TSR's 2024 D2 XC Top 25 Individual Rankings (Men): Update #2

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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. Luke Gaddis, Junior, Lee (Tenn.) (Unranked)

A highly competitive finish at the Louisville Classic suggested that Luke Gaddis had the potential to be a capable low-stick star on a top-10 team. We saw him cement that potential in finishing runner-up (behind only a top-10 individual) at the Gulf South Conference XC Championships.

Gaddis has undergone a momentous rise since finishing 19th in the same setting last year mere months after transferring to Lee (Tenn.). His 2024 success has still come over a relatively small sample size, but we trust that it will continue into the postseason due to Coach Caleb Morgan's developmental acumen.

Gaddis' introduction into our rankings mirrors his team's in this update.

24. Johan Correa, Senior, Central Washington (-8 / 16)

This past Saturday's GNAC XC Championships were Johan Correa's first true test this season. That was also the case last year, and he produced the same conference runner-up result that he did in 2023.

We expected Correa to be in contention for the win (especially because his main competitor faltered a bit), and he was to an extent in placing 2nd by 11 seconds. Perhaps he was holding back some, but he has to drop a bit in our rankings for not winning despite being the only ranked individual in what was still a reasonably competitive field.

Nonetheless, we know that this multi-time top-half All-American (between the grass and the track) rises to the occasion when the stakes are at their highest.

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

Like Correa, Donald Kibet finished runner-up at his conference meet after entering it very much in the mix (but not necessarily a favorite over the field) to win it.

The difference was that Kibet lost to the other pre-race favorite. A 2nd-place showing at the MIAA XC Championships aligns well with Kibet's 6th-place effort at the Lewis Crossover a couple of weeks ago. He's largely beating the men that he should while losing only to top talents.

It's hard to find any issues with someone who became a first-time All-American by a comfortable margin last fall and has seemingly raised his level and maintained it since.

22. Tyler Nord, Rs. Sophomore, Western Colorado (-12 / 10)

Tyler Nord falling back to 16th place at the RMAC XC Championships was one of the most surprising results of the conference meet weekend, but we're not necessarily treating it as a red flag.

Sure, he drops behind a cluster of men (many of whom either finished ahead of him, won their respective conference meet or came close to doing so) in our rankings. However, Nord could certainly still improve upon his 15th-place finish from last year's cross country national meet.

Keep in mind that he peaked on the national stage last season. He was also sharper in his first two races this fall than he was in the same settings last year. There's also this: For as accomplished and well-known as Nord is, he's still an underclassman by cross country eligibility.

21. Jagger Zlotoff, Junior, UC-Colorado Springs (Unranked)

After winning his first two races, Jagger Zlotoff was truly tested at the RMAC XC Championships. He was solid at the same meet last year, placing 13th, but appears to have reached a new level of long distance fitness by finishing 5th this year.

That felt like a coming-out party for someone who's well-established as a miler, but has quietly been really solid on the grass as well.

Zlotoff seems like one of the most likely first-time D2 cross country All-Americans given that he was only five places out from that status last year and has reached it on the track twice already this year.

20. Grant Bradley, Senior, NW Missouri (+5 / 25)

Through three races, Grant Bradley has only lost to Ryan Hartman, a multi-time All-American who has since won the Lewis Crossover and a conference title and is ranked in our top-five.

Bradley's wins have come over his own accomplished teammates, several Pittsburg State All-Americans, Central Missouri's budding freshman talent Cosmas Kiprop and the aforementioned Donald Kibet. That's a solid laundry list of talent, and Bradley beat several of those men multiple times. Oh, and he won a conference title this past weekend.

There's no guarantee about how he'll fare at his first cross country national meet. But if his All-American steeplechase run at the outdoor national meet and his fast assimilation to NW Missouri after transferring this offseason are any indication, then he'll fit right in among the top men.

19. Evan Horgan, Sophomore, Lewis (+4 / 23)

A 5th-place finish at the Lewis Crossover suggested that Evan Horgan was ready to be the low-stick star that the Flyers needed to separate themselves as more than "just" a well-rounded nationally competitive team.

