TSR's 2022 D1 XC Top 50 Individual Rankings (Men): Update #2

Written by Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve

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NOTE: Theses rankings are based on how an individual fares throughout the entirety of a season, not just how they ran at the NCAA XC Championships or at a singular meet.

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KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

First number indicates how much the athlete has moved in the rankings.

The second number indicates where the athlete was ranked in our last update.

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50. Patrick Kiprop, Sophomore, Arkansas (-28 / 22)

Kiprop had a modest runner-up finish at the Chile Pepper XC Festival which we didn't think twice about. However, his 13th place finish at Pre-Nationals this past weekend was not ideal.

Kiprop is supremely talented. He probably has some of the best raw fitness in the NCAA. And for the most part, he has been great during his time with the Razorbacks. But through two races, Kiprop hasn't looked nearly as sharp as we were expecting him to be which is why he drops so far in our rankings.

49. Camren Todd, Junior, Utah State (Unranked)

So far this season, Camren Todd has been outstanding for the Utah State men. Despite struggling during the fall of 2021, Todd has held his own in two nationally competitive meets of the current regular season.

Finishing 3rd at Paul Short was a very encouraging result and finishing 25th at Nuttycombe was another resume-boosting performance as well. And while there are certainly men who have arguments to be ahead of Todd, we can't exactly find too many flaws in his resume so far this season.

Todd still has a long way to go, but he's getting better with each passing meet and is showing some consistency on larger stages. If he keeps this up, then he'll eventually crack our top-40.

48. Shea Foster, Senior, Oklahoma State (-23 / 25)

Shea Foster has not yet raced this season.

47. James Mwaura, Senior, Gonzaga (-28 / 19)

James Mwaura has not yet raced this season.

46. Brian Fay, Senior, Washington (-28 / 18)

In his season debut, Washington veteran Brian Fay held his own with a 34th place finish at Nuttycombe. That was a fine result, and the Huskies certainly needed it, but Fay was expected to be a top-20 finisher on Friday.

For a 13:16 runner over 5000 meters, we feel confident that Fay will be better in the future. However, his resume on the grass is admittedly very limited and it's hard to rank someone who has given us only a handful of data points to look at over two cross country seasons.

45. Aaron Las Heras, Senior, Wake Forest (-11 / 34)

Aaron Las Heras has not raced since our last update.

44. Ian Shanklin, Rs. Senior, NC State (-12 / 32)

A huge 7th place finish at Joe Piane was a result that sent Ian Shanklin skyrocketing up our rankings -- and rightfully so! However, finishing 79th at Nuttycombe isn't the performance that we were hoping to get out of him this past Friday.

There's no denying that Shanklin is talented. You don't finish in the top-10 of a top-heavy Joe Piane field and run 13:23 for 5000 meters on accident.

And while the NC State veteran has had a few moments of inconsistency throughout the last year or so, we're not going to let one race define his ranking (which is both a good or a bad thing for a lot of these men).

43. Seth Hirsch, Senior, Colorado (Unranked)

Trying to rank Hirsch is a little tricky. A lot of people will see his 23rd place finish at Nuttycombe and suggest that he should be ranked higher (and we probably wouldn't argue too much).

However, it's also important to remember that Hirsch settled for an unexciting 63rd place result at the Cowboy Jamboree, another high-caliber, nationally competitive field that is somewhat similar to Nuttycombe.

Hirsch absolutely deserves to be ranked. Finishing in the top-25 of Friday's race is a huge deal, especially for a Colorado team that needs greater scoring at the front of their lineup. However, until we see a bit more consistency, Hirsch will settle in at TSR #43.

42. Hillary Cheruiyot, Sophomore, Alabama (-12 / 30)

After finishing 6th at Joe Piane, Cheruiyot finally had a well-rounded enough resume to be a focal point of our top-50 individual rankings. But our original TSR #30 ranking may have been a bit of an aggressive mark for the Alabama runner in retrospect.

