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TSR's 2025 Preseason D3 XC Top 10 Team Rankings (Men): #5 RPI Engineers
Written by Conor Daly, 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 comical how similar the storyline surrounding the RPI men is each and every year. And that’s not a bad thing; the Engineers have found a process that regularly lands them in our preseason top-10 rankings.
In past years, we’ve described RPI as a stable team with few uncertainties and an abundance of depth. With numerous veteran upperclassmen returning, those are the exact words that sum up this year’s group.
The Engineers are a team with countless lineup options. Unlike some of his competitors, Coach John Lynch won’t be going to bed praying that he can develop a backend scoring contingent that can get by. That’s the gift of returning seven men who have run 14:40 (5k) or faster.
However, with only one of those men holding a personal best of under 14:30 (5k), Lynch might be going to bed praying that his team will have enough firepower to capitalize on remarkable depth.
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The Engineers opened their fall 2024 campaign with a trip to the Purple Valley Invite in what was largely a dual meet with Northeast powerhouse Williams. With four runners in the top five, the RPI men were clearly the class of the field.
RPI deserved credit for that dominant win, but the outcome was more of a reflection of early-season chaos for the Ephs than greatness from the Engineers.
They faced a more telling test in the Paul Short Run “Gold" race against a field mainly made up of Division One teams. Jonathan Craun, Jack Loughery and Tobin Durham weren’t overwhelmed by the field and led the way. Each of those men produced nice openers, finishing 81-100-106, respectively.
The problem was that Vince Simonetti, the expected low-stick who was coming off an 8th-place finish at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, was nowhere to be found, falling back to 130th place. With their fifth runner placing 164th, any hope of a narrow five-man scoring spread went away.
We thought a finish within 10 points of Johns Hopkins in the team standings would be decent, all things considered. However, that narrative changed when we learned that RPI would have finished outside of the top five teams in a hypothetical Division Three-only merged race. We were underwhelmed, but knew that there was upside to be found if the lineup could execute better in the weeks to come.
The RPI men did just that at the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational. This time, Simonetti rediscovered his All-American form with an emphatic win by over 10 seconds. Durham (7th) and Craun (12th) were proficient as well.
Loughery (18th) and Justin Cascio (19th) closed the scoring reasonably quickly. With Simonetti beginning to look like one of the best runners in the country again and a quality backend scoring contingent complementing him, RPI appeared to have a lineup without any major flaws.
SUNY Geneseo took the team win in an effort that was simply superior man-for-man. Still, the RPI team with a high floor that we projected during the summer was coming to fruition.
We can’t imagine that the RPI men lost any sleep over the Liberty League XC Championships, as they didn’t face any nationally competitive competition there. Occupying seven of the top-10 spots in the conference with a lineup structure that was very similar to that of the previous weeks, there wasn’t much to learn from this outing.
The Mideast Regional XC Championships was much of the same story on the team level, although it was loaded with more individual talent. Simonetti (3rd) beat everyone you could have realistically asked him to, while Loughery (4th) was peaking at just the right time.
Add in Cascio, Durham and Craun coming across the line in a very predictable 6-7-9 order, and the Engineers turned their attention to the bigger fish to fry the following week.
At the NCAA XC Championships, RPI flexed its depth. The Engineers had the second-best fifth man in the entire field (behind only the national champions), but lacked the firepower to compete for a podium position.
Simonetti (42nd) wasn’t as potent as his recent performances had suggested, but Loughery, Durham and Craun were nearly side-by-side, going 70-72-73 to provide nice stability. The same could be said about Cascio (90th), who delivered on expectations.
For such a complete squad, a 9th-place team finish wasn’t all that thrilling. It was, however, a solid result that reflected the well-executed races of all five RPI scorers.
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The departure of Vince Simonetti, this team’s lone low-stick figure, leaves a void that will be hard to fill. At his best, he was the 8th-place finisher at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships and a 14:01 (5k) runner. Unfortunately, RPI’s current roster does not house anyone who is all that close to replicating a result like that.
Another key piece from the Engineers' 2024 cross country national meet lineup who is moving on is Jonathan Craun. As a scorer in every race last fall, he was an integral figure in the steadiness of his team. Especially on the grass, Craun had some very nice and often underappreciated results.
But with those two men being the extent of the losses, that puts RPI on the front foot heading into 2025. And while RPI won’t be able to replicate the scoring value of Simonetti at his best (or even at 90%), two returners have resumes that make them strong All-American candidates.
We are, of course, talking about TSR "Honorable Mention" names Jack Loughery and Tobin Durham, who were considered for our preseason top-25 individual rankings. Both seniors have followed much of the same path thus far, with breakout seasons on the grass last fall.
