TSR's 2023 D2 XC Top 25 Individual Rankings (Men): Update #2

Written by Gavin Struve and Garrett Zatlin

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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 individual has moved in the rankings.

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

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25. Kevin McDermott, Junior, Western Washington (Unranked)

It's hard to dislike anything that Kevin McDermott has done this fall. The Western Washington ace has evolved from a lead scorer to a true low-stick, earning a solid 12th place finish at the Lewis XC Crossover and later taking home the win at the GNAC XC Championships. During that latter performance, he took down both Johan Correa and Cole Nash, the latter of whom is among the best D2 distance runners in the country when he's at 100%.

Momentum is very clearly on McDermott's side as we dive deeper into the postseason. He hasn't been perfect this fall, but he has clearly progressed as the season has unfolded and should benefit from the racing distance getting bumped to 10k moving forward.

24. Elias Bergman, Rs. Sophomore, Grand Valley State (Unranked)

Seeing Elias Bergman produce a 3rd place finish among a pack of top Grand Valley State runners is hardly surprising. However, at this point in our rankings, we felt that it was time to reward this redshirt sophomore for his quietly-great consistency.

Placing 6th at the MSU Spartan Invite, 15th at the Louisville XC Classic and now earning bronze at his conference meet gives this rising star a complete resume. It's not often that breakout talents like Bergman are as reliable as he has been so far this fall.

23. Amos Pkiach, Junior, East Central (+2 / 25)

Truthfully, we didn't really learn anything new about Amos Pkiach this past weekend after he finished runner-up at the Great American XC Championships in what was ultimately a clean sweep for the East Central men.

However, when we reflect on some of his races this fall, we certainly can't say that he has avoided top competition. The Tiger junior finished 4th at the Southern Stampede meet behind guys like Asbel Kiprop (his teammate), Talel Khalfi (who is rumored to be managing an injury) and Andrew Amor (a guy who just dominated the RMAC XC Championships).

That's been the only truly competitive race on his schedule so far this season. However, when we reflect on how good some of the men in that field have been this fall, specifically Amor, we felt like keeping Pkiach within our top-25 made sense.

22. Andrew Kaye, Junior, Colorado Mines (0 / 22)

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

21. Cortland Ross, Junior, Illinois-Springfield (Unranked)

Cortland Ross may end up being a problem for his competitors later this fall. He's always been a strong distance talent, but the Illinois-Springfield ace has clearly taken a jump up in his fitness this fall.

A 9th place result at the Southern Stampede meet was fine, but from there, Ross has asserted himself as someone who can become a legitimate star. A 12th place finish at the Louisville XC Classic suggests that he has top-end All-American potential and a convincing GLVC title win this past weekend only validates those suspicions.

Pulling off a convincing win over a talent like Benjamin VandenBrink, who has been excellent this fall, is what ultimately allowed us to push Ross to our TSR #21 spot.

20. Logan Bocovich, Senior, Colorado Mines (-5 / 15)

Yes, he may be dropping five spots in our rankings, but that's not necessarily because he ran poorly this past weekend. At the RMAC XC Championships, Logan Bocovich produced a strong 9th place finish, leaving us to shrug our shoulders and say, "Yeah, that seems about right."

Bocovich's drop in our rankings is more so based on other top names rising following big performances rather than anything that he has done.

19. Tyler Nord, Rs. Freshman, Western Colorado (Unranked)

After a monster year on the track, Tyler Nord has translated his fitness to the grass incredibly well. His 15th place finish at the Chile Pepper XC Festival was solid, but it was hard to gauge just how good he was in a field that didn't have any comparable Division Two talent.

Luckily, Nord's 7th place finish at the RMAC XC Championships validates our suspicions of him potentially being an upper-half All-American in the postseason.

However, this is someone who is still fairly young and he's highly inexperienced when it comes to collegiate cross country. We'll be interested to see how he handles the move up to 10k in racing distance for the postseason.

18. David Kibet, Senior, Washburn (Unranked)

Admittedly, there isn't a singular performance on David Kibet's resume that jumps out and wows you. However, when you piece together each of his results from this fall, the Wasburn senior looks like a top-25 name in Division Two.

