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TSR's 2023 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Rankings (Men): #24 Princeton Tigers
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Aug 10, 2023
- 7 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.
Earlier this summer, Princeton's men's Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, Fred Samara, stepped away from the program, retiring after spending 46 years with the Tigers.
And just this past week, the Ivy League university announced that distance coach Jason Vigilante would be promoted to the Director role as Samara's replacement.
It's a move that is well deserved.
During his time with the Princeton men, Vigilante has further established the Tigers as the definition of cross country excellence in the Ivy League. And while the Harvard men have proven to be formidable opponents as of late, it's been Princeton that has flexed competitive longevity and incredible depth on a consistent basis.
In 2023, none of that should be changing. The Tigers are set to return essentially everyone from last year's lineup(s) and they will continue to showcase incredible depth, leaving them void of any major flaws.
They will, however, need to find greater firepower and a focal star to carry this team in major, nationally competitive meets in the coming months.
* * *
Last fall, the Princeton men began their competitive season with a tri-meet against Harvard and Yale. The race was only over 6000 meters, but it did give us insight as to what this Tigers' lineup would look like.
While the Crimson men flexed elite firepower, it was Princeton that leaned heavily on their depth and pack-running. And in a smaller field, the Tigers emerged victorious over a higher-ranked opponent by two points.
Of course, that was hardly the defining point of the season.
The Cowboy Jamboree, however, was a very telling race.
On a stage that featured many of the top teams in the nation, it was the Princeton men who emerged with a fairly solid 11th place finish.
Anthony Monte's 25th place result was a great effort for a team that needed the firepower and the same could be said about Connor Nisbet's 33rd place effort. Sure, neither of those performances were jaw-dropping, but they gave the Tigers a strong start to their scoring.
From there, Joshua Zelek held his own by placing 52nd overall while Jarrett Kirk did his job, finishing in 67th place that day. Matthew Farrell would close out the scoring with an 82nd place finish.
On paper, no one had a poor race, but there was certainly room for the back-half of Princeton's scoring group to improve. Luckily, the Tigers' never saw any majorly excessive scoring which allowed them to defeat the likes of Texas, Harvard, Washington and Ole Miss, squads that all struggled with depth that day.
That race, however, would be the last major invitational that Princeton would toe the line for until the postseason. They ultimately shifted their attention to the Ivy League XC Championships where they would face Harvard once more.
The lineup structures that we had previously seen from these two squads at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton tri-meet were relevant once again on the conference stage. The Crimson had the better firepower, but both Monte (3rd) and Nisbet (4th) didn't let their Ivy League rivals yield much ground.
With Daniel O'Brien (8th), Duncan Miller (9th) and Jarrett Kirk (14th) out-pacing the respective 3-4-5 scorers of Harvard, it was clear that the Tigers's depth had done enough to win the Ivy League XC Championships, this time by just three points.
However, things were become a bit more challenging for Princeton as they moved up to the 10,000 meter racing distance.
At the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships, the Ivy League champions faltered, taking 3rd place overall while Villanova (a clearly better team) and Georgetown took the top-two automatic qualifying spots.
Depth continued to be a non-issue for Princeton with all five of their scorers placing in the top-20. However, with a fairly noticeable drop off after Nisbet (5th), the Wildcats and Hoyas were able to take advantage. That said, neither Matthew Farrell nor Anthony Monte raced that day.
The good news is that the Princeton men still advanced to the national meet.
The bad news is that the Princeton men were flat-out bad at the national meet...really bad.
Nisbet and O'Brien were the team's top scorers in Stillwater, Oklahoma, but they only finished 114th and 117th, respectively. Anthony Monte, the Tigers' lead scorer throughout most of the season, recorded a DNF result and only one other runner (Myles Hogan) cracked the top-200 that day.
And in the end, Princeton placed 30th overall at the NCAA XC Championships.
* * *
When it comes to the 2023 cross country season, we're expecting the Princeton men to return everyone -- and their updated roster suggests that we're correct.
Let's start with Anthony Monte and Connor Nisbet, the two lead scorers for the Tigers throughout last fall.
Would we call these two men low-sticks? What defines someone as a low-stick? Truthfully, I don't know the answers to those questions, but Monte and Nisbet are probably in that grey area when it comes to describing their roles.
Regardless, these two men have proven that they can be highly valuable names who are, at the very least, capable of leading a competitive team in their scoring. A pair of top-35 finishes from these two men at the Cowboy Jamboree was highly encouraging and they proved to be just as effective at the Ivy League XC Championships.
