TSR's 2024 D1 XC Top 25 Team Rankings (Men): Update #1

Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Oct 7, 2024
15 min read

NOTE: These rankings are based on how a team fared throughout the entirety of a season, not just how they ran at a singular meet or (eventually) at the 2024 NCAA XC Championships. Click here to learn more about our ranking criteria (which was published in 2023).

KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

First number indicates how much the team has moved in the rankings.

The second number indicates where the team was ranked in our last update.

25. Wyoming Cowboys (Unranked)

The Wyoming men have been one of the more pleasant surprises of the 2024 cross country season. A few weeks back, the Cowboys secured an encouraging win at the Roy Griak Invitational with three men -- Jacob White, Ryker Holtzen and Mason Norman -- crowding the top-10 with their final two scorers staying inside the top-25.

Then, at the Joe Piane Invitational, Wyoming saw White land a huge 9th place low-stick finish while Norman took 26th place, Holtzen secured 33rd place and Gus McIntyre snagged a promising 35th place finish.

Dylan Van Der Hock (48th) closed out the scoring, but Asefa Wetzel, a top-five scorer for this team at the Roy Griak Invitational, recorded a DNF in South Bend, Indiana. His return likely wouldn't have altered Wyoming's team score in any dramatic way, but it would have raised their floor a good bit.

The Wyoming men are far from perfect and there are a handful of other teams that also deserve to crack our rankings. Even so, the Cowboys have done everything that we could have realistically asked them to do. They have developed sneaky-good firepower and their depth is coming along fairly nicely.

24. California Baptist Lancers (Unranked)

We'll admit, we thought the California Baptist men were going to be non-factors this fall. Not only had they lost a number of top-tier talents, but they also lost their head coach. And while they did have a few decent names, expecting them to be a national-caliber group felt like a stretch.

But on Friday, at the Joe Piane Invite, the Lancers fielded what appeared to be a fairly complete lineup which secured a strong 3rd place finish.

Valentin Soca (5th) was great as expected, but the real star of the show was Zouhair Redouane (6th) who came out of nowhere to produce a low-stick result. You could also argue that Pedro Marin (28th) and Daniel Abdala (32nd) were the most important members of this lineup, providing better-than-expected scoring stability. Adam Trefecanty (41st) was also quietly great when closing out the team's top-five.

There is admittedly not much room for error on this team as there was a significant drop-off after their fifth man. Even so, this looked like a balanced group with great firepower that gave them an edge. We'll see if they can replicate that result moving forward, but that was a great run from the Lancers.

23. Syracuse Orange (-3 / 20)

The performances that we saw from Assaf Harari (34th) and Sam Lawler (47th) at the Nuttycombe Invite were solid, but largely unexciting. We would have thought that their roles would have been reversed between the two runners, but for the most part, the upfront scoring of this lineup seemed to align with expectations.

Benne Anderson (60th) and Connor Ackley (75th) were quietly great despite being inexperienced redshirt rookies. Their scoring stability will be crucial to the long-term viability of this team moving forward. The Orange's final scorer faded all the way back to 109th place, pushing the Syracuse men to a 12th place effort in the team standings.

It should be noted that Alex Comerford didn't have his best day. If he's firing on all cylinders, then Syracuse likely cracks the top-10 and we're talking about this team a bit differently. For that reason, we opted to keep the Orange within our top-25.

22. Oregon Ducks (-7 / 15)

You're probably looking at this ranking and thinking, "Why on Earth does Oregon drop so much in these rankings? They only ran half of their top men at the Cowboy Jamboree and placed 3rd in that field. Surely they can't be penalized this much for that performance, right?"

We were actually pretty encouraged by what we saw from the Ducks at the Cowboy Jamboree as Simeon Birnbaum secured a 14th place effort while Benjamin Balazs secured a 17th place finish. That lineup was also without four high-impact scorers in Devin Hart, Elliott Cook, Evan Dorenkamp and Evan Bishop.

So...what's the issue?

Well, The Stride Report was recently told by one source that Devin Hart, Oregon's projected low-stick ace for this fall, is no longer with the Ducks. That absence can also be shown on the team's TFRRS roster and their actual roster.

