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TSR's 2024 Preseason D3 XC Top 20 Rankings: #20-16 (Men)
- TSR Collaboration
- Aug 1, 2024
- 6 min read
Written by Gavin Struve, Garrett Zatlin & Conor Daly
Edits & additional commentary via Gavin Struve & Garrett Zatlin
20. Calvin Boone, Senior, St. Scholastica
We admittedly haven't learned much about Calvin Boone since the 2023 cross country season. He was solid on the track, contributing to a 6th-place DMR team at the 2024 indoor national meet, but didn't reach the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
And yet, despite that, there's really no reason for concern with Boone considering that he didn't race at all on the track during the 2023 indoor and outdoor seasons before putting together one of the more stable campaigns on the grass last fall.
Last fall, the St. Scholastica star placed 22nd at the Running of the Cows, his first major competition of the cross country season. He then placed 9th at the Blugold Invitational, 7th at the Drews-Neubauer Invite, 4th at the MIAC XC Championships and 7th at the North Regional XC Championships. All of that painted him as a fringe top-50 name. However Boone ended up posting a somewhat unexpected (but not unbelievable) 36th-place All-American run at the cross country national meet.
Boone was similarly strong in his 2021 and 2022 campaigns (the latter of which was cut short), but finally put it all together on the national stage last fall. We really liked how consistent he was last year and we also have to commend him on how he peaked for the postseason. And yet, it was his national meet performance which felt like the only result which truly popped out in a major way last year.
Regardless of whether or not Boone replicates that spark throughout the entirety of this fall, we expect more of the same from him now that he's proven himself and has had a full runway of competition in 2024.
19. Adam Loenser, Junior, UW-La Crosse
Heading into last fall, we knew Adam Loenser best as a recent steeplechase All-American.
And to be honest, the past year hasn't really changed that understanding or description.
That, of course, is not to suggest that Loenser didn't improve throughout the 2023-2024 academic year. He was a reliable backend scorer for a podium team throughout the latter portions of last fall, placing 7th at the WIAC XC Championships, 14th at the North Regional XC Championships and 64th at the cross country national meet.
Loenser was a more-than-respectable talent in the final months of 2023, but he never looked like a convincing All-American. That, of course, changed when the calendar turned to 2024 and he moved to the track. There, Loenser attempted an ambitious distance double at the indoor national meet, competing in both the 3000 meters and the 5000 meters, but finishing outside of the top-10 in both.
Once he was able to get back to his ideal event on the outdoor oval, Loenser predictably thrived.
After opening his spring season with a 14:06 (5k) PR, he produced a flashy 8:44 (steeple) PR at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Loenser then finished runner-up in that event at the WIAC Outdoor Championships and earned the bronze medal over the barriers and water pits at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships while doubling back in the 5k.
Last season was Loenser's first racing at the cross country national meet and he performed fairly admirably all things considered. To go on to qualify for and compete in two events at the indoor national meet and then become a top-half All-American on the outdoor oval is a pretty ideal academic year and it suggests that Loenser is ready for a rise on the grass.
Of course, we know that it's highly unlikely that his steeplechase success will fully translate to the cross country season. Even so, he showed enough last fall and in the ensuing months that we're comfortable suggesting Loenser is an All-American favorite in 2024.
This ranking suggests that Loenser may even be a top-half All-American favorite. In theory, that 8:44 steeplechase PR gives him a ceiling that few other men in the country, including those in our rankings, can match.
18. Nikhil DeNatale, Junior, Williams
Nikhil DeNatale is admittedly a VERY challenging name to rank for a variety of reasons. We saw two versions of him this past year: the superstar on the cross country course and the seemingly struggling track athlete.
When you look at DeNatale’s 2023 fall campaign, there simply aren’t many returning men who who were better than him. A 4th-place finish at D3 Pre-Nationals was monumental and a 2nd-place finish at the Mideast Regional XC Championships was also an incredible result.
