TSR's 2022 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Rankings (Men): #2 Oklahoma State Cowboys

Written by Gavin Struve, additional commentary and edits by Garrett Zatlin

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This fall will serve as the 10th anniversary of Oklahoma State’s last cross country national title. And if all of their stars align later this fall, then there’s a chance that they can honor their decade-old achievement with a return to the top of the podium.

The Oklahoma State men, a historic cross country powerhouse, have enjoyed excellent podium finishes in each of the last two years.

Now, in 2022, we have them slated just a bit higher.

It may appear cruel for a team to enjoy sustained excellence while simultaneously coming just short of top honors, but such is competing during the reign of the Northern Arizona dynasty.

However, with the Cowboys’ returning depth and firepower, this collection of talent should at least give them a chance of not only bettering their podium finishes from 2020-21, but perhaps upsetting the Lumberjacks as well.

* * *

After a rust-busting effort at the Cowboy Preview, the Oklahoma State men returned to their home course for the nationally competitive Cowboy Jamboree, a meet where they would see how they stacked up against Mountain regional powers such Northern Arizona and Colorado, as well as always-strong programs like Tulsa and Texas.

Star low-stick Isai Rodriguez provided a massive scoring boost (which was somewhat expected) by winning the individual title. Meanwhile, teammates and winter cross country All-Americans Alex Maier and Victor Shitsama put forth solid efforts of their own, placing 6th and 10th, respectively.

But the Cowboys eventually suffered a scoring drop-off in the top-heavy, but smaller field. Second-year talent Ryan Schoppe placed 24th overall while Isaiah Priddey closed out the scoring in 26th place, one spot ahead of star Cowboy steeplechaser Ryan Smeeton.

Despite the middle-lineup scoring gap, the OSU men salvaged a runner-up finish behind NAU thanks to a tie-breaking win over Colorado. And while the individual results may not have been fantastic, the collective whole of this team proved to be better than the sum of its parts as the Cowboys took down the Buffaloes and other strong teams in Texas and Tulsa.

With greater room to improve, this September-time cross country meet should have been a promising launch point for even greater performances later in the season.

But would that lineup gap be exploited in a larger regular season field?

Well, we would have to wait to find out as the Cowboys decided to forgo the top regular season invites like Nuttycombe and Pre-Nationals.

Instead, they next toed the line at the BIG 12 XC Championships, once again racing on their home course. And after winning the 2020 conference title to break Iowa State’s three-year championship streak (which broke up a longer streak for OSU), the Cowboys started another streak of their own.

The Cowboys flashed immense firepower across their entire lineup as they flooded the top-10 of their conference meet. Rodriguez earned a fourth-straight (!) BIG 12 cross country runner-up finish and he was closely followed by Maier in 3rd place, a crucial injection of scoring potency. Mair was flanked by Smeeton who had a resurgent performance, finishing 4th overall in what may have been the most important result of the day.

Then came Schoppe in 6th place, Shitsama in 9th place and sixth runner Shea Foster in 14th. It was also reassuring to know that Priddey and Rory Leonard weren’t too far back in 17th and 18th should anything have gone awry.

Through seven or eight runners, Oklahoma State looked incredible. Not only did they flex a balance of firepower and depth, but they even had an eventual All-American not even score for them!

Iowa State, a national power in their own right, had the top runner in the field, but seemed to be a spot behind the Cowboys for every other scorer in their lineup. And in the end, the Cyclones could simply not match the grandeur of OSU’s scoring prowess. Seemingly every Cowboy ran near his fullest potential, and it was a decidedly improved team performance with nary a scoring gap.

Oklahoma State had to feel good about its prospects of returning to the podium, especially after besting the Cyclones yet again at the Midwest Regional XC Championships despite not having a runner in the top-four overall results.

At the national meet, one could argue that the Cowboys didn’t run quite as well as they had at their conference meet. Even so, Coach Dave Smith still had to be happy with his men’s performance.

