TSR's 2024 High School XC Top-25 Team Rankings (Boys): Update #2

Donald Speas
Oct 23, 2024
11 min read

Written by Donny Speas, edits and additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin

KEY

(Unranked):

Was not ranked in our last update.

(#/#):

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

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

25. Bloomington North Cougars (IN) (Unranked)

A couple of weeks ago at the Nike XC Town Twilight, the Bloomington North Cougars surprised us by taking home a statement win. Led by the lethal scoring trio of Caleb Webb, Jacob Mitchell and Caelan D'Onofrio, they enjoyed a comfortable 50-point victory over a handful of mainly regional foes.

In a competitive Midwest region, it's a realistic possibility that Bloomington North emerges as a surprise NXN bid. Their firepower should allow them to stand out and contend with other top-tier teams as long as their supporting cast can simply hold their own and keep the floor of this lineup on the higher side.

24. Cheyenne Mountain Red-Tailed Hawks (CO) (-3 / 21)

The Red-Tailed Hawks have only raced once since our latest rankings update, so I'm going to do what I do best -- unnecessarily overanalyze something that we certainly don't need to.

At the Air Academy Kadet Invitational, the Red-Tailed Hawks finished 6th at a meet that they should have won by a comfortable margin. Of course, it appears that senior Brogan Collins was the only member of their typical varsity-seven racing that day. For that reason, they remain inside of our top-25.

23. Lone Peak Knights (UT) (0 / 23)

Since our last rankings update, Lone Peak has secured two runner-up finishes at small, but competitive, races in Utah.

One of those meets was the Region Three Championships where they were 11 points behind a loaded American Fork squad. The other meet was the divisional championships where they were 33 points behind Herriman.

Needless to say, I'm ok with both of these losses, especially with the increased consistency that we've been seeing from junior Tyler Palmer. His rise, paired with the firepower of Cooper Bybee and Brady Wilde, makes this team more competitive than some may realize given that they have to consistently battle two juggernaut in-state programs.

22. Jesuit Bluejays (LA) (-12 / 10)

Let's not beat around the bush here: Jesuit didn't have a great day at the Great American XC Festival. Sure, 3rd place wasn't a terrible result in-and-of-itself, but it was definitely not what we wanted to see from a team that we thought was a top-10 squad, nationally.

Even so, there were still a handful positives that we could take from their latest outing. A pair of top-10 finishes for Brady Mullen (5th place, 14:56) and Brady Monahan (9th place, 15:07) was certainly something worth writing home about. If anything, the Bluejays will likely bounce-back in the postseason and their top-two low-sticks are seemingly rounding into form at the right time.

21. Knoxville Catholic Fighting Irish (TN) (-3 / 18)

Knoxville Catholic has only raced once since our last ranking update, earning a solid win at the Knoxville Interscholastic League XC Championships. There, they beat a solid Hardin Valley team and averaged 15:32 for 5000 meters with Keegan Smith taking the individual win in 14:52.

The Fighting Irish only dropped in our rankings due to the performances of a couple other ranked teams. For the most part, we didn't really feel like we learned anything new about this Tennessee-based squad.

20. Sehome Mariners (WA) (-4 / 16)

The Sehome Mariners have been one of the more consistent teams in the ever-changing Northwest region. Since our last rankings update, they took the win in the "small school" section at the Nike Twilight XC Invitational (not to be confused with the Nike XC Town Twilight Invite). They also took home a respectable 3rd place finish at the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational against national-caliber competition.

Props need to be given to the Mariners' top runner, senior Nick Gargano, who has been incredibly consistent at these larger national-caliber invitationals. There is a somewhat clear gap after him, but this is a deep team that has quickly closed out the scoring through five runners.

Don't sleep on veteran Skyler Gillham in the postseason. On the right day, he can come within a few places of Gargano.

19. Jesuit Crusaders (OR) (0 / 19)

After the initial drop that we gave the Crusaders in our last rankings update, they have definitely stabilized in our eyes. Jesuit has put up a couple of solid performances as of late which show hints of their ceiling being a top-10 team.

The first great race that we saw from the Crusaders was a runner-up finish at the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational, avenging early-season losses to Sehome (TSR #19) and Issaquah (a team that could theoretically assume our non-existent TSR #26 position).

The second great race we saw from Jesuit was at the Nike Twilight Invitational where they picked up a dominant win. There, we saw the trio of Kellen Williams, Jackson Welsh and Matthew Wroblewski run under 15:40 for 5000 meters.

18. Hamilton Huskies (AZ) (-1 / 17)

First things first -- I'm actually very pleased with what I've seen from Hamilton over the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I can't find it in my heart to raise them in our rankings due to the performances from other squads that were too good to ignore.

In our last rankings update, I essentially said that Hamilton was one of the most talented squads in the country, but also one of the more inconsistent squads in the country.

Naturally, I was very happy to see the Huskies take home two wins at two decently competitive races, especially the Chandler City Championships where they averaged 15:11 for 5000 meters.

17. Plainfield North Tigers (IL) (Unranked)

It seems like the Plainfield North Tigers have been staring these rankings down for some time, appearing as a "Just Missed" team in the last edition of our rankings.