Cheruiyot wasn't bad this past weekend when he toed the line for the Crimson Challenge, but finishing 5th place behind his two teammates, an unattached runner in Ahmed Muhumed and a rising talent in Kirami Yego made it necessary to send him down a few spots.

And with a handful of the top men from Joe Piane also not having their best efforts this past weekend, it was hard to put the same amount of emphasis on Cheruiyot's performance from two weeks ago.

41. Fearghal Curtin, Senior, Florida State (-13 / 28)

No one is going to say that Fearghal Curtin's 54th place finish at Nuttycombe was bad (because it wasn't), but it was far from our expectations. This is a guy who placed 5th at Joe Piane earlier this season and was coming off of a big outdoor track season.

On paper, we expected a lot from this FSU star on Friday.

But Curtin, just like a lot of men in these rankings, deserves to not have one race define him. Finishing in the top-55 at Nuttycombe is still somewhat solid and it's clear that he provides great scoring value in these larger meets.

40. Graham Blanks, Sophomore, Harvard (-13 / 27)

A 13th place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree was super encouraging. We knew Graham Blanks could be a top-tier runner after earning All-American honors last fall, but regular season consistency was a point of emphasis for him as we went into the 2022 cross country season.

A 26th place finish at Nuttycombe is, by most standards, pretty darn good. A lot of teams would even suggest that placing in the top-30 of Friday's field give you the status of being a "true low-stick".

But when comparing Blanks to the Thompson brothers (of BYU), it's hard to say that Blanks should be ranked ahead of those guys. Yes, he beat them at the Cowboy Jamboree, but they beat this Harvard star by a similar number of places at Nuttycombe.

And at this point in the season, we'd probably put 60% of our ranking weight on what we saw at Nuttycombe versus 40% of our ranking weight on what we saw at the Cowboy Jamboree. And even that's just a rough guess.

Regardless, Blanks is a top-40 talent in our eyes and he feels like he fits into this spot fairly well.

39. Austin Vancil, Junior, Colorado (+5 / 44)

We'll be honest, we have no idea how to rank Austin Vancil relative to a few men who beat him at Nuttycombe. Trying to balance his original ranking with his great-but-not-amazing season debut, and the inconsistencies of other top athletes, is admittedly a huge challenge.

Vancil came into this season ranked at TSR #44, and that was because he had run 7:55 (3k), 13:49 (5k) and 28:16 (10k) on the oval. But more importantly, it was because he was 6th at the PAC-12 XC Championships last fall.

Earning a 22nd place finish at Nuttycombe is really good. It was a solid way for him to start his season and it seems to fall in line with what we thought he was capable of.

But should we rank him ahead of guys like Hart, Schubert and the Thompson brothers who beat Vancil on Friday, but were less impressive at the Cowboy Jamboree? And is it fair for us to say that Vancil gets the nod over that group when he has only raced once this season?

We would probably accept most answers to those questions.

In our eyes, Vancil could have been ranked anywhere from TSR #31 for TSR #40. We truthfully have no idea if this is the right position for him, or even if it's the fairest spot, but we have to make hard decisions at times and this is one of those times.

38. Creed Thompson, Sophomore, BYU (Unranked)

37. Davin Thompson, Sophomore, BYU (Unranked)

The first of many BYU men to headline our rankings, the Thompson brothers have proven to be steady and reliable scorers in nationally competitive fields. The duo placed 20th (Davin) and 27th (Creed) at the Cowboy Jamboree before finishing 20th (Creed) and 21st (Davin) at Nuttycombe.

Despite their relative youth, you gotta love the consistency that these two brothers bring to BYU. Together, they give the Cougars the best depth in the NCAA and they keep scoring gaps to a minimum.

In fact, scoring gaps are almost non-existent with them in this lineup.

And while there are certainly men who have beaten them this season who are ranked behind the Thompson brothers, those same men weren't able to edge this duo at the meet that matters slightly more (Nuttycombe).

