TSR's 2023 D1 XC Top 50 Individual Rankings (Men): Update #1

NOTE: These rankings are based on how an individual fared throughout the entirety of a season, not just how they ran at a singular meet or (eventually) at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships. Click here to learn more about our ranking criteria.

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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. Haftu Knight, Senior, Texas (-20 / 30)

It does seem a bit unfair to take a guy who was ranked at TSR #30 in the preseason, have him race once at a small, top-heavy meet and then have him tumble down our top-50 list. That, however, is what happened with Haftu Knight after he earned an uneventful 7th place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree.

Truthfully, that's not even a poor result, but it's also not something that you would expect from one of the 30-best cross country runners in the NCAA. And given that his national meet performance from last fall was easily the best result on his resume, it feels a bit more understandable as to why Knight has a more volatile ranking position.

Either way, this is a proven All-American with great long distance credentials on the track who hasn't really had a "bad" race yet. We're happy to keep him around in our top-50 for now.

49. Lukas Kiprop, Freshman, New Mexico (Unranked)

One of the biggest developments prior to the actual start of the 2023 cross country season was New Mexico adding more talented international recruits to their roster. And while Habtom Samuel Keleta has and will garner all the attention, Lukas Kiprop proved to be plenty dangerous as well.

At the Griak Invitational, Kiprop snagged a strong 3rd place finish in his first collegiate competition. He lost only to Keleta and Gonzaga's Wil Smith. That as an encouraging early-season result, but what really captured our attention were Kiprop's personal bests of 7:42 (3k) and 13:28 (5k) from his time in Kenya.

If Kiprop can fully channel that track fitness and bring it over to the grass, then he'll easily climb our rankings well beyond TSR #48.

48. David Mullarkey, Junior, Florida State (Unranked)

After running 13:35 for 5000 meters back in March, we were interested to see what David Mullarkey would be able to produce this fall. His 5k PR suggested that he could be a potential low-stick, but we could've also said that about a handful of other men who most certainly didn't belong in that conversation.

Luckily, the Florida State ace gave us plenty of validation at the Joe Piane Invitational. A 5th place finish to topple Josh Methner, Timothy Chesondin and Nickolas Scudder was very impressive and it showed us that this Seminole runner can realistically put his name in the All-American conversation come November.

47. Wil Smith, Junior, Gonzaga (Unranked)

I loved the runner-up effort that we saw from Wil Smith at the Griak Invitational. Yes, he may have lost to Habtom Samuel Keleta, but can you really blame him? While the Gonzaga ace may have fallen to a national title contender, the Bulldog veteran still down Lukas Kiprop, another New Mexico standout who boasts borderline elite distance marks on the track.

Smith has been a top name on the grass before, flashing moments of brilliance over the last two years. However, he hasn't always been able to maintain that excellence throughout the entirety of a season. Could that be changing this fall after a strong effort in Minnesota?

46. Austin Vancil, Senior, Colorado (-19 / 27)

A 24th place finish at the Virginia Invitational isn't exactly a bad result, but the Colorado men certainly needed Austin Vancil to be more potent as a low-stick in a race that largely didn't go well for the Buffaloes.

Even so, Vancil is one of the more steady and reliable cross country runners in the NCAA. He doesn't always blow you away, but his value as a lead scorer is still enough for him to remain in our rankings during this update.

45. Marco Langon, Sophomore, Villanova (Unranked)

It took some debate, but we were able to fit Marco Langon into our top-50 rankings -- and I am very happy about that.

The Wildcat sophomore showed plenty of subtle progress over the last year, running personal bests of 3:58 in the mile (outdoors) and 13:47 for 5000 meters (outdoors). He also finished 19th at the 2023 U20 World XC Championships.

And at the Virginia Invitational, Langon produced a huge 12th place result that gave Villanova a legitimate three-headed low-stick monster. We knew that this sophomore was talented, but a fairly uneventful 2022 fall campaign didn't necessarily point to a result like this coming in September.

Langon still has to prove himself on a handful of other stages, but this was a great way to kick-off his season, especially with so much room for him to still improve.

44. Kenneth Rooks, Junior, BYU (-2 / 42)

Has not yet raced this fall.

