticipate that their lineup structure would look like this.

At Lehigh University a couple of weeks ago, the Wildcats settled for a runner-up finish behind the North Carolina men by a substantial margin. However, Villanova put four men in the top-10 of that race and their best runner, Haftu Strintzos, didn't toe the line.

And as long as those four men replicated their success at Nuttycombe, then Strintzos would naturally put this team over the top.

But that was only sorta true.

Yes, Strintzos did race and yes, Villanova did earn a top-10 finish on Friday. However, the Wildcats actually had ZERO men in the top-40 of these results.

Strintzos, Jack Jennings and Liam Murphy held their own with finishes of 47th, 50th and 51st, respectively, but Strintzos likely could have been in the top-10 at his best. Meanwhile, Charlie O'Donovan settled for a solid 84th place finish while rookie Marco Langon earned a respectable 112th place result.

In the end, Villanova placed 9th, but they did so with Josh Phillips falling near the bottom of the results. If he runs to his actual potential, then we're likely talking about Villanova cutting off 50 to 60 points from their final score.

That wouldn't have made much of a difference, but it's still important to note.

Last fall, the Wildcats held their own at Paul Short, but then struggled to have everyone run well on the same day after that. And on Friday, Villanova didn't have everyone run at their best, but their depth was far better this time around as their true freshman (Marco Langon) gave this team some scoring support that they didn't have last year.

No, I don't think they're a podium team, but I do think that the Wildcats ran really well and still have a ton of untapped scoring potential that they didn't get to flex in this race.

10. NC State Wildcats (366 points)

This is why you read The Stride Report.

Following NC State's underwhelming 9th place finish at Joe Piane, we preached patience when it came to this Wolfpack squad. We knew that certain men just didn't have their best races and, more importantly, we acknowledged that Hannes Burger and Robinson Snider didn't run.

And sure enough, that latter name made all of the difference on Friday.

Brett Gardner (48th) continued his breakout 2022 campaign, Ian Harrison (53rd) was excellent in his first true test of the season, Robinson Snider (72nd) perfectly filled the lineup gap that we saw from the Wolfpack at Joe Piane, Ian Shanklin (79th) held his own despite being a top-40-caliber talent and Dan McGoey (115th) was solid enough in the final scoring spot.

The NC State men were probably the least-flashiest team in the top-10 of these results. They didn't have anyone in the top-40 and there was a little bit of a lineup gap to their final scorer.

Even so, this team simply went out and got the job done. Sometimes, that's all that you can ask for. And when you consider that Shanklin could have been substantially better, it's hard to really critique this NC State team too heavily.

11. Portland Pilots (367 points)

We ranked the Portland men at TSR #14 during the summer months. Part of that was because we really had no idea what to expect from a completely revamped lineup and the other part was because they had so. many. lineup options.

But when you look at Friday's results, it's hard to really be too shocked their results. Matt Strangio (38th) and Bradley Peloquin (43rd) were probably as good as we had hoped they would be while Princeton graduate transfer, Jacob Kintzele (65th), was a really nice name to bridge the two ends of this scoring group.

With veteran Zak Kirk in 82nd place, the Pilots had a really solid top-four with fairly minimal scoring deficiencies...until their final three varsity runners finished 142nd, 147th and 152nd.

I don't have too much to say about this group. This is roughly what we expected from them. However, not seeing steeplechase superstar Estanis Ruiz in this race leaves us wondering if that fifth scoring spot can be cut down even further.

12. Oregon Ducks (368 points)

I gotta hand it to the Oregon men, they came through when it mattered the most.

We were plenty critical of the Ducks going into this season. Aaron Bienenfeld was obviously going to be the face of this program, but the rest of this lineup was very unproven and very inexperienced.

Bienenfeld settled for a solid 24th place finish on Friday despite being capable of a top-10 finish. However, it was the men behind him who were all better than expected.

Abdinasir Hussein (75th), Cameron Stein (87th), Giuliano Scasso (89th) and Quincy Norman (94th) weren't all that exciting, but as a collective group, they were excellent.

