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TSR's 2024 Preseason D3 XC Top 20 Rankings: #10-6 (Men)
- Gavin Struve
- Aug 3, 2024
- 6 min read
10. Tyler Schermerhorn, Junior, Wartburg
Tyler Schermerhorn has a somewhat similar profile to Isaac vanWestrienen (TSR #15), although there are some marked differences between these two singular talents.
While vanWestrienen was solid, but unspectacular, on the grass last year, he was also great on the indoor oval, but not on the national stage. Schermerhorn was even more of an unknown in the fall before bringing flashes of talent on the track to full fruition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Schermerhorn has raced for much of the cross country season, going up the regional meet the past two years. He was a respectable 11th place at the 2023 American Rivers Conference (ARC) XC Championships, but nothing suggested that he would finish as the D3 10,000-meter national meet runner-up or even place 12th over 5000 meters at both the 2024 indoor and outdoor national meet.
That's what Schermerhorn did though, gaining steam in February with a 5k win before earning silver over that distance at the ARC Indoor Championships, winning the Wartburg Qualifier in a then-PR of 14:23. He later improved upon that effort with a 14:14 (5k) mark at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The spring only brought more fortune for Schermerhorn as he ran considerable PRs of 13:57 (5k) and 29:24 (10k) and, as we mentioned earlier, finished as the national meet runner-up over the latter distance.
What might Schermerhorn have in store for his first NCAA XC Championship? While he won't have all the scoring on his shoulders with Jacob Green (TSR #14) returning, Wartburg will need Schermerhorn to run like a star in order to have a shot at returning to the podium following a one-year absence. That's especially true with Christopher Collet now graduated.
Schermerhorn admittedly hasn't come close to being that kind of talent on the grass despite having the opportunities to do so, but we think it's only a matter of time before his track triumphs translate to the grass. We would find it hard to believe that someone earning a silver medal on the national stage in the same exact racing distance contested at the NCAA XC Championships won't find success in November.
9. Emmanuel Leblond (Johns Hopkins)
Through just two years of NCAA competition, Emmanuel Leblond has already turned himself into a seasoned and accomplished distance talent. So much so that it almost felt underwhelming when he finished 29th at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships.
Leblond produced a breakout 26th-place effort at the 2022 cross country national meet within three months of beginning college. After building upon that momentum by finishing 11th over 5000 meters at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships, we had lofty expectations for this Blue Jay's sophomore season on the grass.
By and large, he lived up to them. Leblond won his season opener against his teammates and a handful of Division One names, held his own against more D1 competition at the Iona Br. Paddy Doyle Meet of Champions, did the same in the Paul Short "Gold" race and was 4th against top D3 harriers at the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational. From there, he won the Centennial Conference title and again finished as a top-30 All-American.
Even so, Leblond looked closer to the top-10 name that we have him placed as for swaths of the season.
After running solid PRs of 8:13 (3k) and 14:17 (5k), he raced at both the indoor and outdoor national meets between the 5k and the steeplechase. His placements weren't ideal and there may be an argument for concern about Leblond's postseason priors.
Of course, we're not buying into that idea. Leblond has consistently been better on the grass than he has on the track, rose to the moment more than expected at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships, and still finished 29th on a "down" day at the 2023 cross country national meet.
With both a high floor and a high ceiling already on display through the first half of his NCAA career, Leblond feels like a strong pick for top-10 status entering this fall.
8. Chasen Hunt, Junior, Lynchburg
This is the name who probably requires the most projection in our top-20 D3 men's rankings. That's because Chasen Hunt developed into a superstar on the track in 2024 after hinting at that potential on the grass.
Another third-year talent in the back half of our top-10, Hunt blossomed at the start of the 2023-24 academic year. He first turned heads by finishing 33rd in the Paul Short "Gold" race. Alongside D1 and D2 competition, he beat individuals like Grant Matthai, Emmanuel Leblond, Matthew Coyle and Ryan Podnar.
Hunt then finished runner-up at the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational, again besting Leblond and other national stars. After finishing 3rd behind two talented teammates at the ODAC XC Championships, this Hornet appeared ready for the postseason.