43. Luke Houser, Rs. Junior, Washington (-4 / 39)

Nice race for Luke Houser at the Virginia Invitational! A 10th place finish is one of the best cross country results that we've ever seen from this Washington veteran and it's easily the best performance that Houser has ever produced on the grass this early in the season.

Yes, the Husky ace is dropping a bit in our rankings this week, but that's not necessarily his fault. That can largely be attributed to the improvements made by other runners. We'd still like to see Houser produce results like he just posted on a more consistent basis, but generally speaking, we're very happy with how his time in Charlottesville, Virginia went.

42. Florian Le Pallec, Senior, Butler (Unranked)

I loved what we saw from Florian Le Pallec at the Virginia Invitational. The graduate transfer from California Baptist has always been an incredibly talented runner, but he never fully showcased that potential during his time with the Lancers.

But after a summer where he ran 5000 meter times of 13:29 and 13:30, Le Pallec had the potential to be a legitimate low-stick that the Bulldogs needed him to be. And after finishing 9th at the Virginia Invitational, he seems to be exactly that and a little bit more.

Sure, this isn't necessarily a jaw-dropping result, and we would like to see ongoing consistency with performances of that caliber, but it's hard not to be encouraged about what we've seen from Le Pallec over the last four-ish months.

41. Dylan Schubert, Junior, Furman (-29 / 12)

A 47th place finish at the Joe Piane Invitational is a pretty rough start to the season for someone as talented as Dylan Schubert. He was expected to contend for a top-three finish last Friday.

However, knowing that this Furman ace was slowly recovering from mononucleosis (also known as "mono"), makes it plenty understandable as to why he faltered on Friday. Of course, now the question becomes whether or not Schubert can rebound and rally to be an All-American talent by the time we reach the postseason.

And with such little uncertainty about that being the case, we've opted to move him to our TSR #40 spot until we gain greater clarity.

40. Izaiah Steury, Sophomore, Oregon (-4 / 36)

This former Notre Dame runner toed the line for the Bill Dellinger Invite, a race that he entered as an unattached athlete. And despite the grand expectations that we had for Steury this fall, he faded to 18th place in those results.

But truthfully, we're not looking too heavily into the results from that race. So many men were racing unattached for Oregon and a handful of teams were missing top names. I struggle to believe that an 18th place finish is actually indicative of Steury's current fitness unless there is some unknown development that I'm not aware of.

39. Victor Kibiego, Rs. Sophomore, UTEP (-2 / 37)

Not a whole lot to talk about when it comes to Victor Kibiego. The recent steeplechase superstar finished runner-up at the Texas Tech Open and the Dave Murray Invite, losing to D2 star William Amponsah and NAU All-American, Brodey Hasty, respectively.

If Kibiego is going to take any losses in September, then falling behind those two men is understandable and excusable. Hopefully the Arturo Barrios Invitational offers a deeper field for this UTEP standout to battle against.

38. Aidan Troutner, Junior, BYU (-9 / 29)

There's not really a good spot to rank Aidan Troutner in this update. A 14th place finish at the Virginia Invitational is pretty darn good, but it's probably not good enough for him to remain in the top-30.

We also have guys like Florian Le Pallec and Luke Houser who haven't cracked the top-40, but beat Troutner in Charlottesville. Of course, you could also argue that Troutner was better than Nickolas Scudder in that race and should therefore be ahead of him.

There's no ideal spot for Troutner in this week's update, but TSR #38 feels like the most correct spot for this talented BYU runner.

37. Nickolas Scudder, Senior, Charlotte (-11 / 26)

Few men in the NCAA have been put to work more than Nickolas Scudder has this season. The Charlotte standout ran at the Virginia Invitational and settled for a respectable 16th place finish. He later ventured to South Bend, Indiana a week later where he earned an arguably-better 8th place result at the Joe Piane Invitational.

Neither of those performances quite match the caliber of his preseason TSR #26 ranking, but Scudder has shown competitive consistency at multiple big meets this season that everyone else hasn't had the chance to match. As far as his reliability as a low-stick is concerned, he's still one of the more valuable runners in the NCAA.

36. Luke Tewalt, Junior, Wake Forest (-15 / 21)

A 67th place finish at the Virginia Invitational is certainly not indicative of what Luke Tewalt is truly capable of. Remember, this guy was nearly a top-half All-American on the grass last fall and was arguably even better on the outdoor oval, thriving across the 1500 meter and 5k distances.

