TSR's 2024 NAIA XC Top 25 Individual Rankings (Men): Update #2 (Three Sentences or Less)

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Written by Nolan Ryan, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin

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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 NAIA 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 individual has moved in the rankings.

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

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25. Paul Moore, Freshman, SCAD Atlanta (-4 / 21)

The freshman standout finished 5th at a very competitive meet, the NAIA Appalachian Challenge. That performance solidifies that his opener was not a fluke, although the introduction of other strong names are responsible for his demotion in our rankings. He will be in the running for silver at his conference meet at the same course from a week ago.

24. Ryan Stade, Sophomore, Montreat (-1 / 23)

In his return to competition after the tragic hurricane that tore through the eastern part of the country, Stade did not have his best showing at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge. And yet, at the same time, it wasn't a bad race, either. It's easy to look at his 8th place finish and think that it was an "off" day, but it was more so an average outing while others had huge performances.

23. Isaac Sytsma, Senior, Saint Xavier (Unranked)

New to our TSR rankings, Isaac Sytsma has been knocking on the door of a top-25 spot for a while. He has had a solid win at Seminole Valley, but then really stunned us with an excellent 5th place finish at Blazing Tiger! At this point, he is most likely the favorite for the Chicagoland title in a week.

22. Ethan Stamey, Senior, Montreat (Unranked)

The senior from Montreat showed us why he was an All-American a year ago by posting a fantastic 4th place finish at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge. He is going to have his hands full with the Milligan contingent next week, but momentum is very clearly in his favor, and that can make him very dangerous in the postseason.

21. Zack Gacnik, Senior, Carroll (Unranked)

The Colorado transfer has had glimpses of being stellar in his Carroll College career. He had a great day at the Great Lakes Challenge by cracking the top-five. When you can mix it up at the top of a big meet like Gacnik can, it's hard to see too many race scenarios where he's not pushing some of the better names in the NAIA.

20. Tyler Jenkins, Junior, Rio Grande (-2 / 18)

Tyler Jenkins had a "just okay" day at the Great Lakes Challenge, finishing outside of the top-12. It is hard to imagine Jenkins being outside the top-20 in any national meet simulation and his general consistency makes it hard to penalize him too much in this edition of our rankings.

19. Luke Harber, Sophomore, Taylor (Unranked)

It's hard to put a guy in our rankings after just one performance of super-high quality, but this Trojan just had a day! To finish top-five at the notorious Great Lakes Challenge is a tough task, but Harber did just that. Even though he lost to certain guys earlier in the year, he has been a consistent name in comparison to his other NAIA athletes at prior meets.

18. Brandon Kleber, Senior, Grace (-3 / 15)

We expected to see Kleber be in the conversation for a top-five finish at the Great Lakes Challenge, but he still had a strong showing in 9th place. However, the Grace veteran had a really good performance at the Gans Creek Classic in September, emerging as one of the best NAIA guys that day. If Kleber can play his cards right, then he can be a sleeper for a top-10 or top-15 finish at the NAIA XC Championships.

17. Justin Ash, Senior, Eastern Oregon (+2 / 19)

Even though Justin Ash hasn’t seen much NAIA competition since our last rankings update, he moves up because of his past performances and the natural flow of our list. In his past performances, he raced his tail off against the College of Idaho contingent. At Blazing Tiger, the COI squad showed how legit they are, which in return, further showcases the legitimacy of Ash's resume.

16. Mathew Keitany, Senior, Goshen (-2 / 16)

Truthfully, Mathew Keitany did not have his best day at the Great Lakes Challenge, settling for 12th place. His team did not have their best showing either, giving us good enough of a reason to simply write this off as a classic bad day. I think we will see a different version of Keitany in the future as he makes a run for the Crossroads crown.

15. Jack Gladfelter, Sophomore, Corban (-2 / 13)

This Corban sophomore quietly entered the mix of top NAIA men after he broke the 24-minute barrier at Willamette XC Invite a few weeks ago. He hasn’t done much since, but finishing so close to the COI trifecta gives us reason to believe that he is ready to make a name for himself in the postseason.

14. Dominick Beine, Senior, St. Mary (Kan.) (-2 / 12)

The senior Spire has continued his showing of running faster on every course than a year ago with a copy cat schedule. He had a strong performance at Blazing Tiger, going toe-to-toe with the 'Yotes and finishing behind their overwhelmingly lethal 1-2-3 finish. Beine has been so consistent this season that it's hard to see too many scenarios where he falls out of the top-20 at the national meet.

13. Connor Ybarra, Senior, The Master’s (+4 / 17)

One of the most consistent runners in the NAIA this fall, Connor Ybarra has not produced a finish that was outside of the top-10 in any race that he has contested this season. The only NAIA guys whom he has lost to are top-10 talents such as Jack Anderson (his teammate), Dominic Malel and Demetris Love Jr. His “worst” placement this year was a 10th place performance at the Highlander Invitational which, to many NAIA fans, is a very strong result.

12. Elias Everist, Senior, College of Idaho (-1 / 11)

Similar to that of his comrades, Elias Everist has only hit the grass one time since our last rankings update. His one performance since was a very strong 3rd place finish at the Blazing Tiger. You can look at his races so far this year and not really know where he fits in the national meet conversion, but despite this one spot drop, he is very much of a top-10 threat.

