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TSR's 2023 Preseason D3 XC Top 10 Rankings (Men): #8 SUNY Geneseo Knights
- Gavin Struve
- Sep 7, 2023
- 6 min read
Written by Gavin Struve, edits and additional commentary by 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.
SUNY Geneseo has emerged as a contemporary power on the Division Three scene over the past decade. Put another way, they’ve quickly built a staying power that is unmatched by many of their contemporaries.
Talent retention, starting at the top, should allow the Knights to continue their consistent greatness in 2023, even if we’re projecting a slight step back from last fall’s podium outfit.
That being said, the Knights have not finished outside of the top-10 at the NCAA XC Championships since 2017 (when they placed 11th) and we don’t expect that streak to end this year given their experienced and lethal personnel.
Coming off of their best result at the national meet since 2016, SUNY Geneseo has a unique opportunity to put forth an impressive encore in what will be the final collegiate season for many of the men who have helped make this high-achieving group so special in recent years.
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Coach Dan Moore tested his roster almost immediately last fall, leaving little time for a ramp-up period once mid-September arrived. The Knights opened their season at the MSU Spartan Invitational where they battled a number of strong Division One and Two opponents.
With Nick Andrews (17th) offering a solid low-stick result and Alex Hillyard (40th) and Will Hall (53rd) providing sneaky-good value, SUNY Geneseo came away with an 8th place team finish. The Knights put all of their scorers in the top-95 and outran a handful of mid-major Division One programs as well.
And they did so with a top low-stick, Ezra Ruggles, having an "off" day.
The men of Geneseo, New York then returned to the Empire State for their home meet. Andrews secured a runner-up finish while Hall placed 10th and the final three scorers landed in the top-25.
Those results were all respectable on their own, but they added up to an underwhelming runner-up team result behind Case Western. None of the Knights’ scorers were truly poor, but almost all of them could have finished a couple of places higher.
It was a head-scratching result for a team that we felt was simply better than the Warriors (although plenty of credit had to be given to Case Western for their own efforts).
At the Rowan Interregional Border Battle, Andrews again finished runner-up while Hall again joined him in the top-10. Meanwhile, Hillyard and Dillon McClary were solid in 15th and 17th place, respectively. But with their fifth scorer falling back to 37th, the Knights were again left with unenviable runner-up status, this time behind an admittedly stronger opponent in RPI.
The Knights likely gained some confidence from their first team victory of the season at the SUNYAC XC Championships. We should also note that they did win the Harry F. Anderson Invitational in September, but that was against a modest field and without the two men who led the way for SUNY Geneseo at the national meet.
The effort marked their eighth-straight conference title and it was headlined by Andrews’ individual victory as well as a sweep of the top-three spots. All told, the Knights placed 11 men in the top-20.
After advancing past the regional stage, the Knights blew their recent national meet history out of the water. Andrews finished his season by placing 6th in the nation, a fantastic result for someone who already had high expectations. Behind him, Ezra Ruggles emerged after missing roughly half the season and snagged a backend All-American result in 33rd place.
However, it was the depth that truly came together in wildly clutch fashion.
Hillyard (39th) joined his teammates in the top-40 and McClary (48th) was, surprisingly, not far behind. With Hall serving as the team’s final scorer in 74th place, the Knights had an incredible blend of firepower, depth and tiered scoring.
All of that added up to a stunning 3rd place team finish on the podium. The SUNY Geneseo men realistically could not have been much better on the national stage in 2022.
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For the Knights, the sun sets and rises with Nick Andrews this fall. One of the more singular talents in Division Three, Andrews deserves more attention for his consistent progression and reliability. It may even be fair to say that this five-time All-American will be a dark horse title contender over the coming months.
The distance veteran made significant leaps in each of his past few fall seasons. If he does so again, then he’ll be in that range with the very best of the best.
The bad news is that the Knights lose Ruggles. And while it’s never ideal to lose a veteran All-American runner who was integral to the team’s postseason success, his departure is a far smaller blow than it initially appears.
Given Ruggles’ absences last, he was not a consistent part of this team’s scoring structure. And save for one meet, he was not a low-stick when he was available. In the context that a number of foes will suffer greater and more numerous losses, the Knights enter this fall in a pretty good place in terms of who they carry over from last year.
Of course, we won't pretend that losing an All-American from the national meet is an easy departure to handle. As far as the scoring that Ruggles' produced in his 2022 season finale, the Knights will be tasked with producing yet another All-American while retaining their scoring value throughout their top-five -- and that's not easy to do.
Luckily, Alex Hillyard and Dillon McClary should be strong complementary lead scorers behind Andrews. The former placed 39th at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships and the latter was in the top-50. At their best, these two men are borderline low-sticks for certain teams.
That being said, this duo was almost inarguably at their best on the national stage, so it feels a bit unrealistic to just pencil both in as All-Americans alongside Andrews. Although, that feels like a safer expectation to place on Hillyard given that he was relatively consistent and peaked for the postseason.
William Hall also returns after placing in the top-75 as the Knights’ final scorer at the national meet last fall. Hall was actually the Knights’ second man to cross the line on several occasions a year ago, and it wouldn’t be a shock if he held that mantle come this November. He arguably gives this team four lead scorers.
But things get a bit murkier behind him.
Ben Timmons and Ryan Mitchell, the final two SUNY Geneseo runners to cross the line at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships, have graduated. While they were competent backend lineup pieces, we're not expecting the structure of this lineup to be impacted in any significant way by their departures.
Plus, the Knights have a few candidates to fill their shoes, although it’s very much unclear who will ultimately emerge as the final few varsity runners on this team. While the Knights return a horde of athletes who placed inside the top-20 at their conference meet, Nick Bauman feels like the most sure thing as a senior who has accrued a lot of reps within this program.
The Knights also brought in an extensive and well-rounded freshman class -- and it’s highly plausible one of them breaks into the top-seven. Those names include Emerson Comer, Pierce Young, Timothy Sheahan, James McNaughton, Mike Taranto and Sam Viglione.
Each of those men have run 9:31 or better over 3200 meters or 4:23 or faster over 1600 meters. On paper, a lot of these guys are overqualified as traditional Division Three recruits, but they should slot in nicely to a national power like SUNY Geneseo.
Truthfully, the Knights probably don't need any of those new names to break out right away in order to be competitive toward the top of the NCAA. Even so, it’s reassuring to know that there should be no shortage of options to pull from this 30-man roster.
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It’s entirely plausible this team overachieves in the postseason again and makes this preseason ranking look condescending. The core group of Andrews, Hillyard, McClary and Hall could all be All-Americans on the perfect day which would set the Knights up to replicate something similar to what they produced last fall.
But while we don’t expect this team to leave its top-10 perch, we think a slight course correction could be in store for this squad in 2023.
One could argue that beyond Andrews, virtually everyone overachieved relative to expectations on the national stage. Admittedly, Hillyard, McClary or Hall didn't necessarily "wow" us on the track.
So the question becomes: Did SUNY Geneseo catch lightning in a bottle a year ago? Or are those results reflective of the individuals’ true ability and indicative of what’s to come? I guess we’ll find out over the coming months...
Until then, we feel like TSR #8 is a fair placement for a program with some questions that could realistically either come close to matching last year’s podium finish or slip further back in the top-10.
