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TSR's 2026 Preseason D1 XC Top 50 Rankings: Just Missed & Honorable Mentions (Men)
Here we go. Our 2026 men's and women's preseason individual cross country rankings. Let's start with our "Just Missed" and "Honorable Mention" names. As a reminder, our "Just Missed" section and "Honorable Mentions" section only include 10 names, each.
As a reminder, you can find our ranking rubric here. This week will feature our D1 rankings while next week will be our D2 and D3 rankings. Let's begin...
JUST MISSED (in no particular order)
Evans Tanui, Sophomore, Arizona
We'll admit, Evans Tanui is a name that sparked a lot of debate amongst our writers at The Stride Report. And if we were forced to extend our rankings to 51 names, then this Arizona sophomore likely would have gotten that final spot...maybe.
There are two very different sides of Tanui's resume that make him such a polarizing athlete. On one hand, the Wildcat ace posted a fantastic 44th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships last fall. He also ran excellent times of 3:59 (mile) and 13:31 (5k) this past spring.
On the flip-side, however, Tanui didn't face much competition last fall. And frankly, he didn't even win two very simple rust-busters at the beginning of the 2025 cross country season. And when he did face top competition at the BIG 12 XC Championships, he struggled greatly, fading to 29th place.
Put simply, Tanui is exceptionally talented and someone who could absolutely be an All-American at his peak come November. Of course, with tons of volatility and inconsistency, it's hard to see how he's more established and/or more proven than other names who are in our rankings (even if they didn't place as high as Tanui did on the national stage).
Liam Newhart, Junior, Wisconsin
There was a moment in the construction of our rankings where Liam Newhart was listed in among the top-50. Of course, as is the case every year, further debate from our writers, and the discovery of new names, slowly pushed the Wisconsin talent out of our list and into our "Just Missed" section.
Throughout last fall, Newhart was quietly great across the board. His consistency proved to be exceptionally valuable for Wisconsin and he often held his own on major stages. That could be seen at the Nuttycombe Invite where Newhart secured a surprisingly brilliant 16th place finish!
That unexpected low-stick result wouldn't necessarily be matched again, but Newhart did on to place 10th at the BIG 10 XC Championships and 76th at the NCAA XC Championships. And if that low-stick reliability wasn't good enough, Newhart was able to run times of 3:39 (1500) and 13:40 (5k) on the oval.
There are other returning men from the NCAA XC Championships who earned a better finish on that stage than Newhart did last fall. However, the reliability and consistency of this Badger ace would give any team tons of value. It also helps that Newhart ran so well at such an elite meet like the Nuttycombe Invite -- that race showed us that he has All-American potential within him.
Even so, we needed a slightly more complete fall campaign (or a slightly stronger national meet showing) to give him the nod for a top-50 spot in our rankings. And frankly, we may end up regretting leaving him out of our list come November.
Justine Kipkoech, Junior, Iowa State
Ah, yes. Justine Kipkoech. One of the most difficult names not just to rank, but to talk about and analyze. Allow us to explain.
At his best, Kipkoech is one of the single-most naturally talented distance runners in the NCAA. He has run 3:32 for 1500 meters, owns a 7:38 PR for 3000 meters (en route) and just ran 13:24 for 5000 meters this past spring with Colorado. We should also mention that he took 3rd place in a stacked field at Pre-Nationals back in 2024, losing only to Habtom Samuel and Graham Blanks.
The challenge, however, is that Kipkoech has struggled with inconsistency and with his cross country performances since then. He was a DNF at the 2024 NCAA XC Championships and later settled for 79th place at the 2025 NCAA XC Championships after a very uneventful fall campaign. Since then, Kipkoech has bounced around from Eastern Kentucky to Colorado to now Iowa State -- and he was removed from the Buffaloes' roster this past spring in mid-April.
The very best version of Kipkoech is beyond lethal. In fact, it's downright scary. But until he is able to establish greater consistency and deliver on the national stage, it is admittedly difficult to place this Kenyan superstar in the top-50 portion of our rankings.
Nick Busienei, Sophomore, Arkansas
I'll be honest, I'm fairly worried that we're robbing Nick Busienei from a spot in our preseason top-50 cross country rankings. The natural talent and proven track success of this Arkansas newcomer is just good enough for me to feel uneasy about hitting "publish" on this article.