11. Hayden Bostrom, Senior, College of Idaho (-2 / 9)

Only racing once since our last rankings update, Hayden Bostrom had another excellent day with a runner-up finish at Blazing Tiger. The most intriguing part, however, is trying to figure out where can we place Bostrom when making our national meet predictions. He only drops in our rankings due to the movement of others.

10. Luca Madeo, Sophomore, Cumberland’s (-2 / 8)

After a great performance in September at the Gans Creek Classic, we knew that Luca Madeo was legit, but we questioned his consistency. Since then, he has finished 3rd at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge behind Kennedy Bett and Brynn Woodall, two star-caliber men. That kind of effort certainly eases any concerns about his consistency as we enter the most important time of the year.

9. Dominic Malel, Senior, Campbellsville (+7 / 16)

One of the biggest movers in our TSR rankings this week, Dominic Malel proved just how good he is by finishing runner-up to Eli Fullerton at the Great Lakes Challenge. It seems like every time out, he is getting closer to being a contender for a top-five finish at the NAIA XC Championships.

8. Jack Anderson, Junior, The Master’s (+2 / 10)

It seems like every time Jack Anderson has an "off" day, he comes out guns blazing the next time around. At the Highlander Invitational, he gave his competitors about all that they could handle. At that meet, he finished within a second of Demetris Love Jr. and secured a 3rd place finish overall, a huge performance that should bolster his confidence for the postseason.

7. Eli Fullerton, Senior, Indiana Wesleyan (-1 / 6)

It almost feels disrespectful to put Eli Fullerton at TSR #7 given how good he has been this season. The main reason why he is dropping, however, is mainly due to the performances of others. Regardless, after winning the Great Lakes Challenge, he looks to be in top form heading into the postseason and is seemingly capable of competing for a top-three finish in his season finale.

6. Youssef Asslouj, Freshman, Cumberland’s (KY) (-4 / 2)

Youssef Asslouj has not produced a finished result since the Southern Showcase in early September. He dropped out around 5k at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge. We're hoping to see him back in action next week at his conference meet.

5. Kennedy Bett, Freshman, Cumberland (Tenn.) (+6 / 11)

After a brilliant runner-up finish at the NAIA Appalachian Challenge and making Brynn Woodall fight for the win, it was very easy to put Kennedy Bett in our top-five. He has been stacking one race after another which has put him on a train of momentum at the most important time of the year.

4. Demetris Love Jr., Senior, Embry-Riddle Arizona (+1 / 5)

After finishing runner-up to a University of Arizona runner at the Highlander Invite and beating Jack Anderson two times in a row, we feel justified in moving up Demetris Love Jr. in our rankings. The real question, however, is whether or not he can hang with our top-three men on the national stage.

3. Daniel Butler, Senior, College of Idaho (0 / 0)

Daniel Butler has been on an absolute tear this year. Winning the Blazing Tiger meet for his second victory in a row shows that he is no fluke in 2024. He will be in the lead pack at the NAIA XC Championships and it will be very interesting to see where he finishes when it is all said and done.

2. Brynn Woodall, Senior, Milligan (+2 / 4)

Not losing to a single NAIA guy this year shows us that Brynn Woodall has to be ranked this high. We don’t know if he is in the place to push Silva for the win, but we do know that if there is a guy to do so, it is most likely him.

1. Evert Silva, Senior, Oklahoma City (0 / 0)

One of the easiest rankings we have had to do was put Evert Silva at TSR #1 in our rankings. He has raced one since our last rankings update and he finished 3rd in an unreal time of 22:25 (6k) behind two superb runners from Texas Tech. All eyes will be on him at the NAIA XC Championships to see how he wants the race to unfold.

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ADDED

Bruno Villazon (UT-Southern)

Ryan Stade (Montreat)

Christian Mendoza (Eastern Oregon)

Ayenew Devany (Oklahoma City)

Paul Moore (SCAD Atlanta)

Duncan Kogei (Rio Grande)

Connor Ybarra (The Master's)

Dominic Malel (Campbellsville (KY))

Brandon Kleber (Grace)

Jack Gladfelter (Corban)

Kennedy Bett (Cumberland (Tenn.))

Elias Everist (College of Idaho)

KICKED OFF

Jonathan Chavez (UC Merced)

Kobe Wessels (Lewis-Clark)

Luis Peralta (Milligan)

Ryan Heline (Saint Mark (KS))

Ethan Stamey (Montreat)

Mason Weisgerber (Southern Oregon)

Nathan Burns (Taylor)

Emmanuel Yego (Doane)

Cannon Angotti (Arizona Christian)

Dennis Kipkurui (Cumberlands (KY))

Serhii Shevchenko (Cumberlands (KY))

JUST MISSED (in no particular order)

Ayenew Devany (Oklahoma City)

Duncan Kogei (Rio Grande)

Cristian Mendoza (Eastern Oregon)

Bruno Villazon (UT-Southern)

Nathan Stamey (Montreat)

Jacob Kocis (Midway)

Aidan Vorster (Dordt)

Aleksandr Krikov (St. Mary (KS))

Ryan Hanak (Taylor)

Dean Reynolds (Spring Arbor)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Mylan Nocton (Indiana East)

Cole Johnston (Grace)

Michael Reif (St. Francis (IL))

Mehdi Nait Hamoud (Madonna)

Ryan Heline (St. Mary (KS))

Chris Metz (St. Mary (KS))

Alvin Keter (St. Francis (IN))

Vaughn Hendrickson (Concordia (NE))

Austin Hess (Kansas Wesleyan)