Written by Mike McKean, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin Click here to read our rankings rubric Click here to read our Just Missed & Honorable Mention names Click here to read Part One (50 to 41) Click here to read Part One (40 to 31) 30. Sanele Masondo, Senior, Iowa State To say that we struggled with Sanele Masondo’s positioning in these rankings would be an understatement. We had to go back and forth on his ranking due to his inconsistent season last fall. Of course, Masondo's performance at last year's national meet came out of nowhere, quite frankly. His 16th place result on that stage was the race of his life. At the start of the 2023 season, we didn’t Masondo to be anywhere near that kind of level. In fact, in his first race of the season, it appeared that he’d struggle to be a top-five runner for the Cyclones over the course of the season. To end his 2023 season as Iowa State’s top runner is downright remarkable after a 104th place finish at the Virginia Invitational. While Masondo steadily improved as the fall went on, his 80th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite and 27th place finish at the BIG 12 XC Championships weren’t turning any heads. However, once the racing distance jumped from 8k to 10k, Masondo gained momentum and made huge strides. A 7th place finish at the Midwest Regional XC Championships was far more encouraging, although that result wasn’t foreshadowing of a 16th place finish at the national meet. Those latter two results got us thinking: After looking back on Masondo’s resume as a whole, he always seemed to show up at the 10k distance. He proved that even further this past outdoor track season with a massive 28:13 (10k) PR at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, resulting in a 7th place finish that earned him All-American status. His impressive resume over 10k and ability to show up when it matters the most gives us reason to believe that his TSR #30 ranking feels fair. On top of that, he has displayed growth and poise throughout the entire 2023/2024 academic calendar, showing us that he belongs with top-tier runners. This year, we need to see consistency from Masondo throughout the entire fall to feel confident that he can come close to his 16th place finish at last year's national meet. He was great on the track this past spring, but we only saw one great result from him in cross country last season. We'll need him to prove last year’s national meet result wasn’t just a fluke. 29. Hillary Cheruiyot, Senior, Alabama Hillary Cheruiyot was part of one of the best 1-2 punches in the country last fall. He and Victor Kiprop were lethal during the regular season as they outperformed numerous top-tier athletes. Cheruiyot’s season started off with a bang by earning silver at the Joe Piane Invite. He was the Crimson Tide’s top dog as he narrowly beat out teammate, Victor Kiprop. Following that up with a 3rd place finish at the SEC XC Championships gave us reason to believe that the Crimson Tide standout would shatter his career-best 53rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. And if his regular season wasn’t enough proof for us, Cheruiyot earned the title of South regional cross country champion, dropping a 28:26 (10k) mark in the process. Cheruiyot had more impressive performances than his counterparts during various parts of the fall. Going into the national meet, we weren't exactly sure who Alabama's top runner would be, but Cheruiyot was a viable option to be the low-stick that they needed. However, a truthfully underwhelming 98th place finish was not indicative of what we saw from him during the course of the season. He did, after all, spend the majority of the fall months running with or besting his teammate Victor Kiprop, someone who would go on to finish 20th in Charlottesville. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the first time that Cheruiyot had struggled at the NCAA XC Championships. After a consistently great 2022 season that saw him finish no worse than 8th at a single race leading up to the national meet, he would go on to finish 209th in Stillwater. Additionally, after a lackluster outdoor track season that saw Hillary fail to break 14 minutes in the 5k, the question marks surrounding him are just. And yet, despite the questions surrounding him, we’d be doing a disservice to him by not crediting his past performances. The question this year will be if he can turn it around and overcome his struggles on the national stage. If he can put it together on the right day, then we wouldn’t be surprised to see him running with Victor Kiprop at the end of November. His resume as a whole makes him undeniably deserving of a spot in our top-30. With big-time results at highly competitive meets, he’s fairly positioned at TSR #29. 28. Yaseen Abdalla, Senior, Transfer Portal Yaseen Abdalla’s cross country resume over the course of his career is quite impressive. He’s been on the scene for a few years now as the veteran boasts a two-time All-American title in cross country. After 32nd and 33rd place finishes at the 2021 and 2022 NCAA XC Championships, we felt like a third All-American performance was all but guaranteed for the Tennessee ace. The consistency was there during the 2023 fall season for Abdalla. His performances showed us he was capable of bettering his career-best 32nd-place finish at the national meet. He achieved a huge result with a 2nd place finish at Pre-Nationals, beating the likes of Kirami Yego and Patrick Kiprop. He backed that up with a 4th place finish at the SEC XC Championships, a conference filled with elite talent at the top. Unfortunately, Abdalla struggled at the national meet and finished 187th. Abdalla's cross country performances last year (outside of the national meet), were incredibly similar to his performances from the 2022 cross country season -- elite consistency. In his 2022 campaign, the Volunteer low-stick never finished worse than 4th place leading up to the national meet. In 2023, Abdalla again never finished worse than 4th place before the national meet. It’s obvious Abdalla had an "off" day in Charlottesville last year. As we try to find a balance between his national meet performance and regular season results, we land at TSR #28. His consistent resume, on top of being a two-time All-American in his cross-country career, gives us a lot of optimism in this placement. He has proven that he’s a star on the grass and this ranking is much more indicative of his true upper-tier talent. Abdalla has one last shot to better his past national meet performances on the grass and crack the to- 30, but...where will it be? Abdalla is still in the transfer portal as of right now and we’re eagerly awaiting his decision. Surely multiple teams and coaches are chomping at the bit to add him to their group. Can a new team and/or coach help him reach another level on the grass? We await to see if there’s untapped potential in Abdalla. 27. Evans Kiplagat, Sophomore, New Mexico Naturally, we had questions regarding how Evans Kiplagat would fare last fall in his freshman campaign. It wasn't presumptuous to assume that it could take some time for Kiplagat to adjust to collegiate racing. However, those thoughts were quickly thrown out the window as the questions were answered with his impressive 18th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite. Just two weeks later, Kiplagat earned silver at the Mountain West XC Championships behind his teammate Habtom Samuel. He followed that up with a 33rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. Needless to say, it didn’t take us long to realize his inexperience in the NCAA was not a hindrance in the slightest. In fact, Evans Kiplagat didn’t have a single poor result throughout his 2023 cross country season. He was consistently great for the Lobos all year. He followed up an outstanding cross country season with quality marks on the oval as well. His 28:08 (10k) PR at the Stanford Invitational was yet another display of his greatness. There isn't a bad thing that we can say about Evans Kiplagat coming into this year. There’s no need to get fancy with the analysis on this ranking. His resume makes it simple to justify that he belongs at the TSR #27 spot. He’s not coming in with any questions as he's more known and the expectation is that he fares even better than last year with a year of experience under his belt. The upside is there for him as he heads into his sophomore campaign. We could see Kiplagat make another jump this fall. 26. Shay McEvoy, Rs. Senior, Tulsa Some people who are reading this may have forgotten about Shay McEvoy, the Tulsa veteran who has been way better on the grass than he has been on the track. Of course, the reason why you may have forgotten about him is simply because he didn't race last fall! In the fall of 2022, McEvoy was incredibly impressive. As a key piece of Tulsa's top-heavy cross country squad, the Golden Hurricane ace finished 22nd at the Cowboy Jamboree and an absolutely fantastic 14th place at the Nuttycombe Invite. After cruising through his and conference and regional meets, McEvoy concluded his season with a brilliant 23rd place All-American finish at the NCAA XC Championships. Of course, those performances were almost two years ago. How on Earth are we supposed to have confidence that McEvoy will be back in that form later this fall? Well, seeing McEvoy redshirted for the fall of 2023 wasn't a surprise. That was likely an intentional move given that much of Tulsa's roster last fall was still developing. Not only that, but McEvoy ran new personal bests across most racing distances this past spring, earning PRs of 13:46 (5k) and 28:36 (10k). Sure, those may not be head-turning times, but McEvoy has always been better on the grass than he has been on the track. In turn, seeing him find success on the oval should only suggest that he's still the same All-American cross country talent that he was in 2022. We won't deny that plenty has changed since then. Even so, this Tulsa runner has done nothing to legitimately hurt his stock. For that reason, we've placed him at TSR #26. 