There are way too many positives on Tewalt's resume for him to drop much lower than this. His race in Charlottesville feels like a pretty obvious fluke, although he'll need to prove us right at his next meet.

35. Haftu Strintzos, Senior, Villanova (0 / 35)

Yes, this Villanova veteran did fall behind Luke Houser and Florian Le Pallec at the Virginia Invitational, two men who are still ranked behind Haftu Strintzos. Even so, an 11th place finish in Charlottesville is actually an encouraging result for someone who was clearly not at his best during the 2022 cross country season.

Strintzos was outstanding during the fall of 2021, eventually placing 9th at the national meet. And knowing that he has that kind of raw talent within him is what keeps him ahead of a few key names who just barely beat him two weekends ago.

34. Alex Phillip, Senior, North Carolina (+12 / 46)

The former Division Three megastar is acclimating to training at the Division One level with ease. We say that because at the Virginia Invitational, Alex Phillip finished 8th overall, a huge low-stick result that exceeded our already-high expectations.

It's still a bit challenging to properly gauge Phillip given his limited body of work on the grass against primarily D1 competition. Even so, everything about this North Carolina standout suggests that he is going to be an All-American come November.

33. Creed Thompson, Junior, BYU (-9 / 24)

Seeing Creed Thompson produce a 26th place finish at the Virginia Invitational wasn't the result that we were expecting (or even hoping) to see. For a guy who has been so steady over the last year, that was a bit surprising.

Even so, this is someone who finished 30th at the NCAA XC Championships last fall and ran 28:04 for 10,000 meters on the outdoor oval. He is clearly talented enough to remain in the top-40 portion of our rankings.

32. Cole Sprout, Junior, Stanford (-17 / 15)

If these rankings were based solely on raw talent and the very best performances on someone's resume, then Cole Sprout would have an argument for the top-10. However, after seeing the Stanford star fade to 62nd place at the Virginia Invitational, it's fair to start asking questions about where his fitness is at.

The Cardinal ace was fantastic throughout most of last fall, but then got injured before the NCAA XC Championships. It was the same thing during the winter months as Sprout eventually pulled out just before the NCAA Indoor Championships. He would put together an admirable outdoor track season, but you could tell that he was still building back his base.

It is very possible that Sprout just had an inconvenient "off" day in Charlottesville and that he'll be totally fine moving forward. But after his latest outing, we struggled to find room for him in our top-30.

31. Brian Masai, Rs. Freshman, Akron (+19 / 50)

The somewhat conservative preseason ranking that we gave to Brian Masai was more centered around the uncertainty that we had about his fitness translating to the grass. We knew he was talented after he ran 13:39 (5k) and 28:45 (10k), but we didn't know what that meant for this fall.

Of course, after placing 4th at the Joe Piane Invite, it's clear that Masai is the real deal. He thrives in aggressively-paced races and clearly made a jump up in his fitness beyond what he showed us during the winter and spring months.

We should acknowledge that Masai may deal with some inexperience woes later this fall as someone who in his first year of collegiate cross country competition. Even so, his raw talent should be enough to carry him to a successful fall campaign.

30. Liam Murphy, Junior, Villanova (+13 / 43)

This Villanova star was just flat-out excellent at the Virginia Invitational. A 7th place finish was huge as Liam Murphy took down a handful of top names, many of whom are in these rankings.

There's not much to say about Murphy other than he's really talented. I will, however, be interested to see how this mile and 3k specialist will translate his newfound fitness to the 10k distance on the grass, but it's hard to dislike anything about the Villanova standout.

29. Brodey Hasty, Rs. Senior, Northern Arizona (+4 / 33)

Not much to report here. Brodey Hasty did win the Dave Murray Invitational by a second over Victor Kibiego, and that's why he moves up in our rankings, but I'm not sure our opinion of this NAU veteran has dramatically changed.

28. Victor Shitsama, Rs. Junior, Oklahoma State (-6 / 22)

A 4th place finish on his home at the Cowboy Jamboree is probably not the early-season result that we expected to see out of someone as accomplished as Victor Shitsama. However, two of the men who beat him were his little-known teammates from Kenya while the other was Devin Hart, a top name from throughout last fall who, at his best, can take down a handful of top men around the country.

