TSR's 2024 D2 XC Top 25 Individual Rankings (Men): Update #1

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NOTE: These rankings are based on how an individual 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). 

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KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

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

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

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25. Grant Bradley, Senior, NW Missouri (Unranked)

Grant Bradley didn't enter this fall expected to be NW Missouri's low-stick mere months after transferring, but that's exactly what he's become for what we view as a top-15 team.

Bradley carried over his fitness from last spring when he finished as a steeplechase All-American for Fort Hays State. He opened this season with a runner-up finish behind a top-five individual at the Roy Griak Invitational and then won a regionally competitive Missouri Western State Griffon Invite.

For as experienced as he is, Bradley has yet to race at a cross country national meet, so the upcoming conference and regional meets will be critical in determining just how potent he'll be in the postseason.

24. Donald Kibet, Junior, Washburn (-1 / 23)

He may have dropped a spot from his preseason placement, but Donald Kibet has helped his stock more than he's hurt it over the past month.

After racing in a couple of Division One-laden fields, he produced what was likely the best regular season effort of his career by finishing 6th at the Lewis Crossover and losing only to men who are currently ranked ahead of him.

Kibet peaked for the postseason last fall, which should be a scary thought for his competitors considering how strong he already looks in mid-October.

23. Evan Horgan, Sophomore, Lewis (Unranked)

On his home course, Evan Horgan was the aggressor Saturday. Never mind the fact that he's an underclassman who has yet to crack the top-100 at any NCAA Championship meets. He didn't hang on to the lead, but he largely held the pace for a commendable 5th-place finish after placing a solid 22nd at the same meet last year.

How's that for a freshman-to-sophomore leap?

This result is arguably even more significant for Horgan's team than for him. The Flyers finished runner-up at the Lewis Crossover and now appear to have a low-stick to lean on for years to come.

22. Weldon Chebon, Freshman, New Mexico Highlands (Unranked)

In their first year without focal star Andrew Amor, it's heartening to see that New Mexico Highlands has quickly introduced another high-ceiling lead scorer.

That would be Kenyan freshman Weldon Chebon, who emerged on our radar after beginning his NCAA career with a 5th-place finish behind a few Colorado Mines men in a solid Roadrunners Invitational last month. After winning his home meet, Chebon then proceeded to produce a truly eye-opening result by beating all of the East Central men and a handful of other solid names at the DBU Old Glory Gallup.

Not only did Chebon win, but he did so by 20 seconds. We can't wait to see how he stacks up at the RMAC XC Championships in just under two weeks.

21. Soheil Boufrizi, Senior, Wingate (-15 / 6)

Soheil Boufrizi was hardly incredible in his seasonal debut, finishing 54th in the Paul Short Run "Gold" race. That put him as Wingate's ninth runner as they cruised to the team win over Harvard.

While he was outrun and overshadowed by so many of his teammates, we're not too concerned about that effort from Boufrizi. He'll almost certainly get back to his role as a varsity runner and key scorer for the Bulldogs after finishing as their second man during their national team title run last fall.

We know from his NCAA #1 mark of 8:37 in the 3000-meter steeplechase and his national runner-up finish in that event that Boufrizi was extremely fit as recently as less than five months ago. That being said, it didn't feel fair to keep him in our top-20 given how much more other men have shown as of this juncture of the season.

20. Logan Bocovich, Senior, Colorado Mines (-10 / 10)

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

19. Avery Jaynes, Senior, Augusta (Unranked)

After entering the season as one of the more likely candidates to finish this fall as a first-time All-American, Avery Jaynes only strengthened his case this month. He placed 5th at the Louisville Classic and 3rd among D2 runners, losing only to our TSR #1 and TSR #13 men (landing just two seconds behind the latter).

He was comfortably ahead of multi-time All-American Harry Louradour and several other competitive D2 men. With the postseason nearing, a first conference title on the grass feels well within reach given that Jaynes has improved from 5th (2021) to 3rd (2022) and 2nd (2023) at the Peach Belt Conference XC Championships.

