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TSR's 2025 Preseason D2 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Men): #6 Lee (Tenn.) Flames
Written by Sarah Turner, edits & additional commentary via Gavin Struve
NOTE: Earlier this summer, The Stride Report reached out to nearly every team that was considered for a possible ranking this summer. While we did receive numerous responses and great clarity, we did not get a 100% response rate. On certain occasions, we are referencing TFFRS in order to talk about returners and athletes who are out of eligibility.
It’s hard to have a conversation about upper-tier Division Two distance programs without mentioning the Lee (Tenn.) Flames.
Coach Caleb Morgan’s squad has grown into a national power over the last decade, sustaining a level of consistency that has largely been concentrated to a few select RMAC teams, Grand Valley State and, more recently, Wingate and West Texas A&M.
With extreme depth and postseason poise, the Flames have become a standard for what it means to be a complete program, and 2025 should be no different.
As we dive deeper into the next few months, the Flames return the majority of their scoring core from a year ago, including three of their top five finishers from the NCAA XC Championships. With a more experienced roster and several rising stars, it shouldn’t be a surprise for the Flames to make yet another deep postseason run.
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The Flames typically don’t compete very frequently in the regular season, instead building up their training to peak at the right time in the postseason, where they thrive.
However, Lee was heating up early in 2024, with an early season 7th-place finish at the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, Alabama. Competing against several elite Division One schools, including the likes of Alabama, Louisville and Georgia Tech, this was far from a disappointing finish for the Flames, as they recorded the best result by a D2 team that day.
The top four Lee runners all placed among the top-50 individuals while competing in a deep field of 47 teams. Aaron Himes led the way with a 29th-place finish and was followed by Ryan Lovelace (37th), Xian Campbell (42nd) and Pierre Chauveau (49th), showing off Lee’s elite depth in the squad’s season opener. Luke Gaddis (62nd) came through as the final scorer for the Flames, also showing his fitness in early September.
The next challenge came at the Live in Lou Classic. There, the Flames competed in the “Gold” race against D1 power programs as well as D2 juggernaut, West Texas A&M.
Gaddis had a stellar day, running home in 13th place, and the rest of Lee’s scorers followed suit in the top 50. Himes (22nd), Lovelace (24th), Campbell (34th) and Owen Pearce (46th) helped stoke the Flames to a 3rd-place team finish.
After the trip to Kentucky, the Flames went back to Huntsville to compete in the UAH Chargers XC Invitational. However, many of the team's top runners were rested for the upcoming GSC XC Championships.
It was there that Edimo Ninteretse broke through on the grass, bringing home a 15th-place finish. Elijah Moran (41st), Kenneth Bishop (52nd) and Tal Old (55th) all grouped together to contribute to a solid finish, with Parker Campbell not too far behind them in 85th.
The Flames’ second run in Huntsville truly showcased the group’s depth. On that stage, the team brought home an 8th-place finish in another massive field despite being without their varsity runners.
As the conference title favorites headed into the GSC XC Championships, the Flames knew they had targets on their backs, the type of pressure this program is no stranger to. Up-and-coming Alabama-Huntsville was expected to be hot on their tails, and so was Mississippi College, another constant contender in the GSC.
But as anyone who keeps up with the GSC knows, the Flames did what they do best: win.
Pack-running once again proved crucial, as all 10 Flames finished in the top 20 at their conference meet. Gaddis, Lovelace and Pearce went 2-3-4, as Ninteretse (6th) and Chauveau (8th) also kept themselves in the top 10 to close out the scoring lineup.
The Flames then went back down to Huntsville for the third time in 2024 for the NCAA South Regional XC Championships. With teams like Florida Southern and Embry-Riddle added to the mix, Lee had to work even harder to claim a fourth-consecutive regional title.
Lovelace (3rd) executed extremely well, becoming Lee’s first repeat lead scorer of the season. Ninteretse (5th), Xian Campbell (8th), Gaddis (9th) and Pearce (14th) all worked together to keep the Flames atop the South region.