25. Said Mechaal, Senior, Iowa State In Said Mechaal’s first season as a Cyclone, we saw his consistency on display throughout last fall last as a certified low-stick who wasn't afraid to run with the top dogs in the NCAA. Mechaal first wowed us with his 15th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite where we saw him beat out big names in Devin Hart, Liam Murphy, Dylan Schubert and Santiago Prosser. Each of these elite talents that he bested at Nuttycombe would go on to finish in the top-25 at the NCAA XC Championships. If his performance at the Nuttycombe Invite wasn’t enough to prove he belonged with those names, he raised us with a 7th place finish at the BIG 12 XC Championships just two weeks later. Earning first-team all-conference honors in a conference containing the likes of Oklahoma State, BYU, and top-tier individuals like Devin Hart from Texas had us fully bought in on Mechaal’s potential. Despite being reliable throughout the fall months, Mechaal fell to 55th place at the NCAA XC Championships. His performance in Charlottesville was arguably his most disappointing race of the season. It was certainly not the top-30 result that we know he is capable of. The question going into the 2024 cross country season will be if Mechaal can put it all together in Madison come November 23rd. We certainly know that Mechaael is much better than 55th in the nation, and he only further proved it on the oval this past spring as he earned berths to both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships over 5000 meters. While the national meet holds weight in our rankings, there is something to be said about Mechaael’s resume over the course of the entire fall. The cross country season is more than just one meet, and because he bested a handful of elite talents throughout the regular season, the Iowa State standout has earned a TSR #25 preseason ranking. 24. Wil Smith, Senior, Gonzaga Coming in at our TSR #24 spot is Wil Smith, the Gonzaga ace who’s had his fair share of elite performances across all three seasons. The only problem is that none of those elite performances have come when it really matters -- on the national stage. Smith's performances prior to the national meet last year were incredibly impressive. A 2nd place finish at the Griak Invitational and 9th place effort at the Nuttycombe Invite gave us reason to believe he made the jump to being a national-caliber star. Despite a tough showing at the national meet (where he settled for 111th), collecting the scalps of Joey Nokes, Creed Thompson and David Mullarkey at the second-most competitive meet of the year (Nuttycombe) is impossible to ignore. As we pondered on Smith’s preseason ranking, we had to ask the same questions that we’ve been asking about Wil Smith for the past couple of years: Can he put it all together at the national meet? After a 2021 season that saw an 11th place finish at Nuttycombe, we saw Smith struggle mightily at the national meet with a 241st place finish. His 2022 fall campaign ended in a 59th place finish at the national meet, undoubtedly better than 241st place, but that still left us feeling like he was capable of more. This fall, Smith has one final shot at putting it all together on the national stage. After incredibly versatile performances on the indoor and outdoor track this past winter and spring, most notably his eye-opening personal bests of 28:04 (10k) and 7:44 (3k), Wil Smith has never been more poised for a breakthrough on the cross country national stage. National meet struggles aside, the savvy veteran is far too talented to leave out of our TSR top-30. He’s proven his excellence on major stages before and there’s a belief that, on the right day, he can compete with the best in the country. He'll need to adjust his approach for the national meet in his final season, but if he can do so, a top-25 finish is more than doable. 23. Dylan Schubert, Senior, Furman Coming into the 2023 cross country season, Dylan Schubert was a top-10 threat. The Paladins low-stick had finished 12th at the 2022 Nuttycombe Invitational and later produced a fantastic 11th-place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. Unfortunately, his 2023 campaign did not get off to the same start. Schubert’s slow start to the season can be attributed to a bout with mononucleosis. After a disappointing 47th place finish at the Joe Piane Invitational, we were left wondering how he would rebound when healthy. Well, we saw what a healthy Dylan Schubert could do as the season progressed. He earned a solid 26th finish at the Nuttycombe Invite just two weeks after his discouraging result in South Bend. He only got stronger and healthier from there. Two more weeks later, his firepower was on full display as he recorded a dominant 12-second win over Jason Bowers at the Southern Conference XC Championships. He also came away with the win at the Southeast Regional XC Championships and built upon that momentum with a 24th place finish at the national meet. Since then, the Furman standout has produced a handful of solid personal bests on the indoor oval and even achieved his first national berth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships as he finished 19th place over 5000 meters. While that result doesn’t blow you away, the thought of Schubert with a healthy buildup this fall is exciting. We expect this Furman ace to make noise much earlier than November this year. With the Paladins scheduled to make appearances at Pre-Nationals and Nuttycombe this year, we’re looking forward to seeing his impact in October. Ultimately, Schubert is a two-time All-American on the grass. He faced adversity last season and his turnaround throughout the season showed a great deal of toughness. He feels belonging to his TSR #23 preseason ranking. With a healthy fall under his belt, it’s possible that he can return to his 2022 form. 22. Jason Bowers, Junior, East Tennessee State For the majority of 2023, Jason Bowers was a tough runner to gauge as he wasn’t facing any top-tier competition. It’s no secret that East Tennessee State isn’t a national powerhouse that resides in a power conference. Bowers, for all intents and purposes, was a hidden gem. Even though he largely went unknown throughout the entirety of last fall, he racked up multiple wins and gave us little reason to doubt his abilities. He never finished worse than 5th place in any race leading up to the NCAA XC Championships. His first real test against top-tier Division One talent came at the Southern Conference XC Championships where he faced Dylan Schubert. While Bowers was beaten handily by Schubert, his performance opened our eyes as the ace officially moved into “known” status. His progression to 10k championship racing proved that he was ready to make an impact on the national stage. Bowers was fearless in competing against a plethora of All-Americans at the South Regional XC Championships. His fearlessness continued to remain undaunting on the biggest stage of the year. In his first Division One national meet, he notched a massive 22nd place result. Bowers announced his arrival. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to replicate his success on the grass to the oval. Although he achieved a 13:42 (5k) personal best at the Raleigh Relays, his results declined as the spring went on and he failed to advance past the East Regional Championships. Despite a disappointing outdoor track season, he has proven time and time again that his strength lies on the grass. This year, Jason Bowers is no longer a hidden gem. However, it seems we’ll have to again wait patiently for Bowers to be pushed this upcoming season. With East Tennessee State’s upcoming cross country schedule identical to last year’s, the Bowers/Schubert rematch at the Southern Conference XC Championships will be highly anticipated. With no real test until championship racing starts, it could be hard to determine if Bowers can replicate, if not better his performance from last year’s national meet. That being said, he proved last fall that he didn’t need a test before championship racing began, and with a full year of Division One racing under his belt, he’s deserving of our TSR #22 spot. 21. Santiago Prosser, Senior, Northern Arizona During the past two cross country seasons, Santiago Prosser repeatedly provided reliability on the grass as his consistency has been incredibly valuable for the Lumberjacks. His ability to show up on race day is irrefutable with his past two performances at the NCAA XC Championships resulting in 19th and 21st place finishes. It’s now become a trend that Prosser is known to peak at national meets. As the season advances, he gains momentum. Prosser’s 2023 fall campaign got off to a good start. He finished a solid 17th place at the Virginia Invitational and followed that up with a 29th place performance at the Nuttycombe Invite. While Prosser took some quality scalps in those races, you may not think that they’d indicate a 21st place finish at the national meet. That’s where you’re wrong. Prosser’s 2022 fall progression was eerily similar to his 2023 progression. In 2022, he finished 33rd at the Nuttycombe Invite and then wrapped the season with a 19th place finish at the national meet. If there’s one thing we know, it’s that Prosser is akin to a metronome. It’s only fitting that we place him at TSR #21. The question for Prosser this season will be what his ceiling is. With two incredible All-American finishes at the past two NCAA XC Championships, we’ve seen that his floor is incredibly high. Massive shoes need to be filled for the Lumberjacks this year...can the veteran deliver an even better national meet performance in 2024 and be the low-stick that they need? With four of NAU's top-five from last season’s national meet lineup departing, Prosser is a viable option to end up as their top runner in Madison come November. At the end of the day, we gave Prosser his well-earned respect with this placement. Even though he was absent from the outdoor track season, he’s proven that he deserves his ranking twice now, and we’re willing to bet he will prove that a third time this fall. Death, taxes and Santiago Prosser showing up in November.

