TSR's 2023 Preseason D1 XC Top 25 Rankings (Men): Just Missed & Honorable Mentions

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 certain occasions, we are referencing TFFRS in order to talk about returners and athletes who are out of eligibility.

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Just Missed (in no particular order)

Georgetown Hoyas

The Georgetown men may not have been the strongest cross country team in the NCAA last fall, but their last place finish on the national stage wasn't indicative of their true talent, either.

Luckily, in 2023, the Hoyas will have a chance at redemption. While the loss of Sean Laidlaw is far from ideal, having Parker Stokes (hopefully) in top form and adding steeplechase standout Peter Herold should give this team a chance to redeem themselves.

Not only that, but this roster was very young last year and many of those men are set to return, including a handful of former high school stars who were redshirted.

Having Parker Stokes return to top-caliber form this fall will be important as the Hoyas attempt to establish an identity at the front of certain races. Plus, having rising distance talents such as Lucas Guerra, Camden Gilmore and Abel Teffra should prove to be helpful as long as they continue to mature as racers.

Not only that, but former high school standouts such as Jackson Barna, Charlie North and Caleb Lakeman have now had a year to get adjusted. And if just one of those men begin to start firing on all cylinders, then the Hoyas could end up being quietly dangerous.

However, at the end of the day, the success of this team will likely rely on how much value Peter Herold, a grad transfer from UCLA, can bring to the table. Last fall, he finished 29th at the Wiess-Crockett Invitational and was 16th at the PAC-12 XC Championships. But on the track, he was far better, running 13:37 (5k) and 8:35 (steeple).

In theory, this former Bruin could be another low-stick next to Stokes. And if that happens, then it may not matter if no else makes any major improvements. Still, a lot of different things need to happen in order for Georgetown to be ranked. So until that happens, we'll keep this team in our "Just Missed" section.

Eastern Kentucky Colonels

Throughout last fall, the Eastern Kentucky men were a good cross country team...but they weren't necessarily great, either. And it wasn't until the Panorama Farms XC Invitational that we began to see what their full lineup looked like.

At the University of Virginia, the Colonels had Enock Kipchumba (14th), Abdelhakim Abouzouhir (26th), Joan Tapias (27th), Nicodemus Rotich (35th) and Griffin Staude (39th) crowd the top-40 spots.

And while that collective effort only gave them a 5th place team finish, we would ultimately see a more dominant showing at the ASUN XC Championships where Ahmed Jaziri and Jackson Siddall joined the lineup.

Despite a valiant effort at the Southeast Regional XC Championships, the EKU men didn't advance to the national meet. And as they venture into the fall of 2023, they'll be without Jaziri and Siddall while everyone else returns.

On paper, those loses would probably put a team like Eastern Kentucky into our "Honorable Mentions" section. However, by introducing Boise State transfer Mohammed Jouhari (13:55 for 5k and 28:51 for 10k) to this team, the Colonels not only have someone to fill a scoring gap, but also someone who could (potentially) be a low-stick.

Admittedly, this team needs to find greater consistency in 2023 compared to what they showed us in 2022. We also need to see a more firmly established low-stick scorer emerge at the top of this lineup.

But given the success that many of these men had on the track, specifically Abdelhakim Abouzouhir in the steeplechase, there's potential for the Eastern Kentucky men to reach a new tier over the next few months.

Ole Miss Rebels

It's impossible to properly gauge expectations for the Ole Miss men. While we could try to detail their performances from the 2022 cross country season, the amount of turnover that this roster has seen since then is significant enough to the point where last fall largely doesn't matter.

Toby Gillen, the star transfer from Saint Louis, is the main focal point of this team after running a series of fantastic 5k times this past spring. With a 13:30 (5k) PR, Gillen should be a top low-stick for the Rebels, but that's also not a guarantee.

Meanwhile, Jack Meijer is a graduate transfer from Wisconsin. And while he's had great moments, we don't always know what we're going to get from him. It's a similar story for top returner Cole Bullock. He was a top-20 All-American in the winter of 2021, but hasn't been near that level since then.

