The Group Chat (D2): Is Elias Bergman a Low-Stick? Plus, Griak Invite & Bill Rose Classic Reactions

Written by Grace McLaughlin, Marissa Kuik & Gavin Struve

Questions, edits and additional commentary via Gavin Struve

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We're still in the month of September, but the 2023 cross country season has already given us a handful of interesting results to analyze! Below, we posed a handful of questions to a few of our D2 writers and aimed to get their takes on a small list of early-fall performances....

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After seeing Elias Bergman’s performance at the MSU Spartan Invitational (6th), do the Grand Valley State men have a new low-stick?

Gavin: While I’m wary of exalting a new contributor so soon, I truthfully don’t feel too worried about getting burned by Bergman possibly underperforming in the future. While he’s new to the Lakers’ varsity lineup, he’s actually a senior and has been training with this distance powerhouse for several years.

Bergman beat some high-level names across divisions in the NCAA, including his more-acclaimed teammates, in East Lansing. Knowing that, it's difficult to envision him falling back to Earth in any major way. This result feels more like an emergence than a flash in the pan.

That said, GVSU would be wise to not rely solely on Bergman as their week-in, week-out lead scorer, because they have several more experienced and accomplished men capable of carrying those expectations.

Either way, the Lakers seem to have added a new ceiling-raising talent to the mix.

Grace: While Bergman’s performance was impressive and he finished ahead of several of his talented teammates, I think I need to see another similar performance from the Laker runner before claiming him to be a new low-stick.

Bergman’s performance solidified him as one of Grand Valley State’s top runners, but with it being an early-season race and not a terribly competitive meet (depending on who you ask), I think we need to see more from both him and his teammates before counting on him to lead this program over the next couple of months.

That being said, with this progression, I would not be surprised if Bergman continued his momentum and led his team in their next few races. I predict that we could see something similar to fellow Laker Natalie Graber’s breakthrough from early last season.

Marissa: Elias Bergman performed exceptionally well at the MSU Spartan Invite, and as an early-season race, it's good to see Grand Valley State have another talented runner finish up towards the top of the field.

However, I do not believe he is a true low-stick (yet), largely because he was not clearly in front of the rest of his team. The rest of the Lakers’ squad finished fairly close behind him, meaning that anyone could be Grand Valley State’s top runner in a given race based just on those results.

Last year, Tanner Chada proved to be the true low-stick for the team after he easily won this race and finished over 45 seconds ahead of his next-best teammate. Bergman is not at the same level as Chada (no one can blame him for that) or close to being a singular, unchallenged low-stick for this team, at least not yet.

It’s early on in the season and Bergman is coming off of a pretty solid track season last, so he has the potential to turn into a top low-stick for the team if he continues to progress like this. Regardless of what he does this season, the Lakers look to be in really good shape and may not even need an elite front-runner in order to perform well throughout the rest of the fall.

Which team is poised for a stronger rebound this fall after the Griak Invitational: the Wayne State (MI) women or the Augustana (SD) men?

Gavin: I was more bullish on the Wayne State (MI) women preseason, so I’ll stick with them for my answer here.

It doesn’t hurt that the Warriors have the deeper and more interchangeable lineup comparatively as well as more room for improvement when considering how well Augustana’s low-stick stars ran in Minnesota.

The Vikings may hold a more recent history of success, but the Warriors, who are perhaps less accustomed to major races at this level of talent, should be able to rely on their depth and rally to run as more of a collective unit as they seek to progress in the near future.

Grace: As a whole, the Wayne State (MI) women are a solid team. We were a bit cautious in our preseason rankings with the Warriors due to their lack of firepower up front. However, as the Griak results showed, this lineup structure works well for them and Reagan Justice’s top-10 finish was promising.

The Warrior women finished behind Division Two powerhouses in Augustana (SD) and U-Mary and ahead of Minnesota State. This result was in line with my personal expectations for them given their returners and results from last season.

With that thought, I’m not totally confident in saying that the Warriors will be better than they were last year, but this result was far from terrible and it at least indicates that they could be just as good depending on how they progress.

Marissa: I was a little surprised that Wayne State (MI) finished behind U-Mary. Though the Marauders have been a strong team in the past, they struggled last fall. They also did not show a ton of improvement during the track season aside from Alyssa Becker who did run some exceptionally fast times on the oval.

The women of Wayne State (MI) still ran well at the Griak Invitational, and U-Mary obviously is a team on the rise this season, but I also think U-Mary is a team that the Warriors should (and need to) beat if they are going to improve on 2022 fall campaign.

Overall, I think the Augustana men have a better chance of rebounding. This team has always proven that they can compete well in larger races. At least at the front of their lineup, the Vikings showed that they have the potential to be that team again this year.

Augustana obviously needs improvement from their fourth and fifth runners to make their traditionally tight spread even sturdier, but the team has strong front-runners in Ryan Hartman and Colten Brand who can keep this group nationally competitive.

After winning the “Maroon” race at the Griak Invitational, do you view the Augustana (SD) women as a top-10 team? Why or why not?