18. Ethan Grolnic, Junior, Colorado Mines (Unranked)

The rich got richer when Ethan Grolnic emerged from relative obscurity to place 3rd at the Lewis Crossover and help Colorado Mines to a comfortable team win even as they sat several of their top runners.

While fans of other programs may be frustrated by Colorado Mines' growing horde of talent, Grolnic's development as a scorer for the Orediggers is critical for the chances of anyone giving Wingate's superteam a scare and for the prospects of putting an RMAC team on the top-half of the podium (especially with the apparent emergence of another West Texas A&M low-stick).

This is a guy who raced just twice during the 2023-24 academic year and is now seemingly gaining major momentum after a solid 8th-place effort at the Roadrunners Invitational gave way to bronze at the Lewis Crossover. Grolnic placed 36th at the RMAC XC Championships in 2022. He should be in line to improve upon that finish considerably later this month.

17. Ricardo Barbosa, Senior, Wingate (+4 / 21)

An excellent 8th-place finish in the Paul Short Run "Gold" race is Ricardo Barbosa's only effort so far this fall. That made him Wingate's...fourth scorer in that setting. It's talents like Barbosa who make it conceivable to see Wingate having their full scoring five finish as top-half All-Americans next month.

16. Johan Correa, Senior, Central Washington (-3 / 13)

We haven't learned much about Johan Correa despite him racing thrice this season. He has yet to win a race this fall, but the only D2 runner who he has lost to this fall was a teammate (by one second) in what we presume was not an all-out effort.

The GNAC XC Championships on October 26th -- where he'll get another shot at Kevin McDermott after finishing runner-up behind him at that meet last year -- will be a more telling setting of where Correa is truly at fitness-wise this fall.

15. Antonin Saint Peyre, Sophomore, Wingate (Unranked)

We knew that Antonin Saint Peyre had a chance of factoring into Wingate's lineup this season considering that he finished 4th at the Southeast Regional XC Championships last year and placed 11th over 10,000 meters at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships for his first national meet appearance.

However, he may be far more of a factor than we anticipated after placing 6th in the Paul Short Run "Gold" race. Results at that meet can be variable in terms of how predictive they are, but if Saint Peyre was as solid as he was in 2023-24 after finishing 85th in the Paul Short Run "Gold" race last fall, imagine what he could now be capable of this academic year.

14. Paul Knight, Rs. Junior, Colorado Mines (+1 / 15)

We were eager to see if Paul Knight could put himself among the contenders at the Lewis Crossover this past weekend. Alas, he did not race. Nor did Colorado Mines need him to, as the Orediggers comfortably claimed the team title.

A 3rd-place finish at the Roadrunners Invitational -- in which he beat Chebon -- in his only effort this season is enough to move him up a spot in our first rankings update.

13. Dennis Cheruiyot, Freshman, West Texas A&M (Unranked)

We have only seen Dennis Cheruiyot race once as a collegian, but his effort in his NCAA debut was convincing enough to vault him up our individual rankings.

Cheruiyot placed 3rd at the Louisville Classic, beating a number of Division One runners, his own established teammates, Avery Jaynes and solid men from Lee (Tenn.) and Charleston (WV). That effort was not necessarily a shock given that this last-minute Buffaloes addition reportedly holds a 28:26 (10k) PR.

It's possible that Cheruiyot struggles in the postseason of his first cross country campaign. But it's also conceivable that he continues to thrive immediately like his teammate, William Amponsah, did last fall during his first year in the United States.

12. Titouan Le Grix, Senior, Wingate (0 / 12)

Sure, Titouan Le Grix was Wingate's final scorer in the Paul Short Run "Gold" race, but placing 11th in that setting felt like a strong enough result for us to keep the reigning 3000-meter steeplechase national champion in the top half of our cross country individual rankings.

Wingate's scoring order will probably never be the same in any given meet this year, but we expect Le Grix to continue to be a key component to the Bulldogs' title defense.

11. Lukas Ehrle, Rs. Freshman, Wingate (Unranked)

As was the case with Antonin Saint Peyre, we figured that Lukas Ehrle had a chance to crack Wingate's 2024 varsity lineup after he broke out to finish as a 10k All-American this past spring in his first national meet appearance of any kind.