Funny enough, Busienei didn't compete for the Razorbacks last fall. In fact, he didn't make his NCAA debut until late January during the indoor track season. But when he did toe the line, the Kenyan distance ace turned out to be a pleasant surprise. In 2026, Busienei ran times of 3:42 (1500), 7:49 (3k) and 13:21 (5k). He also won the SEC indoor 5000-meter title in one of the more oddly-executed races that I have seen in a while.
On paper, Busienei presents as a guy who is very clearly better as the racing distance gets longer -- and that's a big deal considering that the NCAA men contest the 8000-meter and 10,000-meter distances during the fall months.
At the same time, Busienei has yet to toe the line for cross country. And while he did have moments of excellence on the track this past winter and spring, there were also moments where he simply underwhelmed. That, of course, is not totally uncommon for younger international names who just entered the NCAA.
If Busienei showcases the full level of talent this fall that we think he has, then he's going to be a nightmare to race against. However, doing so consistently may end up being the biggest point of emphasis that we place on this still-young Razorback moving forward.
Zouhair Redouane, Junior, Tennessee
If you thought I was scared to not rank Nick Busienei, then allow me to introduce Zouhair Redouane, someone who doesn't just have potential, but has proven to be a star on the grass before.
Redouane has bounced around to a few different schools over the last couple of years. He was first at California Baptist before committing to Tennessee -- only to then flip his allegiance to Texas Tech. However, this past winter, Redouane changed course once again, this time joining the Volunteers.
When Redouane was with the CBU men as a freshman, he wasn't just good -- he was AWESOME. The former Lancer was 10th at Pre-Nationals in the fall of 2024 before earning a tremendous 26th place All-American finish at the NCAA XC Championships that same season.
However, since transferring, Redouane has had a few hiccups. He rarely competed for Texas Tech in 2025, and when he did, he wasn't all that exciting. And when he transferred to Tennessee, he didn't necessarily impress us on the grass. His 42nd place finish at the SEC XC Championships was flat-out horrible, although a 78th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships was a nice way to rebound.
On the track, Redouane very clearly picked up momentum again. He ran strong times of 7:49 (3k), 13:34 (5k) and 28:27 (10k). He also advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the latter event, but settled for 21st place out of 24 competitors.
Trying to reconcile the two sides of Redouane's resume feels impossible. At his best, this is someone who has run great times in the longer distances on the track and has already proven to be a top-30 All-American in cross country. However, his most recent fall campaign was far from exciting and he wasn't exactly competitive at the outdoor national meet back in June.
So where do we place this Volunteer star?
Well, your guess is as good as mine.
Matan Ivri, Junior, Wisconsin
The fall of 2024 was when we first began to view Matan Ivri as a national-caliber runner. He did, after all, place 58th at the NCAA XC Championships that year.
Naturally, we were expecting him to take a big step forward in 2025.
While Ivri was undoubtedly productive last fall, he didn't necessarily take a leap on the grass that many of us thought he would. Placing 34th at the Nuttycombe Invite and 9th at the BIG 10 XC Championships was fine, but a 111th place effort on the national stage left us wanting so much more.
However, Ivri's breakout would eventually come on the track. There, the Israeli distance star clocked brilliant times of 7:43 (3k) and 13:23 (5k) before earning 5th place All-American honors over 1500 meters back in June. And if that wasn't enough, Ivri went on to run an incredible metric mile PR of 3:34!
We've seen Ivri produce competitive cross country results before, and his latest performances on the track suggest that he is on a VERY dangerous hot streak right now. If he translates his blistering-fast track times to the grass, then he will absolutely be an All-American in 2026.
However, before that happens, this Wisconsin ace must prove that his slight step backwards in the fall of 2025 was just a fluke rather than a trend.
Jean Kipchumba, Freshman, Missouri
Meshack Koech, Freshman Colorado
For the sake of simplicity, we have opted to lump our analysis for these two men together, mainly because the narratives surrounding them are pretty much identical.
