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TSR's 2024 Preseason High School XC Top 25 Team Rankings: #25 - #13 (Boys)
- Donald Speas
- Aug 7, 2024
- 9 min read
Written by Donny Speas, additional edits & commentary via Garrett Zatlin
25. Huntsville Panthers (AL)
The second auto-qualifying spot in the Southeast region seemingly looks wide-open and in my eyes, the Huntsville Panthers have as good of a shot as anyone else to claim it.
The Panthers have a returning 5k average of 15:34. And while that’s great, I'm truthfully a little suspect on how accurate the course length is for the Alexander / Asics Invitational. It's plenty possible that the meet just has a super fast course, but each member of the Panthers ran their personal best on that stage.
So instead, I crunched the numbers. And if you remove that meet from their average, then you roughly get a new (and still very strong) 5k average of 15:47. Combine that with a runner-up finish to a good Vestiva Hills team at last year's Alabama 7A XC State Championship and a certified elite low-stick in the form of Eric Moore (personal bests of 4:10, 9:08 and 14:53) and you get a team brimming with potential to break out on the national stage.
24. Wayzata Trojans (MN)
If you are anything like me, then the name Wayzata is synonymous with Heartland region cross country. The good news for them is that they qualified for the national meet last year, finishing in 18th place. The bad news for the Trojans is that they graduated four athletes from their varsity lineup.
No matter how much depth a team has (and Wayzata has plenty) losing that much experience is always very hard overcome.
Thankfully, the Trojans are led by senior William Weber who has slowly been building quite the resume, twice finishing inside the top-100 at NXN. That is all in addition to solid track personal bests of 4:15 (1600) and 9:09 (3200).
All this to say, I have no concerns about Wayzata’s top runner. And as is the case for literally any other team in the country, it's the supporting cast that will act as the engine of Wayzata’s season. Keep an eye on seniors Alex Haag and Dan Salatino as they will be expected to play crucial roles for Wayzata this fall.
23. Lone Peak (UT)
Many of you have heard of the Lone Peak Knights as they have had one of the best girl’s cross country teams, nationally, in recent years, finishing 4th at NXN in 2023. While I don’t quite think that the boys from Lone Peak will be getting 4th place in the country anytime soon, they still look like they can be a top-25 team this fall.
We saw some flashes of greatness from the Knights last year when they finished 3rd at the Utah XC State Championships (behind American Fork and Herriman, the two best teams in the country). That bronze effort allowed Lone Peak to take down Riverton in the process, a group that would eventually go on to finish 9th at NXN that December.
The Knights look to be led by senior Cooper Bybee who is one of many Lone Peak athletes who had great track seasons. Luckily for Lone Peak, they will have no shortage of opportunities to test themselves against the gauntlet of Utah competition.
22. Stevens Point Panthers (WI)
The Stevens Point Panthers are benefitting hugely from their geography. Being located in the Heartland region, this group has one of the easier paths to the national meet. And yet, disregarding their geographic advantage, the Panthers are more than deserving of a spot on this list.
After all, they did place 16th at last year’s NXN and return four out of their top-seven athletes from last fall. Although, we must confess, they do lose low-stick Aloysius Franzen, an incoming freshman for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Another positive sign for the Panthers is the development of sophomore John Jazdzewski who ran 16:32 (5k) as a freshman before really coming into his own during the outdoor track season. On the oval, he ran an impressive 1:57 (800) PR which gives me a ton of confidence that he can step into an impactful scoring role for Stevens Point this upcoming season.
21. Buchanan Bears (CA)
Recently, the hype around the Buchanan Bears has been focused on the girl’s side -- and understandably so. This year, however, some of the attention will also go to their boy's team as they have slowly but surely built a national-caliber team for the fall of 2024.
The biggest thing that the Bears have going for them is their elite returning 5k average of 15:42. That group is led by senior Luke Sanders who has run a very solid 15:25 (5k) mark. The elephant in the room, however, is that...well, they struggled a bit last year relative to other national competition. The Bears racked up finishes such as 18th place at the Woodbridge XC Classic and 14th at the Clovis XC Invitational.
Each member of the squad has run some fantastic times, but piecing it all together on the right day will be their next point of emphasis. For now, I think TSR #21 seems like a perfect spot based solely on their potential. But no matter what happens this fall, I’d be surprised if they stay in this spot for very long.
20. Great Oak Wolfpack (CA)
The Great Oak Wolfpack are one of those programs that you can always count on to be at the national meet. I can’t even remember the last time that they didn’t qualify and this year doesn’t look to be anything different.
Admittedly, this is going to be a challenging year for the Wolfpack as they lost four athletes from their 2023 squad which finished 17th place at NXN. The top returner from their NXN group is Jacob Brown who finished in 128th place at the national meet (but is arguably better than that). Brown was solid for the Wolfpack all of last fall, although it looks like his brother, Westin Brown, will also emerge as the team's focal low-stick in 2024. Westin ran 4:08 for 1600 meters on the track and notched a huge 9th place finish at the Woodbridge XC Classic last fall.
It’s not going to be easy for the Wolfpack to make a return trip to the national meet, but if history has anything to say about it, then we’ll see Great Oak toe the line in Portland this December.
19. Bridgeland Bears (TX)
It may surprise many of you to see the Bridgeland Bears on this list, a team that was only 11th at the NXR South regional meet with an average of 15:55 for 5000 meters. Sure, we know that senior Benjamin Montgomery (36th at NXN) is going to be a legitimate low-stick, but after him, we had a lot of questions about the rest of Bridgeland’s team.