Written by Rachel Hickey & Finn Birnie, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin Click here to read our rankings rubric Click here to read our Just Missed & Honorable Mention names Click here to read Part One (50 to 41) Click here to read Part One (40 to 31) 30. Annastasia Peters, Sophomore, Utah As a true freshman, Annastasia Peters broke out in a big way last fall, earning a fantastic 33rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships to earn her first All-American honor. Along with veteran teammate Mckaylie Caesar, Peters helped the Utah women to their second-highest finish in program history at 13th place. The question going into this fall is...can she do it again? Peters flexed plenty of talent coming to Utah out of high school, having earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors for girl's cross country in her home state of Idaho. In that season, she was the first Idaho female athlete to produce multiple sub-17 finishes at the 5k distance. She was a multi-time Idaho state champion in cross country and track, ultimately carrying that momentum into her first collegiate season with the help of head coach Kyle Kepler. Performing as well as she did on the nation's biggest stage as a true freshman is difficult, but it is even more challenging to replicate an outstanding performance year after year. Thankfully, the rising sophomore proved throughout last fall that she was a true low-stick -- her national meet success wasn't a fluke. A 3rd place finish at the Griak Invitational was her opening statement to the country and her 23rd place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational was massive validation that she was among the very best freshmen in the country. Of course, her PAC-12 performance wasn't quite as exciting, finishing in 16th place before going on to earn her All-American finish on the national stage. So why is she not ranked higher? Well, we have not seen Peters compete since the winter months. And when she did, we have to admit, it was a bit underwhelming. Her performance at the 2023 national meet proved that she is plenty capable of racing at a national-caliber level, but we have no idea what form she is in as we enter the 2024 cross country season. Is she as fit as last year? More fit? Less fit? Only time will tell. 29. Melissa Riggins, Senior, Georgetown Fans of the sport should not look at Melissa Riggins' DNF result at last year’s NCAA XC Championships as an indication of her capabilities on the cross country circuit. If anything, that result will keep her hungry to further assert talent on the grass. Reportedly having been ill last November, Riggins unfortunately struggled over the 6k distance on the biggest stage of the year. However, we would expect her to return this fall with a vengeance to have the national meet result that she should have had last year. Riggins in the regular season was a genuine national-caliber threat as she placed no lower than 15th individually over the 6k distance in the regular season -- and her racing schedule leading up to the national meet was absolutely stacked. When taking a deeper dive into her 2023 fall campaign, Riggins placed 13th at the Virginia Invitational, 15th at Nuttycombe, 3rd at the BIG East XC Championships and was the runner-up finisher at the Mid-Atlantic regional meet. Naturally, with results as consistently excellent as that leading up to the national meet, we had high All-American expectations for the Georgetown star. Had she been fully healthy and firing on all cylinders, we fully believe that she would have been a top-40 finisher -- and even a top-30 finisher. We also should not ignore Riggins' middle distance success and her phenomenal range from 800 meters to 6k on the cross country course. This past spring, she posted PRs of 2:01 (800m) and 4:07 (1500m) over the course of the season on her way to a stunning 4th place finish in the metric mile at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Riggins also ran 4:29 for the indoor mile and 8:52 over 3000 meters. Some people may look at Riggins as a track-centric runner and ignore her cross country accolades given her tough outing at the NCAA XC Championships. That, however, would be a mistake. Riggins has proven to be aerobically just as strong as nearly every other woman in this portion of our rankings and we wanted to reward her as such with a TSR #29 ranking. 28. Nicola Jansen, Senior, New Mexico I have to start by saying that I LOVE Nicola Jansen’s racing style. A lot. Anyone who has followed Jansen from the start when she ran at Bradley University would know that she loves to be an aggressive front-runner. It does not matter the distance of the race or the caliber of the field -- you can bet that you will find Jansen right at the front of a pack early in a race. Sometimes, even a quarter mile away from the field. And for that, we have massive respect for her. The rising South African star transitioned to New Mexico to follow her coach Darren Gausen when he left Bradley for the coaching job in Albuquerque. While Jansen has always displayed flashes of talent while running for the Braves, the move has proved beneficial in many ways. In her first season repping the Lobos, Jansen opened her fall campaign at the Griak Invitational, surprising some of the women in the field with an excellent runner-up finish. Jansen continued to have a fantastic cross country season by finishing 21st at the Nuttycombe Invitational, 2nd at both the Mountain West XC Championships and the Mountain regional meet before earning her first All-American finish at 36th at the NCAA XC Championships. And sure, she maybe didn't have the same front-running for aggressive for each of those races, but at the very least, she earned top finishes and was able to stay competitive with the fields got significantly larger. Jansen found herself with the leaders in the first-half of the national meet last fall before fading a bit to finish outside the top half All-Americans. However, what is even more admirable about that bold tactic was the fact that it was Jansen’s first national meet appearance…ever. Assuming she makes it to the national stage again, and that she continues to develop the way she has since she transferred, I would imagine this same strategy paying off big in 2024. Jansen has been able to ensure a baseline level of nationally competitive consistency despite utilizing an often risky racing style. In theory, that could lead to a massive breakout performance. The possibility of her finishing in the top-20 at this year's national meet is certainly not out of the question. 27. Kimberley May, Senior, Providence What is there to say about Kimberley May? So. Much. How could we not talk about May after the breakout year she had on the track? Yes, she did qualify for the outdoor national meet in 2023, but she never truly established herself as an All-American threat. Until she did. May shattered expectations during the indoor track season by posting PRs of 4:27 (mile) and 8:54 (3k) to flex some incredible range and middle distance prowess. After finishing 3rd in a very deep mile field at the NCAA Indoor Championships, May continued her hot streak into the outdoor track season. On the outdoor oval, her 1500-meter PR improved from 4:13 to 4:07. May also proved that she could run virtually any distance at a nationally competitive caliber by running 2:03 for 800 meters and 15:26 for 5000 meters. That kind of range is wildly impressive. We could go on and on about May’s success on the oval. But this season, of course, is cross country. And as we all know, mile performances don't always translate to the national stage. After all, just look at her history at the NCAA XC Championships: 213th place in 2021, 138th place in 2022 and 116th place in 2023 at the NCAA XC Championships. So...why are we ranking her in our top-30? You could argue that the entirety of May's 2023 cross country was truly when she had a breakout race. Her 10th place finish at the Virginia Invitational was a fantastic indication that she could be a low-stick star. May later validated that performance with a huge 19th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational and a runner-up effort at the BIG East XC Championships behind Chloe Scrimgeour (but ahead of Melissa Riggins). It's abundantly clear that May is a top-50 talent on the grass. She was fantastic in a variety of different fields last fall and showcased some tremendously valuable scoring prowess. And given her recent success on the track, there's reason to believe that she could be even more dangerous in 2024. Will May finish in the top-30 at this year's national meet? Maybe. That stage has admittedly not be too kind to the Providence miler. Even so, May is more than talented enough to be an All-American and we highly doubt that we will see her finish in the triple-digit placements again this fall. 26. Addie Engel, Senior, Ohio State When it comes to Addie Engel, let’s start by acknowledging the fact that she is a two-time BIG 10 champion (back-to-back, actually) in women’s cross country. Since the BIG 10 started running the 6k in 2003, this alone already puts her in the company of star-caliber names such as Erin Finn and Alicia Monson. As if that wasn't impressive enough, if Engel were to win her third-straight BIG 10 cross country title this fall, the she would be the first woman to ever accomplish such a feat. Yes, Michigan's Erin Finn did win three BIG 10 individual cross country titles, just not in a row. No pressure, right? The Buckeye star has paved a new path for Ohio State’s distance running history as she is the first female OSU runner to win an individual conference title in this league. She will look to solidify her legacy in Columbus with another All-American finish to put a cherry on top of a groundbreaking career. All of that, of course, is not to say her trajectory has always been perfect. Engel surprised many in 2022 when she won her first BIG 10 title and then went on to earn a monster finish in the top-10 at the NCAA XC Championships that fall. With her breakout year behind, expectations were very high for her in 2023. Truthfully, Engel's 2023 fall campaign wasn't quite as strong as what she had shown us in 2022. Even so, prior to her national meet performance, Engel still looked plenty strong, finishing in the top-two in every race she contested besides the Virginia Invitational (where she finished an applause-worthy 11th place). However, the Buckeye ace struggled to replicate her top-tier performance in her season finale, finishing outside of All-American honors with a still respectable 61st place finish overall. So...was her national meet performance from last fall just a fluke? If Engel is healthy, she should be able to compete with the best of the best, and possibly finish within the top-half of All-Americans once more. Of course, without seeing her compete on the track this past spring, there is no way to truly know how fit she is heading into this fall. Historically, Engel is a true ace, qualifying for the national meet every year when she has competed in cross country. We know how incredibly lethal her upside can be and her experience is far more extensive than many of the top women on this list. Look for her to end her Buckeye career on a high note and hopefully trend back in the right direction. 