He delivered on that promise by winning the GLVC XC Championships with ease on Saturday, taking the conference title by over 40 seconds. Horgan can seemingly do no wrong right now.

18. Ethan Grolnic, Junior, Colorado Mines (0 / 18)

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

17. Avery Jaynes, Senior, Augusta (+2 / 19)

Yes, Avery Jaynes was expected to win an individual title at the Peach Belt Conference XC Championships. He did so, by one second, in what appeared to be a pack-running effort as the Augusta men achieved a perfect team score. Still, he deserves praise for achieving something he had never done before.

Make no mistake though, Jaynes' 5th-place finish at the Louisville Classic is still carrying the most weight in his seasonal resume. As is the case with Zlotoff and Horgan, we're quite confident that Jaynes will break into the top-40 on the national stage next month.

16. Dennis Cheruiyot, Freshman, West Texas A&M (-3 / 13)

Dennis Cheruiyot has produced a pair of 3rd-place finishes this fall, but they had a different feel to them.

In his first showing, he beat men like Jaynes and Gaddis at the Louisville Classic. More recently, he finished 3rd overall and 3rd on his team at the Lone Star Conference XC Championships. That result drops him a bit in our rankings, but it's conceivable that he wasn't running all-out without the presence of men from other teams pushing him.

We know that Cheruiyot holds immense talent, but the fact remains that we don't know exactly what we'll get from him in his first NCAA XC Championship appearance. At any rate, we have him as our highest-ranked NCAA newcomer.

15. Ricardo Barbosa, Senior, Wingate (+2 / 17)

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

14. Antonin Saint Peyre, Sophomore, Wingate (+1 / 15)

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

13. Logan Bocovich, Senior, Colorado Mines (+7 / 20)

What a statement Logan Bocovich made in his season debut! He waited until the most competitive Division Two conference meet to dust off the racing spikes and produce a 4th-place finish at the RMAC XC Championships.

Considering that Bocovich placed 9th at that meet last year and had already raced before then, what might he be capable of over the coming month if he's already in this kind of form?

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

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

11. Lukas Ehrle, Rs. Freshman, Wingate (0 / 11)

Lukas Ehrle was one of the few Wingate varsity runners who has competed in recent weeks. At the Panorama Farms Invitational, he went up against a few ACC powers and helped his Bulldogs (at half-strength) finish 4th over a horde of D1 teams.

Ehrle placed 12th individually, which doesn't change our understanding of him all that much. He was the Bulldogs' second finisher behind program veteran Scott Nutter and outran several scorers from top-half ACC programs.

It's hard to translate that result to the Division Two scene, but it's nice to see that Ehrle has carried his promising form (that he flashed in finishing 3rd in the Paul Short Run "Gold" race) further into the season.

10. Paul Knight, Rs. Junior, Colorado Mines (+4 / 14)

We were slightly disappointed not to see Paul Knight and Colorado Mines' best men compete at the Lewis Crossover a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, the Orediggers made up for it at the RMAC XC Championships.

Knight won individual bronze, which was hardly a shock, but it was the highest finish that the multi-time All-American has enjoyed at his cross country conference meet. We expect a similar placement out of him at the South Central Regional XC Championships next.

9. Caleb Futter, Rs. Senior, Grand Valley State (-1 / 8)

Caleb Futter most recently cruised to a GLIAC title, which was surprisingly his first on the cross country course. He looks as sharp as ever, losing to just one D2 man all fall while beating several competitive D1 individuals.

His greatest D2 competition to date will come at the Midwest Regional XC Championships, even if we don't intend to put too much stock into his placement in that setting.

8. Loic Scomparin, Senior, Colorado Mines (+1 / 9)

Take what Logan Bocovich did and cut his RMAC placement in half and you'd have Loic Scomparin's season debut. Racing collegiately for the first time in close to eight months, this Frenchman finished as a conference runner-up and showed no rust in leading his team to a dominant RMAC title.

Scomparin's current ranking reflects his placement from the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, and he may well marginally improve upon it. The good news for Scomparin and the Orediggers is that they don't necessarily need him to in order to secure a top-half podium finish.

