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TSR's 2024 Preseason D3 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Men): #1 UW-La Crosse Eagles
- Gavin Struve
- 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.
What if we told you that our TSR #1 team is coming off of their best finish at the NCAA XC Championships in nearly 20 years and is losing their two lone cross country All-Americans?
That's the case with the UW-La Crosse men, who still boast an overabundance of depth and star potential to the point where they feel like D3's most sure thing for a podium appearance on the men's side.
The Eagles have improved each season in the 2020s. If that trend continues, then they will find themselves on top of the mountain with their first cross country national team title since 2005. We anticipate that they'll be especially hungry for NCAA gold this fall after coming devastatingly close to winning the NCAA XC Championships a year ago.
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The men of La Crosse, Wisconsin opened the 2023 cross country season by dominating the Running of the Cows. The Eagles may not have even put forth a full effort, given that focal star Ethan Gregg placed 6th as UW-La Crosse's second scorer and they swept spots 5-6-7-8. Altogether, they put 12 men in the top-20 to win with ease.
The Paul Short Run provided a far more formidable test, as the Eagles competed in the "Gold" race against the best teams that the historic meet had to offer. Gregg showed his hand as a superstar in placing 3rd overall, while fellow senior Isaac Wegner gave UW-La Crosse another low-stick by placing 11th.
That was a fearsome 1-2 punch which offered tons of scoring potency that felt necessary to thrive in a large, nationally competitive field.
The Eagles' scoring was spaced out from there, particularly after Grant Matthai finished in 41st place. UW-La Crosse's fifth runner came across the line in 130th place. Still, they finished 7th to beat the other top Division Three teams (Carnegie Mellon, Lynchburg and Johns Hopkins) in the field by a wide margin while also topping some Power Five Division One programs.
UW-La Crosse continued to roll at their home meet, the Drews/Neubauer Invite, and then moved on to the WIAC XC Championships for what would essentially be a one-on-one battle with rival UW-Whitewater.
The Eagles once again ran away with a win. However, Gregg was still searching for his first individual victory after placing 2nd at the conference meet. He was closely followed by a complete lineup of Matthai (3rd), Wegner (4th), Joey Sullivan (6th) and Adam Loenser (7th).
UW-La Crosse once again topped UW-Whitewater at the North Regional XC Championships and cruised through to the NCAA XC Championships. They entered the final race of the season knowing that they had a chance at winning their fourth consecutive meet.
The Eagles got off to a great start when Ethan Gregg earned his first win of the season by snagging his first NCAA cross country title. Wegner joined him as a top-half All-American, but they had to wait over 40 places for their next teammate to join them across the finish line.
UW-La Crosse's final three scorers poured over the finish line in close succession. Sullivan placed 59th, Matthai finished 63rd and Loenser closed it out in 64th. All of that added up to a team score of 159 points, which put the Eagles one crucial point behind eventual national champions, Pomona-Pitzer.
The Sagehens' fifth runner crossed the line 55 places after UW-La Crosse's, but they comfortably finished with four All-Americans. That frontend potency was enough to overpower the Eagles by the slimmest of margins, leaving them with the consolation of their first national meet runner-up finish in over half a decade.
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As we mentioned in the preamble, the Eagles will enter this season without both Ethan Gregg and Isaac Wegner. Both were constants atop the D3 distance scene in recent years and they were the faces of this program. Their departure leaves a substantial hole at the front of UW-La Crosse's scoring lineup.
The good news, however, is that they should have a strong enough combination of depth and firepower via internal improvement to make up for those departures.
That starts with Grant Matthai, who didn't necessarily live up to his All-American potential last fall, but has a solid floor as a back-to-back top-70 finisher at the cross country national meet. After becoming a three-time All-American on the track (twice in the 5k) this year alone, we think he's due for a major improvement upon his previous NCAA XC Championships efforts. After all, we have him at TSR #11 in our preseason individual rankings.
Adam Loenser is also a candidate for a big jump this fall. He was the Eagles' fifth scorer at the 2023 cross country national meet, which was mostly in line with expectations. But he has since enjoyed a great year on the track. He competed in two events at both the indoor and outdoor national meets and earned bronze in the 3000-meter steeplechase a month after running 8:44 over the barriers and water pits.