At the Southern Stampede meet, Kibet settled for a solid 8th place finish, putting him ahead of a few great names, including Cortland Ross. At the Chile Pepper XC Festival, he placed 11th ahead of Tyler Nord. And this past weekend, the Washburn talent took home the MIAA field over a very respectable field.

When you consider how strong Ross and Nord have been this fall, Kibet deserves a lot of credit for producing the kind of results that he has this season.

17. Noah Fisher, Junior, Findlay (0 / 17)

There isn't much to say here. Noah Fisher easily took home the G-MAC title this past weekend by a comfortable margin. Look out for him on the national stage. This is someone who, on paper, should thrive over the 10k distance even more so than the 8k.

16. Dayton Brown, Rs. Senior, Adams State (-7 / 9)

An 8th place finish at the RMAC XC Championships is a great performance for Dayton Brown who also earned an excellent 9th place result at the Louisville XC Classic. However, compared to where he was in our rankings previously (at TSR #9), we simply had to move this distance veteran back in our top-25.

Regardless, Brown has looked great this year. He's likely more potent of a scorer than what he showed on Saturday and his it is not at all out of the question for him to be a top-10 at the national meet come November.

15. Jan Lukas Becker, Senior, Mississippi College (-8 / 7)

Unfortunately, the Gulf South XC Championships didn't necessarily help Jan Lukas Becker's stock in our individual rankings. The Mississippi College standout was soundly defeated by Sam Wilhelm (who is having an incredible season) and was nearly upset by Berket Mesele from Christian Brothers.

Make no mistake, Becker is still a nationally competitive talent who should most certainly emerge as an All-American. He did, after all, finish 8th at the Louisville XC Classic. That, paired with his extensive experience and pedigree, is enough for us to keep Becker in the top-15 portion of our rankings.

14. Romain Legendre, Junior, Adams State (0 / 14)

The first time that we saw Romain Legendre compete for Adams State this fall was at the Louisville XC Classic. There, the Frenchman stunned with a monster 3rd place, emerging as the top D2 talent in the field.

That result launched Legendre into our ranking at TSR #14. And even though that performance suggested that he was probably better than TSR #14, we just wanted to see how he fared in his next race before we made any major declarations about how good the newest Grizzly star was.

A 6th place finish at the RMAC XC Championships is a result that demands respect. However, it's also a result that is pretty on par with where we ranked Legendre previously. And for that reason, he sticks around at this spot...for now.

13. Paul Knight, Rs. Sophomore, Colorado Mines (+5 / 18)

Believe it or not, the RMAC XC Championships was Paul Knight's first race of the 2023 cross country season -- and what a debut it was.

A 5th place finish at the RMAC XC Championships was fantastic for someone who had already placed 8th on this stage last year. Taking down names such as Romain Legendre, Tyler Nord, Dayton Brown and numerous should be a massive boost of confidence for this rising Colorado Mines ace.

Admittedly, it's hard to figure out exactly where we should place Knight in our rankings. He has only raced once, but that lone performance was undeniably great. For now, a TSR #13 spot seems fair based on who he took down.

12. Caleb Futter, Junior, Grand Valley State (+4 / 16)

Following a 14th place finish at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships, paired with all of his track success, we had outsized expectations for Caleb Futter entering this fall. He needed to be a consistent, first-rate low-stick who minimized scoring for a podium favorite. And in his first couple of appearances this season, he didn't quite live up to that billing for as solid as he was.

Futter wasn't necessarily bad at the Auto-Owners Spartan Invitational (17th) or the Louisville XC Classic (23rd), but he was far from his own team's best runner. That changed at the dawn of the postseason as Futter snagged a runner-up result at the GLIAC XC Championships behind only Ransom Allen.

The Laker veteran not only helped his team win the conference title (comfortably), but he also took Allen to the line and lost by just one second! That looked more like the guy who we were hoping to see this fall and we expect that to be the version of Futter that we get for the rest of this season.

11. Trent Cochran, Senior, Colorado Christian (+1 / 12)

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

10. Ryan Hartman, Junior, Augustana (SD) (+1 / 11)

Following a pair of runner-up results — one behind rising Division One talent Carson Noecker of South Dakota State and one behind Division Two star Ransom Allen — Ryan Hartman finally snagged a win this fall. It came at the NSIC XC Championships and it marked his first conference title on the grass after a couple of near misses.