More importantly, it seems that they have been running very well against top competition, winning the Palatine Invitational and recently taking a runner-up finish behind our TSR #10 team at the Naperville Twilight Invitational.

16. Taylorsville Warriors (UT) (-2 / 14)

I didn't think that I'd ever have to lower a team in our rankings that scored a perfect 15 points at a meet...but I guess there's a first time for everything.

Unfortunately, Taylorsville and our TSR #15 team are incredibly close and one had to be dropped due to some monster performances by other squads. I suppose this is my way of fighting off the bias that I typically have (in favor) towards altitude-based programs.

Taylorsville has looked great since our last rankings update, scoring a perfect 15 points at their regional championship (highlighted by a pair of personal bests for the Stout twins). They also comfortably won their divisional meet to advance to next week's state championship.

15. Jesuit Marauders (CA) (-1 / 14)

For a good bit of this article, you've read words along the lines of "They only dropped in our rankings due to the performances of a couple other ranked teams."

Well, this instance is no different. The Jesuit boys had the race of their lives at the Clovis Invitational, taking home a massive runner-up finish.

Only two members of the team's top-seven (Navin Kadel and Ryan Tait) ran personal bests, but it seemed that, across the board, the entirety of the Marauders had great days. As a result, they were able to come within 16 points of perhaps the only team to have an even better weekend than the Marauders (more on them later).

14. Bridgeland Bears (TX) (+1 / 15)

With each passing update, I get more excited about the Bridgeland Bears.

Although they have only raced twice since our last rankings refresher, the Bears seemingly have the perfect lineup structure. So much so that it makes me wonder what they can pull off when they get to the state, regional and national meets.

At their district championship meet, the Houston area program managed to comfortably win by 53 points while fielding a team composed of mainly JV runners. Then, this past Monday morning, they won their regional meet by 41 points, led by 1-2 finishes from Benjamin Montgomery and Griffin Saacke.

The combination of firepower and depth is impressive, but we have yet to see them defeat any top-25 programs. For that reason, their movement in these rankings is relatively limited.

13. Rio Rancho Rams (NM) (0 / 13)

Rio Rancho has only competed once since our last rankings update. That lone effort was at the Academy Extravaganza where they comfortably won over a sneaky-good Organ Mountain squad.

While their full team may not have raced, we did get to see Charlie Vause travel to Indiana to compete in the Nike XC Town Twilight. There he took home a respectable 8th place finish to further bolster his role as a low-stick ace.

12. Crater Comets (OR) (-4 / 8)

Crater's 1-2 punch of Josiah Tostenson and Tayvon Kitchen is the best in the country. The dynamic duo just ran a pair of 14:23 efforts for 5000 meters (on the track) and I suspect that both stars will finish among the top-10 at the national meet in a few weeks time.

However, Crater most definitely had an "off" day at the Clovis Invitational, falling down to 3rd place at a meet that I had them picked to win going into it. Ultimately, Crater's position on the national stage will always be determined by how well their fifth scorer can stick to the rest of their pack. We do feel good about Ivar Hokanson and the scoring value/stability that he brings to the middle portion of this lineup.

Luckily, the Comets will have plenty of opportunities to rise in our rankings as the postseason dawns upon us.

11. Coronado Cougars (CO) (+1 / 12)

The Cougars have only raced once since our last rankings update, toeing the line for the CSML South League Meet. At that meet, they easily took home the win, scoring a perfect 15 points against truthfully not the strongest competition.

10. Downers Grove North Trojans (IL) (+1 / 11)

In the weeks since our last rankings update, Downers Grove North has twice fielded their varsity lineup. One race was against a relatively weak field at their conference meet where they took an easy victory.

However, the Trojans' second meet, the Naperville Twilight Invite, was anything but an easy victory. Even so, they triumphed over a very good Plainfield North team by 10 points on that stage.

To top things off, Downers Grove North's top duo of Philip Cupial and Grant Schroder is quietly turning into one of the best duos in the Midwest. They will only become more valuable as the postseason approaches.

9. Coeur d'Alene Vikings (ID) (0 / 9)

The men from Coeur d'Alene have been nothing short of phenomenal in the time between now and our latest rankings update.

First, they competed at the Battle for the 509 where they won by 32 points over a handful of competitive Northwest region programs. While the score wasn't surprising, seeing the trio of Maximus Cervi-Skinner, Zack Cervi-Skinner and Wyatt Carr sweep the top-three places definitely caught oiur attention.

Following the Battle for the 509 meet, the Vikings traveled to Washington for the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational where they once again took the victory, this time over a field that included our TSR #18 team, Jesuit (OR), and our TSR #19 team, Sehome, in addition to a couple of "Just Missed" and "Honorable Mention" squads.

8. Arnold O. Beckman Patriots (CA) (Unranked)

What happens when you go from a solid, but unranked, team to pulling off a massive statement win at one of the strongest nationally competitive invitationals? Well, you end up with a top-10 ranking!

