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TSR's 2023 Preseason D2 XC Top 10 Rankings (Men): #1 Colorado Mines Orediggers
- Grace McLaughlin
- Sep 14, 2023
- 9 min read
Written by Grace McLaughlin, edits & additional commentary by Gavin Struve & Garrett Zatlin
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.
There are few things that are ever guaranteed when it comes to collegiate cross country...but Colorado Mines having a deep and talented roster is one of them.
The Orediggers are historically great on the grass, and traditionally, their overall aerobic strength is rivaled by very few teams at the Division Two level. In some years, they're not rivaled at all. This program routinely faces top-tier talent in both the RMAC as well as the South Central region -- and yet, they still make their victories look easy.
Despite some heavy losses and obvious challenges that they will have to overcome, the Orediggers' history of success under Coach Chris Siemers leads us to believe they’ll be able to come somewhat close to the same level of dominance that they displayed last year.
With reliable veterans and the continued development of the middle of their lineup, as well as some valuable additions, the Orediggers easily enter this season at TSR #1.
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Last year, the first glimpse of the phenomenal talent and depth held on the Orediggers’ roster came at D2 Pre-Nationals. On that stage, Colorado Mines sent a massive message, easily taking home gold with just 19 points while being led by Dillon Powell’s 17-second victory.
Loic Scomparin and Duncan Fuehne also had fantastic finishes and placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively, effectively giving this team the win before their other scorers crossed the line.
All told, Colorado Mines put three more men in the top-10. Luke Julian (5th), Steven Goldy (8th) and Cris Cathcart (9th) rounded out their scorers and made a clear statement as to the sheer number of front-runners that they had in their lineup.
To emphasize the Orediggers' depth, their seventh and eighth runners were both right around the top-20 as Daniel Appleford finished 19th and Andrew Kaye placed 21st.
The Orediggers returned to high elevation for the RMAC XC Championships. And despite facing some of the top teams in the country, Colorado Mines scored just 26 points to continue their winning streak.
Powell, to no one's surprise, was the individual champion, and the Orediggers managed to put the rest of their scoring lineup in the top-10 as Cathcart (3rd), Fuehne (5th), Knight (8th) and Julian (9th) simply overwhelmed their competition. Even Adams State, a team that poised to act as Colorado Mines' biggest threat, couldn't match this team.
The Orediggers would later put together another impressive victory at the South Central Regional XC Championships. Their scoring structure varied slightly from their first two races, but having a variety of interchangeable pieces was working well for Colorado Mines.
And going into the NCAA XC Championships, we didn't know how anyone could stop the Orediggers, especially with Adams State shockingly not qualifying for the meet.
While we predicted Colorado Mines to pull off a major win with a low point total at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships, they still exceeded our expectations and won with just 43 points. To put in perspective just how dominant the Orediggers were in Seattle, the Wingate men were the runner-up team with 177 points.
That margin of victory, which was over four times fewer points than what the Bulldogs posted, was unprecedented and absolutely absurd.
As expected, Powell repeated as the individual national champion. Separately, Fuehne stepped up in a major way behind him. His 3rd place finish gave the Orediggers a wicked 1-2 scoring punch.
Scomparin (10th), Julian (13th) and Cathcart (23rd) had fantastic days as well and rounded out Colorado Mines' top-five. However, what was even more impressive was that the Orediggers had two more All-Americans in their lineup after that scoring contingent with Paul Knight in 24th and Steven Goldy in 30th.
Having seven top-30 All-Americans at the cross country national meet is wildly impressive and a testament to the burgeoning dynasty that is Colorado Mines.
With their consistent success through the season, depth and dominance on the national stage, it was clear that this team was the absolute best in the country as they fielded of the strongest lineups in the history of Division Two cross country.
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The Orediggers lose some key members of their lineup this fall, effectively lessening their overall firepower and strength in numbers. Even so, they have enough positives heading into this season for us to argue that they’re still the best D2 team in the nation.
Losing multiple-time NCAA champion and Division Two record holder, Dillon Powell, is gut-wrenching. And with the additional departures of Luke Julian, Cris Cathcart and Steven Goldy, it's almost hard to fathom how this team could still be ranked at TSR #1.
If any other team lost four All-Americans, they would be tumbling down our preseason rankings and be removed from the national title conversation.
No athlete from last year's team is expected to replace the all-time elite status of Powell in their 2023 lineup. It's also hard to argue that the Orediggers will be able to make up for the loss of Julian as well.
The development of Colorado Mines' backend scorers and their proven ability to pull from the depth on their roster gives us confidence that the Orediggers will be able to fill the gaps left by Cathcart and Goldy. But the overall losses in terms of quality and quantity are going to be a huge challenge for the Orediggers to overcome.
Luckily, this team returns a premier low-stick in Duncan Fuehne as well as All-American standouts such as Loic Scomparin and Paul Knight. They also return some experienced athletes who were not part of their national meet lineup last fall, but were impressive throughout the season as well as on the track.
Additionally, the Orediggers hit the transfer portal in search of some low-stick replacements and picked up two talented newcomers who they’ll be able to rely on this fall.
And suddenly, this team isn't expected to be too far off from where they were last year.
Fuehne, who is listed at TSR #2 in our preseason top-25 individual rankings, is expected to be this team's top scorer. His 3rd place finish at the cross country national meet was extremely impressive and it spoke volumes about his aerobic talent as well as his ability to peak for the postseason, at least on the grass.
We'll admit, this Oredigger veteran hasn’t quite matched that level of success since then, but we believe that he’ll be back to his usual form during this upcoming fall campaign.