Simply put, this guy has been a metronome of consistency this season. And after back-to-back top-25 All-American cross country finishes, it feels like this Viking ace is due for a small leap among individual stars to this range of the national picture.

9. Sam Wilhelm, Junior, Alabama-Huntsville (Unranked)

Sam Wilhelm is still a name who we are learning more about. In fact, we know comparatively less about him than virtually any other man in this range of the rankings.

Through four contests, this rising Charger star has yet to lose to a Division Two opponent, holding his own at the Cowboy Jamboree and most recently taking down a proven standout in Jan Lukas Becker at the Gulf South XC Championships.

We're not suggesting that Wilhelm is infallible, but he has jumped up a few tiers in his sudden rise to stardom and has given us very little reason to doubt his consistency or upside.

8. Loïc Scomparin, Junior, Colorado Mines (-2 / 6)

Even though he's dropping in this rankings update, Loïc Scomparin actually helped his stock since we saw him last. That's because we held some questions about his availability as he sat out during the entire regular season.

It's not an indictment on Scomparin to say that the Orediggers were still wholly capable of winning a national title without him, but his presence undoubtedly helps them in that quest.

In his season debut at the RMAC XC Championships, Scomparin finished a tremendous 4th place overall. The troika of men who finished ahead of him are all listed above him in these rankings and in the process, he took down a bevy of ranked names (five) himself.

At this point, we know what to expect from Scomparin. That's not through extended seasons of racing, but rather showing up when it matters and delivering. He's the Jimmy Butler of Division Two cross country if you will.

7. Ransom Allen, Senior, Wayne State (MI) (-2 / 5)

Ransom Allen is another name who is falling a bit in our top-10, but did nothing to hurt his resume. In fact, he has continued to improve his standing throughout this fall if anything. He has further proven to be a different and more refined runner than even the guy who was a top-10 All-American a year ago.

Allen largely slips by virtue of Duncan Fuehne (who beat him at the Lewis XC Crossover) taking a small drop and by a few others taking a leap in our rankings.

Either way, Allen was consistently great across the Griak Invitational, Lewis XC Crossover and the GLIAC XC Championships, opening his season with a victory at the former and winning the latter over GVSU's arsenal of studs.

6. Duncan Fuehne, Junior, Colorado Mines (-4 / 2)

His case may not be as strong as it was a few weeks ago, but Duncan Fuehne is still a veritable national title contender. He proved as much by finishing towards the front of the Lewis XC Crossover (2nd) and the RMAC XC Championships (3rd).

Just as importantly, this Oredigger ace looked just as good as he did last fall en route to a 3rd place result at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships.

Sure, he hasn't been dominant and has been passed up by a couple of men. But Fuehne's most important role is probably as a lead scorer for the Orediggers rather than an individual national title contender. His reliability, in turn, keeps him in the latter conversation as well.

5. Simon Kelati, Rs. Junior, Western Colorado (-1 / 4)

Add Simon Kelati to the list of men who we wish we could rank higher. And if we were sorting these rankings by national title odds, then he may well be further up this list. Nonetheless, the Western Colorado star produced a massive runner-up result at the RMAC XC Championships this past weekend. It was his first real test against top-end Division Two opposition this fall.

We already knew that Kelati was one of the higher-end runners in Division Two, and his under-the-radar results from earlier this fall did nothing to dispel that notion. However, his most recent RMAC performance suggests that he's made a small leap from elite lead scorer to singular low-stick talent.

4. Andrew Amor, Senior, New Mexico Highlands (Unranked)

Welcome to the big leagues, Andrew Amor!

Perhaps that introduction is unfair given that this is someone who was (barely) a top-half All-American at the 2022 cross country national meet. But Amor was not as strong on the track and looked good, but not great, in his first few contests this fall.

In hindsight, his recent "losses" have been forgivable. He lost to only Aspel Kiprob and Talel Khalfi, two mercurial talents, at the Southern Stampede, and finished behind a pair of teammates in what was likely a modest effort at his home meet. The importance of all of that pales in comparison to the significance of what Amor just earned: an RMAC individual title.

After winning the nation's most competitive conference meet by a sizable margin, we have to take Amor seriously as a national title contender rather than just an All-American lock. We look forward to seeing him back up that breakthrough result on an even bigger stage.