Heading to Sacramento for the NCAA XC Championships, the South regional champions knew they needed to improve on a 14th-place team finish from the 2023 national meet, where the group arguably had a stronger team than what they showed.
Nintereste (78th) and Lovelace (84th) proved themselves as the team’s top duo, and Chaveau also had a solid showing, finishing in 107th place as a true freshman. But after that, Himes (147th) and Pearce (153rd) didn’t quite climb high enough, and the pack-running mentality of the Flames didn’t pan out the way they needed it to.
Ultimately, the Flames were put out, heading back home to Cleveland, Tennessee with a 16th-place team finish. In our eyes, it wasn’t a true reflection of this team’s ceiling in 2024.
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The fact that so many different combinations of men were able to put together first-class performances in 2024 indicates that the Flames will operate the same way in 2025.
Edimo Ninteretse, who nearly cracked our preseason top-25 individual rankings, returns to the grass for the Flames. The senior recorded not one, but two sub-14:00 performances over 5000 meters on the track this year. While he couldn’t quite convert those performances into top-12 finishes at either the NCAA Indoor Championships or the NCAA Outdoor Championships, he is more than capable of becoming an All-American on the grass in 2025.
If you hadn't already heard of Pierre Chauveau, you’ll definitely know the name soon.
The 2025 GSC Men’s Track Freshman of the Year is expected to shave off even more time in his sophomore cross country season. After a near top-100 finish in his first collegiate cross country national meet, Chauveau ran personal bests of 3:50 (1500), 14:09 (5k) and 29:46 (10k) on the outdoor oval in the spring. He won a GSC title in the 10k and finished as the conference runner-up over 5k this past spring.
Now with a year of championship racing experience, Chauveau will be hard to beat with his all-in, pedal-to-the-metal racing style.
The return of consistent senior Ryan Lovelace will also be imperative for the Flames in 2025 after he was arguably their most reliable lead scorer last year.
During the 2025 indoor track season, Lovelace clocked an elite mile time at the BU Last Chance meet in March, running 4:02 to advance to the indoor national meet.
Three more big names for the Flames this year will be seniors Xian Campbell and Luke Gaddis, as well as junior Stephen Clark. All three competed at the cross country national meet for the Flames last fall, and all three made big strides on the track this spring.
Gaddis and Clark ended their spring seasons as All-Americans in the 3000-meter steeplechase, and if that high level of fitness has carried over into the fall, the Flames will be difficult to quell. Gaddis gives Lee another low-stick candidate alongside Ninteretse, Chauveau and Lovelace, given how good he was on the grass last year before the national meet.
Campbell should also finish well inside the top 200 at the NCAA XC Championships after his first national meet showing. He was better than how he finished his 2024 season, and he has since run strong times of 14:27 (5k) and 30:10 (10k).
Clark hasn't quite been at the same level on the cross country course, but he looks suited to step up as a scoring option with Owen Pearce and Aaron Himes graduated.
In our eyes, Berry transfer Tucker Wright raises Lee's floor by a good bit. He brings valuable national meet experience with a top-150 finish at the 2024 NCAA D3 XC Championships and 8:21 (3k), 14:49 (5k) and 30:21 (10k) PRs.
Then there's French import Kylian Boulanger, who brings in 14:37 (5k) and 30:29 (10k road race) strength.
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With championship talent and a roster stacked with both seasoned veterans and rising stars, the 2025 Lee Flames are built for another run at national relevance. Their strategic racing and pack strength should remain the same, but other teams, especially in the South region, still have not found ways to beat them.
While the sting of last year’s 16th-place finish at the cross country national meet may still linger, it should also be a powerful motivator, and this group of Flames knows what it takes to contend with the best in Division Two. A top-10 (or even top-five) finish on the national stage in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is well within their wheelhouse this year, which is why they’ll begin the season as our preseason TSR #6 team.
Ninteretse, Gaddis, Chauveau and Lovelace are each All-American candidates, and Campbell, Clark, Wright and Boulanger all appear capable of closing out the scoring quickly enough.
As October approaches and championship season looms, don’t be surprised if Lee once again catches fire right when it matters most.