By most measures, Hunt's NCAA XC Championships debut went well as he placed 53rd and served as a key scorer on a top-10 team. Still, it was hard to shake the feeling that Hunt's ability and prior results suggested that he could've placed significantly higher if he had more experience on his side.
He seemed to learn from that entry into high-level national racing, producing an 8:06 (3k) PR in a deep Boston U. field and then placing 5th over that distance at the NCAA Indoor Championships while also helping Lynchburg to a DMR national title!
Hunt only got better from there, quickly stamping himself as one of D3's most versatile distance dynamos with PRs of 1:51 (800), 3:43 (1500) and 14:00 (5k) on the outdoor oval before earning bronze over 5000 meters at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
With his first year of NCAA Championships (three times over) experience behind him, Hunt should be poised to produce a finish more reflective of his true potential in November.
7. Cameron Hatler, Senior, Pomona-Pitzer
Pomona-Pitzer's men's distance program has undergone a significant amount of change over the past 12 months.
The Sagehens hired a new Director of Cross Country and Track & Field, Amber Williams, and their cross country programs are now under the guidance of assistant coach, Emma DeLira.
Then, this offseason, they lost a slew of distance superstars from their 2023 national title team. Lucas Florsheim (Minnesota), Derek Fearon (Georgetown) and Colin Kirkpatrick (Georgetown) were all foundational stars and top-half All-Americans who left to join Division One programs as graduate transfers. The only cross country All-American returning from the Sagehens' top-heavy 2023 group is Cameron Hatler.
Pomona-Pitzer will hope that Hatler learned enough while competing alongside and against that transferring trio in order to be his team's new leading man. Thankfully, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that he'll fill that role just fine.
Hatler was strong throughout the fall, really turning it on in the second half of the season with a 10th-place result at D3 Pre-Nationals before finishing 4th at the SCIAC XC Championships and ultimately 25th at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships.
That strong fall composite was seemingly not only a fitness-builder for Hatler, but also a confidence booster. He ran PRs of 14:18 (5k) and 8:56 (steeple) on the oval, won the SCIAC title over the barriers and water pits and then finished as a 7th-place All-American in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the outdoor national meet.
Hatler first emerged as a nationally competitive name in the steeplechase during the 2021 spring season. And while it was reassuring to see him double his All-American status in 2024, he may well have still been ranked near our top-10 if not for his track success. He's become a focal star on the cross country course as well.
And even if it seems a bit far-fetched that he or his team will win a national title in a few months, Hatler can be a worthy lead scorer for Pomona-Pitzer's championship defense.
6. Ivan Appleton, Junior, Tufts
There's less convincing needed to back up Ivan Appleton's placement than some of his peers placed in this range of our rankings. That's because this Jumbos junior finished 13th at the cross country national meet a year ago. So it feels well within reason that he could progress into a near top-five name over the coming months.
That's not to say it's a guarantee that Appleton naturally slots up into this range (among men returning to the collegiate ranks this year, he placed 5th-highest at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships) a year later. After all, he faltered a bit in finishing last over 5000 meters at the 2024 indoor national meet, and that was the last time we saw him race.
Appleton also lost to several names who are ranked below him (Cameron Hatler, Charles Namiot and Nikhil DeNatale) in his first true test last fall at D3 Pre-Nationals.
He still placed 18th in that strong field, however, and largely looked like an eventual top-half All-American for the rest of the fall in placing 4th at the Connecticut College Invitational and 2nd at the NESCAC XC Championships (exacting revenge on Namiot and DeNatale and losing only to 6th-place cross country national meet finisher John Lucey).
Sure, it was a bit of a surprise to see Appleton finish his sophomore season inside the top-15 of the NCAA XC Championships field. But there was some evidence that he could produce that caliber of a result in the weeks leading up to it. It didn't entirely come out of nowhere.
Assuming he comes back healthy next month after half a year's absence from racing, we think Appleton's fourth NCAA Championships appearance should display both his increasing experience and raw talent.