That is a brutal loss. This team has plenty of depth and a good number of very solid scorers. However, there is now a clear need for a definitive low-stick capable of giving Oregon firepower in larger fields. For that reason, they drop to TSR #22.

21. Princeton Tigers (Unranked)

After seeing Princeton lose a number of top names from last fall, we weren't entirely sure if this group was going to return to the same tier that they resided in last fall. And while we don't know if they'll hit the highs that they saw in 2023, they did make great progress two weekends ago at the Nuttycombe Invite.

In that race, Myles Hogan (26th) had a huge performance, giving his team a surprisingly great low-stick effort. Meanwhile, Jackson Shorten (43rd), Weston Brown (50th) and Daniel O'Brien (53rd) allowed the Tigers to maintain some of the best middle-lineup scoring in the country. The catch, however, is that Nicholas Bendtsen faded to 103rd place.

All of that resulted in Princeton placing 9th in a loaded field.

Bendtsen is a veteran ace who emerged as a cross country All-American in 2023. We're confident that he can be better. And if/when that happens, then the Tigers will have a shot at being listed in our top-15 when all is said and done.

20. Colorado Buffaloes (-1 / 19)

At the Nuttycombe Invite, we saw Isaiah Givens give the Colorado men some decent firepower via his 30th place finish. And while the overall scoring potency of this team wasn't quite as impactful as we had hoped it would be, the Buffaloes' tight time spread was better than expected.

Dean Casey, Kole Mathison, Simon Kelati and Anthony Monte went 55-58-65-66, respectively, in the final results. That, in turn, gave the Buffaloes some of the best depth in the field. They placed 8th overall in Madison, Wisconsin.

Each of those latter four men are likely capable of producing a stronger result in the future. That will be necessary if this team wants to crack the top-15 portion of our rankings. But for the first major race of the Sean Carlson era, this was a good step in the right direction.

19. Harvard Crimson (-5 / 14)

On one hand, there is no shame in losing to a Wingate team (at Paul Short) that may be among the best Division Two cross country lineups ever assembled. Harvard, after all, didn't even have Graham Blanks.

On the other hand, the Crimson would have lost to Wingate even if Blanks was racing and had won the title. In fact, the margin between the two teams would have still been fairly significant.

Harvard did crowd 15th place to 25th place, giving this team great stability and limited gaps. Even so, we expected a bit more out of Rosa and for the Crimson to be closer to Wingate.

Now, in their defense, this Ivy League power did have a six-second time-spread for their top-five runners. That may have signaled a slightly conservative effort. Even so, we felt like we had to bring the Crimson back in our rankings as other teams have simply been better in recent weeks.

18. Villanova Wildcats (-2 / 16)

A 10th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was by no means a poor result for the Villanova men. At the same time, it wasn't all too exciting, either.

Liam Murphy (3rd) and Marco Langon (12th) look incredibly lethal, giving their team a wicked pair of low-sticks to rally around. Bailey Habler (64th) also had a sneaky-good result that offered some decent stability for a lineup that needed it. That's because the Wildcats' final two scorers faded all the way back to 114th and 119th.

Depth is obviously going to be an issue for this team in 2024. They have zero margin for error and as we saw two weekends ago, a larger field can exploit some fairly significant gaps within their top-five. Even so, with upper-tier firepower and the potential for Devon Comber to be better in the future, we still felt like Villanova was a top-20 squad in our rankings.

17. Butler Bulldogs (-4 / 13)

The Bulldogs' latest showing at the Loyola Lakefront Invite was...well, not great.

Will Zegarski (10th) had a strong showing while Austin Gabay (21st) provided decent enough scoring support. However, Florian Le Pallec (24th) had a clear "off" day. We also didn't see Matthew Forrester or Jesse Hamlin, the latter of whom is capable of being a low-stick talent on the right day.

In the end, Butler took 3rd place in Chicago, losing only to Wisconsin and Alabama, two teams listed in the top-11 of our rankings. We're also under the belief that the Bulldogs will be significantly better in the future, especially if both Le Pallec and Hamlin can run next to each other while realizing their low-stick potential.