Despite the ranking drop, nothing about Shitsama's latest performance leaves me concerned about his potential for this fall. He should be just as good in 2023 as he was in 2022.

27. Devin Hart, Rs. Junior, Texas (+4 / 31)

Really solid run by former Stanford runner Devin Hart at the Cowboy Jamboree. Sure, he may not have been able to take down Denis Kipngetich, but he came within two seconds of the other Oklahoma State standout, Brian Musau and took down Victor Shitsama to snag 3rd.

I'm not sure if we really learned anything new about Devin Hart, but this was a nice reminder that he can be very dangerous when he's clicking on all cylinders.

26. Kirami Yego, Junior, Arkansas (+2 / 28)

A strong win by Kirami Yego at the Chile Pepper XC Festival was hardly a shock. Even so, the newest Razorback ace looked good and should be a top contender once he toes the line for a more competitive race.

25. Theo Quax, Rs. Senior, Northern Arizona (Unranked)

No one has ever questioned how talented Theo Quax is. That was especially true after a huge outdoor track season this past spring when he ran 13:28 (5k) as well as many other excellent times. However, this Kiwi distance standout hasn't always been able to translate his track success to the grass...until the Virginia Invitational, that is.

In Charlottesville, Quax made a huge statement, earning a 6th place finish which finally reflected his true talent and potential during the fall months. And sure, he had a similarly dominant performance at the IU Coaching Tree Invite last fall, but that field was not even close to as strong as what the Virginia Invitational held.

Simply put: This performance feels far more legitimate.

24. Rocky Hansen, Freshman, Wake Forest (Unranked)

Wow, what an incredible race from Rocky Hansen!

The Wake Forest rookie was one of the more elite distance talents to come out of the American high school scene this year. However, despite his talent, I don't think anyone could have predicted that this freshman would place 5th in one of the biggest collegiate cross country meets of the year.

Truthfully, we have no idea what Hansen's performance means for the future. Can he replicate this result? Build on this result? If so, what does that look like? How consistent can he be racing at this level? How much will his raw talent cover up his inexperience?

I don't know the answers to those questions, but I suppose we'll find out soon...

23. Yaseen Abdalla, Junior, Tennessee (+2 / 25)

Not a whole lot to report with Yaseen Abdalla. The Tennessee men have been pretty quiet this season outside of a few rust-busters. That will change soon, and we'll get to see Abdalla actually challenged, but for now, he'll sit at TSR #23.

22. Brian Musau, Freshman, Oklahoma State (Unranked)

We still don't know a lot about Brian Musau, an unknown Kenyan freshman who took down guys like Devin Hart, Victor Shitsama and Haftu Knight in his collegiate debut.

We won't truly know how good this Oklahoma State rookie is until he faces a larger and more competitive field, but general history suggests that this guy is going to be good...really good.

21. Carter Solomon, Junior, Notre Dame (-8 / 13)

A 24th place finish at the Joe Piane Invitational was not at all what we expected to see from Carter Solomon. The Notre Dame ace was originally expected to contend for the overall win on his home course, but he simply faded.

We're not going to panic too much about that result. Plenty of top-tier names in our rankings struggled in their first major race of the season. Even so, we do have to budge Solomon back given how well everyone else ran.

20. Hillary Cheruiyot, Junior, Alabama (+24 / 44)

There was no denying that Hillary Cheruiyot was exceptionally talented. But truthfully, I felt like we pretty much knew who this guy was as a competitor coming into this season. He could be competitive with a lot of different names around the NCAA, but many of his postseason efforts left us wanting more.

Even so, Cheruiyot easily had the best race of his career on Friday as he earned a fantastic runner-up finish at the Joe Piane Invitational. And while he didn't get the win, he did take down fellow teammate Victor Kiprop as well as a large slew of All-American candidates.

This may be a bit of an overreaction, but I'd rather be too generous to Cheruiyot in these rankings after that kind of effort rather than not reward him enough.

19. Shay McEvoy, Junior, Tulsa (0 / 19)

Has not yet raced this fall.