36. Kirami Yego, Sophomore, South Alabama (Unranked)

Is Kirami Yego one of the most underrated distance runners in the NCAA right now?

He might be, although he hasn't necessarily been running on a ton of big stages to show the country what he's truly capable of.

Back in mid-September at the North Alabama Showcase, Yego secured a very promising 2nd place finish behind only Vincent Kiprop and ahead of his teammate Teagan Flanagan, as well as the rest of the Alabama men.

But that performance was simply a rust-buster that we weren't going to overreact to.

Then, at the Joe Piane Invitational, Yego won the "Gold" race which was largely considered to be the "B" section below the top-tier teams in the meet. However, he won that race by 31 seconds and would have finished 4th in the "Blue" race between Eliud Kipsang and Yaseen Abdalla with the time that he ran.

And if that wasn't enough, Yego went on to finish runner-up at the Crimson Classic, once again losing to only Vincent Kiprop while beating Eliud Kipsang and Hillary Cheruiyot in the process.

Yego is the real deal. There's no doubt about it. He clearly has the raw talent to contend with some of the top men in the country and he's making the most of his opportunities. Admittedly, we're not ranking him any higher until he shows us what he can do in a larger, more competitive field, but so far this season, he has passed every test thrown his way with flying colors.

35. Isaac Akers, Senior, Tulsa (+11 / 46)

The 2021 winter cross country All-American (19th) had a modest season-opener at the Cowboy Jamboree, placing 32nd overall. It was a performance that deserved respect, but it also made us shrug our shoulders and say, "Cool. What else do you have?"

Well, Akers showed us that he still had some of his prior All-American form with a highly encouraging 18th place finish at Nuttycombe.

We don't have much more to say here. We knew that he was probably better than what his Cowboy Jamboree result suggested and it turns out that we were right. Now, we have to see how Akers builds from here and if he replicates a top-40 finish on the national stage come November.

34. Aidan Troutner, Sophomore, BYU (Unranked)

Everything that we said about Austin Vancil (TSR #39) somewhat applies to Aidan Troutner, except this BYU ace finished five spots higher than the Colorado standout did on Friday en route to a 17th place result.

That's a really great performance and it's also, like Vancil, the only recorded performance that Troutner has on his 2022 cross country resume.

But unlike Vancil, this is easily the best race of Troutner's career, regardless of the season. We have never seen him race at this level before and truthfully, many of his past results, while solid, didn't come close to suggesting that he would have a top-20 performance at Nuttycombe.

Don't be mistaken, Troutner has had some respectable times and finishes in past seasons, but seeing his leap into the top-40 portion of our rankings was a surprise -- and a very good one at that!

While we would like to see him validate his recent effort later in the season, specifically at the NCAA XC Championships, it's hard not to be encouraged by Troutner.

33. Brandon Garnica, Senior, BYU (+12 / 45)

This seems like a fair ranking for Brandon Garnica, right?

After struggling (a lot) at the Cowboy Jamboree where he finished 80th overall, Garnica was able to shake off that tough performance and place 16th at Nuttycombe in what felt like a redemptive rebound race for the BYU veteran.

Garnica has struggled with consistency throughout his career, but he also has enough elite performances on his resume to show the country that he belongs with the best runners in the NCAA.

The next mont of competition will be crucial for Garnica as far as his ranking is concerned. The West Coast Conference XC Championships and the Mountain Regional XC Championships shouldn't hold too much emphasis, but a big race at the NCAA XC Championships could send Garnica leaps and bounds ahead of this current ranking.

32. Andrew Kent, Senior, Colorado (-11 / 21)

A 44th place finish at Nuttycombe is hardly an exciting result for someone who is ranked in our top-40. But are we really going to ignore the fact that Andrew Kent placed 8th at the Cowboy Jamboree this season?

That was a monumental result and it gives him some cushion for lesser performances like what we saw from him on Friday.

And of course, let's not be mistaken: Finishing 44th at Nuttycombe is still a great result, but most knowledgable fans of the sport will know that finishing in the top-10 at the Cowboy Jamboree is still the best performance on his resume.

