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TSR's 2024 D2 XC Top 25 Individual Rankings (Men): Update #3
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).
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.
25. Mario Giannini, Sophomore, Chico State (Unranked)
Back-to-back postseason wins have cemented Mario Giannini's status as the lead scorer for a top-10 team entering the national meet.
The sophomore flashed immense promise in his rookie campaign, finishing in the top-50 at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, before an understated start to this season. Since then, he's won a California Collegiate Athletic Association individual title and, most recently and importantly, won the West Regional XC Championships.
We don't want to overemphasize a regional result. That being said, finishing as the best in the West by nearly five seconds -- while racing against his conference peers as well as men from the GNAC and PacWest -- was a statement for this underclassman.
We're still waiting to discover Giannini's ceiling, but his start to this season suggested that his floor is being a key scorer for a very good team.
24. Will Aitken, Junior, Wingate (Unranked)
There's a realistic scenario in which Will Aitken comfortably earns All-American status later this month, but isn't even a scorer for his team.
Regardless, he appears to have earned a spot in Wingate's varsity lineup after flashing his potential on the oval earlier this year with marks of 8:58 (steeple) and 29:14 (10k).
As Wingate sat several of their top runners at the SAC XC Championships, it was Aitken who claimed the individual conference crown. If you thought that was an anomaly, he validated that result while moving up to 10,000 meters by finishing runner-up at the Southeast Regional XC Championships ahead of a handful of All-American favorites.
23. Tyler Nord, Rs. Sophomore, Western Colorado (-1 / 22)
Put simply, what we've seen from Tyler Nord in the first two-thirds of the postseason has not been great. Or, maybe better put, he hasn't matched our preseason expectations for him.
Fortunately, the biggest meet of the season still lies ahead, and Nord has a strong one-time track record in that setting. He placed 15th at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships in his debut cross country season.
The Mountaineer star was arguably better in his last outing, placing 14th at the South Central Regional XC Championships, than he was in finishing 16th at the RMAC XC Championships two weeks prior.
Nord's body of work this season isn't that of a top-25 individual. Then again, a 12th-place finish at last year's South Central regional meet didn't necessarily portend his top-half All-American finish, either.
22. Jagger Zlotoff, Junior, UC-Colorado Springs (-1 / 21)
A 22nd-place finish at the South Central regional meet this past weekend was Jagger Zlotoff's "worst" result of this season. That's not a star-caliber effort, but it's hardly terrible!
We're not putting too much stock into it either way, as Zlotoff already showed by placing 5th at the 2024 RMAC XC Championships that he could mix it up with the best men in the region (and effectively the best in the country).
21. Donald Kibet, Junior, Washburn (+2 / 23)
Among men in the back-half of our top-25 individual rankings, Donald Kibet's stock probably changed the least. He finished 5th at the Central Regional XC Championships, losing to one unranked name but beating a few individuals in our "Just Missed" and "Honorable Mentions" sections.
His weightier results are still an MIAA runner-up effort, finishing 6th at the Lewis Crossover and, of course, 28th at the 2023 cross country national meet.
20. Ethan Grolnic, Junior, Colorado Mines (-2 / 18)
The South Central regional meet was Ethan Grolnic's first appearance since his breakout bronze-medal run at the Lewis XC Crossover nearly a month earlier.
He wasn't quite as potent, but still looked like a clear All-American favorite by placing 12th and serving as Colorado Mines' fourth scorer. That's all they really need Grolnic to be in his first NCAA Championship experience of any kind.
19. Jeremiah Vaille, Junior, Colorado Mines (Unranked)
We struggled a bit to decide whether Jeremiah Vaille or Ethan Grolnic should get this spot as the Orediggers' fourth-highest-ranked runner.
Vaille was a handful of spots behind Grolnic, but still excellent, at the Lewis Crossover, where he finished 7th. However, after he also sat out the RMAC XC Championships, Vaille seemed to have a completely new level of confidence in and control of his aerobic fitness at the regional meet. He finished 4th, emerging as the lead scorer for Colorado Mines in that setting.
Ultimately, we found ourselves feeling slightly better about Vaille than Grolnic. That's in part because he fared better more recently in the jump up to 10,000 meters. However, it's also because he got the better of Grolnic by two spots at their season-opening Roadrunners Invitational and appears to be improving with each passing meet.
18. Kidus Begashaw, Junior, Adams State (Unranked)
All of a sudden, Adams State has one of the nation's most potent lineups. Kidus Begashaw has played no small part in that development.
Sure, Begashaw has been solid all season, but has picked up his game in recent weeks, finishing as the Grizzlies' second scorer at both the RMAC XC Championships by placing 8th and at the South Central regional meet, where he finished 3rd.
That first result was on the higher end of our expectations for Begashaw, but the latter effort was largely unexpected, as he beat everyone aside from our top two ranked individuals.