However, we didn't necessarily foresee him finishing 3rd overall in the Paul Short Run "Gold" race. That put him as Wingate's second scorer, and we now have him as the Bulldogs' second-highest-ranked runner. We think it's conceivable that he could fill that role more than once this fall given the 14:01 (5k) and 29:09 (10k) chops he developed earlier this year.

It's easy to forget that this is Ehrle's first NCAA cross country season and he should only get better from here even if he ultimately experiences a couple of hiccups along the way.

10. Tyler Nord, Rs. Sophomore, Western Colorado (-1 / 9)

After cruising to a win in his home meet, Tyler Nord placed 11th in a deep Chile Pepper XC Invitational race. That result put him "only" 4th among D2 runners in that field, but we're not going to downgrade this multi-time All-American much for what was still a low-stick result that led his team to a runner-up finish behind D1 podium favorite (and meet host) Arkansas.

9. Loic Scomparin, Senior, Colorado Mines (Unranked)

Loic Scomparin is a name who we were unable to confirm the eligibility of ahead of our preseason individual rankings. However, he's now listed on the Colorado Mines roster and was in the Lewis Crossover entries...but has yet to race.

We're giving him the benefit of the doubt and including him in our rankings for this update, but are placing him a handful of spots lower than he would be based on talent alone because of our uncertainty about his status.

8. Caleb Futter, Rs. Senior, Grand Valley State (+9 / 17)

It's possible that we're seeing an even more fully realized version of Caleb Futter. That's saying something for an eight-time All-American, but Futter opened this fall by winning the Auto-Owners Spartan Invitational (against Michigan State's varsity contingent) after he finished 17th at the same meet last year.

He once again finished ahead of every Spartan at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational three weeks later, placing 17th overall and 2nd among D2 men.

Futter is someone who has flashed supreme talent throughout his career -- although perhaps never more on the grass than now -- but has shown some variability on the national stage, so we know that his true proving ground will come next month.

7. Sam Wilhelm, Senior, Alabama-Huntsville (+1 / 8)

Sam Wilhelm has been tested from the outset of his 2024 cross country campaign. He placed 4th, behind only two UVA stars and a UNC stud, at the Virginia Invitational. Then came a 5th-place finish at the Chile Pepper XC Festival in which he again placed ahead of several varsity runners on a top-10 D1 team (Arkansas).

In his latest outing, he finished runner-up at the UAH Chargers XC Invitational. It probably stung that he didn't win his home meet after doing so last year, but Wilhelm (a two-time top-half All-American this past spring alone) appears very much in line to blow his 40th-place finish from the 2023 cross country national meet out of the water.

6. Josphat Meli, Freshman, Harding (Unranked)

The man who beat Sam Wilhelm in each of the past two outings was Josphat Meli. Entering this season, we were unsure if he would run cross country given that he just began his NCAA career earlier this year on the oval, and Harding's roster was not yet available when we crafted our preseason rankings.

We've since learned that Meli is not only competing this season, but will very much be a factor on the national scene over the next 40 days. The 2024 NCAA 10k runner-up won his opener, finished as the top Division Two man at the Chile Pepper XC Festival and then won the UAH Chargers XC Invitational.

His near-13-second margin of victory in his last effort signaled that Meli is ready to be fed more competition, something that he may or may not get at the Great American XC Championships depending on what kind of form the East Central men are in by then.

5. Matthew Storer, Rs. Junior, Colorado Christian (-2 / 3)

Given that Scomparin was absent from the field, Matthew Storer was favored to win the Lewis Crossover this past Saturday. After all, he won that meet last year, earned bronze at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships and is a six-time All-American on the track alone.

Storer ultimately fell short of winning despite being very much in contention late in the race. Regardless, we know that Storer is one of the most "sure things" in the Division Two realm, and he showed that by finishing runner-up at the Lewis Crossover. Given that CCU doesn't usually contest the RMAC XC Championships, we probably won't see Storer again until after the next update.