31. Devin Hart, Sophomore, Stanford (Unranked)

30. Dylan Schubert, Sophomore, Furman (Unranked)

I imagine that some Furman and Stanford fans will be a little frustrated with these rankings. That's because Dylan Schubert (12th) and Devin Hart (13th) were phenomenal at Nuttycombe this past Friday, having the best races of their respective careers.

Based strictly on the Nuttycombe results, this duo should be ranked ahead of a few men who they beat in Madison, Wisconsin.

However, as is the case for a handful of men in this week's update, we still need to see far greater consistency from Hart and Schubert when it comes to racing at this level.

Both of these men have shown flashes of brilliance in the past -- Hart has run 7:51 for 3000 meters and Schubert has run 28:52 for 10,000 meters -- but neither runner finished in the top-50 at the Cowboy Jamboree. And for that reason, they are stuck on the fringe of our top-30 list (for now).

Still, we're thrilled about what we've seen from Hart and Schubert. We knew that they could be good, even really good, and their most recent results from Friday prove our that suspicions had some validity.

29. Haftu Strintzos, Senior, Villanova (-19 / 10)

Strintzos sees a measurable, but perhaps unfair, drop in our rankings after his season debut race at Nuttycombe.

The former BIG East cross country individual champion and previous top-10 cross country All-American didn’t look at his best on Friday after placing 47th in a loaded field. However, as far as season-openers go, a sub-24:00 result in a mass of elite runners is fairly commendable.

If Strintzos is at his best by season’s end, a TSR #29 ranking may appear to be too conservative for someone of his caliber.

28. Zach Facioni, Senior, Wake Forest (+1 / 29)

An underwhelming 44th place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree sent Zach Facioni back a few spots in our rankings during our first update of the season. But that ranking also came with the understanding that this Wake Forest ace was going to rebound in the future.

And for the most part, he did that on Saturday, finishing runner-up behind Nickolas Scudder at the Panorama Farms XC23 Invitational.

But for as strong as that result was, it was also far from surprising. In fact, many of us believed that Facioni was probably viewed as the favorite to win that race, although Scudder's recent rise has been tremendous.

For now, a TSR #28 ranking seems appropriate. Facioni still has room to improve, but we have yet to see him take down any true national-caliber names this season. That, of course, could change at the upcoming ACC XC Championships.

27. Barry Keane, Rs. Senior, Butler (+6 / 33)

Barry Keane finds himself ahead of some men who he lost to at Joe Piane in this week's update, but he’s been one of the nation’s more consistent runners across two major races and is an established low-stick who feels primed for a career-best end to his season (i.e. an All-American honor).

After a highly promising top-10 result at Joe Piane, Keane put himself and his Bulldog teammates in a favorable position with his runner-up performance at the Weis-Crockett Invitational (Pre-Nationals), losing only to Duncan Hamilton and taking down a handful of very good (but not necessarily amazing) distance talents in the process.

That kind of result in a midsized field could make Keane the individual title favorite for the BIG East crown in a couple of weeks after coming close in 2021.

26. Cormac Dalton, Senior, Tulsa (0 / 26)

Cormac Dalton's 19th place finish was really solid. And while he certainly let a few men gap him in the final results, this is also someone who was 12th at the Cowboy Jamboree. And when looking at the latter-half of this rankings update, Dalton is one of only five remaining 2021 fall All-Americans who have actually raced so far this season.

That cross country consistency, in our eyes, is extremely valuable and is now becoming stronger as Dalton continues to produce top-tier results.

25. Duncan Hamilton, Senior, Montana State (+11 / 36)

Duncan Hamilton, a steady veteran who’s slightly better on the track like Sam Gilman is, returned to his original preseason ranking range after an improved performance on Saturday.