3. Aspel Kiprob, Junior, East Central (+10 / 13)

Full disclosure: Aspel Kiprob moves up by virtue of Andrew Amor's shocking victory. It felt unfair to leave an undefeated star behind one of the men he took down.

Either way, Kiprob was due for a bump on his own merits. He beat Amor, Khalfi, Becker, Gidieon Kimutai, Kibet, Ross and more at the Southern Stampede. He then took down his high-level teammate, Pkiach, at the DBU Old Glory Gallup and at the Great American XC Championships.

We haven't seen Kiprob race at a national meet at the Division Two level before, but he thrived in those settings in the JUCO ranks and has already put himself towards the top of the national picture in the NCAA.

2. William Amponsah, Junior, West Texas A&M (+1 / 3)

William Amponsah is a breakout name in a similar vein to Kiprob and Wilhelm, emerging from relative obscurity to the pinnacle of Division Two distance running.

The Buffalo ace is undefeated through four contests, finishing ahead of his solid teammates as well as a handful of Division One talents and some of the best names in Division Two.

Most recently, Amponsah won the Louisville XC Classic and the Lone Star Conference XC Championships, in that order, further bolstering a new resume that was already replete with accolades. The newest West Texas A&M star has given us no reason to question his consistency, tactics or aerobic ability thus far, and we're eager to see how he completes his first season in Division Two.

1. Matthew Storer, Rs. Sophomore, Colorado Christian (0 / 1)

Matthew Storer has not competed since our last rankings update. He still holds arguably the best individual win of anyone in Division Two (at the Lewis XC Crossover) and has given us no reason to move him from the top spot.

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Added

Andrew Amor (New Mexico Highlands)

Sam Wilhelm (Alabama-Huntsville)

David Kibet (Washburn)

Tyler Nord (Western Colorado)

Cortland Ross (Illinois-Springfield)

Elias Bergman (Grand Valley State)

Kevin McDermott (Western Washington)

KICKED OFF

Awet Beraki (Adams State)

Cole Nash (Alaska Anchorage)

Gidieon Kimutai (Missouri Southern)

Hamza Chahid (Wingate)

JP Rutledge (Colorado Mines)

Alexander Vance (Colorado Christian)

Andrew Hylen (Grand Valley State)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

JP Rutledge (Colorado Mines)

Alexander Vance (Colorado Christian)

Andrew Hylen (Grand Valley State)

Awet Beraki (Adams State)

Cole Nash (Alaska Anchorage)

John O’Malley (Colorado Mines)

Scott Nutter (Wingate)

Gidieon Kimutai (Missouri Southern)

Johan Correa (Central Washington)

Daniel Hernandez (Chico State)

Ricardo Barbosa (Wingate)

Juan Diego Castro (Azusa Pacific)

Sebastian Brinkman (Simon Fraser)

Yonas Haile (Adams State)

George Couttie (Charleston (WV))

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Koby Fraaza (Grand Valley State)

Samuel Lange (Michigan Tech)

Donald Kibet (Washburn)

Jagger Zlotoff (UC-Colorado Springs)

James Ramey (MSU Denver)

Andrew Oslin (Western Washington)

Daniel Appleford (Colorado Mines)

Bastian Mrochen (Wingate)

Alberto Campa (Colorado Mines)

Enrico Oddone (West Texas A&M)

Aziz Mohamed (West Texas A&M)

Isaiah Kelly (Cedarville)

Cas Kopmels (Wingate)

Matthew Oglesby (Pittsburg State)

Ephrem Mekonnen (Simon Fraser)

Hamza Chahid (Wingate)

Jakob Rettschlage (Wingate)

Brock Wooderson (Grand Valley State)

Matthew Fowler (Lee (Tenn.))

Ricardo Vargas (Cal Poly Pomona)

Brayden McLaughlin (Chico State)

Talel Khalfi (Tiffin)

Jerry Baltzer (Biola)

Harry Louradour (West Texas A&M)

Noah McIntyre (Illinois-Springfield)

Benjamin VandenBrink (Missouri-St. Louis)

Cal Yackin (Grand Valley State)

Reece Sharman-Newell (CSU-Pueblo)

Notes

- N/A