25. Paityn Noe, Sophomore, Arkansas Paityn Noe needed little-to-no time to adjust to the rigor of the NCAA ranks last year. The former high school star burst onto the collegiate scene in 2023, flexing every ounce of talent that we saw from her at the prep level. Last fall, the Razorback newcomer opened her collegiate account with a 2nd place finish at the Cowboy Preview and a commanding win at the Chile Pepper XC Festival. Sure, those fields weren’t necessarily the deepest, but Noe’s front-running display, particularly at her home meet, not only showcased the pedigree we saw from her in high school, but it also suggested that she was comfortable enough with NCAA competition to be as aggressive as she was. The only question that remained was, “How will the Arkansas rookie fare as the races get larger and the competition becomes more challenging?” Well, the answer to that question came just a matter of weeks later as Arkansas’ newest low-stick produced an outstanding 3rd place finish at Pre-Nationals and led the Razorback women to a silver medal with her tremendous 5th place finish at the SEC XC Championships! Noe's lead-up to the national meet had all the indications of an All-American performance. She was showcasing surprisingly great consistency, taking down top low-sticks on other teams and was brimming with youth-based upside. Unfortunately for her, that didn’t come to fruition as she faded to 101st place at the NCAA XC Championships. A national meet finish such as that isn't indicative of Noe’s full talent and it feels like her showing was largely due to a lack of experience on the national stage. Just look at how well she ran at Pre-Nationals and the SEC XC Championships as more accurate indications of her talent. It's important to note that between those two meets, Noe defeated star-studded names including Margot Appleton, Jenna Hutchins and teammate Sydney Thorvaldson, the latter of whom went on to finish 11th at the NCAA XC Championships. And if Noe’s talents needed any more justification, then you only have to look to her track success from this past spring. The Razorback ace ran a very impressive 32:57 PR for 10,000 meters, a time which was good enough for 9th place at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She also clocked an eye-catching 15:34 (5k) PR en route to bronze at the SEC Outdoor Championships. When at her best, Noe is a top-25 athlete on the grass. She was a former high school ace who has shown tremendous aerobic promise and ease in mixing it up with the NCAA’s top distance runners. With exceptional pedigree and more experience under her belt, we fully expect to see Noe make the always beneficial sophomore leap...but will she reach the heights that her fitness suggested last fall? 24. Jenna Hutchins, Rs. Sophomore, BYU For BYU’s Jenna Hutchins, her preseason rank is more a reflection of the immense potential that we believe she brings to the grass rather than her current accomplishments on it. The Tennessee native was a high school megastar, breaking countless records and putting herself in the company of the all-time greats in girls' high school distance running. With such an impressive pedigree, there was naturally a lot of hype around her heading into the 2022 fall season. Unfortunately, that excitement was short-lived as we didn’t see Hutchins race past October. Last fall told a different story, however, as the BYU youngster flexed tremendous consistency and cemented herself as one of Cougars' scoring five. Leading into the national meet, Hutchins was yet to falter, consistently finishing among the top-10 in highly competitive fields. A 5th place finish at Pre-Nationals and a 6th place finish at the exceedingly deep BIG 12 XC Championships were certainly the picks of the bunch. Both of these performances reflected every ounce of talent we had seen from her at the high school level and were our first real indicators on the grass that she could vie for an All-American accolade. Sadly for Hutchins, it wasn’t meant to be in Virginia as she faded back to 174th place at the national meet. Given her elite pedigree, a performance like this was in no way indicative of Hutchins’ talent and could largely be attributed to a lack of experience on the national stage. Thankfully for the still-young Cougar star, she will enter this fall with some added experience on the national stage after excelling at both the indoor and outdoor national meets earlier this year. Between winter and spring months, Hutchins ran under 15:40 (5k) on five separate occasions with her 15:31 (5k) clocking at the NCAA Indoor Championships being good enough for 9th place. However, her most impressive feat on the track was her ability to step up to the 10,000-meter distance with ease. In her first season over the 25-lap distance, the redshirt sophomore showed serious aerobic promise, finishing in 6th place (running 32:44 for 10k) at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning her first set of All-American honors. When it comes to talent, Hutchins has an abundance of. She has an upside that we feel is yet to be tapped into and her performance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships proved that she belongs among the best women in the NCAA. With more experience, more consistency and a ceiling nearly higher than anyone on this list, we feel the BYU star has done enough to warrant a spot in our top-25. 23. Margot Appleton, Senior, Virginia Virginia’s Margot Appleton is a perplexing name to rank. She is one of the nation's most reliable and consistent runners, yet on the grass, it feels like her full potential is still waiting to be fully unleashed. Last fall, the Cavalier star validated her outstanding breakout year on both the indoor track and outdoor track. A downright incredible 3rd place finish at the Virginia Invitational, an excellent 4th place at Pre-Nationals and a strong 5th place finish at the ACC XC Championships suggested that Appleton was a top 15-caliber cross country athlete. In our eyes, she was someone who was certainly going to vie for a top-half All-American finish. Plus, with Virginia set to be the host site for the NCAA XC Championships, we felt that the combination of her proven form and home-course advantage would play favorably into Appleton's hands. Unfortunately for her, the Cavalier star slipped back to 51st place at the national meet, just missing an All-American honor for the second-straight year. Realistically, is 51st place a bad result at the national meet? No, it's certainly not, but considering what Appleton’s resume suggested that she was capable of, we can't help but feel like there should have been more. However, on the oval, she did anything but disappoint as she was simply superb over both the winter and spring months. A blistering 4:29 mile mark en route to a 5th-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships, an ACC gold medal over 1500 meters, a jaw-dropping 15:18 (5k) PR and a 4th place All-American honor in that very same event was exactly the standard that we had come to expect from Appleton. Her track exploits on the national stage show just how high her ceiling can be and her new shiny 5k PR of 15:18 flexes an aerobic prowess that only a handful of women in the NCAA are able to tap into. To put it simply, we know what Appleton's floor is -- and that floor is still exceptionally high. We also know how high her ceiling on the grass could be, especially after witnessing her heroics on the track. I mean, a 15:18 (5k) PR alone suggests that she could crack the top-15 on the national stage if it's her day. Of course, the question we are left with is, when are we going to see her reach those heights we feel she is capable of? With all the pieces in her possession, will we see Appleton complete the puzzle come November? I suppose we'll find out... 22. Phoebe Anderson, Senior, Columbia Columbia’s Phoebe Anderson was, without a doubt, one of the biggest and best breakout stars of last fall. The Lioness ace utilized her newfound fitness to great effect, transforming into one of the most consistent runners in the nation. Make no mistake, prior to the 2023 fall season, Anderson had already produced some very respectable results on the grass, acting as Columbia’s ever-reliable low-stick. Yet, despite her consistency and new 15:44 (5k) PR from the previous spring, we didn’t expect to see her become such a nationally competitive name. The then-junior burst onto the scene last fall with an extremely impressive 4th place finish at the Virginia Invite, a result that far exceeded our expectations and sent a legitimate statement to the rest of the nation. Any concerns about Anderson's ability to validate her run at the Virginia Invite were quickly put to bed as she crossed the line in 17th place at the hotly-contested Nuttycombe Invite. Heading into the national meet, all signs pointed to an All-American finish for the junior, and sure enough, she delivered, crossing the line in 29th place -- a 162-place improvement on the previous year. Anderson’s tremendous leap in fitness, paired with her innate ability to consistently produce results of such a high caliber, should make her competitors legitimately concerned as we approach the fall. Not only this, but similar improvements were made on both the indoor and outdoor ovals. That progression has hinted that Anderson may have a level of fitness beyond what we have already seen from her. With times of 32:54 (10k), 15:29 (5k), 8:59 (3k) and 4:35 (mile) now to her name, Anderson has sharpened just about every tool in her arsenal. Her improvements, particularly over the longer distances, indicate that she will be hitting the grass with some serious aerobic momentum. In our eyes, Anderson has done everything to suggest she is a top 25-caliber athlete, maybe even a top-20 or top-15 athlete. However, after making such a significant leap in fitness last year, we are left wondering whether the Columbia athlete has reached her ceiling or if the senior has more in store for us. 21. Leah Stephens, Sophomore, NC State If NC State wanted to win their third-straight national title last fall, then they needed one of their youngster to step up to the plate. And Leah Stephens did just that. Despite it being her very first collegiate season, the NC State newcomer proved to be an integral cog in the Wolfpack machine last fall. Without her impeccable consistency, they may not have completed the three-peat. Finishing 4th place at the Joe Piane Invite, 14th place at the Nuttycombe Invite, 8th place at the ACC XC Championships and 43rd on the national stage, Stephens showed a dependability greater than some of the nation's most seasoned veterans. While she may have narrowly missed out on All-American honors, the poise she showed all season was comparable to athletes well beyond her years. Yes, Stephens' talent was undeniably elite at the high school level, but I don't think anyone was expecting her to transition so seamlessly to the rigor of the NCAA in her first-ever season. A 14th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite, the second-most competitive meet of the season, was truly a special performance. That result suggested that, despite her youth, the Wolfpack star was more than comfortable battling with the very best in the country. After such a stellar season on the grass, we fully expected to see Stephens flex her aerobic talents on the track. However, we were ultimately left wanting more after her season came to a premature close. A victory over 10,000 meters at the Penn Relays and a 15:50 mark for 5000 meters are both very respectable results. But for someone whose consistency is one of their biggest assets, her lack of availability for the remainder of the spring months was a legitimate concern. That being said, Stephens’ seamless transition to the NCAA can't go unnoticed. Displaying such consistent poise in her very first season is nothing short of remarkable. With the likes of Tuohy and Chmiel gone, Stephens has some big shoes to fill as she will most likely become one of the leading ladies in the Wolfpack’s new quintet.