Gavin: I’m usually hesitant to make a knee jerk reaction, but I don’t think this qualifies as one.

The Vikings beat a pair of teams occupying the same “Just Missed” portion of our TSR preseason top-10 team rankings: Wayne State (MI) and Minnesota State. And they did so by a considerable margin to boot.

And the way in which Augie achieved it — with a dose of unexpected up-front scoring from Aubrey Surage and enviable depth rounded out by two freshmen backend scorers — feels relatively sustainable.

While Surage and rookies Ashley Overgaauw and Amanda Overgaauw have not been in this position before, they don’t need to be perfect for Augustana to outperform their preseason expectations. They should grow more comfortable as they gain more high-level experience.

Grace: I am going to say that the Vikings are a top-10 team based on their performance at the Invitational Griak. As Gavin mentioned, they beat two “Just Missed” teams by nearly 30 points which I think has to solidify a spot for them in our top-10 rankings.

On top of their margin of victory, they put five women in the top-25. While these women are not super experienced, Augustana has a history of excellence and these women clearly stepped up to cover the losses in their lineup from last season.

We’ve underestimated the Viking women before, but this performance showed us that they might not be in a “rebuilding year” as much as we thought.

Marissa: The Vikings definitely deserve a top-10 ranking after their performance at Griak.

Surage is turning into a true ace for the Vikings after being a member of this team for a few seasons now. That's something that this squad will need after the departure of some of their top runners. The rest of this group looked really good as well. They all finished fairly close to each other, and with the help of two freshmen at the backend of their scoring five, Augustana looks like they could return to the top-10 once more.

This is a consistent program when it comes to finishing well at big championship-level races and the main concern I had for them entering this season was who was going to fill in the empty holes left from the graduating seniors and/or transfers.

But this performance at the Griak Invitational almost takes away my concerns altogether, and I think that they have the runners to fill in those gaps.

What’s one impressive individual result that you think may be flying under the radar?

Gavin: It wasn’t a surprising outcome, but Cole Nash’s win over a solid Bill Roe XC Classic field felt like it validated his TSR #4 placement in our preseason top-25 individual rankings. That’s true if only because it was his first time winning the meet.

It's hard to get an exact idea of where Nash belongs in the national picture until the cross country national meet, but that doesn’t mean that his regular season success should pass by unrecognized. And it’s not like we don’t know that he can produce in a major way on the national stage when the time comes.

Grace: This result might not be totally flying under the radar, but I think it is worth mentioning. We’ve been excited about the addition of Ana Tucker to Grand Valley State and so far, she has lived up to the hype, specifically in her first race in a Lakers singlet.

Tucker placed 4th overall at the Auto-Owners Spartan Invitational (formerly the MSU Spartan Invitational), sandwiched between teammates Lauren Kiley and Natalie Graber. That performance shows us that she is already a huge low-stick contributor for her team and that her transition to Division Two was not only seamless, but possibly even better than we thought it would be.

Marissa: Minnesota State’s Tanner Maiar’s performance flew under the radar for me. Usually considered a middle distance guy, Maiar pulled out a 3rd place finish in the Roy Griak “Maroon” race, showing a clear improvement in fitness.

Though the men’s team of Minnesota State may not be a contender for any team titles at the cross country national meet, Maiar could come away with an All-American spot on the grass if he continues to build on his current momentum.

Between the WWU Bill Roe Invite and PLU Invitational, which team or individual has been the most impressive in the Pacific Northwest?

Gavin: There are too many breakout individuals to choose from among these quietly-strong contests in Washington state.

With props to Trinity Western’s Constance Nankivell, who has dominated NCAA competition while venturing from her Canadien-based U Sports post, I think that the answer is Johan Correa of Central Washington.

The Evergreen State native was a not insignificant prep recruit, but spent his first few collegiate years in the JUCO ranks. And while he ran a strong mark of 1:50 (800) last spring, Correa wasted little time reintroducing himself to the distance running community this fall, at least for those paying attention.

He has won each of his first two races of the season with impressive times, most recently at the PLU Invitational. Watch out for Correa to emerge as a national-caliber low-stick threat over the coming months. We’ve known that the talent is there for awhile, but we’re finally seeing it play out on a stage that is befitting the new Wildcat’s ability.

Grace: With Gavin covering a breakout performance on the men’s side, I’ll go ahead and cover some of the strong performances from Division Two women.

At the WWU Bill Row Classic, we got to see Rosie Fordham and Kendall Kramer of Alaska Fairbanks in action again, and they appear to be in a good spot fitness-wise for the beginning of the fall season. Their 3rd and 4th place finishes, respectively, were in line with expectations, so I wouldn’t say these were the most impressive performances in the PNW recently, but they were solid and deserve a mention, nonetheless.

Cassidy Walchak-Sloan of Saint Martin’s and Ashley Reeck of Western Washington are two other names to keep an eye on after their top-10 finishes at the Bill Roe Classic. Once again, I think this was a solid breakthrough in fitness for both of them, but it's not my pick for the most impressive result from the Evergreen State thus far.

