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TSR's 2024 Preseason D3 XC Top 20 Rankings: #5-1 (Men)
- Conor Daly
- Aug 4, 2024
- 7 min read
Written by Conor Daly, additional edits and commentary via Garrett Zatlin & Gavin Struve
5. Nathan Tassey, Junior, Roger Williams
As an underclassman, Nathan Tassey was one of the biggest surprises of the 2023 cross country season. He entered last year as someone who frankly wasn’t really on our radar, but by the end of the season, the youngster became widely known for his talents.
Tassey’s lone regular season test was at the Dickinson Long-Short Invitational, held at the cross country national meet course. Over the Pennsylvania hills, the Hawks’ leading man placed 2nd overall, finishing ahead of several talented names including an eventual regional champion.
After winning his conference meet unchallenged, Tassey finally had the perfect chance to display his fitness. The rising star capitalized on the opportunity, placing 5th behind some stellar individuals at the Mideast Regional XC Championships.
Tassey then tackled his first-ever national meet like a veteran, placing 22nd at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, making him the second underclassman across the line. That was an awesome performance for someone so new to the top level of Division Three. He also deserves serious recognition for peaking so perfectly over those final two weeks.
However, coming just shy of top-half All-American status normally wouldn't be enough for someone to jump into the top-five of our preseason rankings a year later. What was the difference for Tassey?
On the track, Tassey not only proved that his postseason performances from the fall were no fluke, but he built on those efforts. He now holds personal bests of 29:50 (10k) and 14:07 (5k). But just as importantly, he once again peaked on the national stage, finishing 4th over 5000 meters at the outdoor national meet.
With newfound fitness and calming reliability in high-leverage situations, Tassey's aerobic capabilities put him in the conversation among many of the top returners as Division Three searches for an influx of superstar faces following a mass graduation of stars.
4. Vince Simonetti, Senior, RPI
In many ways, Vince Simonetti is exactly what you’re looking for in a star cross country talent on the men’s side. He’s a 5k/10k threat who tends to be even better on the grass than he is on the oval.
Last fall, Simonetti was the right-hand man to accomplished veteran teammate Cory Kennedy, finishing within 10 seconds of Kennedy’s shadow in most races.
The lone day in which that was not the case was at D3 Pre-Nationals where Simonetti placed 9th. And while we wished he could have grabbed a few more places, it was certainly still a strong outing and, more importantly, a learning experience for the true tests to come.
A 4th-place finish at the Liberty League XC Championships left a bit to be desired, but it also wasn't that informative of an effort considering that RPI easily beat the field.
From there on, Simonetti looked to be in top-tier form, placing 3rd at the Mideast Regional XC Championships and then finishing 8th in the best effort of his life (at least to that point) at the NCAA XC Championships.
If his track results in the time since indicate anything, it’s that the past year has allowed Simonetti to unlock another level of strength that he hasn’t previously entered a cross country season with.
Most notably, he managed a 14:01 (5k) personal best to finish 4th at the indoor national meet. He didn't have as optimal of a finish to his outdoor track season, perhaps still acclimating to performing consistently at this elite level, but 29:18 (10k) credentials are representative of a strong few months of work.
Across both his main events and side quests, Simonetti has made noticeable leaps on the track compared to his previous self. Couple those improvements with the top-end performances that he showed on the grass last year, and it’s easy to see Simonetti improving upon his 8th-place cross country national meet credentials.
3. Gunner Schlender, Senior, UW-Whitewater
This long distance specialist often gets overshadowed by his star teammate, Christian Patzka, but Gunner Schlender deserves recognition for the fantastic career he’s had so far. Both of the Warhawks' leading men have elected to use a fifth year to continue to train and race together, setting their UW-Whitewater squad up for a big fall.
Schlender’s early fall of 2023 results were as expected, that was, until the Augustana Interregional. In one of the best Division Three fields assembled last season, Schlender ran to a highly impressive 3rd-place finish, finishing only behind a pair of men who went on to finish top-four at the cross country national meet. This was a run that proved that this UW-Whitewater talent had some incredible upside and the fitness to compete with anyone come November.
That was more or less the sole golden run out of Schlender leading up to the NCAA Championships. He logged a 5th-place run at WIAC XC Championships and a 9th-place effort at North Regional XC Championships. While those placements may seem poor comparatively, both of those results were fine considering the amount of Wisconsin-based in those fields.
None of that mattered, though, when Schlender ran arguably his best race of the season at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, placing 11th. Having placed within the top-30 at the cross country national meet each of the previous two years, we knew that Schlender was due for a run like this, but it was nice to see it become a reality.