Written by Rachel Hickey & Garrett Zatlin, edits & additional commentary via Garrett Zatlin Click here to read our rankings rubric Click here to read our Just Missed & Honorable Mention names Click here to read our 50 to 41 section of names 40. Leane Willemse, Rs. Junior, Wisconsin It's hard to dislike the scoring value of Leane Willemse. This Wisconsin veteran was so consistent and steady throughout last fall. She always showed up for a variety of different races and never fluctuated too much in terms of the impressiveness of her performances. Last fall, the Badger ace settled for a 10th place finish at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational. That was a fine result, but it didn't at all suggest that the Wisconsin runner was a top-50 talent. That, of course, changed when Willemse placed 34th at the Nuttycombe Invite and runner-up at the BIG 10 XC Championships. On the national stage, we felt that Willemse's steadiness and consistency would result in her earning an All-American finish as more volatile distance talents faded in the madness of the crowd. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, but the Wisconsin ace was close to pulling it off with her 44th place effort. After a year on the track where she ran personal bests in almost every event, it feels like Willemse is one of the safer non-All-Americans to earn a top-40 spot in these rankings. She proved to be ridiculously consistent last fall and she held her own in a variety of race settings. The only critique that we have for Willemse is that we aren't entirely sure how high her ceiling is. While she seemingly has an incredibly high floor, it's tough to know if she has enough upside to reach a ranking that cracks our top-30. Of course, if that's the only critique that we can offer this Wisconsin standout, then that's a very good problem to have. 39. Lucy Jenks, Senior, Georgetown Lucy Jenks' decision to transfer to Georgetown has ultimately shifted the trajectory of the Hoyas' upcoming season. After showing flashes of being a low-stick talent last fall, Jenks should come into this cross country season favored to be an All-American...we think. Admittedly, Jenks' performances throughout last fall seemingly fluctuated with each passing meet. Her 20th place finish at the Virginia Invitational was promising, but her 43rd place effort at Nuttycombe, while not bad, left us wanting the slightest bit more. Thankfully, we got exactly that at the PAC-12 XC Championships where Jenks secured a huge 5th place finish, arguably the second-best cross country performance of her career. However, a 93rd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships left us scratching our heads as we struggled to properly gauge the overall success of Jenks' fall campaign. Few women are more experienced on the grass than Jenks is. Remember how I mentioned that her PAC-12 performance was her "second-best" cross country result of her career? That's because the former Stanford talent once placed 49th at the NCAA XC Championships back in the fall of 2021. In fact, Jenks has actually cracked the top-100 of the NCAA XC Championships four times in her career! The COVID season did not count towards her eligibility, but a national meet was still hosted in March of 2021. That plentiful experience and improved fitness from last fall, paired with a large handful of sub-15:40 performances over 5000 meters, makes Jenks more than deserving enough of a top-50 ranking. Her steadiness on bigger stages will need to improve, but there is no question that she is talented enough to be an All-American. 38. Chloe Foerster, Junior, Washington When people think of Chloe Foerster, they likely think of Super Bowl weekend when the then-sophomore came out of nowhere and ran a jaw-dropping mile PR of 4:28. But before that career-defining mile race, Foerster had actually proven to be a competitive name on the grass. In retrospect, Foerster's 18th place finish at the Virginia Invite was probably a better result than we gave her credit for at the time. Despite her inexperience, the Washington runner took down five women who we have ranked in this year's top-50 so far (TSR #31 to TSR #50). A 40th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was fine, but a 7th place finish at the PAC-12 XC Championships was excellent. And funny enough, a 47th place finish at the national meet perfectly matches the sum of those two results. Foerster, as we already mentioned, would go on to have incredible success on the track, even if she hasn't fared too well on the national stage. Her personal bests of 4:28 (mile) and 4:07 (1500), as well as a recent outdoor 3k PR of 8:58, suggest that she at least has enough pure talent to be an All-American this fall. Despite some ups and downs that she has experienced on the oval, Foerster has actually been very steady on the grass. And truthfully, we don't have many critiques to offer. If she can simply continue to progress like she has over the last year, then this ranking may end up being too low. 37. Fatima Alanis, Senior, North Carolina Once a standout Division Two star, Fatima Alanis has handled her transition to the Division One level incredibly well over the last two years. She has made the leap from being a D2 distance juggernaut to a D1 All-American. Now, as we prepare to enter the fall of 2024, can Alanis reach a new tier in the NCAA cross country scene? 90% of Fatima Alanis' 2023 cross country can best be described as "good," but likely nothing more than that. She was 26th at the Virginia Invitational, 41st at the Nuttycombe Invite and 12th at the ACC XC Championships. Her talent and consistency demanded respect, but it was also fair to say that she was likely not favored for an All-American honor. Or so we thought. When it mattered the most, Alanis was outstanding. The North Carolina veteran dropped a huge 32nd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. That result turned out to be one of the very few bright spots for an otherwise brutal cross country season for the Tar Heel women. Alanis made solid improvements on the track, but she never cracked the 16-minute barrier for 5k and did not crack the 33-minute barrier for 10k. She was also one spot out from qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the latter event. Ultimately, the "worst" version of Alanis as a low-stick scorer is still really good. She'll provide great scoring value for her team throughout the fall months. Her consistency deserves to be rewarded. However, we now know what her upside is after seeing her result at the NCAA XC Championships. To truly take that next leap, Alanis will need to replicate last year's postseason peak throughout the entirety of her fall campaign. 36. Jenny Schilling, Junior, Virginia Some teams recruit from the top of the high school ranks to find their future star scorers. Other teams go into the transfer portal to find names who are already established. A large handful of others will often go overseas to find the best aerobic-based distance talents who are eager to prove their talent in America. Jenny Schilling, however, came from none of those areas. The unexpected Virginia star didn't even run in any formal capacity her freshman year until she joined her school's running club. And after some surprisingly good results, Schilling joined the Cavalier women as a walk-on last fall. Now, Schilling is an established All-American rather than a little-known walk-on. The entirety of Schilling's 2023 cross country was highly impressive given her lack of experience. In fact, her consistency was maybe the strongest aspect of her resume. The first two races of Schilling's fall campaign resulted in a 23rd place finish at the Virginia Invitational and a 13th place result at Pre-Nationals. Those were both strong efforts for someone who was getting increasingly closer to the fringes of our top-50 rankings. A 10th place result at the ACC XC Championships only added to her case. And then came the national meet, a stage that could have wiped out someone as inexperienced as Schilling. But instead, the exact opposite happened -- she thrived. The newest Virginia ace secured a huge 39th place All-American finish to her first collegiate season of competition. Schilling would go on to run times of 16:02 (5k) and 32:44 (10k) on the track. It's truthfully hard to find a flaw on Schilling's resume. She was incredibly consistent, handled a variety of races well, peaked for the postseason and continued to find success on the oval. And in theory, if anyone is going to have a super high ceiling or tons of untapped upside, it's more likely going to be someone who isn't as experienced at this level...like Schilling. At this point, we can only gauge her