4. Ryan Hartman, Senior, Augustana (SD) (+3 / 7)

Ryan Hartman has won both of his 8k races this year and did so against two no-joke fields. First, he beat the NW Missouri contingent at the Roy Griak Invitational, finishing 13 seconds ahead of Grant Bradley. Then, he led for much of the Lewis Crossover and countered Storer's late-race surge, pulling away over the final stretches for an eight-second win.

It's nice to see Hartman, who's long been a D2 star but never in the title picture, earn deserved recognition with a statement win. He has improved upon his All-American placement each of the past few fall seasons and may well be in line to better his 9th-place result from the 2023 NCAA XC Championships.

3. Romain Legendre, Senior, Adams State (+1 / 4)

One race was all we needed to see to know that Romain Legendre could translate his all-time track talent to the grass. He placed 7th at Joe Piane, beating everyone in team champion (and meet host) Notre Dame's lineup and finishing 10 seconds ahead of Caleb Futter.

Legendre's next goal (and expectation) should be to win his first RMAC title.

2. Hamza Chahid, Senior, Wingate (0 / 2)

A runner-up effort in the Paul Short Run "Gold" race was an impressive start to the season for Hamza Chahid, who spearheaded Wingate's team title in what was his first 8k race (yes, you read that right) in his NCAA career.

That race showed that remaining the top runner on his own team will seemingly require Chahid to be a top-10 individual nationally. With Wingate a heavy favorite for the NCAA team title, the way that Chahid really pushes himself this fall may be by trying to better his 4th-place result from the 2023 NCAA XC Championships. He is, after all, a multi-time individual NCAA champion on the track.

1. William Amponsah, Senior, West Texas A&M (0 / 1)

Like the two other top-three men in our rankings, William Amponsah's latest race came against formidable Division One competition. Nonetheless, he won the Louisville Classic by over 13 seconds and finished almost 40 seconds ahead of the second-fastest D2 runner in the field (Cheruiyot).

There's not much else to say other than acknowledging that Amponsah remains the favorite over the field to win NCAA gold in our estimation, and he has little else to prove after winning the individual national title in his debut season last fall.

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ADDED

Josphat Meli (Harding)

Loic Scomparin (Colorado Mines)

Lukas Ehrle (Wingate)

Dennis Cheruiyot (West Texas A&M)

Antonin Saint Peyre (Wingate)

Ethan Grolnic (Colorado Mines)

Avery Jaynes (Augusta)

Weldon Chebon (New Mexico Highlands)

Evan Horgan (Lewis)

Grant Bradley (NW Missouri)

KICKED OFF

Aspel Kiprob (East Central)

Noah Fisher (Findlay)

Harry Louradour (West Texas A&M)

Peter Kipkemboi (East Central)

Amos Pkiach (East Central)

Cas Kopmels (Wingate)

Koby Fraaza (Grand Valley State)

Oliver Kiptoo (East Central)

Brayden McLaughlin (Chico State)

Aziz Mohamed (West Texas A&M)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Noah Fisher (Findlay)

Peter Kipkemboi (East Central)

Amos Pkiach (East Central) Koby Fraaza (Grand Valley State)

Dylan White (Chico State)

Paul Korir (East Central)

Felix Perrier (Azusa Pacific)

Jagger Zlotoff (UC-Colorado Springs)

Kevin McDermott (Western Washington)

Joaquin Campos (Wingate)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Aspel Kiprob (East Central)

Harry Louradour (West Texas A&M)

Cas Kopmels (Wingate)

Enrico Oddone (West Texas A&M)

Kyle Partin (Western Colorado)

Jeremiah Vaille (Colorado Mines)

Jan Thewes (Davis & Elkins)

Scott Nutter (Wingate)

Maxamillian Wheeler (Oklahoma Baptist)

David Soto (UT-Tyler)

Damian Garcia (Chico State)

Matthew Gordon (Chico State)

Gavin Kuhlenbeck (Black Hills State)

Drew Atkins (NW Missouri)

Nate Mueller (NW Missouri)

Reece Sharman-Newell (CSU-Pueblo)

Mario Giannini (Chico State)

Elliot Dotson (Anderson (SC))

Notes

- N/A