The collective top-five depth of this team proved to be much better than we were expecting them to be. We thought the Ducks would see a few hefty lineup gaps that would send their team score skyrocketing to an excessive point total.

But despite the youth and inexperience of this group, they came together and ran beautifully as a backend unit. It wasn't an exciting tactic, but I don't think the Ducks really care whether or not I think it was exciting. They got the job done when I doubted them, and they did so without their star rookie, Rheinhardt Harrison.

Kudos to Oregon. If they faltered in this race, then they would have been in a really challenging Kolas scenario going into the postseason. That, however, is no longer an issue for them.

13. Syracuse Orange (370 points)

My biggest critique for the Syracuse men over the last couple of years was that they lacked consistency. In 2022, I wanted to see if they could be a nationally competitive team more than once.

That is, if they could even form a competitive lineup to begin with.

Well, after their 8th place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree, that latter concern was put to rest. And following a 13th place finish at Nuttycombe, I now have the necessary results to feel more comfortable about the potential of this team over the next month.

Nathan Lawler's 27th place finish on Friday was the low-stick result that this team needed to truly standout. We also saw Noah Carey record a strong 67th place result. With the final three scorers in this lineup placing 86th, 92nd and 99th overall, it was hard to dislike what this team brought to the table on Friday.

No, they likely don't have the firepower to match Notre Dame at the ACC XC Championships, but Lawler's emergence as a potential front-runner is encouraging and Nathan Henderson could likely be better in the future.

Not only that, but Paul O'Donnell could also play a bigger role in the postseason.

With a top team finish, the rise of a true low-stick, a complete top-five and room to improve, the Syracuse men seem to have significantly more than upside than they do downside.

14. North Carolina Tar Heels (384 points)

Parker Wolfe's 6th place finish is exciting from an individual perspective. He is clearly rising into the elite tier of the NCAA and could maybe, sorta, kinda, possibly contend for a national title one day if he continues to grow and develop at the same rate that he's on right now.

John Tatter (64th) and Marshall Williamson (71st) performed roughly as expected, but the drop-off to North Carolina's final two scorers, who placed 117th and 129th, was significant.

The good news is that we know that Patrick Anderson (who was the Tar Heels' fifth scorer) can be so much better. If he's closer to the top-40 in this race, then UNC is in the same conversation as Villanova.

We're learning this fall that the Tar Heels are far from perfect. However, even though they didn't have everyone running at their best, they still posted a competitive result. If this team is firing on all cylinders, they're tough to take down.

15. Washington Huskies (398 points)

This is a better result than what we saw from Washington at the Cowboy Jamboree, but that's largely because Brian Fay returned to this lineup and finished 34th overall.

Outside of the Irish superstar, the rest of this lineup still didn't wow us.

Isaac Green's 52nd place finish was fairly solid and Luke Houser's 72nd place finish wasn't terrible. However, with no other Huskies finishing in the top-110, and a lack of low-sticks limiting this team's upside, it's admittedly hard to find the same excitement that we had for this team back in the summer.

If Washington is going to be a top-10 team this fall, then their top-three runners all need to cut their scores in half or their bottom-two scorers need to join the top-three men of this scoring group.

16. Utah State Aggies (443 points)

Seeing Camren Todd place 25th overall is an encouraging result. That finish suggests that he's closer to his winter cross country form where he was quietly one of the better distance runners in the NCAA.

Yonas Mogos was also solid with his 85th place finish on Friday.

The final three scorers in this lineup closed out the Aggies scoring by going 106-109-124 in the overall results. That's a fine top-five and that group will at least get this team to the national meet in November (I think).

However, not having Caleb Garnica racing at his top form this fall is limiting the overall ceiling of this team in 2022.

17. Georgetown Hoyas (457 points)

I said that the Georgetown men needed to have a good race on Friday if they wanted to extend their season to the national meet...and I think they did that.

A 17th place finish is far from exciting, but when you look at the teams that they beat, I can't imagine a scenario where they don't get an at-large national qualifying bid if they were to place 3rd in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The Hoyas had a lineup similar to Utah State.