talent. And for the time being, we think a TSR #36 ranking seems like a strong and fair spot. 35. Karrie Baloga, Sophomore, Northern Arizona If you’re a fan of the Blue Oval Podcast, then you know how we (or at least some of us) at TSR feel about steeplechase success translating to the grass. In short, it doesn’t always. Take Kenneth Rooks of BYU as a perfect example. Rooks won the men’s steeplechase national title in the spring of 2023 and posted a blistering time of 8:15 in the event. Some people had him as a top-20 name for the following cross country season. And yet, he only placed 35th at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships in what was easily his best race of the season. And to be clear, that was not a bad finish by any means -- it was actually a fantastic result -- but many did expect a bit more after his breakout steeple season. In theory, the same argument may apply to the still-young Karrie Baloga of Northern Arizona. The rising sophomore broke out in a big way this past spring, running a massive 9:42 steeplechase PR to place 8th at the national meet, earning her first All-American honor at the collegiate level. The difference, however, is that Baloga has already proven to be a valuable scorer on the grass during her short time at Colorado. While some of her races from last fall were better than others, the potential for her to become a true low-stick was almost palpable. Despite her "just okay" 82nd place finish at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, Baloga’s combination of genuine talent and developmental training from head coach Mike Smith makes her chances of being an All-American this fall plenty feasible. She did, after all, prove herself to be a worthy cross country threat in 2023 by placing 21st at the Virginia Invitational, 39th at the Nuttycombe Invite and 8th at the PAC-12 XC Championships. Inexperience is probably the biggest obstacle for the young rising star as Baloga is still fairly new to the NCAA racing circuit and has yet to race on the grass with the women in Flagstaff (she transferred from Colorado last winter). We should expect to see her benefit greatly from an experienced training group that includes the likes of Elise Stearns, Maggi Congdon, Ali Upshaw and Alyson Churchill. As demonstrated by her breakout spring season, Baloga's transition to NAU has only yielded strong results. As such, we at The Stride Report felt that it was only necessarily to reward her with a preseason ranking of TSR #35. 34. Ali Upshaw, Senior, Northern Arizona Quite possibly the biggest “x-factor” for the Northern Arizona women last fall and this fall, Ali Upshaw enters the 2024 cross country season building on a fantastic aerobic base from her 2024 outdoor track season. The former New Mexico talent posted an impressive 32:53 (10k) PR this past spring and found a spot to this year's outdoor national meet. Truthfully, in her lead up to the 2023 NCAA XC Championships, Upshaw had only one legitimate test against top-tier competition. That meet, of course, was the Nuttycombe Invite where posted an outstanding 12th place finish seemingly out of nowhere. And yet, despite the wildly impressive result, Upshaw would eventually settle for a 57th place finish at the national meet, a placement that fell a bit short of expectations. Even so, the Nuttycombe Invitational proved to us that Upshaw has a ridiculously high ceiling. And if a 57th place finish at the national meet is her "floor," then that's a very good problem to have. When she is at her best, Upshaw has the ability to be a top-half All-American this fall, as shown by her multiple flashes of brilliance and obvious aerobic base. Of course, before we can put her in that range, we will need to see a few more data points and also a strong result national meet -- something she is more than capable of. If Upshaw can replicate that mid-season burst of top-tier performances in the postseason, then the women from Flagstaff should be in great shape to snatch a national title. Until then, we felt like this was a good spot which acts as a middle ground for her two major 2023 cross country results. 33. Brianna Weidler, Senior, UC-Davis If Weidler were to return to the national stage this fall on the grass, it would be her third-consecutive time qualifying for the national meet as an individual, a truly impressive feat on it's own. And when you add in the fact that Weidler has finished in 51st place and 31st place in her last two NCAA XC Championship appearances, you begin to feel better and better about placing her at this spot in our rankings. Weidler's consistent ability to show up on the big stage is admirable, especially given that her regular season schedule is much weaker than many others at the cross country national meet. With UC Davis being a member of the BIG West Conference, the only meet outside the postseason where Weidler faced nationally competitive teams and individuals last fall was at the Joe Piane Invitational (and she fared well, placing 7th overall). The UC-Davis veteran also had an excellent spring season to back up her performances on the grass, having posted a 15:38 (5k) PR to qualify for the West Regional Championships. However, Weidler finished just four spots out of qualifying for the national meet in a tactical race. It's admittedly hard to analyze Weidler's resume deeper than we already have. She is a steady and reliable postseason performer who is seemingly still improving. And yet, her limited racing schedule makes it challenging to compare her to other top-tier names. Even so, we would never bet against this UC-Davis star in the postseason, regardless of her regular season slate. Her consistency paired with the fitness that she flexed in the spring makes Weidler a dangerous competitor come November and a genuine two-time All-American threat. 32. Laura Pellicoro, Senior, Portland Pellicoro might be more talked about for her range and success on the track rather than her accolades on the grass. That, however, does not mean that this veteran Portland star should be ignored when we reach October and November. The Pilot veteran has been quietly consistent in her years representing the Portland women, especially on the national stage. Pellicoro placed an excellent 25th overall at the 2022 national meet and barely missed All-American honors last fall with a 41st place effort. Only one of those may have been an All-American honor, but both results show tremendous reliability on an often unnerving stage. Pellicoro can handle her own on the cross country course, but her true talent is best highlighted on the oval. The Portland ace boasts PRs of 2:03 (800), 4:11 (1500), 4:31 (mile) and 9:00 (3k) to go along with her aerobic strength in the fall. In theory, that should give at least some flexibility in different styles of races. Obviously, Pellicoro is no stranger to the NCAA Championships and she will likely lean on that experience once more to navigate her races in October and November. She also has plenty of experience racing in Madison, having contested the Nuttycombe Invite the past three years. Pellicoro will surely be hungry for another first-team All-American finish on the grass after falling just short in 2023 by a single spot. And as one of the most experienced and reliable postseason runners in the NCAA, we felt it was only right to place her at TSR #32. 31. Mckaylie Caesar, Rs. Senior, Utah Having joined the Utes last fall as a graduate transfer from Cal State Fullerton, Mckaylie Caesar had a breakout cross country season. The collegiate veteran truly proved herself to be an upper-echelon talent on the grass throughout last fall, finishing 5th at the Griak Invitational in her Utah debut and 9th at the PAC-12 XC Championships leading up to the national meet. Even so, none of those results could have prepared us to see Caesar post an incredible 26th place All-American finish in her season finale. That, in turn, made her one of the biggest breakout stars in the NCAA last fall. Yes, we'll admit, Caesar's resume isn't entirely void of imperfections. Her track times do not reflect her current fitness as she only competed three times during the winter and was absent during the spring. We also can't ignore that she settled for a somewhat underwhelming 76th place finish at last year's Nuttycombe Invite. Truthfully, those were the major factors holding her back from being a top-30 name this preseason. Even so, the Utah women will rely on Caesar's years of racing experience and momentum from last fall to lead the Utes to another impressive finish at the NCAA XC Championships. And of course, the BIG 12 XC Championships will now pose an entirely new and different threat than what this team faced last year.