And then there is Cruz Gomez. He had a solid 2021 cross country season, but wasn't quite as sharp in 2022. He'll likely be a backend piece alongside a still-young and still-developing name in Aiden Britt.

In theory, Ole Miss has a complete scoring five, but there is also a wide range of possibilities associated with each of these men. If everyone delivers on their full potential, then you could be looking at a top-15 team, nationally. But if everyone falls short of basic expectations, then an "Honorable Mention" spot may be generous for the Rebels.

But only time will tell...

Montana State Bobcats

Last fall, TSR was proud to have pointed out that the Montana State men were going to be a nationally competitive team in the fall of 2022. And for the most part, they were!

A strong contingent of established scorers gave this team a handful of races where they were competitive against some of the top teams in the country (despite what their national meet performance would suggest).

However, losing both Duncan Hamilton and Cooper West is just a bit too much for us to keep the Bobcats inside the top-25 portion of our preseason rankings. If only Hamilton had departed and West had stayed, then there may have been an argument for Montana State to be listed at TSR #25.

Now, that said, the four-person scoring group of Ben Perrin, Levi Taylor, Matthew Richtman and Rob McManus has the potential to be very dangerous. And if everyone runs to their full potential, then the Bobcats could be just as good as last fall, maybe even better.

That, however, is far from guaranteed. Plus, all four of those men would need to make somewhat substantial improvements in order for TSR to completely ignore the Bobcats' severe lack of depth. Even so, if you argued hard enough, it's not ridiculous to suggest that we could have found room inside of our top-25 preseason rankings for Montana State.

Furman Paladins

The Furman men, on paper, should be fairly competitive in the fall of 2023. No, they aren't perfect, but when you look at their roster for long enough, you can talk yourself into really liking a lot of key names on this team.

Having Dylan Schubert as the star low-stick of this team is certainly going to be a massive help. Of course, as we saw last year, he can't completely carry this team by himself.

David Ahlmeyer has proven that he can be an impact scorer before, but his lack of consistency makes it challenging to set expectations for him.

Cameron Ponder has been a borderline low-stick in the past, but how will he rebound after a year of recovering from an injury?

Carson Williams has been outstanding on the track, but he has yet to fully translate his fitness from the oval to the grass.

Brayden Seymour was one of the better distance recruits in the country from the Class of 2023, but how much will this high school cross country All-American be able to contribute over the first few months of his collegiate career?

If Ahlmeyer is more consistent, if Ponder returns to top form, if Williams translates his track success and if Seymour's fitness is ahead of schedule, then the Furman men could be scary-good in November.

That, however, has to be proven first.

Cal Poly Mustangs

Cal Poly's first year under Coach Ryan Vanhoy should only be viewed as a grand success. While there were certainly talented names already on the roster, the Mustangs truly came together as a cohesive unit last fall and forced us to ask, "Could this team qualify for the national meet?"

Ultimately, they didn't, but between the men they return and the men that they have added, it's very possible that you could see Cal Poly on the national stage in November.

We'll admit, losing Jake Ritter and Xian Shively is hard to ignore. Those two men played key roles in the Mustangs' lineup last fall and were debatably the team's two-most important scorers. Luckily, Coach Ryan Vanhoy has added a variety of new names who can potentially fill those expected gaps while the rest of the returners on this team continue to develop.

The biggest addition to Cal Poly's 2023 roster is Joaquin Martinez De Pinillos, a Wake Forest graduate transfer who was 100th at the NCAA XC Championships last fall. He has also run times of 7:53 (3k) and 13:39 (5k).

Admittedly, the former Demon Deacon hasn't always been the most consistent distance talent. That will certainly need to change if the Mustangs are going to make an honest effort at a spot to the national meet.