Loughery, a California native, took 2024 top-10 cross country All-American Charles Namiot to the line at the Purple Valley XC Invite. His effort at the Paul Short Run was sneaky good as well, as he was the 10th-fastest Division Three athlete on the day.
Of course, his 70th-place finish in his 2024 cross country season finale was just the result we like to see when looking for potential low-stick stars. Small personal bests from 1500 meters to 5k earlier this year don’t hurt, but we’re more excited by how reliably Loughery has raced at the highest levels of his fitness.
His partner in crime, Durham, was in Loughery's pocket for almost every race. His season was uber-consistent, with highlights of a 7th-place finish at the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational and a 72nd-place outing at the NCAA XC Championships.
During the 2025 indoor track season, Durham’s cross country success led to an immense step forward in the form of a 14:20 (5k) PR and a Liberty League title in that event. However, the aerobic ace only raced once on the outdoor oval, in early April, and hasn’t toed the line since.
We could be noticeably underselling him as a potential lead scorer if he returns with the type of momentum he held during the winter.
Justin Cascio figures to bridge the gap between RPI's leading duo and the rest of the pack. As a two-time top-100 finisher at the NCAA XC Championships, he has been competitive for quite some time.
Cascio progressed well throughout last cross country season, stepping up to place 19th at the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational and never looking back from there. While his new personal bests over 5k and 10k might not stick out, he’s proven time and time again that he’s superior on the grass than he is on the oval.
Jack Czarnecki and Brady Geisler are returning names who both hold cross country national meet experience. Neither was a part of the scoring group in that season finale, but runs of 149th and 174th place, respectively, provide clear routes to improvement.
That national meet result was pretty on par with Czarnecki’s 2024 cross country season. Since then, he’s taken a leap forward in the middle distances to run 3:47 (1500) and qualify for the outdoor national meet. Even though his greatest talents reside in the metric mile, he has proven that he can very successfully step up in distance, as his 8:19 (3k) and 14:40 (5k) personal bests suggest.
For Geisler, it was rather impressive that he was able to pull together such a solid postseason last fall, considering that he didn’t race until the middle of October. Going on to clock 8:33 (3k) and 14:42 (5k) marks on the indoor oval showed a clear progression in his fitness, one that we look forward to seeing on full display over 8k.
Another man who would have joined Czarnecki and Geisler at the NCAA XC Championships if it weren't for an injury is Evan Lacey. His early season 4th-place finish at the Purple Valley XC Invite really jumps off the page. After that, he logged respectable (but not as impressive) runs through the Liberty League XC Championships, which was his final appearance on the grass.
It seems that this injury lasted for quite some time, as Lacey didn’t return to competition until April. It is admirable that he rallied for an impressive track season, running 3:49 (1500) and 14:38 (5k), the latter of which is not too far behind his personal best.
Even beyond those six men, there are still plenty of lineup options for RPI. Depth is truly what sets the Engineers apart from some of their counterparts. It wouldn’t take much progression for some of their returners to become strong fifth, sixth and seventh runners.
As a freshman, Thomas Manson ran to a huge 8th-place finish at the Purple Valley Invite in his first-ever eight-kilometer race. Couple that with a top-20 finish at the Liberty League XC Championships, and you have someone who’s not all that far away from making the varsity lineup. After being the top finisher at the Alumni Cup, RPI’s intrasquad and alumni 5k race, just a few weeks back, Manson may actually be favored to do so!
Colin Goldschmidt was also top 20 at the conference meet in an effort that was his best of the season. Truthfully, he has yet to display a similar performance on the grass, but a 14:37 (5k) mark could be a hint that he will be much better this year.
It’s largely a similar story for Joey Smith, who hasn’t seen vast success on the cross country course, but is a member of RPI's sub-14:40 (5k) club, which puts him in good company.
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We've mentioned nine men right there who could feasibly contribute to a podium run. The thought of RPI's first podium finish in program history must have the Engineers licking their chops, ready to get after it.
They're coming off of back-to-back top-10 placements on the national stage and had their best-ever finish in program history at the 2023 cross country national meet.
The group’s talent is undeniable, but a big question remains: Will RPI be able to recover from the firepower lost with two scorers gone?
Our rankings are meant to be a reflection of the season as a whole rather than a prediction for the NCAA XC Championships. That, in our eyes, worked in RPI’s favor.
Sure, there are paths to success for teams that pack run like RPI. Often, they have a higher floor because of their depth and are less likely to significantly underperform expectations. However, history indicates that the national meet does not reward depth-based teams like this one.
Luckily for the Engineers, they have nearly three months to figure it out as they push for their first top-five finish or better at the NCAA XC Championships.