Click here to read our rankings rubric Click here to read our Just Missed & Honorable Mention names 40. Dennis Kipruto, Freshman, Alabama So...how on Earth do we rank Dennis Kipruto? When it was first announced that this current Alabama rookie was entering the NCAA, there was understandable awe about what this Crimson Tide talent could be capable of doing over the longer distances. He did, after all, drop an incredible half-marathon time of 60:51, a mark that was reported by Alabama athletics. Since then, Kipruto has found success at the NCAA...but he wasn't necessarily an unstoppable force over 10,000 meters like some expected him to be. His seasonal best mark of 28:44 was fine, and he did qualify for the outdoor national meet, but the Alabama freshman would end his collegiate season with a DNF on that sage. But here's where things get tricky. At first glance, you can look at Kipruto's World Athletics profile and see that it has been updated with a series of collegiate performances that align with his TFRRS profile. All of that seemingly checks out. However, upon review, you would also notice a large handful of races from earlier this year took place in Japan. And in many instances, those races took place on the same weekend of major NCAA invitationals/meets. In other words, there appears to be an accidental overlapping of two men named Dennis Kipruto. Unfortunately, we find it hard to believe that the Crimson Tide freshman ran a 5k race on May 10th in Japan, a second 5k race on May 11th in the United States and then a third 5k race on May 12th in Japan. But based strictly on his TFRRS data, Kipruto has proven to be talented enough to be viewed as a threat for All-American honors this fall. He was at least able to make it to the outdoor national meet and we struggle to believe that a 60:51 half-marathoner wouldn't be in contention for a top-40 finish on the national stage in November. 39. Nicholas Bendtsen, Senior, Princeton Last year, the Ivy League was headlined by the incredible success of Harvard star, Graham Blanks. He was, after all, undefeated throughout the season and the eventual national champion. But lost in the mix of Blanks' success was Nicholas Bendtsen, a Princeton standout who peaked beautifully for the postseason. Last fall, Bendtsen started off his fall campaign with a 52nd place finish at the Virginia Invite, a truthfully unexciting result. But then the Tiger veteran finished 42nd at the Nuttycombe Invite. That result wasn't enough to make him a top-50 name, but it was a very strong step in the right direction -- and Bendtsen capitalized on that. After an admittedly forgettable 4th place finish at the Ivy League XC Championships, Bendtsen had the race of his life at the national meet. On the rolling hills of Charlottesville, Virginia, the Princeton star posted a fantastic 29th place All-American finish. Relative to expectations, he peaked for the postseason better than most men in the NCAA. Thankfully, Bendtsen proved on the track that his cross country success wasn't a fluke. Encouraging marks of 3:59 (mile) and 7:54 (3k) eventually led to him advancing to the outdoor national meet over 5000 meters (where he unfortunately struggled). Our hopes for Bendtsen this fall are pretty simple: Be more consistent at the highest tier of his fitness. It's hard to argue against the idea that the resume of this Princeton ace is carried by his incredible All-American result from last fall. If he wants to crack the top-30 of our rankings, then we'll need to see that kind of effort throughout the entirety of this season. But after flashing multiple moments of encouraging development throughout last year, we feel like our above ask is more than realistic for this rising Ivy League talent. 38. Justine Kipkoech, Junior*, Eastern Kentucky *Eligibility still unclear When we started our individual cross country rankings, it had not yet been reported that Justine Kipkoech, a 3:32 (1500) and 7:38 (3k) runner, was joining Eastern Kentucky. Thankfully, on the same day that it was announced that he was joining the Colonels, we realized that a runner in this section was actually out of cross country eligibility. That, in turn, left a spot open for Kipkoech. We'll admit, this ranking has the potential to be far too low. The now-former College of the Sequoias athlete has had an unreal summer on the track, dropping his metric mile time down to a mark that is probably just a bit short of being considered world class. Of course, as you all know, we try not to lean too heavily into the idea that milers will be great cross country runners -- we need to success at the longer distances. Of course, Kipkoech has that area covered as well. His incredible 7:38 (3k) PR, which was run on an outdoor oval, suggests that he can be an All-American talent on the grass. His 5k mark of 13:22 (which was run on the roads) somewhat benefits his resume as well. In terms of raw talent, Kipkoech is probably a top-10 runner in the NCAA right now. However, trying to figure out how his 1500-meter and 3000-meter performances will translate to the rolling hills of a 10k race is extremely tricky to balance. Until we have greater clarity as to what Kipkoech can do in that setting, we'll keep him at our TSR #38 spot for now. 37. Evan Jenkins, Rs. Sophomore, Washington The version of Evan Jenkins that you saw last fall is not at all the same version that you'll see this year. In 2024, we expect this rising Washington ace to be a major threat for All-American honors -- as long as he can translate his recent sucecss to the grass. Last fall, Jenkins' top cross country result was a 10th place finish at the PAC-12 XC Championships. However, it wouldn't be until the winter and spring months that this now-redshirt sophomore would truly blossom. On the oval, Jenkins captured our attention with times of 3:59 (mile) and 7:46 (3k). However, his biggest statement would come at the Stanford Invitational where the Husky star secured a monster 10k win (apparently on his birthday) in a time of 28:04. He also ran 13:34 for 5000 meters at the Payton Jordan Invitational last year. Unfortunately, the end of Jenkins' spring campaign proved to be challenging as he struggled at the West Regional Championships. Even so, one thing was abundantly clear after watching him race: Evan Jenkins is going to be a problem for his opponents on the grass. It feels incredibly obvious to us that Jenkins has a ton of potential and untapped upside remaining within him. He's now a more experienced runner who just had a breakout year on the track. And in our eyes, it would be stunning if a 28:04 (10k) runner didn't pose as a legitimate threat to be a top-40 talent this fall. Yes, this ranking does require some projection, but we feel like there is more than enough evidence to justify this spot. 36. Adisu Guadia, Sophomore, Oklahoma State This is yet another incredibly tricky name to rank. Adisu Guadia didn't make his NCAA debut until the BIG 12 XC Championships from last fall. On that stage, he struggled a bit, fading hard to 22nd place. But after a top-five finish at the Midwest regional meet, Guadia salvaged his season with an admirable 50th place result at the NCAA XC Championships. Of course, that collection of results was not enough for him to be a ranked name. But what we saw from Guadia on the oval only added to the obvious raw talent that we could so clearly see that he posses. An excellent 28:10 PR for 10,000 meters at the beginning of the season led to the Oklahoma State underclassman qualifying for the outdoor national meet (where he truthfully struggled). Yes, it's true, we don't have many results to analyze for Adisu Guadia. We also don't have many results from him which suggest that he is a top-50 name. And yet, it feels wrong to not rank someone who has run 28:10 (10k), was a top-50 runner at the national meet last year, was an outdoor national meet qualifier in the spring and clearly holds tons of raw talent. We don't know if this is the "correct" spot for Guadia, but it does feel like the "right" spot for him...if that makes any sense at all. 35. Rodger Rivera, Senior, Texas Throughout last fall, you could see that Rodger Rivera was brimming with upside and was ultimately due for a breakout race. The Texas veteran had been so solid for the Longhorns throughout his career and after seeing multiple flashes of promise, it felt like he was overdue for a statement performance. Unfortunately, we didn't see a breakout race happen at the Cowboy Jamboree (5th), the Nuttycombe Invite (50th) or the BIG 12 XC Championships (10th). Although, make no mistake, those were all respectable results, especially the latter meet given how top-heavy the BIG 12 has become in recent years. Even so, there wasn't much on Rivera's resume which suggested that he would be an All-American last fall. Of course, Rivera paid no mind to that fact. At the NCAA XC Championships, Rivera had the single-greatest race of his career...and it wasn't even close. The Texas star scorched the grass in Charlottesville, Virginia to land a monumental 23rd place All-American result. Rivera, along with Devin Hart, would give the Longhorns a 7th place team finish at the national meet. So why is a guy who was 23rd at the national meet ranked at TSR #35? Well, for a couple of reasons. The first reason is because Rivera simply didn't look like an All-American-caliber runner until the national meet last fall. And as we have stated multiple times before, we look at the entirety of someone's resume, not just the national meet. The second reason is because we haven't seen Rivera race since last fall. We have confirmed that he is returning, but that's not necessarily the most encouraging thing to see (or in this case, not see) going into a brand new academic year. Regardless, Rivera has proven that his talent ceiling, at least when it comes to cross country, is better than all but two (and maybe three) men in this section of our rankings. If the Texas star is able to replicate even half of that postseason magic throughout the entirety of this season, then he'll likely move up in our rankings. 