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TSR's 2024 Preseason D1 XC Top 50 Rankings: #50-41 (Men)
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Jul 26, 2024
- 10 min read
Updated: Jul 26, 2024
50. Gable Sieperda, Senior, Iowa State
In many ways, Gable Sieperda reminds me of former Iowa State runner, Thomas Pollard. The two men found early success on the grass, especially on the national stage, but they were never the lead name for a Cyclone group that has been nationally competitive in both eras. It also wasn't until their latter years in the NCAA when both men truly began to realize their full potential as national-caliber talents.
When it comes to Sieperda, it's truthfully hard to look past his regular season inconsistency in recent years. In the fall of 2021, the Iowa State standout was the 21st place finisher at the Nuttycombe Invite. But just last fall, Sieperda faded to 72nd at the Virginia Invite and 87th at the Nuttycombe Invite. The year before that, he placed 56th at Nuttycombe, a decent effort, but not necessarily a "great" result, either.
There is, of course, a catch: Sieperda is often at his best on the national stage.
Over the last three years, this Iowa State veteran has finished 43rd (2023), 74th (2022) and 41st (2021) at the NCAA XC Championships. That is really strong reliability on a stage that can often be wildly chaotic and volatile.
Even so, we felt like we needed a bit more of a spark from Siperda if he was going to crack our top-50 rankings. Thankfully, we got exactly that at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the steeplechase finals where Sieperda placed 3rd overall and ran an 8:25 PR!
We'll admit, we don't necessarily put as much stock in steeplechase success as others might when attempting to project cross country success. And yet, there is no denying that Sieperda took a leap up in his fitness, something that he just happened to showcase over the water pits and barriers. Plus, with a handful of great cross country national meet results on his resume, we felt like he had enough to return to our top-50.
49. Dismas Korir, Freshman, Alabama
Alabama's newest addition made headlines upon signing with the Crimson Tide. That's because he has run times of 13:56 (5k) and 28:36 (10k)...and yes, I know what you're thinking.
"Wait, those times are hardly competitive in today's day-and-age of NCAA distance running. Why on Earth should we be excited about that?"
Well, what if I told you that both of those marks that I just listed for Korir were actually run at altitude? Specifically, 5600 feet of altitude? Now, when you factor in conversions, Korir has times of 13:22 (5k) and 27:19 (10k)...and that last mark is incredibly hard to ignore.
There have only been a few instances where Korir has toed the line for a cross country race. However, his only performance on the grass in 2024 came at the Kenyan XC Championships where he placed 40th -- and we'll admit, we're not entirely sure how to put that result into perspective.
On one hand, finishing 40th at a national championship in a country known for their distance stars seems pretty impressive. On the other hand, Middle Tennessee State's Brian Kiptoo soundly defeated Korir by 20 spots. And while Kiptoo is a very solid cross country talent in his own right, he wasn't someone who we viewed as a top-50 name.
We want to find the middle ground of respecting Korir's incredible converted times (especially his 10k) while also understanding that many international athletes occasionally need an adjustment period when they enter the NCAA. For now, we think this is a fair spot, although it's impossible to know if this is the "correct" spot.
48. Victor Kibiego, Senior, Texas A&M
Victor Kibiego first made a name for himself in the spring of 2023. That year, he finished 3rd at the outdoor national meet, running a then-PR of 8:26 over the barriers and water pits. Naturally, that left us with high expectations for his 2023 cross country season.
While he was still with UTEP, Kibiego proved to be a strong cross country talent, although his admittedly light racing schedule left us wanting more. Come the national meet, Kibiego settled for a 44th place finish, a result roughly on par with his successful, but somewhat unexciting, cross country season.
Since then, Kibiego has transferred to Texas A&M, run a new steeplechase PR of 8:25 and dropped out of the outdoor national meet in the steeplechase prelims.
This is going to be a very big fall campaign for Kibiego, mainly because he will no longer be able to thrive in smaller meets for the entirety of the season. Texas A&M's 2024 cross country schedule indicates that the Aggies will venture to the Nuttycombe Invite this fall. That meet, along with the SEC XC Championships, will give Kibiego far greater tests than what he experienced last year.
That, in turn, should give us a better idea as to just how good Texas A&M's newest low-stick truly is.
47. Matt Strangio, Senior, Portland
We believe in Matt Strangio -- and we have for quite some time. But when it has come to performances on the grass, the Portland veteran has often left us scratching our heads and thinking, "He's probably better than that."
