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TSR's 2023 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Rankings (Men): #2 BYU Cougars
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Sep 1, 2023
- 9 min read
NOTE: Earlier this summer, The Stride Report reached out to nearly every team that was considered for a possible ranking this summer. While we did receive numerous responses and great clarity, we did not get a 100% response rate. On rare occasions, we are referencing TFFRS in order to talk about returners and athletes who are out of eligibility.
Depth, depth and more depth.
That has been the focal theme of pretty much every BYU men's cross country team that I can ever remember in my eight and a half years of covering this sport.
The Cougars are a true distance running powerhouse. Their overwhelming number of All-American candidates has reached points where they are surpassing our top-ranked team when it comes to scoring options.
BYU is a program that has been one of the most stable and relentlessly consistent cross country teams in the NCAA for last decade. They rarely have a poor race, their recruiting efforts are beyond impressive and they have proven that they can compete with anyone, as evidenced by their 2019 national title win.
Make no mistake, the Cougars are absolutely capable of returning to the very top of the podium yet again in 2023. It will not be easy, and they need a few things to break their way, but a repeat of the 2019 national meet isn't totally out of the question for this fall.
* * *
Last fall, the BYU men toed the line at the Cowboy Jamboree, the course that would eventually host the NCAA XC Championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
In that field, the Cougars were tasked with racing against Oklahoma State, Northern Arizona and Stanford -- programs that we all considered to be national title contenders for the 2022 cross country season.
In that race, the Cougars made an early statement by having three low-sticks offer tremendous firepower. The combination of Casey Clinger, Joey Nokes and Christian Allen posted finishes of 7-10-11, respectively, to give BYU the first three men across the line.
Clinger was unsurprisingly great and Allen, who had built his reputation by having phenomenal national meet efforts, had one of the better regular season results of his career. However, it was the rise of Nokes as a true low-stick that the Cougars happily welcomed.
We knew he would be good last fall, but we didn't think that he was going to be THAT good.
From there, the brother duo of Davin Thompson (20th) and Creed Thompson (27th) closed out BYU's team scoring, giving the Cougars the most complete top-five in the field -- and it wasn't even close. In fact, on other ranked teams, the Thompson brothers would have been borderline low-sticks.
BYU walked away from Stillwater, Oklahoma with a fantastic win, although it was clear that Stanford, NAU and Oklahoma State were not quite running at full strength...yet.
That changed at the Nuttycombe Invite where the Cougars would run into similar competition, minus the Cowboys. If this team was going to validate their win at the Cowboy Jamboree, then another big-time performance in Madison, Wisconsin would give them valuable momentum going into the postseason.
And sure enough, the Cougars had one of their best-ever cross country races as far as depth was concerned.
The combination of Nokes, Brandon Garnica, Allen, Creed Thompson and Davin Thompson went 15-16-17-20-21, respectively, in the overall results. It was one of the better displays of team-centric pack running that I had seen over the last few years.
Nokes and the Thompson brothers validated their early-season success, Troutner took a big step in the right direction and Garnica continued to play a key scoring role for a team with national title aspirations. But with no one else in the top-60, how could the Nuttycombe Invite have been BYU's greatest display of depth?
Well, it's important to note that both Casey Clinger and Christian Allen were absent from the team's lineup that day. And yet, despite that, BYU was still able to place 2nd overall without two of their top scorers. They were, however, still 35 points behind the winners, Stanford.
After cruising through the West Coast Conference XC Championships and the Mountain Regional XC Championships, the BYU men turned their attention to the national meet. With a fully loaded lineup, this squad was capable of winning NCAA gold, but their firepower needed to be as potent as it ever was.
Clinger did his job by placing 7th overall while Garnica shook off any national meet woes with a very strong 21st place finish. The Thompson brothers placed 30th (Davin) and 35th (Creed) to earn All-American honors while Allen, Troutner and Nokes went 47-48-52, respectively.