However, Monte was clearly not at 100% during the rest of the postseason and Nisbet, while still the top guy on his team, simply needed to be better on the national stage.
And yet, if this scoring duo is able to come back and replicate their efforts from last year, then that would be totally fine as well. Obviously, stronger in the results in the postseason would be preferred, and ongoing progression would be nice to see. But for a team that should be happy with any up-front firepower, both Monte and Nisbet are very nice options to have.
However, the real x-factor when it comes to Princeton's potential low-sticks this season is Nicholas Bendtsen.
The breakout distance runner from this past year was great in the mile and 5000 meter distances. On the indoor oval, Bendtsen ran a 3:59 mile PR before venturing to the spring months where he ran an excellent 13:35 (5k) personal best. He even advanced to the outdoor national meet in the latter event, placing 16th overall.
Admittedly, Bendtsen has a very limited resume on the grass. He was fairly solid during the fall of 2021, but by no means a low-stick scorer. And in his two appearances during the fall of 2022, his best performance was arguably a 95th place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree.
On paper, Bendtsen should be better this fall than he was in the fall of 2022 -- a lot better. But as we've said before, there's no guarantee that he'll translate his 5k success to the grass. And if he does, then it's hard to know exactly what that means in terms of results.
We should also note that Camren Fischer is still on Princeton's 2023 cross country roster. He was the 2019 Mid-Atlantic region cross country champion as just a freshman, but hasn't competed since February of 2022.
He's a name worth mentioning, but there haven't been any signs that Fischer will be returning to collegiate competition this fall. And if he does, then it's hard to know what kind of impact he would have, if any at all.
* * *
Alright, now to discuss the depth pieces of this roster...and the list is lengthy.
Jack Stanley wasn't super consistent throughout the 2022 cross country season, but his 14th place finish at the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships was a fairly encouraging result.
Daniel O'Brien was one of the more underrated names on this team after emerging as a key middle-lineup scorer for the Tigers last fall, specifically in the postseason. He never blew you away with his scoring, but he clearly brought great value.
Joshua Zelek's performances were a little all over the place fall. Some of his races were solid while others left us wanting more. However, after seeing him run 13:55 (5k) and 28:57 (10k) earlier this year, this still-developing Princeton runner could be a key name to watch this fall.
Jarrett Kirk had decent moments last fall and offered respectable scoring on a handful of occasions. However, he'll have to make some key improvements this fall if he wants to be an impactful scorer for the Tigers in the coming months.
Jackson Shorten was only a freshman last year and didn't play much of a role for Princeton on the grass. However, after running 8:54 in the steeplechase this past spring, there may be a future opportunity for this rising sophomore to help this cross country team in 2023.
Matthew Farrell has run 7:59 (3k) and 13:55 (5k) last year (not in 2023), but struggled as the 2022 cross country season progressed and didn't race after the Ivy League XC Championships last fall. He's been a tricky name to analyze at times.
Other names such as Duncan Miller, Myles Hogan, Harrison Witt, Nate Tavakolian and Connor Livingston all bring varying strengths to the table for Princeton. And at the very least, they give Coach Jason Vigilante as many lineup options as he needs.
Oh, and did we mention that the Tigers have also added a handful of standout cross country talents from the high school scene?
Christian Groendyk was one of the more underrated high school boys on the grass last fall. Weston Brown evolved into an absolute long distance star during his senior year. Colin Boler is a highly dynamic distance runner who is at his best on the track, but has still run 8:47 for 3200 meters. We should also note that his brother, Brian Boler, was one of the top distance talents in the state of New Jersey as well (and is also joining the Tigers this fall).
Simply put, the options are plentiful for the Princeton men this fall.
* * *
Depth couldn't be less of a concern for the Tigers in 2023. By returning everyone and banking on natural progression, it's hard to imagine the Princeton men having a poor race like they did at last year's national meet.
Even so, firepower has to be a greater priority for this group in the fall of 2023. Not having a top-25 finisher at the Cowboy Jamboree or a top-110 finisher at the national meet is far from ideal. And given the uncertainty surrounding Princeton's top scoring options going into this fall, we ultimately found ourselves pushing this group to our TSR #24 spot.
But make no mistake, this is a team that has a ton of potential.
The Tigers were a fairly young group last year and should only get better as they develop. And in the end, it's important to realize that the Princeton men have more than just a deep cross country roster.
In our eyes, it's more like an army.