They had a strong low-stick (Parker Stokes in 37th), a respectable secondary scorer (Sean Laidlaw in 88th place), decent third and fourth runners (Shea Weilbaker in 100th and Quinn Nicholson in 102nd) and a fifth scorer who did a good-enough job (Abelt Teffra in 134th).

All Georgetown needs to do this season is continue to show up like they did on Friday. They'll never be the most exciting team in 2022, but replicating these kind of results should get them a bid to the national meet and a top-20 finish on the national stage as certain teams falter from more vulnerable lineup structures.

18. Colorado State Rams (475 points)

Colorado State was a "Just Missed" team in our preseason rankings, but they might have a (very small) argument to be listed in our top-25 after Friday.

Admittedly, not having anyone in the top-60 of these results isn't the greatest thing ever. Still, Thomas Chaston (61st) and Mason Brown (80th) at least held their own. And when see how Lars Mitchell (98th) performed, you'll find that the Rams quietly put three men in the top-100.

With Brock Dykema (118th) and Tom Oates (122nd) closing out CSU's scoring fairly quickly, it's hard to point to anyone in this lineup and say that they need to be significantly better.

Could this team as a whole stand to improve? Definitely. Colorado State could go a long way if everyone in this lineup was just 10 to 15 spots better on Friday. But given the teams that they beat and what their preseason expectations were, this was a really great result for the Rams.

19. Duke Blue Devils (495 points)

I liked the Duke women quite a bit and I also liked the Duke men, although I'll admit, I'm not sure I would have predicted them being a top-20 team in this field.

Chris Theodore (57th) did a really nice job of establishing some scoring at the front of this lineup while Owen MacKenzie (77th) came through in a really big way, posting what might be the best result of his career. Without him, Duke's chances of making it to the national meet probably drop quite a bit (although certainly not to zero).

Because although Zack Kinne (91st) and Sam Rivera (107th) were sneaky-good third and fourth scorers, it was the Blue Devils fifth man, Nick Dahl, who surprisingly faltered back to 167th place. And if MacKenzie wasn't in this race, then the next-best Duke scorer was back in 183rd.

In that scenario, the Blue Devils would have seen their team score inflate to 594 points (after moving everyone else up one spot) and to a 22nd place team finish.

The good news is that Nick Dahl will likely be better in the future, although truthfully, this was probably their most important race of the season.

20. Michigan Wolverines (526 points)

Much like NC State, I told everyone to not panic about the Michigan men after they struggled at Joe Piane and faltered to 8th place overall. That was because the Wolverines never fielded Tom Brady in South Bend, Indiana.

However, unlike NC State, the Michigan men still didn't run all that well on Friday when they fielded a full lineup.

Arjun Jha (46th) and Tom Brady (56th) were a fairly strong 1-2 punch for a team in this range of the results. But with no other teammates in the top-120, and their fifth scorer fading to 175th place, it's understandable why the Jha-Brady scoring duo seemed to be a non-factor for Michigan.

We should note that Nick Foster, who finished 15th at Joe Piane, faded hard in this race. If he runs to his full potential, then the Wolverines look like the team that we know they can be.

Still, it's clear that depth is going to be a major challenge for Big Blue over the next month. The combination of Foster, Jha and Brady all need to run well on the same day if they are going to salvage their season.

21. Harvard Crimson (538 points)

I really don't have much to say here. This is basically what I expected.

Iverson (8th) and Blanks (26th) are an elite scoring duo and David Melville (140th) is a passable third scorer. However, the rest of this lineup is just too far back to have an impact in these kinds of fields. With fourth and fifth scoring results of 179th and 194th overall, the Crimson can only go so far with this lineup structure in 2022.

22. Iowa State Cyclones (543 points)

I'll admit, I was a little surprised to see the Cyclones falter this far from some of the top teams in this field. On paper, we knew that they would be hurt by the departure of numerous All-American scorers from last year's team, but we thought that they at least had enough talent to be in the top-15 conversation.

