TSR's "If Everything Was Normal" D2 Top 25 XC Rankings: #5-1 (Men)

As mentioned in our rankings rubric article, we are aware that certain conferences and universities will not be competing this fall due to ongoing concerns surrounding COVID-19. However, for the sake of content, we have constructed these rankings as if a regular cross country season will happen.

5. Enael Woldemichael, Rs. Junior, Grand Valley State

There could be some arguments on where Woldemichael should actually fall in these rankings as we gear up for a hypothetical season where is everything is normal.

The GVSU superstar was absent from the 2019 cross country season and had taken an extended period of time off from racing before that. However, Woldemichael returned this past winter where he quickly reestablished himself as one of the top D2 distance runners in the country yet again with one of the fastest 3k times of the year (8:07).

Woldemichael has finished 6th at the NCAA XC Championships twice in his career, including the 2018 national meet where he helped the Lakers win their first-ever national title. If anything, cross country is the season where he's at his best.

There is no doubt that Woldemichael is one of the best runners in the country and we had no reason to believe that he wouldn't be at the top of his game for the upcoming cross country season. He's one of the most experienced and accomplished distance runners in the nation (despite only being a redshirt junior) and we didn't see a scenario where that wasn't going to benefit him this fall.

4. Gidieon Kimutai, Junior, Missouri Southern

Kimutai looked to be a lock to win the national title last fall when he toed the line in Sacramento. He hadn’t lost a race all season long and was proving to be an elite talent on the cross country course. If it weren’t for a terrible last quarter mile (which led to a 5th place finish), we may be talking about Kimutai trying to defend the 2019 national title.

That being said, the junior from Missouri Southern is certainly someone who could have won NCAA gold this fall had the national meet not been cancelled. Kimutai was the top returner from the 2018 national meet when he finished 4th overall and has posted a handful of strong times on the track as well.

The biggest question with Kimutai is whether or not he can close the deal and (eventually) secure gold at the national meet during cross country. He's more than capable of doing so, but it looks like we'll need to wait another year to see if that happens.

3. Taylor Stack, Rs. Senior, Western Colorado

One could argue that Stack would have been Mutai’s biggest competition this fall based on their racing styles. He’s a grinder. He’s not afraid of any of the paces that someone can run and he’s learned from his front-running experiences in the past.

Last fall, the Western Colorado veteran was the first D2 runner across the line at the Chile Pepper Festival where he placed 5th overall against some top-tier competition. He followed that up with a 2nd place finish at the RMAC Championships and then a 3rd place finish at the South Central Regional Championships. He ended his season with a bronze medal result at the national meet.

That championship resume -- as well as his underrated closing ability -- could ultimately get Stack over the hump and give him his first-ever individual national title. It just won't happen this fall.

He’s ultimately faster when it comes to the shorter events on the track, but if Stack can hold his own for 9000 meters, we might be talking about an upset in a year where we actually have a national meet.

2. Christian Noble, Rs. Senior, Lee (Tenn.))

There may be an argument where Noble is listed as the top athlete in our rankings even though he didn't compete last fall. The Lee veteran redshirted the 2019 cross country season, but has since posted jaw-dropping performances on the track that have comfortably put him in the elite tier of distance runners in Division II.

Noble, who finished as an All-American in 18th place at the 2018 national meet, came into the 2020 indoor track season on a mission. The first two races of his indoor track season resulted in him running 8:10 for 3000 meters and 14:23 for 5000 meters. Those were great times, but he would only improve upon those marks as the season progressed.

Noble later dropped an outstanding 5k time of 14:01 at Boston University and came back to run 8:05 for 3000 meters (8:00.28 with a flat-track conversion) at the Camel City Elite Invitational. Noble also took home four gold medals at the Gulf South Conference Championships.

Unfortunately for him, the indoor national meet was cancelled during a year where Noble could have very realistically been a national champion. But the Lee superstar has seemingly found a new level of fitness during quarantine after running 13:48 for 5000 meters at the Music City Distance Carnival last week.

Noble has the resume of a TSR #1 ranked runner, but his lack of recent cross country results ultimately forced us to place him at our TSR #2 spot instead. That, however, shouldn't take away from how absurdly talented he is.

1. Ezra Mutai, Sophomore, American International

Mutai comes into the 2020 cross country season as the overall favorite and he’d maybe be further ahead of his competition if the indoor national meet hadn't been cancelled.

Although his early-race aggression at the 2019 National Championships could have been deemed as risky, it's hard to deny the fact that he ran with Kimutai long enough to see the fruits of his labor pay off with a national title.

The American International ace was undefeated throughout the regular season and simply dominated his competition. We questioned how he would handle much stronger competition at the 2019 national meet, but apparently, that wasn't a concern for him.

During the winter months, we saw Mutai show up on the track as he ran 14:02 for 5000 meters just two weeks after winning an NCAA title on the grass. And while that performance was impressive by itself, what struck truly us was when Mutai ran 8:02 for 3000 meters later in the season.

It would have been easy to think that he was a prototypical 5k/10k runner with great endurance and limited speed/turnover. However, his 8:02 suggests that he can not only run with anyone at the D2 level, but he can also run away from them in the latter stages of a race.

He’ll be just a sophomore this year, but after his one season of cross country and indoor track, it’s clear that he'll be winning multiple national titles during his time as a Yellowjacket.