We'd say that this ranking feels like it's brushing up on Begashaw's ceiling, but last year he produced his best result of the season by far at the national meet, where he nearly cracked the top-50. The rest of the country should look out if Begashaw continues to exceed expectations when he currently looks like a top-20 guy.
17. Titouan Le Grix, Senior, Wingate (-5 / 12)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
16. Antonin Saint Peyre, Sophomore, Wingate (-2 / 14)
Antonin Saint Peyre seemingly hasn't reached the status that Wingate's individual national (track) champions have by sitting out most of the cross country season. He raced for the first time in over a month this past weekend, placing 4th at the Southeast regional meet behind a few teammates.
Of course, it's hard to put much emphasis on a meet that the Bulldogs were expected to easily cruise through.
With a standout 6th-place effort in the Paul Short Run "Gold" race, we think that he's the third-most proven Bulldog entering the 2024 NCAA XC Championships. It also doesn't hurt that he finished 11th over 10,000 meters at the 2024 outdoor national meet.
15. Grant Bradley, Senior, NW Missouri (+5 / 20)
If you were to nitpick a concern about Grant Bradley, it would be that he arguably hasn't faced any true adversity yet this season (which is not to say that he hasn't faced strong competition). Bradley has produced two 1st-place finishes and two runner-up performances this fall.
Of course, that concern appears mostly unfounded because it's not as if he hasn't been untested. He has raced against men like Ryan Hartman (who handed him both of his losses), Josphat Meli, Donald Kibet and his own star Bearcat teammates.
Bradley has performed well in high-stakes settings before -- like when he snagged the final All-American spot over the barriers and water pits this past spring or when he won a conference title last month -- and appears to have peaked for the postseason.
14. Evan Horgan, Sophomore, Lewis (+5 / 19)
Since taking an early lead on his home course at the loaded Lewis Crossover and ultimately settling for a strong 5th-place finish, Evan Horgan's confidence appears to have blossomed.
He enters the cross country national meet having won individual titles at both the GLVC XC Championships and the Midwest Regional XC Championships in recent weeks. His latest win came over Caleb Futter and Noah Fisher which signaled that he would be adroit in moving up to 10,000 meters. That's a distance that he had run just twice before.
Horgan will have to juggle both team and individual aspirations on the national stage in Sacramento. However, everything that he's done so far in his young NCAA career suggests that he'll handle it well.
13. Logan Bocovich, Senior, Colorado Mines (0 / 13)
A 6th-place run at the South Central regional meet was right in line with the 4th-place effort at the RMAC XC Championships that Logan Bocovich produced in his season debut. Moving forward, we're expecting this stable veteran star to produce something very similar to his 16th-place finish at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships.
12. Ricardo Barbosa, Senior, Wingate (+3 / 15)
Ricardo Barbosa won the Southeast regional individual title on Saturday, thriving in just his third 10k race at the collegiate level.
Given that he landed in the top-25 at the 2023 cross country national meet and appears to have leveled up since then -- running 13:59 (5k) and 8:40 (steeple) earlier this year -- we're left to wonder if this ranking may be underselling Barbosa's potential.
Fortunately, we'll get our answer soon.
11. Lukas Ehrle, Rs. Freshman, Wingate (0 / 11)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
10. Paul Knight, Rs. Junior, Colorado Mines (0 / 10)
The sentiment here is similar to what we expressed with Paul Knight's teammate, Logan Bocovich. Knight has finished in the top-five at both the RMAC XC Championships and the South Central regional meet this season. He has also placed one spot ahead of Bocovich on both occasions.
That suggests that he should finally be able to boost himself into top-half All-American status after finishing top-25 at the past two cross country national meets.
9. Caleb Futter, Rs. Senior, Grand Valley State (0 / 9)
It wasn't necessarily reassuring to see Caleb Futter (an immense talent who's shown a bit of variability in his national meet performances) lose by 15 seconds at the Midwest regional meet after entering as the heavy individual favorite.
Even so, we're not too concerned about that result. By placing highly in Division One fields earlier this fall and winning the GLIAC individual title, Futter has shown us that he's in elite form.
Plus, how close he finished to teammate Koby Fraaza at the Midwest regional meet (beating him by a half-second) indicates that Futter may not have put forth an all-out effort as he gears up for a cross country national meet that will be quite important for him and his teammates.
8. Loic Scomparin, Senior, Colorado Mines (0 / 8)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
7. Matthew Storer, Rs. Junior, Colorado Christian (-1 / 6)
Sure, we expected to see Matthew Storer finish a bit higher than 7th at the South Central regional meet, but all of the men who outran him are in the top-20 of our rankings.
Plus, we know that this eight-time All-American is at his best when the lights are brightest. Don't forget that only one man who beat him at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships is still competing at the D2 level.
6. Sam Wilhelm, Senior, Alabama-Huntsville (+1 / 7)
After testing himself early this season, Sam Wilhelm has cruised to wins at the conference and regional stages.