16. Michigan Wolverines (Unranked)

We'll admit, we weren't too high on the Michigan men coming into this season. They didn't always look great last fall and they lost two crucial names in Nick Foster and Tom Brady. Of course, you wouldn't have known that after seeing them place 6th at the Nuttycombe Invite two weekends ago.

Caleb Jarema (20th) has translated his steeplechase talent to the grass, becoming a low-stick in the process. Nathan Lopez (42nd), meanwhile, offered excellent scoring value and is beginning to deliver on his high school pedigree. Luke Venhuizen (57th) and Trent McFarland (59th) had underrated outings as they provided tremendous stability. Jack Spamer (84th) did enough to close out the team's top-five.

Somehow, the Michigan men got even better despite losing their All-American ace. Each scoring spot in this lineup was more impactful than last year and Jarema has effectively replaced Brady without issue.

Kudos to the Wolverines, they were awesome in Madison, Wisconsin.

15. Washington Huskies (Unranked)

The Washington men had a tough 2023 fall campaign, falling short of making it to the national meet. And while they did enter this year with great potential, it was hard to justify placing them as a ranked team. The Huskies did, after all, lose their top scorer in Luke Houser.

However, Washington looked like a different team at the Nuttycombe Invite. Tyrone Gorze (27th) showcased the raw aerobic strength that he had flashed in high school while veteran Leo Daschbach (28th) came through with a cross country result that finally matched the pedigree of his prep resume.

Nathan Green (45th) provided crucial (and highly valuable) scoring at the team's third spot while Evan Jenkins (67th) and Rhys Hammond (79th) closed out the Huskies' top-five. When the dust settled, Washington had secured a huge 5th place finish, shattering expectations.

All of the sudden, the men of Seattle have one of the more balanced and complete lineups in the country. Not only that, but they can also improve! Jenkins, at his best, is likely a low-stick talent. And while we do question if certain individuals can replicate certain performances, it's hard to find anything that Washington did wrong in Madison, Wisconsin.

14. Stanford Cardinal (+3 / 17)

A comfortable win at the Gans Creek Classic was earned by Leo Young, Cole Sprout, Lex Young, Thomas Boyden and Paul Bergeron going 2-3-5-8-13, respectively. Patrick Koon (17th) and James Dargan (18th) offered solid scoring insurance.

There isn't a whole lot to say about the Stanford men right now, but the good news is that they look healthy and fit. That's all that we can ask out of this team given that they have yet to face any national-caliber competition.

13. Virginia Cavaliers (-3 / 10)

An 11th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was truthfully underwhelming, even if the Cavaliers didn't have Nathan Mountain or Will Daley. Yes, Will Anthony (15th) and Gary Martin (18th) looked great, but their final three scorers took spots 87-95-98.

The Virginia men can absolutely be more dangerous once Mountain and Daley return, but there is still work that needs to be done at the latter-half of this lineup. Justin Wachtel has at least proven that he is talented enough to be an impactful name for this team, but we'll need to wait until their next outing to see that.

12. Eastern Kentucky Colonels (+9 / 21)

Part of the reason why we're giving the Eastern Kentucky men a large jump in our rankings is because they placed 7th at the Nuttycombe Invite without a potential low-stick in Taha Er Rouay. The other reason is because a large handful of teams that were once ranked ahead of them have underwhelmed over the last few weeks.

Justine Kipkoech (13th) is the real deal as a low-stick talent. The scoring contingent of Tomas Vega, Mario Priego, Mohammed Jouhari and German Vega went 49-51-73-78, respectively, to close out EKU's top-five.

The Colonels seem to have better depth than we initially expected them to have. Their floor is seemingly fairly high, especially with Kristian Imroth capable of being better in the future and with Taha Er Rouay hopefully returning. Keeton Thornsberry (89th) offers nice scoring insurance as well.

There are a lot of ways for this team to get better and there's a realistic chance that their 7th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite will be their "worst" result of the season.

11. Wisconsin Badgers (+1 / 12)

The Wisconsin men cruised through the Loyola Lakefront Invite, taking home the win despite the Alabama men going 1-2-3.

