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TSR's 2024 Preseason D1 XC Top 50 Rankings: #30-21 (Men)
- Mike McKean
- Jul 28, 2024
- 13 min read
Written by Mike McKean, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin
30. Sanele Masondo, Senior, Iowa State
To say that we struggled with Sanele Masondo’s positioning in these rankings would be an understatement. We had to go back and forth on his ranking due to his inconsistent season last fall. Of course, Masondo's performance at last year's national meet came out of nowhere, quite frankly.
His 16th place result on that stage was the race of his life.
At the start of the 2023 season, we didn’t Masondo to be anywhere near that kind of level. In fact, in his first race of the season, it appeared that he’d struggle to be a top-five runner for the Cyclones over the course of the season. To end his 2023 season as Iowa State’s top runner is downright remarkable after a 104th place finish at the Virginia Invitational.
While Masondo steadily improved as the fall went on, his 80th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite and 27th place finish at the BIG 12 XC Championships weren’t turning any heads. However, once the racing distance jumped from 8k to 10k, Masondo gained momentum and made huge strides.
A 7th place finish at the Midwest Regional XC Championships was far more encouraging, although that result wasn’t foreshadowing of a 16th place finish at the national meet.
Those latter two results got us thinking: After looking back on Masondo’s resume as a whole, he always seemed to show up at the 10k distance. He proved that even further this past outdoor track season with a massive 28:13 (10k) PR at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, resulting in a 7th place finish that earned him All-American status.
His impressive resume over 10k and ability to show up when it matters the most gives us reason to believe that his TSR #30 ranking feels fair. On top of that, he has displayed growth and poise throughout the entire 2023/2024 academic calendar, showing us that he belongs with top-tier runners.
This year, we need to see consistency from Masondo throughout the entire fall to feel confident that he can come close to his 16th place finish at last year's national meet. He was great on the track this past spring, but we only saw one great result from him in cross country last season. We'll need him to prove last year’s national meet result wasn’t just a fluke.
29. Hillary Cheruiyot, Senior, Alabama
Hillary Cheruiyot was part of one of the best 1-2 punches in the country last fall. He and Victor Kiprop were lethal during the regular season as they outperformed numerous top-tier athletes.
Cheruiyot’s season started off with a bang by earning silver at the Joe Piane Invite. He was the Crimson Tide’s top dog as he narrowly beat out teammate, Victor Kiprop. Following that up with a 3rd place finish at the SEC XC Championships gave us reason to believe that the Crimson Tide standout would shatter his career-best 53rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. And if his regular season wasn’t enough proof for us, Cheruiyot earned the title of South regional cross country champion, dropping a 28:26 (10k) mark in the process.
Cheruiyot had more impressive performances than his counterparts during various parts of the fall. Going into the national meet, we weren't exactly sure who Alabama's top runner would be, but Cheruiyot was a viable option to be the low-stick that they needed.
However, a truthfully underwhelming 98th place finish was not indicative of what we saw from him during the course of the season. He did, after all, spend the majority of the fall months running with or besting his teammate Victor Kiprop, someone who would go on to finish 20th in Charlottesville.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the first time that Cheruiyot had struggled at the NCAA XC Championships. After a consistently great 2022 season that saw him finish no worse than 8th at a single race leading up to the national meet, he would go on to finish 209th in Stillwater.
Additionally, after a lackluster outdoor track season that saw Hillary fail to break 14 minutes in the 5k, the question marks surrounding him are just. And yet, despite the questions surrounding him, we’d be doing a disservice to him by not crediting his past performances.
The question this year will be if he can turn it around and overcome his struggles on the national stage. If he can put it together on the right day, then we wouldn’t be surprised to see him running with Victor Kiprop at the end of November. His resume as a whole makes him undeniably deserving of a spot in our top-30. With big-time results at highly competitive meets, he’s fairly positioned at TSR #29.
28. Yaseen Abdalla, Senior, Transfer Portal
Yaseen Abdalla’s cross country resume over the course of his career is quite impressive. He’s been on the scene for a few years now as the veteran boasts a two-time All-American title in cross country. After 32nd and 33rd place finishes at the 2021 and 2022 NCAA XC Championships, we felt like a third All-American performance was all but guaranteed for the Tennessee ace.