Last year brought Loenser's first cross country national meet appearance, and he improved further on the track. With that in mind, it's easy to see him jumping to All-American status.
But can he be the top-half All-American that we think he can be (by placing him at TSR #19 preseason) and that UW-La Crosse needs him to be? The talent is certainly there, with a 14:06 (5k) PR complementing his steeplechase prowess.
Grant Matthai's twin brother, Aidan Matthai, figures to be a key middle-lineup scorer for the Eagles in 2024. He was this team's sixth runner at the 2023 cross country national meet, finishing 76th, before running 14:05 (5k) on the outdoor oval and finishing as an All-American in that event.
That progression suggests that he should be a top-40 name this fall. In fact, we have him listed as a "Just Missed" name outside of our top-20 preseason individual rankings.
What about Joey Sullivan? He was a scorer last year and then raced at both the indoor national meet (in the mile) and the outdoor national meet (the steeplechase) earlier this year. In fact, he's actually the Eagles' top returning finisher from the 2023 cross country national meet.
Sullivan is another individual on this team who may well take a small All-American jump on the grass this fall after he ran PRs of 8:49 (steeple) and 14:14 (5k) and placed 5th in the former event at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
And when you step back and look at the amount of raw potential and upside that the above-four mentioned hold, you can see a scenario where each of those men are All-American talents come November.
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Of course, the options hardly end there. Corey Fairchild, for instance, is a rising senior who didn't race at the national meet last fall but holds a pair of top-120 finishes in that setting.
He seemed to take a big step up once the calendar turned to 2024, finishing just one spot away from All-American honors over 10,000 meters and running PRs of 14:13 (5k) and 29:45 (10k) which suggest that he's a more-than-capable scorer for a title contender.
Elias Ritzke was UW-La Crosse's seventh runner last fall and competed at the past two NCAA XC Championships and NCAA Outdoor Championships. He broke 9:00 over the barriers and water pits by winning his home meet in May and could factor into the varsity lineup again.
However, he'll have to fend off a couple of other returners to do so. Jayden Zywicki was slightly better than Ritzke in the 3000-meter steeplechase this past spring, placing 9th in that event at the outdoor national meet. That came after he finished as an All-American in the mile at the 2024 indoor national meet.
A recent 14:28 (5k) PR suggests that this Swiss Army Knife on the track has some real potential on the grass. In fact, Zywicki finished a few spots ahead of Ritzke at the 2023 WIAC XC Championships, when he landed in the top-15.
Mason Brown, who took the final All-American spot in the 3000-meter steeplechase this past spring, is another intriguing backend lineup prospect who isn't as accomplished of a cross country runner. And yet, it's impossible to count him out as a potential impact name for this fall.
Program veteran Luke Chaffin also returns after placing 13th at the 2023 WIAC XC Championships (ahead of Zywicki and Ritzke). He was the Eagles' seventh man in that setting and ran a competitive 9:05 (3k steeplechase) PR in mid-May.
Coach Derek Stanley brought in a crazy recruiting class, but the Eagles may not even need any of their rookies to contribute.
Four of the newcomers have dipped under 9:20 over 3200 meters. Foremost among that group is Charles Vater, who has run 9:02 (3200), 9:06 (two-mile), 6:08 (2k steeple) and 14:39 (5k). The latter effort helped him place 5th in the 2024 Nike Outdoor National Championships.
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This group is teeming with All-American candidates, but is there enough front-end firepower on hand to win the ultimate prize? Grant Matthai and Loenser likely need to be top-20 finishers on the national stage in order for the Eagles to win NCAA gold, and Sullivan and Aidan Matthai (plus a fifth scorer, likely Fairchild) can't be too far behind.
Another national meet runner-up effort and podium placement for their umpteenth top-10 finish in a row should hardly be a disappointment for this squad. Even so, it's rare that the national team title appears so ripe for the taking (particularly because defending champion Pomona-Pitzer lost their top-three scorers), and the Eagles are well-positioned to take advantage of this dearth of truly elite teams.