Truthfully, the Badgers didn't seem to put forth their best lineup or their best effort. Bob Liking (7th) ran well, but he's capable of more. Meanwhile, Johnny Livingstone, Liam Newhart, Micah Wilson and Christian de Vaal all crossed the line together, going 14-15-16-17, respectively. That clearly looked like a tempo run for those guys.

Without Adam Spencer and Rowen Ellenberg, you have to commend Wisconsin on securing the win despite not going all-out. The Alabama men, admittedly, were not at full strength, either (they have a fourth low-stick who didn't race), but we do think the Badgers' stock rose.

10. North Carolina Tar Heels (-1 / 9)

The Nuttycombe Invite held very few surprises for the North Carolina men...well, except one.

Parker Wolfe (1st) and Ethan Strand (7th) were an elite 1-2 punch as expected, but a monster breakout race from Colton Sands (24th) gave the Tar Heels a stunning third low-stick that we were not confident that they would have this fall.

There was, admittedly, a gap after those three men until Will Coogan (72nd) and Patrick Anderson (91st) crossed the line, leading UNC to 4th place as a team. Even so, the top-heavy nature of this lineup is not too far off from what we saw last year. We're not saying that Sands will be the next Alex Phillip, but he doesn't need to be. The fact that this team has three runners giving them low-stick efforts instead of two is massive.

Yes, the Tar Heels do drop one spot in our rankings, but don't read too much into that. The only reason why they move back one spot is due to the performances of others rather than anything that they've done.

9. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (+2 / 11)

We've been saying for a while now that the Wake Forest men are the team of the future -- and their 3rd place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite seemingly validates that suspicion.

Rocky Hansen (2nd) is truly elite, but the real story is seeing veteran Luke Tewalt (10th) return to peak form. That is a crucial development that suddenly gives the Demon Deacons more firepower than we thought they'd have. Charlie Sprott (31st) was right on par with expectations while Aidan Ross (36th) was a very nice surprise.

Yes, there was a drop-off to their fifth scorer, Daniel Winter, who placed 71st. Even so, that was a serviceable result and we know that Wake Forest can be better in the future. Remember, this team didn't have Joseph O'Brien, their second scorer from last year. A potential reintroduction of him to this lineup could make the Demon Deacons even more dangerous than they already are.

8. New Mexico Lobos (-2 / 6)

It's truthfully hard to find too many positives about New Mexico's performance at the Cowboy Jamboree, a meet where the Lobos finished runner-up to an insanely talented Oklahoma State squad.

Habtom Samuel (2nd) took a small upset loss to Brian Musau while Vincent Chirchir (9th) was the only other Lobo to crack the top-10. The trio of Collins Kiprotich (11th), Evans Kiplagat (13th) and Rikus Van Niekerk (15th) weren't far behind, but the scoring potency of this lineup didn't stand out in any major way. It also didn't help that Lukas Kiprop recorded a DNF result.

We shouldn't overreact to one early-season result where the New Mexico men took a loss to a historically elite Oklahoma State lineup. However, for a squad that we expected to battle for the podium later this fall, we were hoping to see a bit more from the Lobos.

7. Alabama Crimson Tide (0 / 7)

The incredible 1-2-3 finish by Dismus Lokira, Victor Kiprop and Dennis Kipruto at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational was super impressive. Not only that, but the Crimson Tide men didn't have low-stick Hillary Cheruiyot, either! He is expected to return later this fall.

Despite taking the top-three spots at the meet, the Alabama men still fell four points short to a Wisconsin squad that was not going all-out. Of course, adding Cheruiyot back into this lineup changes things in a major way and that should keep the Crimson Tide in the podium conversation. Their depth will need to improve, but that may not matter much if they have four All-Americans.

6. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (-2 / 4)

It would be unfair to say that the Northern Arizona men ran poorly at the Joe Piane Invitational last Friday, a meet where they took runner-up honors to Notre Dame.

David Mullarkey (4th) looks awesome, but the rest of this lineup seemingly lacked the firepower that we've grown accustomed to seeing from the Lumberjacks. Sure, Justin Keyes (13th) had a great breakout race, but Kang Nyoak (15th), Corey Gorgas (16th), Colin Sahlman (20th) and Cael Grotenuis (21st) all had the potential to be better.