Last fall is a good example. Two poor regular season showings at the Griak Invitational and the Nuttycombe Invite were a bit surprising for someone who had finished 38th at the Nuttycombe Invite the year prior.
Those challenges, however, were due to an illness. Strangio later rebounded in the postseason to win the West Coast Conference title over Nicholas Russel and Wil Smith before going on to place 76th at the national meet.
Strangio's indoor track season was arguably even more perplexing. The Pilot star had a massive breakout season, running incredible times of 3:55 (mile) and 7:39 (3k). But despite having all of the momentum in the world, Strangio struggled mightily at the indoor national meet, finishing last. He would then compete just twice on the outdoor oval this past spring.
It feels like we're still waiting for Strangio to truly have his moment. The talent is so overwhelmingly apparent and he's had enough success on the grass for us to believe that he can translate his 3k success. The only question is, can he put it all together for a full season?
46. Corey Gorgas, Senior, Northern Arizona
Consistency. Reliability. Steadiness.
Those are probably the best words to describe Northern Arizona veteran, Corey Gorgas. The Lumberjack talent proved last fall that he has an incredibly high floor, meaning that he very rarely has poor outings.
Last fall, Gorgas placed 25th at the Virginia Invitational, 33rd at the Nuttycombe Invite and 62nd at the NCAA XC Championships. If you were to look at each of those performances independent of each other, then you would likely say, "He's good, but he's probably not top-50 good."
Of course, it's the entirety of Gorgas' resume that truly makes him a ranked talent in our eyes. He proved to be an extremely reliable name who always offered strong scoring in loaded fields. His Nuttycombe result is also better than some people may realize.
We'll admit, we're not quite sure what Gorgas' ceiling is. Can he be a top-20 name this fall? What about top-30? Would cracking the top-40 of our rankings be considered a success? We also have to note that he hasn't raced since February. That's not exactly a super encouraging sign as NAU prepares to fight for another podium spot.
Even so, there is way more to like about Gorgas than there is to dislike. And for that reason we felt plenty comfortable listing him inside of our top-50.
45. Yasin Sado, Senior, Transfer Portal
There's no way to dance around it: This ranking requires some projection.
Yasin Sado had proven to be a nationally competitive name in prior seasons, but he has never truly been viewed as a top name on the grass. Yes, he did finish a promising 73rd place at the NCAA XC Championships last fall after placing 13th at the ACC XC Championships. However, his two races prior to that -- 39th at Pre-Nationals and 109th at the Virginia Invitational -- were simply not good.
Of course, what we saw from Sado after last winter and spring was too much to ignore. The Virginia veteran (who is in the transfer portal right now) ran 3:55 (mile) and 13:31 (5k) on the indoor oval. He would then venture to the outdoor oval where he ran a then-PR of 8:27 in the steeplechase and placed 7th at the national meet.
Now, typically, those results would still not be enough to crack our rankings. Make no mistake, Sado certainly improved his fitness this past spring and 8:27 is an excellent mark. Even so, it's been proven before that top steeplechasers are not always guaranteed to be top cross country runners.
And yet, we're willing to look past that.
Why?
Because Sado ran a jaw-dropping steeplechase PR of 8:17 at the University of Pennsylvania (after the Olympic Trials) in the same race where James Corrigan ran 8:13. That, ladies and gentlemen, sparked a handful of debates at The Stride Report. And when all was said and done, we gave Sado a nod for a top-50 spot.
44. Will Anthony, Junior, Virginia
Throughout last year, Will Anthony showed signs of potentially being a true low-stick for the Virginia men. Now, as we prepare to enter the fall of 2024, we're expecting Anthony to be a legitimate threat for All-American honors.
Last fall, Anthony finished 29th at the Virginia Invite and 13th at Pre-Nationals. Those were both solid results -- maybe even good results -- but they weren't quite enough for us to say that he was a top-50 name. That, of course, changed when Anthony secured an excellent 7th place effort at the ACC XC Championships.
The Kiwi distance ace would end his season with a commendable 62nd place finish. However, it did feel like there was room for him to be better.
Thankfully, we began to see the full extent of Anthony's improved fitness on the track. After running mile and 3k PRs on the indoor oval, the Virginia underclassman secured a win at the Raleigh Relays with a 28:21 (10k) PR. He would later win the 5k at the Virginia Invite in 13:35 and advance to the national meet in the 10k where he placed 18th.
