TSR's 2022 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Rankings (Men): #6 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes

When you think of historical cross country powerhouses, which programs do you think of?

Colorado?

Northern Arizona?

Oklahoma State?

Stanford?

BYU?

If you said any of those teams, then you most certainly wouldn't be wrong. But there are a few other schools that likely deserve to be in that conversation.

The Tulsa Golden Hurricanes are one of them.

With the Tulsa men continuing to emerge as one of the 10 best teams in the country every single year, the Golden Hurricanes deserve more attention and recognition as a true juggernaut on the grass.

And in 2022, that likely won't be changing.

* * *

After an outstanding winter cross country season where the Tulsa men placed 6th on the national stage, the Golden Hurricanes ventured to the fall months with similar expectations. Their lineup, for the most part, was still intact from earlier that year.

Following an early-season rust-buster where they fielded a few backend varsity runners, the 'Canes ventured to the Cowboy Jamboree for their first true challenge of the season.

Once they reached Stillwater, the Tulsa men would have to face the likes of Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, Colorado and Texas, four highly respectable programs that would all go on to place in the top-15 of the national meet.

Veteran low-stick Scott Beattie held his own in the top-heavy field with an 11th place finish while overseas newcomer, Cormac Dalton, held his own with a very respectable 15th place finish. Those two, however, would be the only major highlights for Tulsa that day.

Michael Power finished 30th overall while long-time Tulsa veteran Peter Lynch placed 34th. And with the team's final scorer placing 46th overall, there just wasn't enough depth or scoring potency to match the other national-caliber teams in this field.

In the end, Tulsa faltered to 5th place overall, a distant 24 points away from the Texas men who finished in 4th place.

Admittedly, it was hard to be excited about Tulsa's performance. Lynch could have been a few spots better, Power (as we would later find out) had the potential to improve and the team didn't have Isaac Akers, a cross country All-American who finished 19th in March of 2021.

But it was also those same lineup aspects that left us excited about Tulsa's future. On paper, they had the opportunity to be so much better.

Sure enough, that turned out to be the case at the Nuttycombe Invite.

In a complete reversal from their Cowboy Jamboree performance, the Golden Hurricanes thrived in the massive ocean of top-ranked teams.

The trio of Scott Beattie, Peter Lynch and Cormac Dalton were fantastic, going 19-23-26 in a display of firepower that was far better than what they had shown just a little less than a month earlier.

However, the real heroes of the meet were Shane McEvoy and Michael Power, two men who finished 43rd and 50th, respectively. With those final two scorers quickly closing out Tulsa's scoring, the Golden Hurricanes seemingly had no weaknesses in their top-five. They had great scoring potency, excellent depth and one of the most complete lineups in the field.

The Tulsa men were ultimately rewarded for their team cohesion with a 3rd place finish, well behind runner-up Stanford and 27 points ahead of 4th place Wisconsin.

Oh, and they did all of that without Akers.

With a wildly encouraging performance under their belts, the Tulsa men ventured to the postseason with a plethora of confidence and momentum on their side. The men from northeastern Oklahoma would dominate the American Athletic Conference with ease (scoring just 19 points) and settle for a 3rd place finish at the Midwest Regional XC Championships.

Despite not getting an automatic qualifying spot to the national meet, the Tulsa men had still earned more than enough Kolas points to advance to Tallahassee.

Once there, the Tulsa men likely had a podium finish in their sights. The team showed tremendous scoring value at Nuttycombe and their best runner from the winter months, Isaac Akers, had finally returned to the team at their regional meet.

On paper, a top-four spot wasn't out of the question for this group.

Through three runners, Tulsa was looking good. Dalton had secured a 34th place All-American finish while Lynch was close to the same honor in 42nd place. Michael Power had his best race of the season by placing 51st.

That trio posted an excellent string of results, totaling just 111 points, a top-three score that most programs would be thrilled about.

However, for a program like Tulsa that was aiming to get on the podium, that group likely needed to be 10 to 15 spots better (each). It was either that, or the bottom two scorers would need to quickly close off the scoring almost immediately after Power (in addition to much smaller improvements on the frontend).

And when it came to fourth scorer Scott Beattie, he (almost) did exactly that.

The cross country veteran finished 58th overall, giving Tulsa four men in the top-60. However, with Akers finishing 86th overall, there just wasn't enough of an edge at the backend of this lineup to put the Golden Hurricanes on the podium.

Instead, they settled for yet another 6th place finish, the same result that they had earned in March earlier that year. They were just one point behind 5th place Stanford.

But make no mistake, depth was not the problem for this team at last year's national meet. On paper, no one necessarily ran poorly, although there was clearly potential for this team to be so much better than what we had seen.

* * *

Last year's Tulsa team was flat-out excellent. They showed incredible depth, an ability to effectively run as a team, sneaky-good firepower and strong national-caliber success despite not everyone running their best on the same day.

And in 2022, there's reason to believe that they can do it all over again.

Of course, it may be best to start with who the Tulsa men are losing rather than returning.

Losing both Scott Beattie and Peter Lynch is going to be hard to overcome. Really hard.

Those guys were proven front-runners and extremely reliable veterans during their time with Tulsa. Their scoring value was pivotal to the season-long success that the Golden Hurricanes experienced throughout last fall and in prior seasons.

