TSR's 2022 D3 XC Top 20 Individual Rankings (Men): Update #4

TSR Collaboration
Nov 15, 2022
11 min read

Written by Kevin Fischer, Hannah Thorn & Brett Haffner

Additional edits and commentary by Garrett Zatlin

NOTE: These rankings are based on how a team fared throughout the entirety of a season, not just how they ran at the NCAA XC Championships or at a singular meet.

KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

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

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

20. Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos, Sophomore, Williams (Unranked)

Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos had been having a somewhat underwhelming season thus far compared to the standards that he set throughout last year. However, his 4th place finish at the Mideast Regional XC Championships on Saturday was a definitive step in the right direction.

Coming to a championship meet setting, let alone one of the most competitive regional meets in Division Three, and showing up the way that he did was huge for our level of confidence in him going into this weekend.

That result wasn't perfect, but it certainly leaves us encouraged about this Williams ace going into the national meet this weekend. Another big performance from him will swing the Ephs' podium aspirations in a major way.

19. Isaac Wegner, Junior, UW-La Crosse (-1 / 18)

Another meet, another solid performance from Isaac Wegner.

Wegner has consistently been near the front of competitive fields this whole season. On Saturday, he finished 4th at the North Regional XC Championships behind only Christian Patzka (TSR #7), Ethan Gregg (TSR #4) and Gunner Schlender (TSR #18).

That's good company to be in.

He has excelled as a second true low-stick this year and is in a great position to make a huge leap from his 67th place finish at last year’s national meet.

18. Gunner Schlender, Sophomore, UW-Whitewater (Unranked)

Gunner Schlender has done his fair share of bouncing in and out of our top-20 rankings, but his recent regional performance gives us reason to believe in him later this weekend.

At the WIAC XC Championships, he was almost a full minute behind Ethan Gregg. He was also 29 seconds behind teammate Christian Patzka (TSR #7) and seven seconds behind Isaac Wegner (TSR #19). It wasn't a perfect race for the Warhawk ace, but we still considered that to be a strong day for Schlender.

But fast forward to two weeks later and the bar was reset. Schlender took down Wegner and finished just 14 seconds out from the win.

This was a great performance from the Warhawk sophomore. Despite the ups and downs of his season, Schlender has still positioned himself for a great end to his 2022 campaign with aspirations of being a top-end All-American.

Ultimately, he looks like he is in a great place heading into the national meet.

17. Braden Nicholson, Junior, North Central (Unranked)

Braden Nicholson had the best race of his season at the Midwest Regional XC Championships, finishing a close 2nd behind Christopher Collet (TSR #3).

Nichols took a little bit of time to truly get some momentum going this season, but he is now clicking on all cylinders and looks extremely dangerous.

The North Central star is rounding into form at the perfect time and his ceiling continues to increase after a string of strong performances. He's been a big reason why we've seen a North Central resurgence this year.

The Cardinal ace has a chance to lead this team to a podium finish all while finishing with his first All-American honors.

16. Ryan Kredell, Sophomore, Haverford (+1 / 17)

Ryan Kredell came away with the win at the Metro Regional XC Championships last weekend, garnering his second consecutive championship title this postseason.

With the Metro region being relatively weak, Haverford wasn’t challenged for the team title and Kredell didn’t have to do anything crazy for the individual win.

Fatigue is always a factor once you get to this part of the season. Luckily for Kredell, he seems to have not fully exerted himself this past weekend which could be to his benefit on Saturday.

15. Spencer Moon, Junior, Simpson (IA) (+1 / 16)

Spencer Moon bounced back from his tough day at the ARC XC Championships to earn a solid 3rd place finish at the Midwest Regional XC Championships.

There are still some concerns with Moon's consistency, but it's clear that his fitness level is on par with the best men in the country. This past weekend showed us that he can still execute at a high level on a big stage.

Moon is also wildly experience, having competed at four national meets (across all three seasons) throughout his career. However, he has yet to earn All-American honors.

This weekend, he'll be provided with yet another prime opportunity to walk away with a top-40 finish, although the bar for this Simpson star will be at least a top-20 result.

14. Simon Heys, Junior, Wilmington (OH) (0 / 14)

Simon Heys stays put in our rankings after a solid day at the Great Lakes Regional XC Championships where he finished 2nd place overall behind only Alex Phillip (TSR #1)

Heys has consistently shown to be racing at a high level this fall, finishing in the top-five of every race that he has toed the line for. We really like the reliability (and his past experience) going into a volatile race like the national meet.

While it will be a lot more difficult to do that in a national-caliber field, we have plenty of reasons to believe that this veteran will have a good day later this weekend.