Rodriguez couldn’t quite match the top-flight scoring potency that he had shown in 2018 or in the winter of 2021 when he placed in the top-eight. However, he was more than solid with a 22nd place showing.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wait too long for more Cowboys to cross the line. Foster emerged as a pleasantly surprising second scorer after a mediocre regular season, placing 27th overall. Shitsama then came across the line in 29th place, giving OSU one of the better scoring trios in the nation.

Yes, the Cowboys experienced a slight drop-off after that, but for the most part, everyone ran how they were reasonably expected to. Smeeton placed 57th, a strong middle lineup result, while freshman Rory Leonard closed out the scoring with the best race of his career up to that point, a 79th place finish.

On the strength of their top three and a respectable backend, the Cowboys finished 3rd yet again and mounted the podium twice in the same year (once in the winter of 2021 and now in the fall of 2021).

That's why it feels mildly absurd to say the Oklahoma State Cowboys could have been even better than their bronze medal team finish...but hear us out.

Maier, the team’s second runner at their prior three meets, faltered to an uncharacteristic 147th place showing. And Schoppe, while still young, was expected to be considerably better than his 225th place run after finishing 6th at the BIG 12 XC Championships.

Neither result was unforgivable, and the rest of the lineup ran quite well, but the Cowboys almost certainly left some scoring on the table, a fact that had to sting after rival Iowa State edged them out for the national runner-up spot.

* * *

It’s scary to think that this team was among the nation’s best last fall while not performing at their fullest potential at the national meet. And it should be even more concerning for OSU’s foes that the Cowboys bring back nearly almost every scorer from that juggernaut squad.

Rodriguez has little left to prove after three cross country All-American honors, and with the exception of his 2019 season, he has been a constant at the front of seemingly every field that he has competed in.

However, Rodriguez was involved in a serious car accident this past winter. And while we did see him return to the track just weeks later, we aren’t absolutely positive what his ability to rebound will be like.

Still, it’s best not to doubt a man who produced one of the most surprising national meet finishes in recent memory. Few men peak in the postseason better than Rodriguez does.

Joining the Oklahoma State veteran as a mainstay at the front of elite fields this year should be Alex Maier. The Texas native had shown flashes of brilliance over the last couple of seasons, but has had occasional lapses in consistency as was evidenced by his fall 2021 NCAA XC Championship performance.

Still, this is someone who finished 17th at the same meet eight months prior at the NCAA Winter XC Championships. He was also the runner-up finisher in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships back in June.

Maier’s preseason individual rankings of TSR #13, one spot behind Rodriguez, reflects his status among the NCAA’s next wave of distance superstars. If he simply delivers his best on a more consistent basis, then that will be the bare-minimum start of a potential upset national title win come November.

But make no mistake, the Cowboys are hardly lacking for scoring potency behind those two guys — they have top-tier low-sticks as their middle lineup scorers!

OSU is also expected to boast an interchangeable 3-4 with Shea Foster and Victor Shitsama who have both stacked up top-50 performances during their past two NCAA XC Championship appearances with multiple All-American honors between the duo.

Foster was relatively quiet in his debut season with OSU after transferring from Southeastern Louisiana. But that’s understandable as the BIG 12 XC Championships were his first race, and he gradually ramped up from there. He peaked perfectly with a 9th place run at the Midwest regional meet and then a huge 27th place finish at the national meet.

Shitsama, meanwhile, was once again a model of consistency for Oklahoma State last fall, placing 10th at the Cowboy Jamboree, 9th at the BIG 12 XC Championships and 29th at the NCAA XC Championships.

He peaked similarly in the 2020-21 academic year campaign, placing 5th at the BIG 12 Winter XC Championships and then 34th at the winter cross country national meet.

Our ranking of Shitsama at TSR #31, compared to TSR #24 for his contemporary Foster, almost seems unfair and perhaps stems from a lack of elite-tier track results.

But regardless of their individual ranking, both men should provide massive scoring value for Oklahoma State this fall. If these men continue to be the top-30 All-American stars that they have already proven that they can be, then the idea of team gold three months from now shouldn't be out of the question.