I’ve always loved a good comeback story, and I think my pick for best performance between these two meets has to be Annika Esvelt of Seattle Pacific.

Esvelt was an All-American in cross country back in 2021 and a two-time All-American on the track in 2022. Her season was cut short last fall and she struggled on the track, but her two performances thus far this season show glimpses of the talent that we’ve seen from Esvelt before.

Her runner-up finish at the PLU Invitational and 9th place finish at the WWU Bill Roe Classic are more aligned with what we would expect out of Esvelt compared to her performances from last year. The Falcon junior’s current trajectory is promising, and these two performances make her my pick for “most impressive” in the Pacific Northwest so far this season.

Marissa: I agree with Grace that Annika Esvelt had a huge performance last weekend.

She was one of the top talents during the 2022 track season, but has seemingly struggled since then. It’s nice to see her racing up front for the last couple of meets and I hope that she can keep building on this to complete her comeback after a tough last year.

Team-wise, I think the Western Washington men are quietly putting together a promising season. They are one of those teams that do not necessarily have a true front-runner, but their spread is exceptional.

As WWU continues to battle some of the top talent in the West region, we will likely get a better idea of how close they can keep their scoring five together in fields that are far more top-heavy and flat-out better. However, so far, the Vikings are proving that they can run with the best, even in a competitive region.

Who had the better low-stick result at UC Riverside relative to expectations: Nixon Korir (Azusa Pacific) or Daniel Echeveste (Cal Poly Pomona)?

Gavin: While Nixon Korir (14th) is not yet a true star-caliber talent either, and both results were pleasantly surprising, Daniel Echeveste (17th) was relatively better based on what we already knew about him.

This is someone whose biggest achievement to date was arguably competing at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships where he finished 209th. And yet, at UC Riverside, he found himself mixing it up with the top runners of some formidable programs across the NCAA landscape and helping his team to a 5th place finish with a 17th place result.

Perhaps we should have seen a surge on the grass coming from someone who ran 14:21 (5k) and 4:11 (mile) during the spring, but Echeveste was even further off of my radar than Korir entering this season. It looks like Cal Poly Pomona could be squaring off with Azusa Pacific a few times this season which could give us a few more similar data points to evaluate.

Grace: Relative to expectations, I think that I also have to go with Daniel Echeveste of Cal Poly Pomona.

I would say both results are breakthrough performances for these men, at least in cross country, but I would not have expected Echeveste to be anywhere near the top-20 at this meet based on his TFFRS profile.

He’s been solid in the past, boasting a 35th place finish at D2 Pre-Nationals and a 33rd place finish at the West Regional XC Championships from last season, but his mid-September effort shows a clear jump in his fitness and competitive capabilities.

Looking ahead, Cal Poly Pomona appears to have a new front-runner in Echeveste and his momentum is a great asset to have for this up-and-coming program.

Marissa: I have to go with Echeveste as well.

Korir’s results were good, but expected. He has been a strong talent for Azusa Pacific and finished 5th at the outdoor national meet in the steeplechase, so it is no surprise as to how he is performing now on the grass.

Echeveste’s performance was not a total surprise, but it was one that was not totally expected, either. He ran some decent track times earlier this year, but his 2022 fall campaign left a little to be desired.

The Cal Poly Pomona talent did not make it to the cross country national meet last fall, so to see him so close to Korir is not what I expected.

After finishing 1-2 ahead of some big names at the Missouri Southern Stampede, where do Aspel Kiprob (East Central) and Talel Khalfi (Tiffin) fit in the Division Two landscape?

Gavin: It feels unfair to say that these men fit anywhere other than squarely in the All-American mix after taking down talents like Andrew Amor, Jan Lukas Becker, Gidieon Kimutai, Noah McIntyre and Donald Kibet, among others.

Fortunately for Kiprob and Khalfi, further inspection validates the notion that these results were in line with what these two men were capable of (rather than being one-race wonders). Khalfi has begun this season on a tear, winning his first 8k race by nearly a minute in 23:40. Separately, Kiprob was a major talent on the JUCO scene where he won the 2021 half marathon national title.

Based on that information, it shouldn’t be a shock these two are experiencing this kind of fast success at the NCAA level. Calling them "All-American favorites" seems fair at this point.

Grace: Taking into account the names that Kiprob and Khalfi took down at the Missouri Southern Stampede, I think that they have both proven that they’re capable of top-25 finishes at the cross country national meet.

As Gavin said, with the resumes that these men have, their emergence as top talents in Division Two is not terribly surprising. Even so, having tangible results which prove that they can beat some of our top-ranked men certainly helps the argument. This duo has made it very clear that they will shake up the Division Two scene this season.

Marissa: Similar to what Gavin and Grace said, when looking at the names they took down, Kiprob and Khalfi have to be in the conversation for an All-American finish at the cross country national meet. They beat Amor who is definitely on a tear this season and could be one of the top names to watch out for the rest of the fall campaign.

However, the really unexpected name who they took down was Jan Lukas Becker who finished 6th. Becker is one of the top talents in all of Division Two who is returning from last year, so a win over him puts both of their names in an entirely new conversation.