While the field at Pre-Nationals was certainly not nearly as competitive as Nuttycombe, Hamilton took down a more-than-competent field on the national meet course. No, he didn’t beat anyone ranked ahead of him in our current top-50 list, but he gained an overall win in a competitive race which put him ahead of numerous men who are still found in these rankings.

That was a strong indicator that Hamilton is more than ready for his first All-American performance on the grass and that his steeplechase success from the oval is actually translating over to the rolling hills.

His consistency still needs to improve (even if he's only two actual meets into the season), but taking down Barry Keane, Patrick Kiprop and numerous men who are in the "Just Missed" portion of our rankings is very impressive.

24. Shay McEvoy, Sophomore, Tulsa (Unranked)

Shay McEvoy had a breakout race at the Cowboy Jamboree to place 22nd. However, he has become even stronger since then, earning a massive 14th place at Nuttycombe! Together, those results clearly signal a breakout season with no hiccups (so far) and upwards progression.

Yes, even I will admit that a TSR #24 ranking seems a bit high for McEvoy, but when you look at the names who beat him at the Cowboy Jamboree or Nuttycombe, this Tulsa runner has ultimately shown more consistent productivity in both of those high-level fields.

We have been given multiple reasons to believe that McEvoy is going to a problem for his competitors in the postseason, especially if he maintains the momentum and the season-long consistency that he has shown us so far in 2022.

23. Yaseen Abdalla, Junior, Tennessee (+1 / 24)

Yaseen Abdalla has not raced since our last update.

22. Eliud Kipsang, Sophomore, Alabama (-5 / 17)

Eliud Kipsang was fine this past weekend on his home course at the Crimson Classic, but settling for a 4th place finish (3rd amongst collegiates) certainly left us wanting a little more.

Still, the most important result for this uber-talented, but oft-inconsistent, Alabama star this season was his 3rd place run at Joe Piane. That was a massive performance which allowed him to take down eight men who are still listed in our top-50 rankings.

The reigning SEC champion has a tall task ahead of him when he attempts to defend his conference crown in the coming weeks, but most importantly, he has another opportunity to gain momentum towards ending this cross country season with his first All-American honor on the grass.

21. Aaron Bienenfeld, Senior, Oregon (-9 / 12)

Oregon's Aaron Bienenfeld finished toward the front of a grandiose Nuttycombe field on Friday, but a 24th place finish still left something to be desired.

He won a prestigious race, albeit in a watered-down field, at the Bill Dellinger Invitational earlier this season, but that win admittedly didn't tell us a whole lot. On Friday, he was truly challenged for the first time this season.

Bienenfeld’s latest result was hardly a terrible one. In fact, a 24th place finish would have allowed a previously unranked runner to crack out top-50! And given the amount of success that this German superstar has had over the past year, specifically on the grass, we’re not too worried about the prospects of this proven All-American come November.

20. Carter Solomon, Sophomore, Notre Dame (Unranked)

Wow. What an absolutely electric race for Carter Solomon.

When I saw the Notre Dame singlet at the front of the Nuttycombe pack going into the final portions of the race, I quickly went through my head trying to figure out who it was.

I quickly realized that it wasn't Kevin Berry, it wasn't Izaiah Steury, it wasn't Josh Methner and it wasn't Matthew Carmody. And after going through the process of elimination, I thought to myself, "Is that really Carter Solomon?"

And it was!

In what had to be the single greatest race of his life, Solomon showed zero fear hanging with the top men at Nuttycombe, eventually giving himself a monster 9th place finish.

We knew Solomon would be (or at least, could be) pretty strong this year. But I'll admit, I didn't see this result coming at all. And truthfully, I don't think many people did, especially after Solomon settled for a solid, but relatively unexciting, 13th place finish at Joe Piane.

If you've read a few of our other names in these rankings, then you already know why we have Solomon ranked a bit lower than what his Nuttycombe finish would suggest.

In the end, it all boils down to consistency.

Friday was potentially a career-changing performance for Solomon. But I think we naturally want to see a bit more from him. Can he keep performing at that level? Can he show us that his Nuttycombe result was closer to his full potential rather than his Joe Piane effort?

