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TSR's 2024 Preseason High School XC Top-25 Team Rankings: #12 - #1 (Boys)
- Donald Speas
- Aug 8, 2024
- 8 min read
Written by Donny Speas, additional edits & commentary via Garrett Zatlin
12. Rock Bridge Bruins (MO)
I think the Rock Bridge boys are the first high school team from Missouri that I’ve written about -- and they have certainly grabbed my attention for all of the right reasons.
The Bruins have an elite low-stick (junior Luke Sievers), they return six out of their top-seven from last fall and plenty of the team’s supporting cast has improved upon their personal bests on the track.
One member of that supporting cast who I want to highlight is junior Matthew Kim. He was the team’s third runner at last year’s state meet as well as at the NXR Midwest meet. Kim also ran a very solid 9:30 (3200) PR during the outdoor track season. That, in theory, will give the Bruins a middle runner to stabilize the lineup while 14:51 (5k) runner, Luke Sievers, does his thing at the front of each race.
11. Lucas Lovejoy Leopards (TX)
The more I write about it, the more excited I get over the battle for this year's NXR South title.
The Lucas Lovejoy boys were last year’s UIL 5A cross country state champions...and it wasn’t all that close. Not only that, but the Leopards return six of their top-seven from that squad and their alternate.
What is holding the Leopards back from being ranked higher than this is the lack of a firmly established low-stick star. Luckily, they may have found the solution in a new and improved version of Caden Gary. While some performances were better than others, Gary showed multiple flashes of greatness last year such as posting a 15:21 (5k) personal best. Then, when it was time for outdoor track season, he truly broke out in a major way, running 4:08 for 1600 meters.
If Gary can translate his track fitness to the cross country course, then the Lucas Lovejoy boys become an even scarier and far more formidable team to face, especially in the postseason.
10. Couer d'Alene Vikings (ID)
Couer d'Alene are great at sneaking under the radar and producing quietly-great results. Last year, the Vikings took down a handful of talented Oregon squads, but nobody who finished in the top-10 at the national meet that fall. Even so, an 11th place finish at NXN and a victory over the new DMR national record holders (Crater) is nothing to scoff at.
In fact, that result alone is enough to earn the Vikings a spot on this list.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, they have absolutely zero margin for error this fall. Their top-five scoring group boasts an average 5k personal best of 15:37 (which is awesome), but their projected sixth man, sophomore Gabe Heule, "only" holds a 5k personal best of 16:58. The good news, however, is that Heule had a wonderful track season, running 9:54 (3200) as a freshman. That gives us a bit more confidence in his abilities and upside for this upcoming cross country campaign.
All this to say, the ceiling for what the Couer d'Alene Vikings can achieve this season is sky-high. However, they'll need to ensure that everyone stays healthy and firing on all cylinders in order for them to tap into their full potential.
9. Crater Comets (OR)
The Crater Comets are an incredibly difficult team to rank. In last year’s preseason rankings, we had them ranked as high as TSR #3 before they fell out of our top-10 rankings completely. Then, they bounced back to finish 12th at the national meet.
The focal portion of this team lies with Josiah Tostensen and Tayvon Kitchen, both of whom have some incredible accolades. Tostenson is the third-best returner from last year's NXN meet and Kitchen posted two 5k efforts (14:31 and 14:24) within a 12-hour span.
The final Crater athlete who I want to highlight is sophomore Nathan Goode who has run 9:01 for 3000 meters. That PR gives me a ton of confidence that Goode can (maybe) be a potential fringe low-stick if his freshman-to-sophomore year jump is as significant as it sometimes can be.
8. Christian Brothers Colts (NJ)
It’s going to be a very tall task for the Christian Brothers Academy to reload after graduating four of their top-five runners from a squad that finished 6th at last year’s NXN meet. And yet, if any team can pull it off, it’s the Colts with their extensive history of top-tier depth and brilliant postseason success.
The lone returning scorer from last year is senior Joe Barrett who has had a track season that is nothing short of wonderful, highlighted by an 8:43 performance over 3200 meters.
One athlete who will be expected to step into a key role this cross country season is junior Luke Hnatt. He finished runner-up in the "Open" race at last year’s NXR Northeast meet. Oh, and he ran a fantastic time of 9:10 (3200) this past spring, making me think that he holds a lot more scoring value than his 16:02 (5k) personal best may suggest.
It will take a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck to match what Christian Brothers Academy did last fall. However, it’s certainly possible that this year's team can match it and perhaps even surpass it.
7. Austin Vandergrift Vipers (TX)
I will admit it, I thought Austin Vandergrift was going to qualify for NXN last fall. They had proven themselves against nearly all the top teams in Texas and they had run some blazing fast times (although I’m not sure how much I believe the distance accuracy of some of the Texas courses).
However, it simply didn’t click for the Vipers in their season finale last year as they fell to 3rd place at the NXR South meet.
But it's now 2024 and Austin Vandergrift brings back seven of their top-nine runners from a squad that won the rated section of the Woodbridge Classic and placed 2nd to Southlake Carroll (who would go on to finish 3rd at NXN) at the Texas XC State Championships.
The Vipers are led by senior Hudson Haley who finished 31st at NXN last year and backed up that performance with a 14:57 (5k) mark on the track. Right now, the battle for Texas (and NXR South) looks to be incredibly tight, but Austin Vandergrift should very much be part of that conversation.