The consistency was there during the 2023 fall season for Abdalla. His performances showed us he was capable of bettering his career-best 32nd-place finish at the national meet.
He achieved a huge result with a 2nd place finish at Pre-Nationals, beating the likes of Kirami Yego and Patrick Kiprop. He backed that up with a 4th place finish at the SEC XC Championships, a conference filled with elite talent at the top. Unfortunately, Abdalla struggled at the national meet and finished 187th.
Abdalla's cross country performances last year (outside of the national meet), were incredibly similar to his performances from the 2022 cross country season -- elite consistency. In his 2022 campaign, the Volunteer low-stick never finished worse than 4th place leading up to the national meet. In 2023, Abdalla again never finished worse than 4th place before the national meet. It’s obvious Abdalla had an "off" day in Charlottesville last year.
As we try to find a balance between his national meet performance and regular season results, we land at TSR #28. His consistent resume, on top of being a two-time All-American in his cross-country career, gives us a lot of optimism in this placement. He has proven that he’s a star on the grass and this ranking is much more indicative of his true upper-tier talent.
Abdalla has one last shot to better his past national meet performances on the grass and crack the to- 30, but...where will it be? Abdalla is still in the transfer portal as of right now and we’re eagerly awaiting his decision. Surely multiple teams and coaches are chomping at the bit to add him to their group. Can a new team and/or coach help him reach another level on the grass? We await to see if there’s untapped potential in Abdalla.
27. Evans Kiplagat, Sophomore, New Mexico
Naturally, we had questions regarding how Evans Kiplagat would fare last fall in his freshman campaign. It wasn't presumptuous to assume that it could take some time for Kiplagat to adjust to collegiate racing. However, those thoughts were quickly thrown out the window as the questions were answered with his impressive 18th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite.
Just two weeks later, Kiplagat earned silver at the Mountain West XC Championships behind his teammate Habtom Samuel. He followed that up with a 33rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. Needless to say, it didn’t take us long to realize his inexperience in the NCAA was not a hindrance in the slightest.
In fact, Evans Kiplagat didn’t have a single poor result throughout his 2023 cross country season. He was consistently great for the Lobos all year. He followed up an outstanding cross country season with quality marks on the oval as well. His 28:08 (10k) PR at the Stanford Invitational was yet another display of his greatness.
There isn't a bad thing that we can say about Evans Kiplagat coming into this year. There’s no need to get fancy with the analysis on this ranking. His resume makes it simple to justify that he belongs at the TSR #27 spot.
He’s not coming in with any questions as he's more known and the expectation is that he fares even better than last year with a year of experience under his belt. The upside is there for him as he heads into his sophomore campaign. We could see Kiplagat make another jump this fall.
26. Shay McEvoy, Rs. Senior, Tulsa
Some people who are reading this may have forgotten about Shay McEvoy, the Tulsa veteran who has been way better on the grass than he has been on the track. Of course, the reason why you may have forgotten about him is simply because he didn't race last fall!
In the fall of 2022, McEvoy was incredibly impressive. As a key piece of Tulsa's top-heavy cross country squad, the Golden Hurricane ace finished 22nd at the Cowboy Jamboree and an absolutely fantastic 14th place at the Nuttycombe Invite. After cruising through his and conference and regional meets, McEvoy concluded his season with a brilliant 23rd place All-American finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
Of course, those performances were almost two years ago. How on Earth are we supposed to have confidence that McEvoy will be back in that form later this fall?
Well, seeing McEvoy redshirted for the fall of 2023 wasn't a surprise. That was likely an intentional move given that much of Tulsa's roster last fall was still developing. Not only that, but McEvoy ran new personal bests across most racing distances this past spring, earning PRs of 13:46 (5k) and 28:36 (10k).
Sure, those may not be head-turning times, but McEvoy has always been better on the grass than he has been on the track. In turn, seeing him find success on the oval should only suggest that he's still the same All-American cross country talent that he was in 2022.
We won't deny that plenty has changed since then. Even so, this Tulsa runner has done nothing to legitimately hurt his stock. For that reason, we've placed him at TSR #26.