If he has a big race at the ACC XC Championships, then he'll make another positive jump up in our rankings.

19. Isai Rodriguez, Senior, Oklahoma State (-6 / 13)

Isai Rodriguez has not yet raced this season.

18. Christian Allen, Senior, BYU (-3 / 15)

Christian Allen has not raced since our last update.

17. Joey Nokes, Sophomore, BYU (+14 / 31)

It's official. Joey Nokes has announced himself as one of this season’s emergent talents for a team with surprisingly-healthy title odds.

A 15th place run at Nuttycombe perfectly complements a 10th place result from the Cowboy Jamboree and it massively validates Nokes as the biggest breakout star of the year.

The Cougars don’t absolutely need Nokes to be in that high-end range to return to the podium, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt as they look to match the firepower of Stanford.

And that's why he's ranked so high.

Because without his scoring value, trying to take down the Cardinal would be a far more challenging task than it already is.

16. Michael Power, Senior, Tulsa (+21 / 37)

One of Tulsa’s numerous interchangeable low-sticks, Michael Power has replicated his success from previous seasons after making himself a known All-American standout on the oval last spring.

Earlier this season, he finished behind one teammate in a solid effort while finishing a respectable 18th at the Cowboy Jamboree. However, he showed upwards trajectory with a statement 11th place performance at Nuttycombe.

And that upper-echelon consistency is a major reason why he makes such a massive jump. Not many men have beaten him this season and if they have and are still ranked behind him, then Power likely only lost to them at the Cowboy Jamboree and got the edge at the more-important Nuttycombe Invitational.

He hinted at it on Friday, but Power may have the highest upside on his team as evidenced by a 6th place finish in the 5000 meters during NCAA Outdoor Championships last June.

The only question is...how high does that upside go?

15. Sam Gilman, Rs. Junior, Air Force (+20 / 35)

The past week gave us a major bounce back from one of the NCAA’s most proven veterans.

It shouldn’t be too surprising that Gilman rebounded from a solid, but unspectacular, start to his season after placing 28th at the Cowboy Jamboree. However, placing 10th at Nuttycombe far exceeded our expectations.

It’s been well-documented that Gilman is at his best in the postseason, so this midseason result bodes well for his continued ascension in our rankings. He also proved to be a brilliant runner on the oval who was capable of pulling off upsets in multiple scenarios.

So when it comes to his racing on the grass, Gilman has clearly translated over some of that momentum.

14. Nickolas Scudder, Junior, Charlotte (+9 / 23)

Nickolas Scudder’s meteoric rise from his preseason ranking of TSR #48 hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. And that's admittedly a surprising development as many of us thought that we may be slightly too high on him back then!

Scudder fell to only Kiprop at Joe Piane earlier this season, but then took the outright win convincingly in a sneaky-strong field at Panorama Farms. Momentum and confidence is very clearly on his side right now.

While he has hardly skirted top competition, we’d love to see how Scudder stacks up in a top-flight field like the Cowboy Jamboree or Nuttycombe. We probably won’t get that opportunity until the NCAA XC Championships next month, but we like his odds of a top result when that time comes.

13. Victor Shitsama, Senior, Oklahoma State (+1 / 14)

Victor Shitsama has not raced since our last update.

12. Dylan Jacobs, Senior, Tennessee (-3 / 9)

Dylan Jacobs has not raced since our last update.

11. Bob Liking, Rs. Sophomore, Wisconsin (+9 / 20)

Liking shoots back up our rankings after a slight demotion in our last update.

While we weren’t too concerned by his season debut at the Griak Invitational, it was hard to get excited about a 6th place performance. And admittedly, that result is likely why he's still not in our top-10 (yet).

However, a massive 4th place finish on his home course at Nuttycombe felt like a return to form (and then some) as Liking defeated men like Drew Bosley, Parker Wolfe and Cole Sprout. If he had timed his move slightly better, then we're talking about this Badger star pulling off a major upset.