13. Matt Carter, Junior, Connecticut College (-1 / 12)

Matt Carter continues to impress us this cross country season. His most recent showing ended with a 3rd place finish behind Elias Lindgren (TSR #2) and Matthew Lecky (TSR #6) at the Mideast Regional XC Championships.

The Connecticut College star continues to be sneaky-good as someone who continues to fly under the radar. His 2022 success suggests that he could climb even higher on Saturday, potentially resulting in a top-10 finish at the national meet.

12. Connor Riss, Junior, North Central (-3 / 9)

Finishing as North Central’s third scorer wasn’t entirely the expectation for Connor Riss who has led his team in their last few outings. He finished 6th overall at the Midwest Regional XC Championships with teammate Andrew Guinond right behind him.

And while we are admittedly nit-picking a regional result that was still respectable, the more important result was that North Central put four runners in the top-seven at the Midwest Regional XC Championships which is pretty nuts.

Riss seems to have benefitted from faster-paced races this fall, notably the Augustana Interregional Invitational as well as the CCIW XC Championships.

If the national meet becomes a quick affair, Riss could ultimately become a major contender, giving North Central the true low-stick that they need to earn a team trophy.

11. Sam Acquaviva, MIT (0 / 11)

Just by the looking at the results, it’s very apparent that the MIT men did what they needed to do at the Mideast Regional XC Championships to advance to Saturday. They let Tyler Morris (TSR #5) run free while the Engineers grouped together.

By happenstance, Sam Acquaviva was 3rd at the East Regional XC Championships, finishing with the same exact time as teammates Andrew Mah and Matthew Kearney.

Like Lucas Florsheim of Pomona-Pitzer, Acquaviva has been a consistent presence up front for the Engineers whose quest to win another trophy at the national meet is looking very strong in 2022.

He also knows how to show up at the national meet which is highlighted by his 13th place finish in last year’s championship race.

It would not be shocking at all to see Acquaviva replicate, or improve upon, that performance this coming weekend. The title chances for the Engineers hinge on how well Acquaviva runs. And right now, we feel very confident in his ability to thrive during Saturday's race.

10. Cory Kennedy, Sophomore, RPI (-3 / 7)

Cory Kennedy has been following a very interesting trend of racing this fall. He is alternating between being very “on” with a stellar performance and being just “solid” with an above-average race.

If this trend continues following his 7th place finish at the Mideast Regional XC Championships, then in theory, he should have a monster day at the national meet.

Sure, it wasn’t ideal to see Kennedy finish pretty far behind Elias Lindgren and Matthew Lecky this past weekend, but come Saturday, he could absolutely beat his teammate (Lecky).

Whether or not Kennedy is "on" when racing this weekend could make all the difference between a top-10 finish and a top-30 finish for him. It will also affect the team title race.

If Kennedy can support Lecky's consistency, then RPI will have the best 1-2 punch in Division Three this fall and ultimately become a podium-caliber team.

9. Nick Andrews, Senior, SUNY Geneseo (+1 / 10)

After navigating a fairly light field at the Niagara Regional XC Championships, Nick Andrews continued his consistent season thus far. He took home the victory by 20 seconds and solidified himself as one of Division Three's best talents.

Andrews hasn’t had the opportunity to compete against many of the guys in these rankings this fall which certainly makes this weekend something to watch for him. If his national meet exploits from the track in 2022 say anything about Andrews’ racing abilities, it’s that he’ll be near the front of this race, regardless of the pace.

Keep an eye on Andrews who could very well be a sleeper pick at the national meet to over-perform relative to current expectations.

8. Lucas Florsheim, Sophomore, Pomona-Pitzer (+5 / 13)

As we said in the last edition of our rankings, Lucas Florsheim has established himself as the Sagehens’ first scorer in a lineup that seems to be all over the place. His most recent efforts led to him earning an individual victory at the West Regional XC Championships.

Florsheim’s elite scoring prowess was enough to hold off a hard-charging Henry Pick who generally peaks extremely well in the postseason.

After finishing 6th at last year’s West Regional XC Championships, Florsheim placed 14th at the 2021 national meet. Now, with a regional title under his belt, how will that recent winning effort translate to the national meet?

7. Christian Patzka, Sophomore, UW-Whitewater (+1 / 8)

Christian Patzka’s upset win over Ethan Gregg (TSR #4) at the North Regional XC Championships was a huge momentum boost for Patzka and UW-Whitewater, as they also upset fellow WIAC foe, UW-La Crosse, for the regional title.

Considering that Patzka finished 30 seconds behind Gregg at the WIAC XC Championships, defeating the Eagle star this time around is a very positive result.

Even though he’s young, Patzka knows how to show up big-time on the national stage, earning All-American honors in cross country, indoor track (5000 meters) and outdoor track (steeplechase) in his freshman year.