Trying to replace the scoring value for one of those men is reasonable.

Trying to replace the scoring value for both of those men is a whole different challenge.

Luckily, the returning front-runners on this team are beyond excellent. Together, they might be a top-five scoring trio in the country.

Between Isaac Akers, Cormac Dalton and Michael Power, the 'Canes have three men who could absolutely be All-Americans this fall. In fact, it would almost be surprising if all three of those men weren't top-40 finishers at this year's national meet.

Akers may have been the team's fifth scorer last fall, but he didn't start racing until the regional meets began. Let's also not forget, this is someone who placed 19th at the NCAA Winter XC Championships. If he can replicate that performance three months from now, then it will almost be like Peter Lynch never left.

Dalton, despite being one of the new guys on this team last fall, was also the most reliable and most consistent. Placing 15th at the Cowboy Jamboree, 26th at Nuttycombe and then 34th at the NCAA XC Championships was impressive, especially since he was showing progression as the season went on.

So if Dalton was able to do that in year one with this program, then what can he do in year two? He ran 13:43 (5k) and 28:50 (10k) this past spring, but one could argue that he's significantly better on the grass. And if that's the case, then is it fair to argue Dalton as a top-30 runner in the country this fall?

It just may be...

Finally, we have Michael Power.

Like Dalton, Power was another new name for Tulsa last year. The Irish distance standout showed signs of promise during the fall, peaking at the right time and placing 51st at the national meet. However, he didn't truly break out until he got to the indoor and outdoor ovals.

During the winter months, Power ran 4:01 (mile) and 7:53 (3k) before moving up to the spring season and running incredible times of 3:40 (1500) and 13:29 (5k). He would later run 13:31 for 5000 meters to earn 6th place All-American honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

It seems fair to suggest that Power is significantly better now than he was this time last year. Running 13:29 for 5000 meters and later earning All-American honors in the same event almost always suggests that the person who posted those performances will finish top-40 at the ensuing cross country national meet.

In fact, The Stride Report has the Akers-Dalton-Power trio listed at 34-35-36 in our preseason individual rankings. We don't just think that they can be All-Americans, we're essentially betting on them being All-Americans.

But...what about the rest of this lineup?

* * *

We'll admit, losing Beattie and Lynch leaves Tulsa with VERY limited options at the backend of their lineup. And while we do believe that they can eventually field a complete and competitive top-five, we also believe that the Golden Hurricanes' margin for error will be zero.

Shay McEvoy is someone who The Stride Report is fairly high on. This guy was sneaky-good throughout last fall and even better on the track.

Finishing 43rd at Nuttycombe is a super underrated result and the same goes for his 5th place finish at the America Athletic Conference XC Championships. However, a poor showing at the national meet, where he placed 148th overall, can be explained by an untimely illness.

And while an illness at the national meet may seem convenient, running times of 4:02 (mile), 7:56 (3k) and 13:46 (5K) in the ensuing track seasons more than justifies the idea that McEvoy could have been better at last year's national meet.

On the right day, he's probably closer to being a top-100 finisher.

But McEvoy is only the fourth projected scorer in this 2022 Tulsa lineup. Who will take over the fifth scoring spot? And who will take over the sixth and seventh positions?

Honestly, your guess is as good as ours.

Malte Propp (14:16 for 5000 meters), Max Nores (8:08 for 3000 meters), Chris McLeod (157th at the 2021 fall national meet) and Christian Baker (8:56 in the steeplechase) all have the potential to be breakout names this fall and improve upon their previous performances.

Of course, that is far from guaranteed. And even if one of these men do break out, we don't know what that necessarily looks like or how it will translate to the results.

There are, however, two additional names who we need to monitor.

Johnny Livingtsone (England) and Chanel Muir (New Zealand) are two additional men from overseas with personal bests that could absolutely allow them to snag the fifth and final scoring spot in Tulsa's lineup.

Livingstone has run excellent times of 8:09 (3k) and 13:51 (5k) while Muir has run 3:44 (1500) and 14:27 (5k). And the best part? They're both considered to be freshmen by eligibility.

Much like the group mentioned earlier, we don't know what their improvement rate will be this fall or even how they will translate their recent track times to the grass. But history suggests that Coach Steve Gulley will simply figure it out.

Few coaches in the NCAA have been able to develop foreign distance runners into high-value scoring talents like Gulley has.

* * *

Is Tulsa a perfect team? No, at least not based on what we have seen on paper.

But they don't necessarily have to be perfect to deserve this ranking. Their top-three is amongst the best scoring trios that the country has to offer. And generally speaking, their three-headed scoring monster of Akers, Dalton and Power was very consistent in 2021.

We also feel extremely confident about Shay McEvoy and the value he brings to the table as the team's fourth scorer this fall.

But we'll admit, we're not sure that we have a perfect answer for Tulsa's fifth scoring spot, although there are certainly enough lineup options for the Golden Hurricanes to assemble a complete and cohesive top-five.

Regardless, it feels like people are going to continue to overlook this Tulsa program. And that, in our opinion, would be a mistake. The Golden Hurricanes have the right pieces, they have the experience and they have a proven track record of success.

So get on the Tulsa bandwagon while you can.

Because by the time we hit October, it may be too late to do so.