We’d still like to see Liking perform well at the NCAA XC Championships after peaking at Nuttycombe last year. That lack of an All-American honor is why he wasn't in our top-10 rankings to begin with. And frankly, it would feel unfair to put him ahead of anyone else on this list as many of them have two strong races this year or proven national meet success.

Nonetheless, Liking proved in his most recent race that he fits in this upper tier of elite individuals. He had some of the best patience and positioning throughout Friday's race.

10. Casey Clinger, Senior, BYU (-3 / 7)

Casey Clinger has not raced since our last update.

9. Acer Iverson, Junior, Harvard (-3 / 6)

This feels like a somewhat small and fair drop for someone who finished in the top-10 at Nuttycombe. However, we view it as more of a correction after he shot up the rankings following his incredible performance at Joe Piane.

Iverson was very impressive after placing 6th at the Cowboy Jamboree, but was pushed ever-so-slightly down the results in an even deeper field, settling for an 8th place result at Nuttycombe.

A 40th place All-American last fall, Iverson has made a major jump up in his fitness this season. He's running with so much more control and he feels like one of the continually safer picks to lean on when making our predictions.

In many ways, he reminds us of Charles Hicks.

8. Cole Sprout, Junior, Stanford (-5 / 3)

While his ranking did fall a bit, Sprout’s overall stock has hardly dropped.

The Stanford star took down Young and a horde of other top names at the Cowboy Jamboree before putting together a solid 7th place run at Nuttycombe which saw him lose to a few guys he had previously beat.

Sprout has the raw talent to be at the front of any field that he's in, but Stanford may prefer him to run more conservatively (which is just general speculation) in an effort to avoid falling apart like he did at last's national meet.

Because as we’ve seen, if all three of the Cardinal’s superstars stay in the top-10 range, then there may not be anyone who can match them in the team race.

7. Parker Wolfe, Sophomore, North Carolina (+9 / 16)

Wolfe may be leading the next generation of NCAA superstars.

The 19-year-old is the leading man of a quickly-rising North Carolina squad and just put forth quite likely the most impressive performance of his still-young NCAA career so far.

The former high school national champion was wildly impressive when winning Paul Short in a rust-busting effort, but he outdid himself by placing 6th at Nuttycombe on Friday.

In doing so, he took down men like Sprout and other highly-regarded individuals.

Is he the individual favorite in the ACC as a true sophomore? Right now, it certainly seems like that's case as other individual conference rivals haven't been able to match Wolfe's accolades during the 2022 cross country season.

6. Drew Bosley, Junior, Northern Arizona (+5 / 11)

Drew Bosley gives the Lumberjacks an exceedingly competent second scorer to counteract two of Stanford’s top runners.

But like his contemporaries, his individual brilliance shouldn’t get lost in his dynastic team’s potential shortcomings or title hopes. His season-opening 9th place finish was hardly concerning, although it saw him lose to a handful of men who are still ranked below him.

Luckily, a recent 5th place run at Nuttycombe felt much more in line with his potential.

For the most part, there isn't too much to talk about here. I think we knew that Bosley was capable of running this well and he looked incredible throughout most of Friday's race. We think Nuttycombe was a better display of his actual ability than the Cowboy Jamboree results suggest.

5. Victor Kiprop, Sophomore, Alabama (0 / 5)

Victor Kiprop is one of the few remaining undefeated runners entering the conference meets, and he’s done so with three races under his belt this year.

This past weekend, Kiprop ran the exact same time that he posted in his more-impressive triumph at Joe Piane, winning his home meet against talented teammates and some underrated in-state opposition in the process.

After a massive jump last week, Kiprop’s latest result wasn’t quite enough to put him above any of the other top-flight men in our rankings. Even so, he should be the individual favorite in a strong SEC XC Championship field when he next toes the line.