In the end, BYU placed 3rd. The Cougars delivered on podium expectations, but it was also fair to say that they could have been significantly better. All seven men from last year's lineup had the potential to be All-Americans, specifically Allen and Nokes who were seemingly capable of top-25 finishes.
That likely wouldn't have been enough to catch Northern Arizona and Oklahoma State for the team title...but it would have been close.
* * *
Let's get the "bad news" out of the way: BYU loses both Christian Allen and Brandon Garnica for the 2023 cross country. Those are two men who have been top-25 All-Americans before. They offered excellent low-stick scoring potency throughout last fall and even when they had "off" days (which more applies to Allen at the national meet), they offered valuable stability.
And yet, from a scoring perspective, their departures may not really matter.
I know, that feels ridiculous to type out.
The BYU men return the other five men that they had in their varsity lineup from last fall. And at one point, all seven men from the Cougars' 2022 cross country squad were featured in our individual cross country rankings.
That is completely unheard of.
Now, as we enter the fall of 2023, the BYU men will return an experienced group while boasting a couple of high-rising talents and a steeplechase superstar who will act as the main x-factor of this squad.
* * *
Truthfully, I don't think we need to spend much time on Casey Clinger. He's one of the best long distance runners in the NCAA and he has been for quite some time. The veteran made clear improvements this past winter and spring, but even if he's the best runner in the country this fall, that shouldn't make a massive scoring difference.
Instead, let's shift our attention to Joey Nokes.
Our TSR #20 runner in our preseason individual cross country rankings was outstanding throughout last fall. He was 10th at the Cowboy Jamboree and 15th at the Nuttycombe Invite. Yes, he struggled a bit on the national stage (placing 52nd), but Nokes was still excellent on the track as well.
With personal bests of 13:29 (5k) and 28:05 (10k) now on his resume, we sincerely believe that Nokes can end up being one of the more feared low-sticks in the country this fall. And after a year of racing at a nationally competitive level, expect his performance at this year's NCAA XC Championships to be far better than last year.
We then come to Davin and Creed Thompson, brothers who never seemed to have a poor race at literally any point over the last year. Finishing in the top-30 at the Cowboy Jamboree, top-21 at the Nuttycombe Invite and top-40 on the national stage is flat-out fantastic for two guys who were only sophomores by eligibility last fall.
The consistency and reliability that this duo showed during the 2022 cross country season is fairly rare for athletes who were as young as them and racing at that level.
Davin would go on to run 13:35 (5k) on the indoor track in December, but didn't race for the rest of the year, either on the indoor or outdoor ovals. Creed, meanwhile, never faltered. With personal best times of 13:34 (5k) and 28:04 (10k), there's potential that he is just as good as Nokes this fall.
And truthfully, we don't think that's a ridiculous suggestion to make! In our preseason individual cross country rankings, Nokes is listed at TSR #20 while Davin Thompson is ranked at TSR #23 and Creed Thompson sits at TSR #24.
The last returner who we need to highlight is Aidan Troutner. Admittedly, this former high school star was a bit tough to rank and evaluate last fall. He only contested two major meets last year, the Nuttycombe Invite (17th) and the NCAA XC Championships (48th). The former result was great, but the latter result left us wanting just a little bit more.
After running new personal bests of 7:50 (3k) and 13:45 (5k) this past winter, we feel confident in saying that BYU's veteran returner is capable of being a top-30 runner in the nation this fall, something that we reflected with a TSR #29 preseason ranking.
Of course, Troutner's lack of racing since February isn't exactly an encouraging development for someone who already has a relatively limited resume.
* * *
We believe that the BYU men have five of the top-30 cross country runners in the NCAA for the fall of 2023. And in most years, that would usually be enough to position a program as favorites for the national title.