He has fallen to just one Division Two individual this autumn (twice losing to the runner ranked directly ahead of him).
With the success that he's had throughout 2024 -- including running 13:48 (5k) and 28:43 (10k) and finishing as a top-half All-American in both of those events -- Wilhelm appears in line to blow his 40th-place finish from the 2023 cross country national meet out of the water.
5. Josphat Meli, Freshman, Harding (0 / 5)
This past weekend delivered the first hiccup in Josphat Meli's first collegiate cross country season.
He has twice finished ahead of Sam Wilhelm, including at Wilhelm's home meet, and cruised to a conference title over a few All-American candidates. Then came a 4th-place result at the Central regional meet on Saturday. In doing so, Meli lost to one individual ranked ahead of him and two below him (one of whom is a "Just Missed" name).
We can't bring ourselves to drop Meli below Wilhelm, and neither of the two
NW Missouri runners who just defeated him have robust enough resumes to quite usurp the NCAA 10k silver medalist from this past spring.
This Harding ace should be allowed one relative "off" day, especially given how well he fared at the NCAA Championships in his first track seasons early this year (picking up four top-10 finishes across three different distances).
4. Ryan Hartman, Senior, Augustana (SD) (0 / 4)
In winning the Central regional meet, Ryan Hartman not only picked up another win over our TSR #15 runner, Grant Bradley, and a few other stars who he'd faced earlier in the season. More notably, he finished nearly 20 seconds ahead of the man who was (and still is) ranked one spot below him.
Add that to victories over Matthew Storer (TSR #7) and Evan Horgan (TSR #14). Hartman (who has placed higher and higher at each successive cross country national meet and already holds three All-American honors on the grass) arguably has the nation's best combination of a high ceiling and stable floor outside of our TSR #1 individual.
3. Hamza Chahid, Senior, Wingate (-1 / 2)
Has not competed since our last rankings update.
2. Romain Legendre, Senior, Adams State (+1 / 3)
With a win over the defending national champion, Romain Legendre has a case for our TSR #1 spot. Even though we weren't ready to get there just quite yet, he has at the very least thrust himself squarely into the individual national title conversation.
And we're not sure we can say that about anyone outside of our top three.
In three races this fall, Legendre has finished 7th at a loaded Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational, won an RMAC title over the Colorado Mines contingent and won the South Central regional meet over many of the men that he faced at the RMAC XC Championships plus William Amponsah and Matthew Storer.
In retrospect, we may look slow to adjust if Legendre does go on to win NCAA gold this month, but we're acknowledging that it's a real possibility he'll do just that.
1. William Amponsah, Senior, West Texas A&M (0 / 1)
We decided that we needed to have the conversation after the South Central regional meet this past weekend. After all, our TSR #1 runner lost to our then-TSR #3 runner. That wasn't necessarily something that we viewed as impossible, but it was a reality we largely hadn't considered.
In an unofficial vote, it was effectively three-to-one to keep William Amponsah in our top spot. Amponsah's recent runner-up result was his first collegiate cross country loss (to a D2 individual or otherwise) in nine races. He won the national title in convincing fashion last fall and then won the NCAA 10k title on the outdoor oval earlier this year.
He also finished runner-up in the 5k behind Legendre at the outdoor national meet...but Legendre has yet to become a cross country All-American.
This is shaping up to be a more compelling head-to-head battle than anticipated, and I wouldn't fault any of our writers for not picking Amponsah to defend his national title. At least in my opinion, it feels right to give him some leeway for one loss at a meet that's mostly inconsequential to his national title hopes.
ADDED
Kidus Begashaw (Adams State)
Jeremiah Vaille (Colorado Mines)
Will Aitken (Wingate)
Mario Giannini (Chico State)
KICKED OFF
Dennis Cheruiyot (West Texas A&M)
Avery Jaynes (Augusta)
Johan Correa (Central Washington)
Luke Gaddis (Lee (Tenn.))
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Dennis Cheruiyot (West Texas A&M)
Avery Jaynes (Augusta)
Johan Correa (Central Washington)
Luke Gaddis (Lee (Tenn.))
Koby Fraaza (Grand Valley State)
Noah Fisher (Findlay)
Juan Rosales (Adams State)
Scott Nutter (Wingate)
Nate Mueller (NW Missouri)
Jan Thewes (Davis & Elkins)
Weldon Chebon (New Mexico Highlands)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Matt Mettler (Colorado Mines)
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)
Matisse Virey (CSU-Pueblo)
Housem Hrabi (Adams State)
Oliver Diaz (Western Colorado)
Brian Mitei (East Central)
Joaquin Campos (Wingate)
Jared Wright (Azusa Pacific)
Matthew Oglesby (Pittsburg State)
Maxamillian Wheeler (Oklahoma Baptist)
Christian Giller (Florida Southern)
Ryan Clough (Western Washington)
Felix Perrier (Azusa Pacific)
Notes
- N/A