Employing one of the better kicks of the top names on this list, but also demonstrating terrific aerobic ability, the Warhawk ace could be a really sneaky pick to do some serious damage at the national meet this weekend.

6. Matthew Lecky, RPI (0 / 6)

As the ace for the Engineers, sitting just on the cusp of team podium contention, Matthew Lecky gutted out a solid 2nd place finish at the Mideast Regional XC Championships, finishing 15 seconds behind Elias Lindgren.

If Lecky can continue his success as a reputable low-stick, then we will see him vastly improve upon his 38th place finish at the 2021 national meet while seeing him earn All-American honors once again.

To put the icing on top of the cake, it would also be great to see Lecky’s efforts lead RPI to a podium team finish, too.

5. Tyler Morris, Senior, Colby (0 / 5)

It was a comfortable win for Tyler Morris at the East Regional XC Championships, winning over the MIT men by 30 seconds on the dot, bringing home his second consecutive regional title. However, it seems fairly clear that the MIT were just focused on advancing to the national meet.

Morris has had some great battles with Elias Lindgren (TSR #2) this fall, resulting in a few losses for the Colby star. However, those races have given him great experience in dealing with a faster race.

Whether or not we will see a fast race on Saturday is to be determined. Regardless, we think Morris has the ability to be ultra competitive in this national field. After his 7th place All-American finish in 2021, Morris seems primed to improve upon that performance and we could certainly see him finish in the top-five.

Or, better yet, even a challenger for the individual title on his best day.

4. Ethan Gregg, Senior, UW-La Crosse (-1 / 3)

Ethan Gregg drops down one spot in our rankings after taking a loss to Christian Patzka (TSR #7) at the North Regional XC Championships, making him the only Division Three compatriot that Gregg has lost to this cross country season (except for his tempo effort at the Jim Drews Invite).

Gregg’s strength is quite literally his greatest strength: He’s a true grind-it-out kind of guy and can hit the pace hard from a long way out.

In a tactical regional final, after securing a strong top position, maybe a decision was made for Gregg to shut it down and relax heading into the finish. Of course, that speculation relies on a big “if” and it could be true that Patzka was simply better than him that day.

Regardless, it’s been a very impressive season for the Eagles’ ace, who has risen from being a perennial All-American to a contender for the national title on a perfect day.

A fast-paced scenario at the national meet could very well fall into Gregg’s hands. That kind of race could allow him to out-strengthen some of his competitors in his quest for gold.

3. Christopher Collet, Junior, Wartburg (+1 / 4)

Christopher Collet is yet another name who has remained undefeated against fellow Division Three runners after his win at the Midwest Regional XC Championships.

His consistency and ability to win races is been better than ever before. He's constantly showcasing an ability to win, both in solo efforts and when it comes down to a kick. Like Alex Phillip (TSR #1), we haven’t seen Collet match up against Division Three's "big dogs" this season, making this weekend's national meet a very exciting opportunity for us to see how he handles the field.

Out of the main contenders going into this national meet, it’s fairly apparent that Collet and Phillip have the best closing speed to aid them in the endgame of the 8k distance.

For Collet, in particular, we’ve seen him use that speed to win a national title once before (while jumping over barriers) so...what’s to say that he can’t do it again?

2. Elias Lindgren, Senior, Williams (0 / 2)

It was no surprise to see Elias Lindgren bring home a regional title at the Mideast Regional XC Championships, taking down Matthew Lecky (TSR #6) and Matt Carter (TSR #13) in the process.

This 2022 season has been marked by remarkable consistency for the Williams ace who has gone six-for-six in winning races this fall, showcasing dominant effort after dominant effort.

Lindgren is the guy who is not afraid to shake things up on the national stage. We saw him do it at last year’s national meet, wheeling and dealing over the final kilometer. We also saw him make another heroic move at the outdoor national meet in the 5000 meters, throwing down an incredible penultimate lap to break open the race.

While neither of those race-breaking moves resulted in a national title, Lindgren clearly has the ability, as well as the guts, to make something big happen at this year’s national meet.

After all, they say “third time’s the charm”, right?

1. Alex Phillip, Junior, John Carroll (0 / 1)

In an extremely predictable result, Alex Phillip earned a quality win at the Great Lakes Regional XC Championships over fellow regional foes Simon Heys (TSR #14), Jack Begley and Joseph Jaster.

He defeated Heys by 27 seconds while dipping under 24:00 for 8k.

Phillip completes his regular season of staying undefeated against Division Three competition, but this will be the first time that we see him race against the best in the country: Lindgren, Collet and Gregg.

On paper, the defending cross country national champion should be the favorite to bring home his second national title in a row.

The only question left is...can he do it again?