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TSR's 2024 Preseason D2 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Men): #1 Wingate Bulldogs
- Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
- Sep 13, 2024
- 7 min read
NOTE: Earlier this summer, The Stride Report reached out to nearly every team that was considered for a possible ranking this summer. While we did receive numerous responses and great clarity, we did not get a 100% response rate. On certain occasions, we are referencing TFFRS in order to talk about returners and athletes who are out of eligibility.
Click here to read up on our TSR #2 team, the West Texas A&M Buffaloes
It was admittedly hard to gauge just how good the Wingate men were last fall...well, until the national meet that is.
The Bulldogs undoubtedly boasted a formidable group of long distance stars in 2023, but the meets that they toed the line for last fall either lacked top-tier Division Two opponents or just lacked any competitive challenges at all.
And yet, since last November and throughout the 2024 track seasons, this fast-rising Division Two powerhouse has positioned themselves to do something special this fall. Not only could they win the national title yet again, but they could walk away from their upcoming fall campaign as an all-time elite D2 squad.
We're not yet willing to say that the Wingate men are national title locks for this fall, but we're not too far off from making that proclamation, either.
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Admittedly, the Paul Short Run, hosted by Lehigh University, was the only true challenge that the Wingate men faced (prior to the national meet) last fall.
In the top-ranked section of the meet, the "Gold" race, the Wingate men toed the line against numerous Division One programs, some from the Power Five conferences and others from mid-major conferences.
Ricardo Barbosa, the star-caliber transfer from the JUCO ranks, had a huge statement performance, placing 7th overall in what turned out to be an extremely potent low-stick result.
Meanwhile, veteran Scott Nutter (20th) and steeplechase standout Soheil Boufrizi (22nd) thrived, offering great firepower in their own right. With Bastian Mrochen (27th) giving his team a debatable fourth low-stick result, the Wingate men looked like they had a shot to secure the overall win.
Admittedly, the team's fifth and final scorer, Saul Valdez, faded to 47th place. That performance, in retrospect, was quietly excellent for him, but it did allow the Yale men to secure the overall win by a margin of 22 points.
Even so, Wingate had to be thrilled. The Bulldogs were just 22 points out from the overall win at a major invitational and they took down nationally recognized Division One programs in the process. With one key name not racing and other men due for much better results, it was hard not to think anything other than positive thoughts about the Wingate men.
Truthfully, the Bulldogs' conference and regional meets didn't pose much of a challenge. They scored 20 points at the former meet and later earned a perfect score of 15 points at the latter meet. The NCAA XC Championships, of course, were the bigger priority.
As the Wingate men ventured to Joplin, Missouri, the idea that they could win NCAA gold was realistic. However, they would have to get through the juggernaut known as Colorado Mines as well as other highly established powerhouses as (minor) underdogs in order for that to happen.
Of course, you wouldn't have known that by seeing how incredible the Bulldogs fared in their season finale.
Hamza Chahid, after not running at Paul Short, was incredibly elite, securing a monumental 3rd place result. That hugely potent performance was complemented by Boufrizi locking down a fantastic 10th place. With Barbosa (24th), Kopmels (26th) and Le Grix (29th) all securing top-30 All-American honors of their own, the completeness of Wingate's top-five proved to be too overwhelming for Colorado Mines.
In the end, the Wingate men secured the D2 national title with 70 points, taking down the juggernaut-like men of Colorado Mines by nine points.
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When we write these articles, we try our best not to speak in hyperbole. But I don't think I would be exaggerating by saying that this year's Wingate team has a chance to be among the all-time greats in Division Two by the end of this season.
The Bulldogs return every single one of their scorers from last year's national meet including their sixth man, Scott Nutter, who placed 50th in his 2023 season finale. Not only that, but we think that nearly all of these returners have a chance to be even better than they were last year. In fact, it would actually surprise us if Barbosa, Kopmels and Le Grix weren't better at this year's national meet than they were last fall.
Tack on the best roster depth in the nation and you get a team that, on paper, may actually be untouchable.
Hamza Chahid is as good as they come. He was the bronze medalist at last year's cross country national meet and was then spectacular on the track. Times of 4:01 (mile), 7:47 (3k) and 28:37 (10k), as well as the indoor 5k national title, headlined his 2024 winter and spring track campaigns.
There isn't much more to say about Chahid other than he's really, really good. He's among the very best low-sticks in the country and we don't see why that would change over the next few months.
Soheil Boufrizi was 10th at last year's national meet as well as a top-30 finisher at the Paul Short Run last fall. And yet, his most impressive result from the last year academic year was arguably his 8:37 steeplechase PR.