Not only that, but standout LSU miler Davis Bove and top California high school recruit Chris Caudillo are both set to join this team in 2023. The same can be said for 8:53 steeplechaser Bryce Kueker, an incoming JUCO transfer.

Sure, neither of those men are expected to be the same kind of contributors that we hope De Pinillos can be, but they will both have opportunities to offer legitimate scoring and depth to this squad over the next few months.

When pairing that group with returners such as Aidan McCarthy, William Fallini-Haas, John Bennett and Anthony Guerra, you begin to see how this Cal Poly team could be a problem for certain west coast schools if everything comes together for them.

Gonzaga Bulldogs

We'll admit, we had no idea where to place the Gonzaga men.

After emerging as a nationally competitive team for the last three to four years, it feels like the Bulldogs have deserved greater respect than a simple "Just Missed" spot in our preseason rankings.

However, the Gonzaga men just lost James Mwaura, Yacine Guermali and Cullen McEachern from last year's lineup. And no matter how you slice it, not having those three men is going to be incredibly challenging to recover from. In fact, a heavy portion of the Bulldogs' scoring in major meets came from those three men.

Yes, the Gonzaga men do bring back Wil Smith, and we like him a lot. They've also added a D2 All-American in Drew Kolodge and they will likely inject redshirt freshman Michael Maiorano into their varsity seven.

Kyle Radosevich has had a few decent moments and the same could be said for Evan Bates, a guy who was injured last fall and has run 13:45 (5k) before.

Even so, the firepower and scoring potency on this team feels significantly more limited than it was last fall. There are still a handful of options, but as of right now, it looks like the gaps within Gonzaga's lineup could be fairly large.

There are numerous men who could step up and cut down some of that projected excessive scoring, but until we see it, we'll have to keep the Gonzaga men in this section of our rankings.

Air Force Falcons

One of the more pleasant surprises of the 2022 cross country season was seeing the Air Force men rise to a point where they were on the fringes of being a podium team. Their mass amount of depth was almost overwhelming at times and their low-sticks seemed to be interchangeable as well.

But the year is now 2023 and a lot of the men who made the Falcons so great throughout last fall are gone. More importantly, the men who left were arguably the most impactful scorers on this team.

All-American Ryan Johnson? Gone.

All-American Sam Gilman? Gone.

Top-50 national meet finisher, Ethan Marshall? Gone.

Top-50 Nuttycombe and Cowboy Jamboree finisher, Scott Maison? Gone.

That kind of lost scoring is absolutely crushing, even for a team that proved to be as deep as Air Force last fall. Yes, the return of Luke Combs, Sean Maison, Eli Bennett and Bryce Lentz is an encouraging development. As a unit, that group could absolutely help the Falcons be a ranked team once more.

However, neither Combs nor Lentz have raced since last fall. And while both Sean Maison and Eli Bennett had great years on the track, they need to translate that success to the grass.

There are also plenty of questions as to what the second-half of this cross country lineup is going to look like. The Falcons have recruited well over the last few years, but which developmental names will step up in the absence of the now-departed veterans?

We like Air Force quite a bit, but we need to have greater certainty about this team before we can list them inside of our preseason rankings.

Iowa State Cyclones

Last fall was a tough one for the Iowa State men. The Cyclones had high expectations for the 2022 cross country season, but they struggled at Nuttycombe and positioned themselves poorly from a Kolas perspective.

Now, as we venture into the 2023 fall campaign, the men from Ames, Iowa will be without key scoring veterans such as Titus Winders and Chad Johnson. Those men were both top-15 finishers at the Midwest Regional XC Championships last fall.

Yes, it's true, Ezekiel Rop just had a fantastic year on the track, but that was largely over 1500 meters. The Cyclone ace does have a history of being a top-tier cross country runner, but hasn't fully replicate that talent in recent years. Could that change this fall after seeing what he did on the outdoor oval?

Meanwhile, Gable Sieperda continues to be an excellent scorer for the Iowa State men, often acting as the top or second-best runner in this team's lineup last fall. However, we're still waiting for this elder distance talent to truly step into an All-American role.