6. Jesuit Crusaders (OR)
At first glance, you may wonder why I’m putting the Jesuit Crusaders, a team that only placed 6th at the NXR Northwest meet and 2nd at the OSAA 6A XC State Championships last fall, this high in our top-25 rankings.
Well, there are two big reasons for that.
First of all, they averaged a blistering 15:30 for 5000 meters last year, a wildly impressive time (although I have a couple of questions about whether they achieved their personal bests on a short course or not). Secondly, and arguably more importantly, they will return six out of their top-seven from last fall. And by this point, you can likely tell that we highly value a team that has numerous returners.
One important Crusader athlete to keep an eye out for is senior Loland Fleming who was last year’s seventh man. He made some huge strides this track season, chopping off a whopping 19 seconds of his 3k PR. That effort has me thinking that he’s going to bring immense value to the upper-middle portion of Jesuit’s lineup this fall.
5. Southlake Carroll (TX)
It’s always going to be hard for a team that loses four of their top-six athletes to have a successful rebuild, especially when they are fresh off of a podium finish at last year’s national meet.
Luckily for the Southlake Carroll Dragons, they return some very impressive athletes, specifically junior Caden Leonard who is already well experienced on the national stage. Leonard placed 21st at NXN last fall (fourth scoring athlete) and has run outstanding track times of 4:04 (mile) and 8:51 (3200) as a sophomore.
However, relative to expectations, I think the more important athlete for the Dragons won’t be Leonard. Instead, I think that title goes to senior Griffin Cords who had the race of his life at the 2023 NXR South meet, running a huge 5k PR of 15:21.
If Cords can start to establish some consistency in the 15:20s (or even faster), then Southlake Carroll suddenly has a three-headed monster composed of Cords, Leonard and senior Blake Bullard (15:09 for 5k). On paper, that is a trio that very few teams can match.
4. American Fork Cavemen (UT)
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: American Fork loses Danny Simmons, the 5k national record holder and a guaranteed low-stick superstar.
However, they still have Kaden Evans whose credentials (2nd at UHSAA XC Championships and RunningLane 3200-meter champion) still put him in the running to be a top-10 scorer in the team standings at NXN.
Even so, the Cavemen's biggest challenge is that they lose everyone else from their top-seven at NXN.
Luckily, American Fork found some fantastic replacements during the track season in guys like Carter Moore (9:19 for 3200), Austin Plewe (4:13 for 1600 meters), Ryker Bennett (1:53 for 800 meters) and Alex Williams (9:31 for 3200) meters. Those young men look primed to make big contributions in their first cross country season on varsity for the Cavemen.
When you look at those track times, you begin to see that, once again, American Fork is sitting on a TON of potential. While the Cavemen may not make it back to the heights that they achieved last fall, they are certainly still capable of challenging for a podium finish at the national meet.
3. Belen Jesuit Wolverines (FL)
The good news for the Belen Jesuit Wolverines is that they bring back four of the seven runners who finished 4th at last year’s national meet. That includes the top sophomore in the country, Marcelo Mantecon as well as middle distance superstar, Tiago Socarras.
The bad news for Belen Jesuit is that they graduate the Ruiz twins (to Florida and Penn, respectively) as well as Evan Torres (to Miami).
To me, the narrative around Belen Jesuit largely stays the same. The Wolverines appear to be head-and-shoulders away from the rest of the competition in the Southeast region. However, they haven't been able to fully showcase their potential as the podium team that we know they are.
Even so, I think the Wolverines should be a lock for a top-10 finish at NXN this December. They could certainly end their season on the podium if they get a little bit of luck and play their cards just right.
2. Herriman Mustangs (UT)
Herriman doesn't rebuild. They reload.
The Mustangs won last year’s national title with a squad featuring four seniors. That, of course, would typically be enough to kill any hopes of achieving back-to-back national titles.
However, Herriman conveniently got three transfers to join their team this fall. Those three transfers apparently ran 15:17, 15:24 and 15:45 for 5000 meters earlier this summer in a time trial, breathing life back into the Mustangs' title aspirations.
And yet, despite the talent of those three transfers, the Mustangs are still led by senior Tayshaun Ogomo, a runner with incredible range who has posted times of 15:14 for 5k and 1:52 for 800 meters.
Up until this week, I didn’t think that there was going to be a squad that could challenge our top-ranked team for this year’s national title. But after seeing Herriman’s top-five average 15:19 (5k) in a time trial (admittedly on a very fast and slightly downhill course), the race for the national title just became a whole lot more interesting.
1. Niwot Cougars
On paper, the Niwot boys seem like the overwhelming favorite for the 2024 national title.
Last year at NXN, they finished an excellent 5th place overall…and lost nobody. In fact, the Cougars don’t lose any of their top-15 returners from the 2023 season, giving them a huge advantage in terms of depth, experience and (presumably) team culture.
Niwot is led by the dynamic duo of junior Rocco Culpepper and sophomore Quinn Sullivan, both of whom have finished inside the top-40 at NXN and both of whom have run under 15:20 for 5000 meters.
While Culpepper and Sullivan are both primed to be great low-sticks at the national meet, it is the crazy depth that earns Niwot our top spot in these rankings. The Cougars can field a whopping 10 athletes who have run 15:50 or faster for the 5000-meter distance.
When you take a step back and look at Niwot, you see that they have everything that they need for a national title: experience at the national meet, solid low-sticks and unparalleled depth. That’s why the Niwot Cougars are my preseason pick to win NXN come December.