That mark, along with a slew of personal bests and an outdoor national meet silver medal, makes it hard to imagine Boufrizi being any worse than he was last fall. At the very least, he should be one of the top low-sticks in the country who will boast one of the highest floors in Division Two.
We feel pretty confident about Ricardo Barbosa being better than what he showed at last year's national meet. That, of course, feels absurd to suggest given that he was a 24th place All-American. But remember, his best result from last fall was arguably his huge 7th place finish at the Paul Short Run.
If Barbosa is able to replicate that kind of result more consistently -- and we think he can after running 13:59 (5k) and 8:40 (steeple) this past spring -- then there is a very realistic world where the already-excellent Wingate ace gives his team a third top-10 runner.
Titouan Le Grix was "only" the team's fifth scorer at last year's national meet, securing a 29th place All-American finish. Of course, after running 8:38 in the steeplechase to win the D2 national title in that event, we can't help but wonder if his ceiling this is that of a top-10 runner.
That may sound like a stretch given that we also see the same potential in Chahid, Boufrizi and Barbosa. Even so, Le Grix was brilliant on the track, running 13:49 (5k) in addition to his steeplechase success after becoming an All-American in the mile during the winter months. The progress that he made on the oval was incredible and the momentum that he has right now is some of the best in the NCAA.
When it comes to guys like Cas Kopmels and Scott Nutter, you could make the argument that they are the best backend support talents in all of Division Two. In fact, it may not even be a conversation. The former is a two-time top-30 cross country All-American who was consistently excellent on the track (and got better as the distances got longer). The latter was 20th at Paul Short last fall, has run as fast as 13:54 for 5000 meters and was a 22nd place All-American in the fall of 2022.
Yes, you're reading that correctly.
A guy who finished 22nd at the NCAA XC Championships less than two years ago may not even be a scorer for his team in 2024.
That is absolutely wild.
* * *
Frankly, Coach Pol Domenech could field a lineup of only those above-mentioned six men and still be heavily favored to win the national title. The amount of raw firepower and scoring potency that this group holds is the best in all of Division Two...and it's not close.
At all.
But what truly blows our minds is that you could argue that Wingate's depth is also the best among the entirety of Division Two this fall. That's a bit hard to fathom given how elite this team already is through six runners.
Lars Laros returns this fall with sneaky-great credentials from the 2024 track seasons. He ran marks of 3:45 (1500), 8:11 (3k) and 13:55 (5k). He was 52nd at Paul Short last fall, but has very clearly improved upon his fitness since then.
Lukas Ehrle was just a rookie last year, but he shattered expectations. The current sophomore ran times of 14:01 (5k) and 29:09 (10k) during the spring, eventually earning a backend All-American honor at the outdoor national meet. And if he was able to do all of that as an inexperienced freshman, then what can he do with tons of youth-based upside and a year of experience under his belt?
From a long-term perspective, he's one of the most valuable distance runners on this team.
Did anyone notice that Wingate picked up former Adams State runner, Mikah Paiz? The newest addition to the Bulldogs' roster was a mile All-American in the winter of 2022 and a 26th place All-American at the 2021 NCAA XC Championships. It's been a while since he's been in that kind of form, but knowing that he's at least been at that level previously is a great luxury for this team to have.
How about Luca Poppe? After a huge breakout year on the track where he ran times of 4:03 (mile) and 13:55 (5k), you could argue that he's an All-American-caliber name on the grass this fall and we wouldn't argue with you at all.
Will Aitken (29:14 for 10k), Joaquin Campos (13:56 for 5k), Leo Freeland (4:05 miler), David Holman (3:47 for 1500 meters) and Antonin Saint Peyre (29:17 for 10k) are all men who could legitimately be low-sticks for other nationally ranked teams. That list of names doesn't even include all of the talented newcomers that Wingate they have.
* * *
I cannot begin to stress how insane Wingate's combination of firepower and depth is.
While I have seen some incredible lineups from Colorado Mines, Adams State and Grand Valley State throughout my tenure with TSR, I can't remember the last time I was this in awe of a cross country team in the preseason.
Admittedly, the greatest D2 cross country team ever is almost certainly the 1992 Adams State men. And as much as I like Wingate, I don't see them posting a perfect score of 15 points at the national meet this fall like the Grizzlies did way back then (even though that year's national meet only held 17 teams).
But when you look at back at the RMAC powerhouses from the early 2000s and the mid-2010s, I can't help but think that the Bulldogs can be just as good.
If everything comes together like we think it can, then this year's Wingate squad could be the decade-defining team that cross country historians (such as ourselves) go back and point to when talking about the greatest D2 programs to ever touch the grass.