It should also be noted that veteran Santiago Prosser, a two-time top-21 cross country All-American, recorded a DNF in this race. If he had placed 8th, then NAU barely defeats the Fighting Irish by one point. For that reason, we wouldn't fret too much about this group -- the Lumberjacks are still very much in the podium conversation for this fall.

5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (+3 / 8)

An incredible display of depth and team-centric running was what ultimately gave Notre Dame an upset victory over Northern Arizona at the Joe Piane Invitational.

Ethan Coleman, Daelen Ackley, Izaiah Steury, Drew Griffith and Carter Solomon went 8-10-11-12-14, respectively, in the overall results. That condensed scoring proved to be too much for NAU to overcome.

Many of the top men on this team look like they are firing on all cylinders -- or at least close to it. The full potential of this team makes them podium favorites, but that requires further progress. That also requires CJ Singleton having a better race than he did and for Josh Methner to return to this lineup at full strength.

Yes, Notre Dame did defeat Northern Arizona, but the craziest part is that they still have multiple ways that they can improve. That's what really impressed us.

4. Iowa State Cyclones (+1 / 5)

A runner-up finish to BYU at the Nuttycombe Invite was one of the more predictable results of the last few weeks. However, seeing how certain Cyclone runners executed on a major stage was what truly caught our attention.

Newcomer Robin Kwemoi Bera (5th) looks like he can be an upper-tier star in the NCAA while Said Mechaal (19th) continues to be a very reliable low-stick. However, it was the performances of Silas Winders (22nd), Gable Sieperda (29th) and Devan Kipyego (33rd) that really gave this team a ton of scoring value. Winders suddenly looks like a low-stick and Kipyego would be a low-stick talent on a large handful of nationally competitive teams.

What's even crazier is the fact that Sanele Masondo (top-half All-American in 2023) and Joash Ruto (8:22 steeplechaser) didn't even race!

The Cyclones at full strength are very, very scary. We still want to see what their complete lineup looks like before we move them up any further, but this team is oozing with raw talent.

3. Arkansas Razorbacks (0 / 3)

There isn't much to say about Arkansas, a team that easily secured the overall win at the Chile Pepper XC Festival despite fielding only half of their projected top-seven. Kirami Yego (1st), Timothy Chesondin (3rd) and Brian Masai (6th) looked solid, but we can't offer any major takeaways until Yaseen Abdalla, Patrick Kiprop and Ben Shearer toe the line.

2. BYU Cougars (0 / 2)

The BYU men easily secured the title at the Nuttycombe Invite two weeks ago by putting four men in the top-10, five men in the top-17 and six men in the top-21.

The performances of Casey Clinger (4th), Joey Nokes (6th) and Creed Thompson (8th), while impressive, were't surprising. You could maybe argue the same thing about James Corrigan (17th) who we thought could have been the slightest bit better.

However, the rise of Aidan Troutner (9th) as a national-caliber low-stick is significant. It would take a historical effort in order to take down the Oklahoma State men for the national title, but if that's going to happen, then Troutner needs to be at his best -- and he seemingly is.

With Jacob Stafford (21st) offering outstanding depth and Berkley Nance winning the "B" race with Lucas Bons right behind him, the Cougars look as sharp as we could have possibly asked for at this point in the season.

1. Oklahoma State Cowboys (0 / 1)

Despite placing the Oklahoma State men at TSR #1 in our preseason rankings and giving them the status as heavy national title favorites, the Cowboys have, somehow, improved their chances of winning NCAA gold.

At the Cowboy Jamboree, against a New Mexico team that we thought could battle for a podium spot, the men of Stillwater, Oklahoma dominated. Brian Musau took down Habtom Samuel for the individual win while Laban Kipkemboi (3rd), Denis Kipngetich (4th), Victor Shitsama (5th) and Ryan Schoppe (6th) unleashed a dominant showing of firepower.

Not only that, but this team didn't field low-stick star Fouad Messaoudi. They also had Adisu Guadia (10th) and Jonas Price (12th) running unattached. In the end, Oklahoma State scored just 19 points.

While it's probably best not to talk about cross country in absolutes -- anything can happen, after all -- I have no idea how anyone is going to stop the Cowboys in 2024.