4. Charles Hicks, Junior, Stanford (-2 / 2)

Perhaps the most consistent distance runner in NCAA, seeing Charlies Hicks record a 3rd place finish at Nuttycombe felt right in line with our expectations.

Sure, he lost to two star athletes (including Nico Young who he beat at the Cowboy Jamboree), but Hicks has beaten all but three runners in the two deepest fields of this 2022 regular season.

Make no mistake, Hicks is still in contention for the individual national title. He also feels like the safest option amongst anyone to finish in the top-five of a national field given his masterful race savvy.

3. Nico Young, Junior, Northern Arizona (+1 / 4)

Friday’s race had to be a major confidence booster for Nico Young as he nearly won his first NCAA cross country meet.

After a strong 5th place run at the Cowboy Jamboree, Young took down even more elite-caliber names at Nuttycombe with a runner-up performance, sandwiching himself between Ky Robinson and Charles Hicks.

Northern Arizona needs Young to continue to perform at an elite level as the Lumberjacks have struggled this season to live up to the expectations set by their own sustained dynasty.

But as far as Young is concerned, he showed off some brilliant racing on Friday. He looked strong throughout the entire race and at least proved to the rest of the NCAA that he could legitimately contend for gold in November.

2. Alex Maier, Junior, Oklahoma State (-1 / 1)

Alex Maier has not raced since our last update.

1. Ky Robinson, Sophomore, Stanford (+7 / 8)

What a masterclass performance from Ky Robinson.

Perhaps the third-most heralded member of the Cardinal’s three-headed monster, Robinson probably has the strongest argument to be ranked at TSR #1 after just one race. No, he didn't race Alex Maier on Friday, but the field that Robinson took down at Nuttycombe was arguably better than what we saw at the Cowboy Jamboree.

Not by much, but by enough.

This Aussie ace holds arguably the most impressive win of the season and consequently, has just as strong of a resume as Maier, albeit with a smaller margin of victory.

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ADDED

Seth Hirsch (Colorado)

Creed Thompson (BYU)

Davin Thompson (BYU)

Devin Hart (Stanford)

Dylan Schubert (Furman)

Kirami Yego (Southern Alabama)

Aidan Troutner (BYU)

Shay McEvoy (Tulsa)

Carter Solomon (Notre Dame)

Camren Todd (Utah State)

KICKED OFF

Aden Smith (Michigan State)

Marcelo Rocha (Providence)

George Kusche (Northern Arizona)

Patrick Anderson (North Carolina)

Yacine Guermali (Gonzaga)

Brodey Hasty (Northern Arizona)

Cole Bullock (Ole Miss)

Abdirizak Ibrahim (New Mexico)

Matthew Carmody (Notre Dame)

Kevin Berry (Notre Dame)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Aden Smith (Michigan State)

Patrick Anderson (North Carolina)

Yacine Guermali (Gonzaga)

Kevin Berry (Notre Dame)

Wil Smith (Gonzaga)

Antonio Lopez Segura (Virginia Tech)

Thomas Vanoppen (Wake Forest)

Izaiah Steury (Notre Dame)

Nathan Lawler (Syracuse)

Luke Combs (Air Force)

Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau (Stanford)

Ethan Marshall (Air Force)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Said Mechaal (California Baptist)

Thomas Boyden (Stanford)

Rory Leonard (Oklahoma State)

Nicholas Kiprotich (Liberty)

Ryan Kinnane (Auburn)

Anthony Camerieri (Ole Miss)

Justin Wachtel (Virginia)

Matthew Ricthman (Montana State)

Ben Perrin (Montana State)

Jesse Hamlin (Butler)

Ryan Schoppe (Oklahoma State)

Said Mechaal (California Baptist)

Thomas Boyden (Stanford)

Rory Leonard (Oklahoma State)

Nicholas Kiprotich (Liberty)

Santiago Prosser (Northern Arizona)

Josh Methner (Notre Dame)

Parker Stokes (Georgetown)

Matt Strangio (Portland)

Ryan Johnson (Air Force)

Notes

- N/A