That, of course, will also depend on how their fifth scorer performs.

* * *

We now come to possibly the biggest x-factor on this team.

Ryan Schoppe appears to be in line for that fifth scoring spot after an up-and-down start to his NCAA cross country career. The Texan ace also faltered a bit at the winter cross country national meet in his rookie year with a 230th place showing.

However, Shoppe has shown us that he can have national-caliber success, making the NCAA final for the 1500 meters back in June after running a fantastic personal best of 3:37.

Running marks of 7:46 for 3000 meters and 13:43 for 5000 also suggest that he can extend that success to the longer distances, as do his BIG 12 XC Championships results.

Schoppe unquestionably has the talent to be an All-American, even at the 10k distance. He was far too good on the track to be taken out of consideration for that honor and he has shown plenty of promise on the grass.

And yet, at the same time, Oklahoma State likely doesn’t need him to be in order to return to the podium -- they're simply that deep. However, to realize their greatest ambitions, OSU may need Shoppe to finally deliver on his full potential.

And how about Rory Leonard, last year’s fifth-scorer at the national meet? He returns as added insurance to an Oklahoma State team that has some of the best depth in the country. Leonard showed promise last fall and continued to run well on the track, posting a time of 13:52 for 5000 meters.

We've seen excellent scoring potential from Leonard in a handful of scattered meets, but what will we see from him in 2022? He could end up as the most underrated name in this lineup over the next few months, but that's not a given, either.

Teammate Isaiah Priddey, a regular varsity contributor in 2021, is also returning to this team. However, this veteran may have to fend off a couple of younger runners from the sixth or seventh spot in this lineup.

The most notable amongst that group of newcomers is Fouad Messaoudi, a Moroccan recruit who was dynamic on the track with marks of 3:39 for 1500 meters and 7:50 for 3000 meters, eventually winning a BIG 12 title in the former event.

Also in contention for a varsity spot is Will Muirhead who has been versatile early in his career with promising marks of 4:02 (mile), 8:49 (steeple) and 13:55 (5k). Jonas Price, another name from Oklahoma State's 2020 recruiting class, adds another option — he raced at the 2020 NCAA XC Championships as a true freshman and holds a steeplechase best of 8:57.

Be sure to also keep an eye on Alex Stitt and Kian Davis, two young-ish but highly promising 1500 meter runners who could be due for a breakout year on the grass.

* * *

The options are plentiful when it comes to filling out the rest of this varsity lineup. Coach Dave Smith should have no problems assembling one of the most cohesive top-seven's in the nation and there's a good chance that others on this team break out.

Still, this team isn't completely void of (very minor) flaws.

Leonard has not always looked like the top-100 runner that he was at the national meet and it’s no sure thing that he’ll replicate his top-80 national meet result in 2022.

The other backend options, while talented, are unproven on the grass.

Consistency on the biggest stage will also be crucial — with or without Smeeton, OSU can’t afford to have "off" days from Maier and Schoppe again. And without definitively knowing what Rodriguez will look like this fall, there's a subtle level of cautiousness surrounding this team.

Still, there may not be a distance program in the NCAA that is more complete than what the Oklahoma State men have.

Everyone will naturally be focused on Stanford as a top threat to knock NAU off their perch. And that’s understandable given the Cardinal’s dynamite top-three. But the Cowboys feels like the more stable, higher-floor option with greater backend depth.

Rodriguez has proven himself to be a true and consistent superstar low-stick for a podium team. Maier has seemingly elevated himself to that same status. There are also proven All-Americans in Foster and Shitsama behind them to form an imposing top-four as well as an athlete with considerable upside in Schoppe as their likely fifth scorer.

The Cowboys may face admittedly long odds of winning the team title, but they look like they have improved this fall compared to their past two cross country seasons. And that’s a difficult feat to accomplish when you’re already finishing as a top-three podium team.

A return to that podium status and another BIG 12 title appear imminent in 2022.

What they can do beyond that?

Well, I suppose that will be answered in the coming months.