Jean Kipchumba has reportedly signed with Missouri, carrying with him times of 7:59 (3k) and 13:50 (5k). The catch, of course, is that those marks were produced at altitude, giving him rough conversions of 7:42 (3k) and 13:17 (5k). Meanwhile, Koech has supposedly run 13:51 for 5000 meters, also at altitude. His conversion is rumored to put him just below the 13:20 barrier.
Truthfully, there are very few results for us at The Stride Report to gauge when it comes to these athletes and many other international names. Even so, from the research that we have done over the summer, both Kipchumba and Koech seem to be among the stronger long distance talents from overseas.
While those conversions are incredibly impressive, they're only that -- conversions. They aren't actually times that they have individually produced and it's not entirely clear how that kind of fitness will translate to the NCAA, especially when it comes to collegiate cross country.
Even so, with conversions as fast as that, Kipchumba and Koech deserve to at least get a mention in our "Just Missed" category.
Leo Young, Senior, Stanford
Some of you reading this article may be a bit stunned to see Leo Young's name in the "Just Missed" portion of our rankings -- and understandably so. He did, after all, earn a brilliant 5th place finish at the ACC XC Championships last fall and he ran 13:24 for 5000 meters this past spring.
And his pedigree? Well, it's off the charts.
But the reality is that Leo Young has been good at cross country, but rarely ever great. Yes, his performance at the ACC XC Championships was impressive, but the rest of his results never made him a star-caliber low-stick.
Make no mistake, placing 27th at the Gans Creek Classic, 32nd at the Nuttycombe Invite and 72nd at the NCAA XC Championships demand respect. However, at the same time, none of those results really jump off the page.
Those are three "good-but-not-great" results at the three biggest (and three most competitive) cross country meets of the 2025 season.
If people wanted to rank Leo Young in their top-50, we wouldn't argue with them (much). He undeniably has the talent to be an All-American and his top-five result at the ACC XC Championships needs to be celebrated. Even so, a more complete season at his absolute best would have likely been enough for this Stanford star to be ranked.
Tam Gavenas, Sophomore, Harvard
I am sorry, Tam Gavenas. I sincerely tried to get you into our rankings. But at the end of the day, the masses (i.e. the rest of our writers) overruled me.
I really like this Harvard sophomore. I thought he raced well beyond his years last fall despite just being a freshman and he was generally consistent in 2025 despite a (somewhat large) hiccup at the national meet.
As just a rookie, Gavenas was 3rd at Paul Short (Gold), 26th at the Nuttycombe Invite, runner-up at the Ivy League XC Championships and 5th at the Northeast Regional XC Championships! Before seeing national meet result, you would probably assume that natural growth would put this rising Crimson sophomore in a position to be ranked this summer...right?
Well, the catch in all of this is that Gavenas struggled at the NCAA XC Championships...like, a lot. The Harvard low-stick faded to 166th place in Columbia, Missouri and did not compete on the indoor oval. He did, however, clock a strong 5000-meter time of 13:41 at the Raleigh Relays and later won the Ivy League title in the event back in mid-May.
I sincerely believe that Gavenas can be an All-American this fall. I think he has tons of youth-based upside, holds elite pedigree and hasn't really hurt his stock since the cross country national meet. Don't sleep on this Harvard product moving forward.
HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)
Iker Sanchez Lopez, Rs. Senior, Northern Arizona
Sam Burgess, Senior, Harvard
Isaac Hedengren, Junior, BYU
Pierre Attiogbe, Junior, Cornell
Benne Anderson, Rs. Junior, Syracuse
Allan Kiplagat, Junior, Middle Tennessee State
JoJo Jourdon, Junior, Wake Forest
Charlie Ortmans, Senior, Harvard
Charlie Sprott, Senior, Wake Forest
Nelson Pariken, Sophomore, Alabama
Quick Notes & Key Omissions
Wake Forest's JoJo Jourdon has been recovering from a stress reaction since last fall. While we do expect the Demon Deacon runner to be healthy for the upcoming season, it is too difficult to place him in a spot any better/higher than our "Honorable Mentions" category.
This past spring, BYU's James Corrigan was recovering from an injury that very clearly limited his production. While it's possible that he returns to peak form this fall, his up-and-down performances on the grass have forced us to keep him out of our preseason lists.