18. Acer Iverson, Senior, Harvard (0 / 18)

Has not yet raced this fall.

17. Chandler Gibbens, Senior, Kansas (Unranked)

When Chandler Gibbens ran 13:28 for 5000 meters this past spring, I was absolutely stunned. No one had ever heard of this fast-rising Kansas runner who had just taken down a highly competitive field with the exception of the winner.

And when we questioned just how good he was, Gibbens went on to defeat both Alex Maier and Isai Rodriguez at the BIG 12 Outdoor Championships to secure gold in both the 5000 meters and the 10,000 meters. He would later qualify for the the outdoor national meet over 5000 meters.

We certainly figured that Gibbens could be a top name in the NCAA this fall and maybe even an All-American contender. But winning the Joe Piane Invite? Over Hillary Cheruiyot and Victor Kiprop? Well, that just wasn't on our bingo card.

At this point, I'm not willing to doubt Gibbens anymore. He just earned a huge marquee win against one of the absolute best distance runners in the entire country. The Jayhawk star will still need to string together a series of results just like this throughout the rest of the season, but I'm on the Gibbens bandwagon if there is still any room.

16. Aaron Las Heras, Rs. Senior, Northern Arizona (+1 / 17)

Has not yet raced this fall.

15. Patrick Kiprop, Junior, Arkansas (+1 / 16)

Has not yet raced this fall.

14. Jackson Sharp, Senior, Wisconsin (-4 / 10)

Nothing to report here. Jackson Sharp finished runner-up at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational, losing only to his teammate, Bob Liking. And with so many men having huge races of their own, this Wisconsin veteran falls back to TSR #14 to no fault of his own.

13. Denis Kipngetich, Freshman, Oklahoma State (Unranked)

Is this too low? Too high? Just right? I don't think there's a correct answer.

Denis Kipngetich was largely an unknown name prior to his race at the Cowboy Jamboree. But when he did toe the line in an Oklahoma State singlet, he didn't just win the race, he DOMINATED multiple All-American talents.

How do we rank someone like this? Kipngetich is clearly an insanely gifted runner, but we really only have one result of his to analyze. Is it really fair to put him ahead of men who are simply more proven? Or would we be silly to not fully recognize his unreal upside?

I don't have a good answer for you, but regardless, this is probably the highest that I have ever voluntarily ranked someone who I know so little about.

12. Victor Kiprop, Junior, Alabama (-1 / 11)

I believed that Victor Kiprop was the favorite to win the Joe Piane Invitational on Friday. And when Carter Solomon and Dylan Schubert began to falter, I felt increasingly more confident about that.

Instead, Kiprop settled for bronze behind Chandler Gibbens and teammate Hillary Cheruiyot. No, it wasn't Kiprop's best race, but this is hardly a performance that we should be concerned about. The Alabama ace still had a solid outing and our expectations for him largely haven't changed.

11. Bob Liking, Junior, Wisconsin (+3 / 14)

Nice win by Bob Liking at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational. I can't say that I'm surprised given that his best competition was his teammate Jackson Sharp (who was five seconds behind), but it was a solid effort and one to be happy about.

10. Joey Nokes, Junior, BYU (+10 / 20)

A 4th place finish at the Virginia Invitational was a fantastic result for Joey Nokes. In fact, this might be the best result of his entire career. He had a breakout season in the fall of 2022 and has extended that success to now. But in 2023, this BYU ace looks like a much more refined racer who is capable of being that secondary upper-tier low-stick next to Casey Clinger.

And yes, this may seem like a slightly generous bump in Nokes' ranking, but every other runner in the top-20 either didn't have their best race, hasn't raced yet or just aren't as proven as this BYU runner.

9. Alex Maier, Senior, Oklahoma State (-1 / 8)

Has not yet raced this fall.

8. Fouad Messaoudi, Sophomore, Oklahoma State (-1 / 7)

Has not yet raced this fall.

7. Parker Wolfe, Junior, North Carolina (+2 / 9)

Great runner-up effort from Parker Wolfe at the Virginia Invitational. Drew Bosley was going to be a challenging name to take down, but defeating Ky Robinson and an elite field signals that this Tar Heel star may still be able to climb up one more tier this fall. And if that's the case, then we may have to evaluating the national title picture more deeply.