Well, the supporting cast answered all my questions this past outdoor track season. That's because the quartet of Kyle Pawlak, Maddox McCallister, Nazim Benguedda and Layton Carlisle all ran under 9:45 for 3200 meters!
Needless to say, that supporting cast completely redefines what this team’s ceiling is. Slowly but surely, the state of Texas (and the entire NXR South region) is looking quite competitive -- and the Bridgeland Bears are a big part of that.
18. Ridgefield Tigers (CT)
When I think of the Ridgefield Tigers, I typically think of team success as the Tigers have had some wonderful DMR lineups in recent years.
2024 looks like it will be the year where they are able to translate their track success to the grass, especially with the second automatic qualifying spot in the Northeast region looking wide-open. The biggest thing that the Tigers have going for them is that they only lost one athlete from last year's squad that placed 3rd at NXR.
One athlete who looks like they will step into a key role this year is senior Magnus Manely who holds a solid 5k personal best of 15:48. However, he has made some big strides in his fitness during the most recent outdoor track season, stopping the clock at 9:11 for 3200 meters and effectively giving Ridgefield one more weapon to work with this fall.
17. Coronado Cougars (CO)
Colorado’s “second team” looks to be the Coronado Cougars who come into this season boasting a returning average of 15:41 (5k). They are led by two elite underclassmen: sophomore Oliver Horton and junior Xzavier Campos.
Horton in particular is an incredibly impressive athlete, running 15:10 (5k) and 8:53 (3200) as a freshman, making his future this year even more bright. With Campos not far behind at 15:25 for 5k, this duo should give Coronado a nasty 1-2 punch at nearly every meet they enter against the gauntlet that is Colorado cross country.
One final thing that I like about Coronado is that they seemingly aren’t afraid to challenge themselves against competition from all over. They are entered in meets such as Desert Twilight (held in Arizona) and Nike Hole in the Wall (held in Oregon) for this upcoming season.
16. Downers Grove North Trojans (IL)
The bad news for the Downers Grove North Trojans is that they lost 4:08 (1600) runner Ryan Eddington to graduation. The good news is that junior Philip Cupial looks nearly as good and was beating Eddington by the end of last track season.
The other good news for the Trojans is that they developed an insane amount of depth during this past outdoor track season with 18 athletes (14 returners) running 4:40 or faster for the 1600-meter distance. That should give them plenty of options and multiple breakout candidates for their varsity lineup this fall.
One final athlete who I want to highlight is last year’s eighth man, Brady Travers. The rising distance ace holds a decent 5k personal best of 16:32, but looks to have made some huge strides in fitness lately after running 9:27 for 3200 meters and 4:19 for 1600 meters. That, in theory, should position him to be one of the better middle-lineup athletes in the country.
15. Mountain View Bruins (UT)
For those of you who haven’t noticed, the Mountain View Bruins have quietly been stringing together national-caliber results for the last couple of years, including two top-20 finishes at the national meet and three-straight Utah cross country state titles.
The Bruins are led by senior Kyle Steadman who qualified for NXN as an individual and finished in a respectable 37th place (the 14th returner from the national meet). They also have Isaac Sohler who might have the best range in Utah. Sohler took 3rd place at the Utah 4A XC State Championships and ran 1:51 for 800 meters this past spring.
In addition to their two super-seniors, they have a pair of sophomores who impressed last year as freshmen: Maverick Dutson (16:06 for 5k) and Kyle Chipman (4:32 for 1600). Throw in senior Ammon Larsen (15:56 for 5k) and you’ve got a squad that has a legitimate shot of taking Mountain View back to NXN after a one-year hiatus.
14. Jesuit Bluejays (LA)
The Jesuit Bluejays are a whole lot better than their 8th place finish at last year's NXR South meet may suggest. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that the NXR South meet was probably the worst race that they had last fall.
Seriously, Jesuit had some great results last year! They placed 3rd at Nike XC Town Twilight and they took 2nd place at the Southern Showcase. However, they just couldn't put it together at the regional meet. Hopefully, this year will be different.
The Bluejays are led by the dynamic “Brady Bunch” composed of Brady Monahan and Brady Mullen who went 1-2 at the Louisiana XC State Championships last fall. Mullen was particularly impressive last year, running 8:47 for 3200 meters. That time makes him a legitimate low-stick star and a true contender for an individual berth to the national meet.
As I’ve mentioned before in these rankings, the South region is looking quite deep this year and it’s entirely possible we see Jesuit advance out of this region. Of course, it's going to be the supporting cast behind the Brady duo that will ultimately need to lift them to a spot to the national meet.
13. Plainfield North Tigers (IL)
I think the Plainfield North Tigers are primed for a HUGE cross country season. They had a great track season with personal bests being set across the board. They have a solid low-stick in junior Thomas Czerwinski (14:22 for three miles) and based on track times, they might have a second lead talent in Quinn Davis (9:21 and 4:16 this past spring).
While all those low-sticks are great, that’s not why I’m so excited about the Tigers. Instead, I'm excited about the Tigers because they return five athletes from a squad that placed 15th at last year’s national meet.
Qualifying for the national meet is a huge deal in high school. And with the prestige of NXN comes plenty of ways to be distracted or overwhelmed. Having five returning athletes who have been there and know what to expect may very well be what the Tigers need to elevate themselves into the top-10 of the team standings this December.