Arnold O. Beckman had an decent season up-and-to our last rankings update, taking 25th place at the Woodbridge XC Classic and averaging 15:06 for three miles. But while that is certainly a great start, it was most definitely not enough for the Patriots to be a top-25 team in the country.

Well, then they introduced Nathan Horrocks and Aaron Feaster into their lineup, both of whom ran under 15 minutes for three miles in their very first varsity race of the season.

Consequently, the Patriots had a huge day at the Clovis Invitational, taking the overall win against a field that included Crater (TSR #12) and Jesuit (CA) (TSR #14). Needless to say, big things are ahead for the Arnold O. Beckman boys who just got a massive injection of confidence going into the most important part of the season.

7. American Fork Cavemen (UT) (0 / 7)

American Fork is another one of the teams on this list that (say it with me now) drops in our rankings through no fault of their own.

In fact, they've been quite consistent, taking victories at meets such as the Region Three Championships and their divisional meet (Utah's state qualifying meet).

One reason why they've stayed so consistent is the continued low-stick value that Kaden Evans (and to a lesser extent, Carter Moore) has provided. However, I've been even more encouraged by the developments from the back-half of their scoring lineup, specifically Alex Williams and Ryker Bement.

6. Belen Jesuit Wolverines (FL) (0 / 6)

Belen Jesuit continues to be one of the hardest teams to rank season, giving me loads of mixed signals. While they haven't had a bad race by any stretch of the imagination, they've had several races that I'd consider to be "off" days.

One prime example of this was the Great American XC Festival where they won by 48 points over a solid Marvin Ridge squad. However, this is a meet where I easily could have seen them win by over 100 points (and yes, I know how big of a claim that is).

Even star low-stick Marcelo Mantecon has really hit his stride this fall, lowering his 5000-meter personal best to 14:40 and establishing himself as the individual favorite in the Southeast region (depending on your thoughts about Ty Steorts).

5. Southlake Carroll Dragons (0 / 5)

Southlake Carroll has only raced once since our last ranking update, toeing the line at the UIL District Four XC Championships where they won by 10 points over a sneaky-good Northwest Nelson team.

Oh, and their five scorers averaged 15:04 for 5000 meters. Not to mention that freshman Kai Gutierrez ran 15:12, a crazy-good mark for someone of his age.

Naturally, I'm sure you may all be wondering "Donny, why in the world are you not moving a team that won and averaged a time that would win most state meets?" And that's a fair question. Truthfully, I have questions about the course length (14 of the top-16 finishers all ran personal bests) and I simply believe that our TSR #4 team found a way to have an even more impressive weekend.

4. Austin Vandegrift Vipers (+3 / 7)

I am VERY high on the Austin Vandegrift boys. They have only raced once since our last rankings update, but they have made it count.

At the UIL 6A District 25 XC Championships, the Vipers won over a solid Round Rock squad by a commanding 31 points in a small field. However, that's not what surprised me. It's that the Vipers were able to put their top-four scorers (Kai McCullough, Hudson Haley, Collin Godwin and Christian Cruz-Castro) all at 15:08 or faster for 5000 meters.

Keep in mind that this is on a course that we know is actually 5000 meters (it has hosted the UIL XC State Championships for as long as I can remember). Plus, their fifth and sixth runners (Jackson Stafford and Jack Ebeier) weren't too far behind at 15:29 and 15:31.

Needless to say, I don't think Austin Vandegrift will surprise anyone if they finish on the podium come December.

3. Christian Brothers Academy Colts (NJ) (0 / 3)

It's been business as usual for the Christian Brothers Academy boys since our last rankings update, taking home a win at the extremely competitive Manhattan Coaches Invitational. There, they triumphed over teams from each coast and everywhere in between.

Unfortunately, there's not a ton to analyze about CBA. They're simply just too good relative to the competition that they face (a common theme amongst these top-ranked schools). Oh, and Joe Barrett is still a fantastic athlete, threatening the course record at every race he toes the line for.

2. Niwot Cougars (CO) (0 / 2)

We've only seen Niwot go "all-in" for a race on one occasion since our last rankings update. And when they did, they simply overwhelmed their competition, scoring a perfect 15 points and putting eight runners in the top-nine spots.

Out of the Niwot runners who toed the line for that race (the Granite Peaks League Championships), it was senior Ryder Keeton who impressed me the most. He was the Cougars' third scorer on the day, running 15:28 for 5000 meters, mere seconds away from the team's top-two. That, in turn, gave Niwot a legitimate top-three instead of a focal top-two.

1. Herriman Mustangs (UT) (0 / 1)

It's getting harder and harder to write about the Herriman Mustangs. They have simply dominated every meet that their varsity lineup has toed the line for. Most recently, they cruised through their divisional meet, winning by a comfortable margin over our TSR #22 team, Lone Peak. Individually it was Jackson Spencer who took the win with Jonah and Micah Tang close behind.

Luckily for us, we get to see one of the most anticipated races between Herriman, American Fork (TSR #7) and Lone Peak (TSR #22) in one week's time at the Utah XC State Championships. Last year, American Fork was able to pull off the upset, and hopefully, this year's race will be just as good.