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TSR's 2023 Preseason D3 XC Top 10 Rankings (Men): #5 UW-La Crosse Eagles
- Kevin Fischer
- Sep 10, 2023
- 5 min read
Written by Kevin Fischer, edits and additional commentary by Gavin Struve and 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.
The men of UW-La Crosse enter this season in a position that the vast majority of their competitors would instantly trade their present situations for.
The Eagles have a pair of top-tier All-American front-runners and a large cast of capable complementary scorers, the latter of which will determine just how far this team goes in 2023. All of that sets up this team for a ranking (and possibly a national meet finish) that is higher than what they had in 2022.
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UW-La Crosse made their first statement of the 2022 cross country season at the Roy Griak Invitational with a 2nd place finish in the "Maroon" race, losing to a strong D2 program in Michigan Tech.
That early-season test included 1st and 4th place finishes by Ethan Gregg and Isaac Wegner, respectively. That was phenomenal firepower, but the 50-second gap between the Eagles’ second and third scorers was a bit concerning. However, the actual placements weren't a major issue as Corey Fairchild (20th), Elias Ritzke (24th) and Aidan Matthai (30th) kept a compact backend that, for the most part, didn't have any major gaps.
At the D3 National Preview, another set of 1st and 4th place finishes by Gregg and Wegner solidified their status as one of the best duos in the country. However, the Eagles had to settle for 3rd behind MIT and North Central as they lacked a complementary third scorer who could bridge the two ends of the lineup.
Parker Huhn (24th) was an improvement in the depth department which added value to the composition of this group's top-five. Fairchild (31st) was solid yet again, but the team's final scorer placed 48th overall, leaving UW-La Crosse with some excessive backend scoring.
Luckily, the Eagles began to address some their lineup structure at their next meet as they put five men in the top-10 at the WIAC XC Championships to take the conference title by over a 20-point margin.
However, that same supporting cast was unable to replicate that magic again on the regional stage as they fell to a UW-Whitewater team that they had just dominated.
The cross country national meet bore a similar storyline, but this time, a breakout performance by freshman Grant Matthai to finish as the Eagles' third runner in 70th place kept this squad comfortably inside the top-10. That result complemented impressive efforts from Gregg (4th) and Wegner (12th). And with Fairchild in 93rd, place the UW-La Crosse men had put together a respectable scoring four.
But with the team's final scorer falling outside of the top-150, the WIAC champions were limited to an 8th place team result. Even so, the Eagles finished ahead of rival UW-Whitewater and walked away with a performance that they could be pleased about as they entered 2023.
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This UW-La Crosse team returns everybody from last fall's national meet lineup -- a great starting point for a program that was already so successful a year ago.
But in order to go from a top-10 team to a podium-contending squad, a jump may be required from a couple of guys. Luckily, the Eagles already have two men who can't get too much better, scoring-wise. Gregg enters the season at TSR #2 while Wegner is listed at TSR #11 in our preseason top-25 individual rankings.
Gregg and Wegner make up one of the best duos in the country, and as long as they do what they are expected to, the onus will fall on that second group.
The closer that the middle lineup scorers get to Wegner, the better the scoring situation will be for the Eagles. Thankfully, this past outdoor track season indicated that there is some promise for that to happen. Grant Matthai hasn't raced since last cross country season, but his brother Aidan ran 14:25 (5k) earlier in the spring.
Both of those men still have a lot to prove. Grant's best race of the 2022 cross country season came at the national meet (placing 70th). And while that was a tremendously encouraging result, we need to see that he can do it again. Meanwhile, Aidan will need to fully translate (and build upon) his promising 5k performance from earlier this year.
Even so, the breakout potential of those two men should leave the Eagles excited for the upcoming cross country season.
Then there's Corey Fairchild who was the third runner for the majority of the season. He ultimately finished 93rd at the 2022 cross country national meet which was roughly on par with how he performed in his lead up to that race. He made some strides on the track as well, dropping his 5000 meter and 10,000 meter PRs to 14:28 and 30:27, respectively.
We do believe that we'll see some level of improvement from Fairchild this fall, but it's unclear by how much. At the very least, he's a veteran who offers great lineup stability.
But the biggest leap that any UW-La Crosse athlete made on the track came from Adam Loenser who was not a scorer last fall. He was, however, a steeplechase All-American this past spring. He also ran impressive marks outside of that event, including 8:16 for 3000 meters to qualify for the indoor national meet and then 14:20 over 5000 meters on the outdoor oval.
For the most part, Loenser is the biggest reason why we put this team at TSR #5. His upside and projected improvements could even give this team a legitimate third All-American.
Beyond that group, Parker Huhn, Luke Chaffin, Elias Ritzke and Jayden Zywicki are returners who could each make an impact. Ritzke’s and Zywicki’s biggest successes have come in the 3000 meter steeplechase where both qualified for the outdoor national meet and flirted with the 9:00 barrier.
Chaffin also ran well in the steeple, earning a mark of 9:05. He was in and out of the team's top-seven last fall and made an appearance at the North Regional XC Championships, but not at the national meet.
Huhn doesn't have the same kind of momentum as these guys, but he’s a stable returning veteran. He has raced at two cross country national meets, has earned two top-10 finishes at the WIAC XC Championships and finished 24th at the D3 National Preview last fall.
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All told, the Eagles have firepower, returning depth, experience and upside. Frankly, it would be surprising if UW-La Crosse didn’t improve from last season. Yes, a lot of scoring weight will be put on Wegner’s and Gregg’s shoulders, but they’ve proven capable of living up to the lofty expectations that they’ve built for themselves.
This is a group that has the lion's share of their guys coming back. And while the construction of their lineup will be similar compared to last year, there’s ample reason to believe that the Eagles will be more potent throughout their top-five.
Loenser, in particular, appears ready for a larger scoring responsibility after his star turn on the track. Plus, the Matthai brothers should still carry considerable upside after very solid success as rookies.
The issues that the Eagles had last year in regards to the backend of their lineup may not be entirely gone, but we expect them to be mitigated. In-house improvements foreshadowed by gains on the track should contribute to less of a drop-off after the Eagles’ top-two.
If UW-La Crosse can produce a third All-American and put their final two scorers well inside the top-100 of the national meet, which feels like a reasonable ask, then there's no reason that a podium finish can't be a realistic goal to shoot for.