Kelvin Bungei was respectable last year, but he could be better in 2023. The same could be said for Tim Sindt and Silas Winders.

Based strictly on returners, this team lacks depth and may have key scoring gaps within their projected scoring five. And while there are a handful of individuals who Iowa State can rally around, there's also a clear need for greater firepower.

Luckily, that's where Sanele Masondo.

The former JUCO star was fantastic at the NJCAA level, running 14:01 for 5000 meters and ripping off multiple JUCO national titles across different seasons.

It's easy to know what Masondo has done and start making comparisons between him and Wesley Kiptoo, a former JUCO megastar who became an elite name while at Iowa State. But seeing is believing. And before we crown Masondo as the next megastar of the NCAA, we want to see what he can do at the Division One level before we make any major declarations about this team.

We should also note that Said Mechaal, a former varsity scorer for California Baptist, is listed in Iowa State's school directory as a student there. However, his TFRRS page suggests that he no longer has cross country eligibility. If he does have eligibility, then there may be an argument for the Cyclones to be listed just inside of our top-25 preseason rankings.

California Baptist Lancers

The Lancers thrived last fall, finishing runner-up at the Griak Invitational and barely falling to a strong Montana State team by one point at the Weiss-Crocket Invitational. However, a tough Kolas scenario left the CBU men out of the national meet after they placed 5th at the West Regional XC Championships, defeating Boise State by only one point.

As we venture into the fall of 2023, it's admittedly hard to see this team matching their best efforts from last fall. Losing Florian La Pellec to Butler (as a graduate transfer) is a challenging scoring loss and the departure of Said Mechaal doesn't make things any easier.

Together, Arturs Medveds, Matias Reynaga and Giedrius Valincius create a respectable trio of scorers. And if Valentin Soca can translate his 13:30 (5k) PR to the grass, then the Lancers may have a cohesive-enough lineup to do something special this fall.

But with a lot of speculation to be had, a handful of unfilled lineup gaps and questions about depth, we just didn't have enough confidence (yet) to place the CBU men inside of our rankings. Of course, this feels like a decision that we'll ultimately regret in the coming months.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

The 2022 cross country season felt like the fall campaign that the Wake Forest men had been building up to for the last few years. They were were loaded with firepower, somewhat deep, had an interchangeable lineup and were fairly consistent.

They also emerged as the 5th place team at the NCAA XC Championships last fall.

But now, Aaron Las Heras is gone.

And so is Zach Facioni.

Same with Thomas Vanoppen.

And let's not forget that Joaquin Martinez De Pinillos is now at Cal Poly.

That leaves us with Luke Tewalt as the lone remaining Demon Deacon scorer from last year's team. And in 2023, the former underclassman will now be tasked to lead an extremely young team full of high-ceiling talents.

Luckily, the Wake Forest men have one of the best young cores in the entire NCAA. Incoming recruits such as Hunter Jones, Rocky Hansen and Ty Garrett are phenomenal domestic distance recruits. There are also a ton of international returners such as Paul Specht, Charlie Sprott and Joseph O'Brien who have had great success on the track.

Even so, the Wake Forest men only have one legitimate name who we can truly rely on. Everyone else, for as talented as they may be, are extremely young and are extremely inexperienced.

In most instances (but not all), that doesn't bode well for a lot of cross country teams.

The fall of 2023 may be a developmental and building year for Wake Forest -- which is perfectly fine. Because by 2024 or 2025, this group may be preparing for a run at the podium.

But unless this roster is a year or two ahead of schedule in their fitness, we thought placing them in our "Just Missed" section was the right call...for now.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)

• Colorado State Rams

• Charlotte 49ers

• Duke Blue Devils

• Michigan State Spartans

• Iona Gaels

• Providence Friars

• Utah State Aggies

• Tulane Green Wave

• La Salle Explorers

• Liberty Flames

• Purdue Boilermakers