25. Said Mechaal, Senior, Iowa State
In Said Mechaal’s first season as a Cyclone, we saw his consistency on display throughout last fall last as a certified low-stick who wasn't afraid to run with the top dogs in the NCAA.
Mechaal first wowed us with his 15th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite where we saw him beat out big names in Devin Hart, Liam Murphy, Dylan Schubert and Santiago Prosser. Each of these elite talents that he bested at Nuttycombe would go on to finish in the top-25 at the NCAA XC Championships.
If his performance at the Nuttycombe Invite wasn’t enough to prove he belonged with those names, he raised us with a 7th place finish at the BIG 12 XC Championships just two weeks later. Earning first-team all-conference honors in a conference containing the likes of Oklahoma State, BYU, and top-tier individuals like Devin Hart from Texas had us fully bought in on Mechaal’s potential.
Despite being reliable throughout the fall months, Mechaal fell to 55th place at the NCAA XC Championships. His performance in Charlottesville was arguably his most disappointing race of the season. It was certainly not the top-30 result that we know he is capable of.
The question going into the 2024 cross country season will be if Mechaal can put it all together in Madison come November 23rd. We certainly know that Mechaael is much better than 55th in the nation, and he only further proved it on the oval this past spring as he earned berths to both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships over 5000 meters.
While the national meet holds weight in our rankings, there is something to be said about Mechaael’s resume over the course of the entire fall. The cross country season is more than just one meet, and because he bested a handful of elite talents throughout the regular season, the Iowa State standout has earned a TSR #25 preseason ranking.
24. Wil Smith, Senior, Gonzaga
Coming in at our TSR #24 spot is Wil Smith, the Gonzaga ace who’s had his fair share of elite performances across all three seasons. The only problem is that none of those elite performances have come when it really matters -- on the national stage.
Smith's performances prior to the national meet last year were incredibly impressive. A 2nd place finish at the Griak Invitational and 9th place effort at the Nuttycombe Invite gave us reason to believe he made the jump to being a national-caliber star. Despite a tough showing at the national meet (where he settled for 111th), collecting the scalps of Joey Nokes, Creed Thompson and David Mullarkey at the second-most competitive meet of the year (Nuttycombe) is impossible to ignore.
As we pondered on Smith’s preseason ranking, we had to ask the same questions that we’ve been asking about Wil Smith for the past couple of years: Can he put it all together at the national meet?
After a 2021 season that saw an 11th place finish at Nuttycombe, we saw Smith struggle mightily at the national meet with a 241st place finish. His 2022 fall campaign ended in a 59th place finish at the national meet, undoubtedly better than 241st place, but that still left us feeling like he was capable of more.
This fall, Smith has one final shot at putting it all together on the national stage. After incredibly versatile performances on the indoor and outdoor track this past winter and spring, most notably his eye-opening personal bests of 28:04 (10k) and 7:44 (3k), Wil Smith has never been more poised for a breakthrough on the cross country national stage.
National meet struggles aside, the savvy veteran is far too talented to leave out of our TSR top-30. He’s proven his excellence on major stages before and there’s a belief that, on the right day, he can compete with the best in the country. He'll need to adjust his approach for the national meet in his final season, but if he can do so, a top-25 finish is more than doable.
23. Dylan Schubert, Senior, Furman
Coming into the 2023 cross country season, Dylan Schubert was a top-10 threat. The Paladins low-stick had finished 12th at the 2022 Nuttycombe Invitational and later produced a fantastic 11th-place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. Unfortunately, his 2023 campaign did not get off to the same start.
Schubert’s slow start to the season can be attributed to a bout with mononucleosis. After a disappointing 47th place finish at the Joe Piane Invitational, we were left wondering how he would rebound when healthy.
Well, we saw what a healthy Dylan Schubert could do as the season progressed. He earned a solid 26th finish at the Nuttycombe Invite just two weeks after his discouraging result in South Bend. He only got stronger and healthier from there.
Two more weeks later, his firepower was on full display as he recorded a dominant 12-second win over Jason Bowers at the Southern Conference XC Championships. He also came away with the win at the Southeast Regional XC Championships and built upon that momentum with a 24th place finish at the national meet.
