TSR's "If Everything Was Normal" D3 Top 20 XC Rankings: #15-11 (Men)

Additional contributions from Kevin Fischer

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.

15. Cody Chadwick, Senior, UW-Oshkosh

Chadwick was having a big year in 2019-2020 before it was interrupted by COVID. Most of his cross country season was solid, but the end was when it all came together.

He capped off his 2019 cross country campaign with a 21st place finish at the NCAA Championships, 46 places better than what we saw from him in 2018. That result followed an 11th place finish at the Midwest Regional Championships and an 8th place finish at the WIAC Championships -- two of the more competitive postseason meets in Division III.

The UW-Oshkosh ace followed that up with a respectable indoor season where he ran personal bests in the 3000 meters and 5000 meters, going 8:36 and 14:54. However, the most impressive aspect of his indoor track season was his consistency as both of his 3k races and all four of his 5k races were faster than his previous collegiate personal bests.

Chadwick proved that he can show up, week in and week out, a strength that not everybody possesses. Yes, his track times are solid, but they might not necessarily standout when compared with some of the other top names on this list.

Still, he has made steady improvements on the cross country course throughout his college career and we felt that he was going to carry that momentum into this fall.

14. Matthew Sayre, Senior, SUNY-Geneseo

Sayre was the 23rd place finisher at the National Championships last year, earning his first All-American honor to cap off a solid and consistent season. However, his performances throughout the season were arguably just as good. He finished 11th at the Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle against a highly competitive field and later finished 4th at the Atlantic Regional Championships, establishing himself as the top returner in the region for the 2020 season.

During the indoor season, he ran times of 8:37 for the 3000 meters and 14:37 in the 5000 meters, both significant personal bests. However, his 14:39 victory on a flat-track a few weeks later at the AARTFC Championships was likely his most impressive performance of the 2020 indoor track season, and it placed him at NCAA #15 on the D3 national leaderboard.

Before the cancellation of fall championships, Sayre looked poised to make a significant improvement on his finish from 2019 and continue to be one of the top distance talents in the country.

13. Jonathan Ellis, Senior, Calvin

Hailing from the Great Lakes region, Jonathan Ellis had a big cross country season last year which saw him improve from 168th place at the 2018 national meet to 18th place in 2019.

Calvin University has one of the more unique schedules in D3, finding themselves at the MSU Spartan Classic and Joe Piane Invitational (Notre Dame) during the 2019 season -- two meets that mainly host D1 teams.

Regardless, Ellis competed well in those invitational and only got better as the season went on. He finished 8th at the KollegeTown Invitational, won the MIAA conference title and finished runner-up in the Great Lakes Regional Championships.

His success continued through the winter months where he ran 8:27 in the 3000 meters and 14:43 in the 5000 meter, both national-caliber marks.

Now that he’s proven himself to be a strong competitor in D3, Ellis is ready to take his racing to the next level and emerge as a true elite distance runner whenever he next gets the opportunity to compete.

12. Dante Paszkeicz, Junior, Pomona-Pitzer

One of many Sagehens who took a huge step forward last November to help contribute to their 2019 team title was Dante Paszkeicz. As a freshman in 2018, Paszkeicz placed 118th at the cross country national meet, but rebounded to qualify for the Outdoor National Championships in the 1500 meters. He used that momentum to make massive improvements on the grass last fall.

He finished 16th at the KollegeTown Invitational, 9th at the SCIAC Championships and 10th at the West Regional Championships. While these were better times and placings than the year before, Paszkeicz was only the Sagehen’s third or four runner for most of the season.

That, however, all changed at Nationals as he peaked right on time to finish 16th overall with a new 8k personal best of 24:48.

Paszkeicz did not race this past indoor track season, but he does own personal bests of 3:50 for 1500 meters and 1:51 for 800 meters. It's rare to see someone like Paszkeicz boast incredible stamina and blistering speed, but that is what makes him such a valuable name to have on any roster.

11. Jack Whetstone, Senior, Emory

Right in front of Dante Paszkeicz at the National Championships last year was Jack Whetstone from Emory who finished 14th overall in a time of 24:44 for 8000 meters. That was almost a minute and a half faster than what he ran at the national meet the year before when he finished in 209th place.

In fact, Whetstone made giant improvements all season long during the 2019 cross country season. At the 2018 UAA Championships, he finished in 28th place. But in 2019, he improved to 8th place at the same meet. At the 2018 South regional meet in 2018 he finished in 15th place. But in 2019, he won the whole thing.

The Emory veteran went on to win the South regional meet by 18 seconds and came back a week later to finish as the fastest runner from the South region at the NCAA Championships.

Whetstone did not race during the abbreviated indoor track season, but he does own personal bests of 8:37 (3k) and 14:57 (5k). However, given his massive improvement from the 2019 cross country season, those will likely not be his personal bests for much longer.