The then-sophomore also displayed admirable consistency despite his youth, finishing within the top few places in each of the races that he contested ahead of the cross country national meet.
In his season finale, DeNatale was the first underclassman across the line at the NCAA XC Championships, finishing in 20th place. And while that’s an awesome feat, his regional performance suggested that his ceiling was even higher.
It’s not crazy to think that he could have been a top-10 name.
After running 14:20 (5k) at the famed Boston University Season Opener in December, DeNatale didn’t look like himself in 2024. Frankly, the rising star didn’t come close to his personal bests. The sub-9:00 steeplechaser didn’t run under 9:15 nor did he break 14:50 (5k).
While we do not have confirmation on what held DeNatale back, it seems as if he was battling an injury and/or illness. A review of his summer training profile on Strava indicates that he's just rounding back into form.
If DeNatale is able to overcome his recent hiccups, then he is easily a top-10 name. But since we don’t know his status, that leaves a lot of variability in what we could see from him this fall, ultimately causing us to place him lower in our preseason rankings than we'd like to.
17. Dylan May, Senior, Southern Virginia
Dylan May is a truthfully challenging name to rank. The Southern Virginia ace has very clearly been stronger on the grass than he has been on the track, but that has also left us with just one breakout season from last fall to analyze for these rankings.
The additional caveat of this tricky-to-rank distance runner is that his lead up to last year's national meet wasn't exactly super challenging. May finished runner-up at the LVC Dutchmen XC Invite and the Berry Invitational last fall before winning the Roanoke Invitational as well as USA South Conference title.
After snagging silver at the South Regional XC Championships (which was truthfully great validation of his talent), May secured a fantastic 28th place All-American finish on the national stage. That result felt like a massive statement to the rest of the Division Three that he belonged among the top men.
May's 2023 cross country schedule was, to no fault of his own, not too exciting. However, when it came to the postseason, he erased any/most of the doubts that we had about him. He thrived against a handful of sneaky-great names in the South region and a top-30 All-American finish felt like a result that was on the better end of expectations.
Truthfully, May may not have a chance to move up too high in our rankings should he follow a similar race schedule in 2024. It was also noted that he is coming back from an injury this summer. Even so, if the Southern Virginia star is able to replicate his postseason success like he did last fall, then it's not completely unrealistic to say that he can be a top-10 name come November.
16. Peter LaRochelle, Senior, Haverford
Much like the above-ranked Dylan May, Peter LaRochelle is someone who has very clearly been at his best on the grass rather than the oval. That isn't necessarily to say that he's run poorly on the track, posting times of 14:30 (5k) and 30:20 (10k), but it's abundantly clear that his skillset is best utilized in September, October and November.
The Haverford veteran experienced a breakout season last fall after being an already-solid distance talent for the Fords. However, his breakout season seemingly unfolded in spurts.
Take, for instance, the Lehigh Paul Short "Brown" race and D3 Pre-Nationals.
In the first meet, LaRochelle impressed us, finishing 8th overall in one of the four men's races of the meet. And while that section wasn't necessarily the most loaded, it still featured respectable talent from a variety of divisions. At D3 Pre-Nationals, however, LaRochelle faded a bit to 29th place. That's a solid result for a support scorer, but not for someone aiming to be an All-American.
But from there, LaRochelle found himself on a hot streak. The Haverford veteran finished runner-up at the Centennial Conference XC Championships behind only Emmanuel Leblond and then later secured the title at the Metro Regional XC Championships (a truthfully light region).
LaRochelle capped his season with a very strong 35th place All-American finish at the national meet, giving him multiple promising results to look back on. And when you review the entirety of his profile (as well as the numerous men who are no longer in D3), you can begin to find more and more arguments for this Ford ace to be ranked.
Outside of D3 Pre-Nationals, LaRochelle was fairly steady and he found success on a variety of stages. He'll need to be just as sharp throughout the entirety of his fall and build on his 2023 success, but we think he has plenty of upside to do exactly that.
