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TSR's 2024 Preseason D2 XC Top 25 Rankings: #25-21 (Men)
- Marissa Kuik
- Jul 31, 2024
- 6 min read
Written by Marissa Kuik, edits and additional commentary via Gavin Struve & Garrett Zatlin
25. Aziz Mohamed, Junior, West Texas A&M
Aziz Mohamed's remarkable 2023-24 campaign really started with an All-American effort that helped his team to a podium finish at the cross country national meet.
From there, he built upon a solid season on the grass by qualifying for the half-mile at the indoor national meet and then taking the rest of the Division Two world by surprise in winning the 1500-meter title at the outdoor national meet.
With personal bests of 1:48 (800) and 3:44 (1500), Mohamed obviously has some fantastic turnover. But this is cross country, a sport where the men run a 10k at the end of the season. So how much of Mohamed's 2024 success can be translated to the grass?
Well, he wouldn't be ranked if not for his 30th-place effort at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, showing enviable endurance over the longer distances. That was almost certainly his best effort of 2023, but he was reliable throughout the fall, too. It likely helped that this Buffalo faced strong competition (including his teammates) early, finishing 2nd at the Big Country Festival, 6th at the Texas Tech Open, 42nd at the Live in Lou XC Classic and 3rd at the LSC XC Championships.
Those aren't excellent results and we've only seen Mohamed run a handful of collegiate cross country races. But his regular season and track campaigns were good enough to make it seem like Mohamed's success at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships wasn't a fluke.
His first foray over the 10k wasn't perfect either, as he placed 21st on the regional stage, but Mohamed clearly had the championship gravitas to overcome his inexperience in racing that distance.
His turnover and championship acumen should greatly benefit him heading into this year’s national meet because the course in Sacramento is blisteringly fast, similar to what the national meet course was like in Joplin, Missouri last year. With more experience racing the 10k, Mohamed figures to have more control of his fitness and knowledge of when to employ his finishing speed.
While he may be a middle distance star on the track, Mohamed is still very much a threat when it comes to cross country and someone worthy of inclusion in our rankings.
24. Brayden McLaughlin, Senior, Chico State
Almost the opposite of Aziz Mohamed is Brayden McLaughlin who is far more of a long distance specialist.
McLaughlin ran a PR of 29:16 over 10,000 meters on the track and ended up 18th at the outdoor national meet. Maybe that placement was not what McLaughlin was hoping for, but he clearly showed his strength in the longer distances throughout the early portions of 2024.
Last fall, McLaughlin actually got better when the lights grew brighter. Predictably, he also improved as the distances increased in the postseason. McLaughlin was solid if unspectacular in the first two months of the season, placing 7th at the Cougar Challenge, 8th at the San Francisco State Invitational and 4th at the CCAA XC Championships.
That all culminated in a 27th-place finish at the national meet. While last year's championship course benefited those with a little more turnover because of how flat it was, McLaughlin’s strength still shined through.
If not for a cross country All-American finish in 2021 (when he had a better regular season) and an NCAA Outdoor Championships appearance in 2022, McLaughlin's top-30 finish to last fall would have felt out of place.
He may not be a season-long high-octane star, but McLaughlin is an NCAA veteran who has been an All-American on the grass more often than not when racing at the cross country national meet. We think this ranking is a good reflection of where he should finish in 2024.
23. Donald Kibet, Junior, Washburn
Donald Kibet has a similar profile to Brayden McLaughlin and fittingly finished one place behind him at the 2023 cross country national meet.
Kibet is also more inclined to the longer distances, running a PR of 29:32 (10k) during the 2024 spring season, and he also put together a strong indoor 5k mark of 14:20. He really seemed to benefit from a change of scenery upon transferring from Benedict to Washburn ahead of last fall.
Kibet gained confidence throughout the fall, entering the postseason by placing 8th at the MIAA XC Championships and 6th at the Central Regional XC Championships, and, like McLaughlin, he found his best form on the national stage (where he finished 28th).
It is easy to forget that Kibet really has not had that much experience when it comes to competing on the national stage. Last year was only his second time at a national meet and he finished comfortably in an All-American position.
That makes us feel confident about including Kibet in our rankings despite him having less gaudy track chops than some of his peers. We know that Kibet should only improve with that much more experience and another year of college athletics at his new locale under his belt. With veteran status and less to prove now, he should be in line for a more complete cross country campaign in 2024.
22. Oliver Kiptoo, Rs. Junior, East Central
Oliver Kiptoo played a significant role in East Central’s surprise 3rd-place podium finish at last year's cross country national meet. He was their third scorer, but he also placed 33rd against the rest of Division Two.
He saved his best effort for the NCAA XC Championships after a solid, but somewhat unassuming, regular season (although that could be said for the East Central men at large).
Granted, Kiptoo doesn't have as much momentum coming off of the track as some of the other men in these rankings, especially with the Tigers not competing during the indoor season. Kiptoo was much stronger in 2023 with PRs of 30:04 (10k) and 14:16 (5k) on the oval.
He's raced just four times in 2024, but the fact that he came within one second of his modest 1500-meter PR makes us feel like he maintained some semblance of his 2023 fitness. Regardless, we know that he has the strength and endurance (and team/training support) to replicate and perhaps improve upon his strong 2023 fall campaign.
Some athletes fare better in cross country because of the team setting and feeling like their race is much bigger than themselves. Kiptoo, a linchpin for a potential repeat podium squad, appears to be in that boat.
21. Ricardo Barbosa, Senior, Wingate
One of the best finishes at the outdoor national meet was Ricardo Barbosa's bronze medal in the steeplechase.
That finish may not sound all too elite, especially considering that he was a national title candidate and finished behind two teammates. However, Barbosa placed toward the front of what was arguably the most competitive distance race at the 2024 outdoor national meet and came close to matching his gaudy PR of 8:40, concluding an excellent first year at the NCAA level for the former JUCO champion.
Once again, I know you are asking: "These are the cross country rankings, will this translate over to the grass?"
That question is a valid one because the steeplechase is a very different race from the 10k. However, Barbosa also ran 13:51 (5k) earlier this year and has some incredible cross country stats as well that complement what he has done in track.
He did, after all, place 24th at the 2023 cross country national meet and was a big reason why the Bulldogs snuck away with the national team title. With that in mind, you may wonder why Barbosa isn't projected to take an even bigger leap.
Well, he had already run 8:42 (steeple) entering last fall, so he improved just a bit from his already-lofty perch. He also raced just once on the grass last fall before the NCAA XC Championships (a truthfully very strong 7th-place effort in the Paul Short "Gold" Race), so we'd like to see a bit more before we stamp him as a top-half All-American favorite.
Maybe jumping over water pits is his specialty, but when it comes to the fall season, Barbosa can make the flip and do quite well for himself on the grass. If anything, the past spring track season will only help him in building confidence and camaraderie with the rest of his title-winning teammates.