Anyone who follows this sport closely enough can see that Anthony has all of the tools to be a national-caliber low-stick and a multi-time All-American. The raw talent is borderline palpable. However, in order to truly cement himself as the guy that we know he can be, Anthony will need to take down more All-Americans this fall than he did last year.
43. Timothy Chesondin, Sophomore, Arkansas
Arkansas' newest weapon comes into our rankings at our TSR #43 spot. The Akron transfer, who was followed by fellow teammate Brian Masai to Fayetteville, will join a Razorback group that seems like a near lock for the podium this fall.
There's admittedly not as much to talk about with Chesondin as there is with a few others. His track times are largely negligible and he only had one regular season meet that was truly notable. That meet, of course, was the Joe Piane Invitational where the now-former Zip runner produced a promising 7th place finish.
We wouldn't see Chesondin again until the postseason where he earned a shrug-inducing runner-up finish at the MAC XC Championships. And after qualifying for the national meet out of the Great Lakes region, Chesondin put together a pleasantly surprising 36th place All-American finish to cap his season.
This spot may be a bit low for someone who didn't truly have a poor race last fall. However, you could argue that, prior to the national meet, the best names that Chesondin took down were Charlotte's Nickolas Scudder, Montana State's Matthew Richtman and Furman's Dylan Schubert, the latter of whom was recovering from having mono.
As we enter 2024, we'll likely be lucky enough to see Arkansas go to bigger and better meets. That, in turn, will give Chesondin more opportunities to prove himself against top competition. And yet, if the only real critique that we have for this Arkansas runner is that he only beat three eventual All-Americans prior to the national meet, then that's a good problem to have.
42. Florian Le Pallec, Rs. Senior, Butler
The best way to describe the profile of Florian Le Pallec is by saying that he has the reliability of Corey Gorgas, but the upside of Will Anthony.
After spending time at California Baptist, Florian Le Pallec transferred to Butler. But before he did that, he ventured overseas and ran two 5k races. One race produced a 13:29 PR and the other race was close to doing the same via a 13:30 mark. Naturally, we were high on the Bulldogs' newest low-stick going into last fall.
Le Pallec made us look very good at the Virginia Invitational last fall, placing 9th overall in what was arguably the best race of his career. From there, our already-high expectations got even higher.
But the rest of Le Pallec's season, while strong, didn't quite match our hopes for him. A 47th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was fine and a bronze medal performance at the BIG East XC Championships left us shrugging our shoulders and thinking, "Yeah, that's about right." A 65th place finish at last year's national meet was yet another result that deserved a nod of respect, but not much more.
On one hand, it feels like Le Pallec has left a good bit of scoring on the table and we think he can be even better than he's shown. The latter part is where the Will Anthony comp comes in. On the other hand, it's not like he had a truly poor race last fall. If anything, he is one of the more consistent and reliable low-sticks in the country. That's where the Corey Gorgas comp comes in.
If Le Pallec can remain just as consistent as he has been while also elevating his fitness one more tier up, then you can expect this Butler standout to skyrocket up our rankings.
41. Colin Sahlman, Junior, Northern Arizona
I'm sure you were all wondering if Colin Sahlman would be ranked inside of our top-50.
Well, you no longer have to wonder.
The resume of Colin Sahlman goes against pretty much every aspect of our rankings rubric that we so heavily lean on. He has proven to be more of a middle distance runner on the track, his 5k PR of 13:38 doesn't stand out in any major way and there isn't any singular cross country result that catches our attention.
So...why do we have him ranked at TSR #41?
To put it simply, we are basing this ranking entirely on projection. The high school pedigree of Sahlman still rings loudly in our ears and so does the developmental aerobic mastery of Coach Mike Smith.
None of this is to say that Sahlman has been bad in cross country. However, with his main highlights on the grass being a 60th place finish at the 2022 Nuttycombe Invite and a 33rd place finish at the 2023 Virginia Invite, he is not usually a name who would find his way into our top-50 rankings.
Of course, it's not like there are a ton of guys in the NCAA who can run 3:33 for 1500 meters. And yes, it's true, middle distance performances rarely translate to the 8k or 10k on the grass. But Sahlman's raw fitness that he showed this past spring paired with his fantastic range should, in theory, lead to him being a top cross country name in 2024...we think.