However, Clinger is only BYU runner who sits within the top-19 of our preseason individual cross country rankings. The next four Cougars sit anywhere from TSR #20 to TSR #29. But when facing teams like Oklahoma State and Northern Arizona, the men from Provo need someone to breakthrough and join Clinger in that top-10 or top-15 range.
Could that be Kenneth Rooks?
The BYU veteran had a masterful year in the steeplechase this past spring and winter. He held highly impressive control of his fitness and it showed.
Rooks was victorious against a loaded pro-laden steeplechase field at the Sound Running Track Fest back in May. He later ran a personal best of 8:16 in the event, won the NCAA title over an all-time collegiate talent in Duncan Hamilton, won the USA Championships despite falling over a barrier and advanced to the World Championships.
Saying that he had an "impressive" year would be an understatement.
We (unsurprisingly) received a handful of critiques when we listed Kenneth Rooks at TSR #42 in our preseason individual cross country rankings. He was one of the greatest NCAA steeplechasers ever! How was he not ranked so much higher?
Well, Rooks wasn't even in BYU's cross country national meet lineup last fall.
Part of that is because his team was insanely loaded. However, the other part is because he wasn't able to crack the top-10 at the West Coast Conference XC Championships or the top-20 at the Mountain Regional XC Championships. And while his 63rd place finish at Nuttycombe was respectable, it didn't put Rooks anywhere close to a top-50 ranking.
Trying to balance the elite talent that Rooks displayed in the steeplechase this past year with his relatively unexciting cross country resume is a challenge. It should be noted that not all top steeplechasers become All-Americans on the grass (it's less than you think), but Rooks is an all-time superstar over the barriers. He's different.
If Rooks pops this fall, then he'll easily climb our rankings. And if that happens, then BYU may find themselves at TSR #1 by November. Until then, we just have to sit back and wait.
The rest of this team is crazy talented, but there is only one projected varsity spot remaining in the Cougars' 2023 lineup.
James Corrigan and Caleb Johnson ran sub-3:40 marks over 1500 meters after earning altitude conversion in a mile race this past spring. Corrigan went on to run 13:40 for 5000 meters on the outdoor oval as well.
Sophomore Luke Grundvig was a pleasant surprise on the track this past year, running times of 13:49 (5k) and 28:48 (10k) throughout the 2023 spring season.
Garrett Stanford ran 8:50 in the steeplechase this past spring while his brother Jacob Stanford ran 28:57 over 10,000 meters. We also saw Zach Erikson run 8:52 over the barriers earlier this year as well.
Lucas Bons is now a veteran who was outstanding as a rookie, but is still trying to replicate his freshman year magic. He has run much better as of late, but it'll also be interesting to see if he can translate his mile success to the grass.
Be sure to also keep an eye on true freshman, Wyatt Haughton. The Kansas native has run times of 4:04 (1600), 8:56 (3200) and 14:46 (5k XC). He also finished runner-up at the 2022 Garmin RunningLane XC National Championships. If he's ahead of schedule in his fitness, then it's possible that he (maybe) makes a surprise appearance in this lineup.
One of these guys who I just mentioned is going to have a breakout year. I feel extremely confident about that. It's not a matter of "if" one of those men will have a breakout season, but rather "who" will have a breakout season.
I don't know the answer to that question, but Coach Ed Eyestone may be the best in the NCAA when it comes to developing distance talents, at least by quantity.
* * *
I would put my entire life savings on the BYU men returning to the podium this fall. They are way too proven, way too experienced, way too deep and way too talented to ever have a poor race.
Heck, they didn't even have two of their best runners at the Nuttycombe Invite last fall, but they still finished runner-up and took down the eventual national champions!
Scoring options and lineup reinforcements aren't going to be an issue for this squad in the fall of 2023. However, trying to get these men to reach an even higher level, specifically in the upper-half of the All-American range, is what will ultimately determine whether or not they win a national title this fall.
But if our TSR #1 team has just one slip up on the national stage this fall, then the Cougars should be primed to pounce at the opportunity to win NCAA gold.