Earlier this year, Fuehne placed 8th over 5000 meters and 9th over 10,000 meters at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He also finished 9th in the 5k at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Those are hardly disappointing results, but those performance also don't reflect his fall success.
Fuehne also recorded a 5k PR of 13:58 on the indoor oval which seems to be a bit more in line with his talent level and progression.
Regardless, we’re confident enough in Fuehne's ability to be closer to the front of the field on the cross country course and we even view him as a national title contender, individually. And even if he's not that, then he'll still offer some tremendous top-10 scoring value which, frankly, is all that this team needs.
Loic Scomparin (TSR #5) is projected to be the second scorer in Golden, Colorado. Following his success on the grass last fall, Scomparin’s results on the track only add to the idea that he should be even better this season.
The Oredigger ace built monster momentum during the spring months. His natural progression, clear improvement and competitive prowess almost makes his TSR #5 ranking seem modest.
On the oval, the junior has recorded incredible personal bests of 3:45 (1500), 7:51 (3k), 13:45 (5k) and 29:09 (10k). That 3k mark is the one of the fastest times ever in D2 history.
On top of his impressive marks, Scomparin placed 8th over 3000 meters at the indoor national meet as well as 9th for 5000 meters at the outdoor national meet. However, the highlight of his year was his bronze medal in the 10k at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
That latter result, which was more in line with our expectations, makes us even more confident in Scomparin's ability to translate that level of endurance and aerobic talent to the cross country course.
While we ranked Fuehne higher, it honestly wouldn’t come as a surprise if Scomparin emerged as Colorado Mines' true scoring ace this fall.
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Redshirt sophomore Paul Knight (TSR #14) is the Orediggers' next returner. Knight was solid in every race last year and added stability to this lineup as a redshirted rookie.
Based on the progress that he’s shown following his 24th place finish in December, we anticipate him being a top-15 runner in the NCAA this fall. He ran a 5k PR of 14:08 on the indoor oval and placed 8th in the 10k at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. All of that suggests that his current momentum isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
And truthfully, even if Knight simply replicates the same exact performances from last fall, then that might be fine as well. There are theoretically enough reinforcements on this team where the Orediggers can (probably) get by if Knight is just cracking the top-30 portion on the national stage again.
We now come to Daniel Appleford and John O’Malley, two "Honorable Mentions" in our preseason individual rankings. They also return this fall and have valuable experience within the program, even if they didn't race on the national stage last year.
At the very least, that duo will give Colorado Mines some much-needed depth following the departure of several of their top runners.
Appleford was one of the better distance runners in the country as a prep talent at Newbury Park High School. During his time with the Panthers, he ran 14:44 (5k), 8:52 (3200) and 4:11 (1600), all of which are highly impressive times for a high schooler.
He only toed the line once last year, but Appleford's 19th place finish at D2 Pre-Nationals indicates that he has the talent and potential to be a scorer for the Orediggers this year -- and maybe even a backend All-American with ongoing development.
As for O'Malley, he is an experienced veteran and adds a level of comfortable stability to this roster. Last fall, he placed 9th at the South Central Regional XC Championships, 24th at the RMAC XC Championships and 34th at D2 Pre-Nationals. Those are solid results and the former effort would make him a top runner on many better teams in the country.
Now this is where things get interesting for the Orediggers.
We’ve laid out five solid returners for Colorado Mines this fall. However, their two transfer additions are exciting wildcards who elevate this team enough to keep their status as the top program in the country going into this season.
The first newcomer is JP Rutledge who is found at TSR #11 in our preseason top-25 individual rankings. If you have followed the Division Two scene for long enough, then he may be a familiar name. Rutledge heads to Golden, Colorado from Missouri Southern where he has garnered valuable experience and success on the national stage.
The former Lion placed 47th at last year’s cross country national meet, although that doesn’t exactly put him in the scoring mix of Colorado Mines. But you know what does put him in the mix? A 6th place finish at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships as well as personal bests of 14:08 (5k) and 29:27 (10k).
Rutledge didn’t race on the track in 2023, so we aren’t certain what his current status or fitness level is. Even so, his potential and lengthy experience certainly projects to impact Colorado Mines in a majorly positive way.
If Rutledge lives up to expectations and reemerges as an All-American, then Colorado Mines' probability of repeating as national champions just got significantly higher.
The second transfer, who arguably has more upside, is Logan Bocovich (TSR #15). He is another familiar name here at TSR, but more so from his time at the Division Three level.
While at St. Olaf, Bocovich consistently improved and ended his career as an Ole on a high note. He recorded a 6th place finish in the 10k at the 2023 D3 NCAA Outdoor Championships and was 8th at the 2022 D3 NCAA XC Championships, a major improvement from his 61st place finish at the same meet in 2021.
With marks of 14:01 (5k) and 29:15 (10k), Bocovich should slide right into the scoring gaps of the Orediggers' lineup. Depending on how well he transitions to altitude and the Division Two ranks, Bocovich could have a profound impact right away.
The only question that remains is...just how high is his ceiling at this level?
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With athletes ranked at TSR #2, TSR #5, TSR #11, TSR #14 and TSR #15 now composing their projected scoring lineup, the Orediggers appear to have a historic surplus of low-stick firepower. Oh, and we haven't even mentioned the return of 29:25 (10k) guy, Andrew Kaye.
While they'll be relying on a couple of transfers, there aren't too many questions about this team. In fact, it would likely be more surprising than not if they didn't win the national title.
The Orediggers may have lost some heavy-hitters, but their returners and additions have the accolades and momentum to keep them comfortably in the top spot. It’s hard to see how a team of this caliber and a program with this much success could not continue their hot streak.