6. Graham Blanks, Junior, Harvard (0 / 6)

A dominant win over Ryan Kinnane at the Battle in Beantown left me shrugging my shoulders and saying, "Yeah, that seems about right." Graham Blanks hasn't truly been challenged yet, but that should change soon when he ventures to the Nuttycombe Invitational.

5. Casey Clinger, Senior, BYU (0 / 5)

Has not yet raced this fall.

4. Ky Robinson, Junior, Stanford (-3 / 1)

A 3rd place finish by Ky Robinson at the Virginia Invitational is not at all a bad result. But for someone who was listed at TSR #1 in our preseason rankings, you'd like for this Stanford star to be more in the mix for the individual win -- and Bosley just looked flat-out better.

I still think that Robinson is in the national title conversation, but a favorable race scenario may have to be a factor for this Aussie star if he wants to secure gold in November.

3. Nico Young, Junior, Northern Arizona (0 / 3)

Has not yet raced this fall.

2. Habtom Samuel Keleta, Freshman, New Mexico (+2 / 4)

Yes, Habtom Samuel Keleta was downright incredible at the Griak Invitational, dominating a good field to comfortably take home the win. However, for as good as that race was, I can't say that I'm really surprised. With his credentials, Keleta was heavily favored to dominate and he did just that. I'm not sure if my thoughts on him have changed.

The biggest reason why this New Mexico star jumps to TSR #2 in our rankings is because our former TSR #1 runner, Ky Robinson, wasn't as sharp at the Virginia Invitational and because Nico Young hasn't raced yet.

Luckily, we should get to see a very exciting showdown between Keleta and elite competition at the Nuttycombe Invite in a week and a half.

1. Drew Bosley, Senior, Northern Arizona (+1 / 2)

A fairly convincing win by Drew Bosley at the Virginia Invitational didn't really surprise anyone. In fact, almost all of us at TSR predicted that he would take home gold.

Naturally, that result was enough to give this NAU standout our TSR #1 spot. That's a decision that Blue Oval Podcast host Ben Weisel is probably very happy about after campaigning hard for Bosley to be at this spot during the summer months.

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ADDED

Denis Kipngetich (Oklahoma State)

Brian Musau (Oklahoma State)

Chandler Gibbens (Kansas)

David Mullarkey (Florida State)

Rocky Hansen (Wake Forest)

Theo Quax (Northern Arizona)

Florian Le Pallec (Butler)

Wil Smith (Gonzaga)

Lukas Kiprop (New Mexico)

KICKED OFF

Isaac Alonzo (Texas)

Vincent Mauri (Notre Dame)

Toby Gillen (Ole Miss)

Eliud Kipsang (Alabama)

Thomas Boyden (Stanford)

Lex Young (Stanford)

Matthew Richtman (Montana State)

Davin Thompson (BYU)

Santiago Prosser (Northern Arizona)

Nathan Lawler (Syracuse)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Isaac Alonzo (Texas)

Toby Gillen (Ole Miss)

Vincent Mauri (Notre Dame)

Eliud Kipsang (Alabama)

Thomas Boyden (Stanford)

Lex Young (Stanford)

Matthew Richtman (Montana State)

Santiago Prosser (Northern Arizona)

Marco Langon (Villanova)

Gary Martin (Virginia)

Sean Maison (Air Force)

Davis Bove (LSU)

Josh Methner (Notre Dame)

Arturs Medveds (California Baptist)

Evans Kiplagat (New Mexico)

Ryan Kinnane (Auburn)

Ethan Strand (North Carolina)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Luke Combs (Air Force)

Paul O'Donnell (Syracuse)

Jason Bowers (East Tennessee State)

Bradley Makuvire (Tulane)

Simeon Birnbaum (Oregon)

Timothy Chesondin (Akron)

Ben Shearer (Arkansas)

Abdirizak Ibrahim (Florida State)

Carson Williams (Furman)

Evan Dorenkamp (Penn State)

Chris Devaney (Loyola (Ill.))

Quincy Norman (Oregon)

Rodger Rivera (Texas)

Valentin Soca (California Baptist)

Matt Strangio (Portland)

Ryan Schoppe (Oklahoma State)

Jesse Hamlin (Butler)

Notes

- N/A