Since then, the Furman standout has produced a handful of solid personal bests on the indoor oval and even achieved his first national berth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships as he finished 19th place over 5000 meters. While that result doesn’t blow you away, the thought of Schubert with a healthy buildup this fall is exciting.
We expect this Furman ace to make noise much earlier than November this year. With the Paladins scheduled to make appearances at Pre-Nationals and Nuttycombe this year, we’re looking forward to seeing his impact in October.
Ultimately, Schubert is a two-time All-American on the grass. He faced adversity last season and his turnaround throughout the season showed a great deal of toughness. He feels belonging to his TSR #23 preseason ranking. With a healthy fall under his belt, it’s possible that he can return to his 2022 form.
22. Jason Bowers, Junior, East Tennessee State
For the majority of 2023, Jason Bowers was a tough runner to gauge as he wasn’t facing any top-tier competition. It’s no secret that East Tennessee State isn’t a national powerhouse that resides in a power conference. Bowers, for all intents and purposes, was a hidden gem.
Even though he largely went unknown throughout the entirety of last fall, he racked up multiple wins and gave us little reason to doubt his abilities. He never finished worse than 5th place in any race leading up to the NCAA XC Championships.
His first real test against top-tier Division One talent came at the Southern Conference XC Championships where he faced Dylan Schubert. While Bowers was beaten handily by Schubert, his performance opened our eyes as the ace officially moved into “known” status.
His progression to 10k championship racing proved that he was ready to make an impact on the national stage. Bowers was fearless in competing against a plethora of All-Americans at the South Regional XC Championships. His fearlessness continued to remain undaunting on the biggest stage of the year. In his first Division One national meet, he notched a massive 22nd place result.
Bowers announced his arrival.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to replicate his success on the grass to the oval. Although he achieved a 13:42 (5k) personal best at the Raleigh Relays, his results declined as the spring went on and he failed to advance past the East Regional Championships. Despite a disappointing outdoor track season, he has proven time and time again that his strength lies on the grass.
This year, Jason Bowers is no longer a hidden gem. However, it seems we’ll have to again wait patiently for Bowers to be pushed this upcoming season. With East Tennessee State’s upcoming cross country schedule identical to last year’s, the Bowers/Schubert rematch at the Southern Conference XC Championships will be highly anticipated.
With no real test until championship racing starts, it could be hard to determine if Bowers can replicate, if not better his performance from last year’s national meet. That being said, he proved last fall that he didn’t need a test before championship racing began, and with a full year of Division One racing under his belt, he’s deserving of our TSR #22 spot.
21. Santiago Prosser, Senior, Northern Arizona
During the past two cross country seasons, Santiago Prosser repeatedly provided reliability on the grass as his consistency has been incredibly valuable for the Lumberjacks. His ability to show up on race day is irrefutable with his past two performances at the NCAA XC Championships resulting in 19th and 21st place finishes.
It’s now become a trend that Prosser is known to peak at national meets. As the season advances, he gains momentum.
Prosser’s 2023 fall campaign got off to a good start. He finished a solid 17th place at the Virginia Invitational and followed that up with a 29th place performance at the Nuttycombe Invite. While Prosser took some quality scalps in those races, you may not think that they’d indicate a 21st place finish at the national meet.
That’s where you’re wrong.
Prosser’s 2022 fall progression was eerily similar to his 2023 progression. In 2022, he finished 33rd at the Nuttycombe Invite and then wrapped the season with a 19th place finish at the national meet. If there’s one thing we know, it’s that Prosser is akin to a metronome. It’s only fitting that we place him at TSR #21.
The question for Prosser this season will be what his ceiling is. With two incredible All-American finishes at the past two NCAA XC Championships, we’ve seen that his floor is incredibly high.
Massive shoes need to be filled for the Lumberjacks this year...can the veteran deliver an even better national meet performance in 2024 and be the low-stick that they need? With four of NAU's top-five from last season’s national meet lineup departing, Prosser is a viable option to end up as their top runner in Madison come November.
At the end of the day, we gave Prosser his well-earned respect with this placement. Even though he was absent from the outdoor track season, he’s proven that he deserves his ranking twice now, and we’re willing to bet he will prove that a third time this fall.
Death, taxes and Santiago Prosser showing up in November.