This end-of-season run backed up Schlender’s reputation as one of the most reliable men in Division Three. His performances are there when it matters most and he’s never missed a season due to an injury. That’s an admirable streak (knock on wood).
At the indoor national meet, the UW-Whitewater front-runner logged a 14:05 (5k) run to place 7th before closing out a double All-American weekend with a 4th-place finish in the 3k the following day. That 3k, in particular, showcased some newfound turnover out of this long distance specialist.
Schlender’s outdoor track season was still solid, but we didn’t see any personal bests out of him (although that’s not to say that he didn’t run very fast). Relative struggles at the Bryan Clay Invitational early in the season with a 29:54 (10k) placed Schlender just outside of national qualifying, causing him to solo a 29:39 qualifying mark three weeks later at the WIAC Outdoor Championships.
While soloing a mark like that in a longer event is wildly impressive, that extra 10k effort seemed to get to Schlender, as he didn’t look like himself for the rest of the season and finished the bottom half of the 5k and the 10k at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Nonetheless, Schlender is incredibly fit and has been able to execute whenever it matters most the grass. He finally put it all together at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, and it would be a true surprise if he didn't improve upon his finish in 2024.
2. Max Svienty, Senior, North Central
This North Central star is a very likable figure. Yes, it’s partially because he’s very fast, but it’s also because Max Svienty is the face that led the Cardinals through the challenging times of the departure of coaching legend Al Carius and a few years of struggle post-COVID.
Now, on the other side of these challenges, Svienty remains the leader for the Cardinals.
Entering the 2023 cross country season, we critiqued Svienty for lacking consistency in his races over 8k. That, however, turned out to be a passing concern as the North Central low-stick delivered a nearly perfect season.
Early on, Svienty gave us an undoubtedly strong 6th-place finish at the Live in Lou XC Classic, beating the eventual 12th-place finisher from the BIG 10 XC Championships. The Cardinal ace continued his dominance at the Augustana Interregional by placing 4th, finishing only behind men who were viewed as top-10 names and ending up safely ahead of numerous others who went on to become All-Americans.
A silver medal run at the CCIW XC Championships didn’t tell us anything new. But Svienty's bronze medal run at the Midwest Regional XC Championships (thanks to an 8:48 last 3k in a strangely tactical race) was reassuring to see from someone who is known predominantly for his pure aerobic strength.
Luckily for Svienty, the grueling national meet course in Carlisle, Pennsylvania was meant for true long distance threats like him. There, Svienty matched his 3rd-place result from the regional stage for the best national meet finish of his career.
The upperclassman has continued to make his mark on the Division Three distance scene on the track, particularly this spring. Svienty ran some of the D3's fastest times over 5k and 10k with 13:57 and 29:06 runs, respectively.
He didn't come through in the same way at the 2024 outdoor national meet, and that may bring back some bad memories of Svienty's 158th-place finish at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships before he thrived on the oval the following winter and spring. For all his success, Svienty isn't a bullet-proof postseason performer.
Still, the level of almost-unrivaled strength that he displayed last academic year makes it difficult to see many, if any, overtaking him this fall.
1. Christian Patkza, Senior, UW-Whitewater
Christian Patzka has seemingly achieved it all.
He’s a 13-time All-American and a five-time national champion.
And yet, he’s returning to Whitewater, Wisconsin for a fifth year of college, likely in search of the one thing that has eluded him: a cross country national title.
For most of last fall, it looked as if Patzka was on pace to be the best cross country runner in Division Three. Other than his home meet, which he did not run all-out for, this UW-Whitewater superstar went undefeated leading up to the NCAA XC Championships.
That streak began with a win over some underrated, but talented names at the Blugold Invitational. That was followed by a victory at the Augustana Interregional which featured a loaded field including our TSR #2 runner, Max Svienty, and the eventual 10k national champion.
That, however, wasn’t even Patzka’s hardest test as he had to race the likes of Ethan Gregg at both the WIAC XC Championships and the North Regional XC Championships. With himself and Gregg being considered the two clear best cross country runners in Division Three, Patzka was able to defeat his in-state rival on both outings.
Unfortunately, Patzka didn’t have the same success at the NCAA XC Championships where Gregg flipped the script and left this Warhawk to a second-straight 2nd-place finish at a cross country national meet.
He had the fitness to win it, but he just wasn’t able to execute it on the day.
Patzka has shown nothing but brilliance on the track since then. At the 2024 indoor national meet, he finished 2nd in the 3k and won the 5k national title. At the 2024 outdoor national meet, he won both the steeplechase and 5k titles. Almost as impressively, he eclipsed the sub-14:00 (5k) barrier on three different occasions this year.
In short, Patzka just needs to keep doing what he’s been doing. If he does that, then the Division Three cross country title will likely be his.