Ezekiel Rop (55th) and Gable Sieperda (58th) were a respectable 1-2 punch, but with major gaps plaguing the next three scoring spots in this lineup, the Cyclones just flat-out struggled.

I don't believe that this was Iowa State's most accurate indication of their true talent, but I did think that they're top-seven would be more compact and that they would fare relatively well in this kind of field.

23. Michigan State Spartans (608 points)

The Michigan State men tried to experiment and unfortunately for them, it didn't work.

The Spartans had freshman superstar, Riley Hough, and D2 graduate transfer, CarLee Stimpfel, run unattached through the first couple meets of the season. But with Aden Smith showing major promise and Abdifetah Ahmed also running well, it likely made sense to see what kind of damage a fully loaded lineup could do.

But on Friday, Hough was the only bright spot. He finished 81st overall while no one else on his team finished in the top-100 spots. Although, in fairness to Michigan State, they had their entire top-five in the top-160 spots and their top-four in the top-140 spots.

Of course, with almost zero firepower, the Spartans just couldn't separate themselves from the backend of this field.

24. Boise State Broncos (617 points)

The Broncos jumped out to the lead through the first 1000 meters or 2000 meters...and then proceeded to fall way back in the results. And while that approach was maybe a bit too aggressive, I still liked their mentality.

The Broncos wanted to put themselves in the front early-on and see how much their fitness would stick. It didn't really break favorably for them, but I'm very much a believer that Jonathan Shields (105th) and Amed Ibrahim (110th) are much better than their recent results indicate.

Quick Hits

25. Providence Friars (628 points)

I like this team a lot more in theory than I do in actuality. Even so, Marcelo Rocha (59th) is a fairly strong runner and I would not at all be surprised if the Friars ended up being the second automatic qualifying team in the Northeast region.

26. Gonzaga Bulldogs (682 points)

They didn't have James Mwaura or Evan Bates which likely explains this result. However, the same thing could be said about their Cowboy Jamboree performance and they were terrific there.

The good news is that Wil Smith (32nd) validated our suspicions of him being a low-stick and that Yacine Guermali will almost certainly be better in the future.

I'm not looking too heavily into this result for the Bulldogs.

27. Furman Paladins (683 points)

Without Cameron Ponder, the Furman men only have so much upside. However, seeing Dylan Schubert place 12th was phenomenal. This was the breakout performance that I have been rooting for him to have over the last few seasons. He reminds me of former Furman ace Aaron Templeton. I'm excited about his future.

28. Indiana Hoosiers (684 points)

Jake Gebhardt (69th) is a little underrated and Gabriel Sanchez (85th) looks like a future low-stick for this team. But after those two men, the scoring drop-offs were pretty severe and in the end, insurmountable.

29. Iona Gaels (720 points)

Gosh, it's so weird seeing the Iona men fall this far back, but they're at a vulnerable point in their roster's lifecycle and Jamie Dee was a DNF.

30. Florida State Seminoles (788 points)

It's not necessarily a surprise to me that the Florida State men are struggling after losing two star low-sticks from last year. However, I am a little surprised that they can't find more support for Fearghal Curtin (54th). After him, there was a massive drop-off.

31. New Mexico Lobos (791 points)

Believe it or not, there's actually a really exciting core of scorers on this team.

Jonathan Carmin (90th) ran better than expected, Kevin Mulcaire (154th) placed 80th at the NCAA Winter XC Championships during his time at Oklahoma State, Awet Yohannes (153rd) is a decent-ish middle-lineup scorer and Abdirizak Ibrahim (185th) is a two-time cross country All-American.

But with Mulcaire and Ibrahim struggling, the Lobos just didn't have enough scoring support to remain with some of the better teams in this field.

32. Santa Clara Broncos (794 points)

I'm not entirely confident that this was what the Santa Clara men were truly capable of, but I also can't imagine that their ceiling in this field was much higher than 29th place.

33. Minnesota Golden Gophers (987 points)

Someone's gotta finish last.

Unfortunately for Minnesota, it was them.