7. Sam Wilhelm, Senior, Alabama-Huntsville (0 / 7)

In what was one of the more predictable results at an upper-tier D2 conference meet, Sam Wilhelm defended his conference crown.

He posted an 11-second margin of victory over Luke Gaddis, a ranked name, and outran a swarm of Lee (Tenn.) men, doing all he could for his team even if they finished a distant runner-up.

Believe it or not, that was Wilhelm's first win of the season. His competitive racing schedule suggests that he's more primed than ever to mix it up with other men of his star caliber over the coming weeks.

6. Matthew Storer, Rs. Junior, Colorado Christian (-1 / 5)

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

5. Josphat Meli, Freshman, Harding (+1 / 6)

Josphat Meli's first collegiate cross country campaign continues to go swimmingly. He's lost just one of four meets this season and has yet to finish behind a fellow Division Two runner.

He started his postseason by cruising to a win at the Great American Conference XC Championships, no small feat against the East Central men and TSR "Just Missed" name Max Wheeler of Oklahoma Baptist.

Meli's season thus far mirrors what William Amponsah produced in his NCAA debut season en route to winning the national title a year ago. We could envision Meli beating any man in Division Two outside of Amponsah.

4. Ryan Hartman, Senior, Augustana (SD) (0 / 4)

Ryan Hartman pulled away over the second-half of the NSIC XC Championships, winning his third meet in a row and what was surprisingly his first conference title on the grass.

Hartman has faced some pretty stout competition between the Roy Griak Invitational and the Lewis Crossover and has yet to lose to anyone at the 8k distance. Someone who's a two-time top-half cross country All-American appears to have improved once again, which is a scary proposition for everyone else in the country.

3. Romain Legendre, Senior, Adams State (0 / 3)

Winning an RMAC title meant that Romain Legendre has accomplished as much, if not more than, anyone since our last rankings update. He beat four other ranked individuals, including Scomparin, his more experienced countryman in terms of years in the NCAA.

An 11-second margin of victory shows that he was in a class of his own even in D2's deepest conference. If anyone can unseat the defending national champion, Legendre arguably has the best odds.

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

Has not competed since our last rankings update.

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

There's not much to update here. The aforementioned William Amponsah just won a conference title by 30 seconds over his star teammates and is two-for-two in races run and won on the season. That brings him to 8-0 in his collegiate cross country career.

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ADDED

Jagger Zlotoff (UC-Colorado Springs)

Luke Gaddis (Lee (Tenn.))

KICKED OFF

Soheil Boufrizi (Wingate)

Weldon Chebon (New Mexico Highlands)

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Koby Fraaza (Grand Valley State)

Felix Perrier (Azusa Pacific)

Noah Fisher (Findlay)

Juan Rosales (Adams State)

Matt Mettler (Colorado Mines)

Maxamillian Wheeler (Oklahoma Baptist)

Scott Nutter (Wingate)

Mario Giannini (Chico State)

Nate Mueller (NW Missouri)

Kidus Begashaw (Adams State)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Soheil Boufrizi (Wingate)

Weldon Chebon (New Mexico Highlands)

Enrico Oddone (West Texas A&M)

Jeremiah Vaille (Colorado Mines)

Jan Thewes (Davis & Elkins)

Drew Atkins (NW Missouri)

Reece Sharman-Newell (CSU-Pueblo)

Harry Louradour (West Texas A&M)

Kevin McDermott (Western Washington)

Jeret Gillingham (Western Washington)

Ramon Rodriguez (Central Washington)

Max Bonenberger (Colorado Mines)

Matisse Virey (CSU-Pueblo)

Housem Hrabi (Adams State)

Oliver Diaz (Western Colorado)

Brett Davis (UC-Colorado Springs)

Peter Kipkemboi (East Central)

Paul Korir (East Central)

Amos Pkiach (East Central)

Brian Mitei (East Central)

Joaquin Campos (Wingate)

Will Aitken (Wingate)

Jared Wright (Azusa Pacific)

Notes

- N/A