34. Sam Lawler, Junior, Syracuse We feel like Sam Lawler is a fairly underrated cross country talent. Sure, some of his results from last fall didn't always leave your jaw on the floor, but this Syracuse runner made tons of progress throughout last year and was incredibly reliable. And instead of the Orange having a strong 1-2 punch, Lawler gave them a "Big Three" identity. Lawler's 35th place finish at last year's Virginia Invitational was a solid result for him at the time. It didn't suggest that he was a top-50 talent, but it was a good way for him to start his season. That momentum would only pick up at the Nuttycombe Invitational where he placed 34th overall. And suddenly, Lawler had our attention. A 10th place finish at the ACC XC Championships was respectable. It didn't boost his stock in any significant way, but it was still another commendable result that further built towards his reputation of having great reliability. Sure enough, that reliability was fully shown on the national stage. At a meet that could have easily overwhelmed someone new to the highest tiers of competition, Lawler still delivered, placing 34th overall for his first-ever All-American honors. We absolutely love what Lawler brings to the table. He never let his team down last fall and, for the most part, he only got better as the season went on. It's still unclear what his ceiling is, but we do know that his 2023 fall campaign was hardly a fluke after he qualified for the outdoor national meet. We don't know how high he'll ultimately rise in these rankings, but we would be surprised if Lawler ended his season outside of our top-40. 33. Ethan Strand, Senior, North Carolina We are very big fans of Ethan Strand. He has been so impressive in every season of competition that he's been in, especially when he touches the track. His range has made him lethal across distances, but his raw talent over 1500 meters and the mile can be seen in his 3:35 metric mile PR from earlier this year. But when you go back and review his results from last fall, we couldn't help but notice how steady and reliable Strand proved to be on the grass despite stepping up in distance. The North Carolina earned a very solid 20th place finish at the Virginia Invitational, an even more encouraging 27th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite, a strong 6th place result at the ACC XC Championships and a commendable 43rd place effort at the national meet. You could argue that Strand's "worst" race of the 2023 cross country season came on the national stage where he was just three spots away from All-American honors. That, or him placing 20th at the Virginia Invite. Regardless, that's a very good problem to have if you're Coach Chris Miltenberg. Strand showed last fall that he can be a true low-stick for a nationally competitive team. He was incredibly reliable and took down some sneaky-good names at each meet. We're strong believers that he's an All-American talent, but there's also not a lone cross country result on his resume which screams that Strand is undoubtedly a top-30 runner on the grass. We expect that to change this fall, but until then, we'll keep him at TSR #33. 32. Ben Shearer, Rs. Junior, Arkansas You could make the argument that, among nationally competitive names, no one had a bigger breakout season than Ben Shearer did in the fall of 2023. The Arkansas talent had been a respectable contributor to the Razorbacks in the few years that he had been with the program. However, saying that he was anywhere close to be a "low-stick" going into last fall would have been a fairly big stretch. A win at the Cowboy Preview was nice to see and a runner-up effort at the Chile Pepper XC Festival was also solid. Of course, Pre-Nationals would be the far more important race to monitor. And at one of the bigger regular season meets of the year, Shearer thrived, securing an outstanding individual win. The newest Arkansas star took down the likes of Yaseen Abdalla, Kirami Yego, Chandler Gibbens, Patrick Kiprop and more. Of course, with such a shocking (and impressive) result coming out of nowhere, we wanted Shearer to validate his Pre-Nationals win. Thankfully, he did exactly that with an applause-worthy 5th place run at the SEC XC Championships. The verdict was in: Ben Shearer is the real deal. A 42nd place finish at the NCAA XC Championships truthfully felt a bit underwhelming for a guy who had looked so strong over top stars at Pre-Nationals. Even so, that was still a strong result which provided great scoring value for an Arkansas team that got onto the podium. If there were still any doubts about Shearer's status as a top-tier name, then his newest personal bests of 3:59 (mile), 7:46 (3k) and 13:32 (5k) likely silenced any remaining critics. In the grand scheme of things, it's hard to truly find a flaw on Shearer's resume. He won a major invitational and was a top-five finisher at a top-heavy Power Five conference meet. The only thing he needs to do now is deliver on the national stage...and even then he was still pretty solid. 31. Devin Hart, Senior, Oregon Alright, before you all raise your torches and pitchforks, allow me to explain why we opted to place Devin Hart at this spot. Yes, Devin Hart was absolutely brilliant last fall for Texas. The former Longhorn placed 17th at the Nuttycombe Invite, 4th at the top-heavy BIG 12 XC Championships and then scored a fantastic 11th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. Simply put, Hart wasn't just a star-caliber runner for his team or conference. Instead, he was a legitimate nationally recognized star. Hart would go on to leave Austin, Texas in favor of Oregon earlier this year. Unfortunately, his performances on the oval were not encouraging. While he did run as fast as 28:36 for 10,000 meters, Hart was a non-factor at the PAC-12 XC Championships and was unable to get out of the West region. Trying to reconcile the insane cross country firepower of Devin Hart with his highly underwhelming spring campaign is a near-impossible task. Truthfully, we have no idea where to rank Oregon's newest low-stick weapon. We don't necessarily believe that Hart is the 31st-best cross country runner in the NCAA and we also don't believe that he'll finish his season at this spot. But in an attempt to find a proper middle ground between his two seasons of racing, we felt like this was a reasonable compromise.

Here we go. Our 2024 men's and women's preseason individual cross country rankings. Let's start with our "Just Missed" and "Honorable Mention" names. As a reminder, you can find our rankings rubric here . This week will be our D1 rankings while next week will be our D2 and D3 rankings. Let's begin... JUST MISSED (in no particular order) Cael Grotenhuis, Rs. Sophomore, Northern Arizona I am sorry, Cael Grotenhuis. I feel terrible. We tried everything we could to fit Cael Grotenhuis into our rankings. For 30 minutes, myself and three other writers tried to pose arguments and find logic that would be able to squeeze this fast-rising NAU talent into our top-50. But for as much as we like the Lumberjack runner, we simply couldn't find the room. As a result, Grotenhuis takes this year's not-so-coveted honor of being the "first guy out of our rankings." If you followed Grotenhuis this past spring, then you probably understand why we like him so much. After largely being an afterthought on Northern Arizona's roster, this Wisconsin native emerged as one of the best breakout names during the 2024 outdoor track season. This past season, Grotenhuis won his 5k heat at the Bryan Clay Invitational with a time of 13:38. He then took down the Montana State duo of Matthew Richtman and Ben Perrin over 10,000 meters at the BIG Sky Outdoor Championships. Grotenhuis would later qualify for the outdoor national meet in both the 10k AND the 5k, something that only three other D1 men accomplished last spring. He would go on to finish 14th and 9th, respectively, at the national meet. On paper, that's a pretty impressive resume that would make the average person think, "Wait, so then what's the issue? Why is he not ranked?" Well, the biggest challenge that we had with Grotenhuis is that he has a grand total of one cross country race on his TFRRS resume. That result was a 9th place finish at the 2023 BIG Sky XC Championships. Simply put, we have ZERO idea what he is capable of doing on the grass. And while his outdoor track season was incredibly promising, it also didn't yield any other-worldly times or an All-American result. Pair that with a non-existent cross country resume and you can begin to see how certain men had better arguments to be ranked. Regardless, we're dreading putting Grotenhuis at this spot. His recent momentum paired with the juggernaut factory that is Northern Arizona leaves him with a ceiling that could make him an All-American. I suppose we'll just have to wait and find out if that's actually the case. Ben Rosa, Senior, Harvard I will admit, Ben Rosa is not necessarily a guy who is going to jump off the page in any dramatic way when you look at his resume. The best mark on Rosa's TFRRS profile is most likely his 28:43 (10k) PR from this past spring. His 5k personal best sits at a modest 13:57 and he was 60th at the Nuttycombe Invite. So...why is he a "Just Missed" name? Well, believe it or not, Rosa's 60th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was arguably his "worst" result of the 2023 cross country season (among meets that truly mattered). After that race, the Harvard veteran would go on to earn bronze at the Ivy League XC Championships (taking down an eventual All-American in the process) and place 8th at the Northeast regional meet. But the cherry on top of Rosa's season was a 47th place effort at the NCAA XC Championships, just seven spots out from an All-American honor. And when you step back to look at his season as a whole, it feels fairly complete and void of any poor efforts. Peaking for the postseason certainly helped as well. Yes, it's true: Rosa needs to be a more potent low-stick at meets like the Nuttycombe Invite (and maybe also the national meet) to be considered a top-50 name. Even so, he felt like a fairly reliable name who offered very underrated scoring value. Toby Gillen, Senior, Ole Miss In the spring of 2023, Toby Gillen was arguably the biggest breakout star in the NCAA. The former St. Louis runner suddenly became a national-caliber distance talent, winning the Raleigh Relays 5k, running a then-PR of 13:30 over that same distance and qualifying for the outdoor national meet. Gillen would later transfer to Ole Miss where the expectation was that he would become a standout ace and among the very best cross country runners in the NCAA. But, uh...that didn't happen. At all. Gillen's 2023 cross country season was underwhelming to say the least. He 7th at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational, 175th at the Nuttycombe Invite, 14th at the SEC XC Championships and 15th at the South regional meet. He would not advance to the NCAA XC Championships. Now, in Gillen's defense, the Rebels were a team rumored to be plagued with injuries, illnesses and old fashioned bad luck. And while we don't exactly know if any of that applied to Gillen last fall, his recent efforts on the track suggest that he most certainly had more to offer on the grass. The newest Rebel star ran a new 5k PR of 13:28 on the indoor oval and eventually qualified for the outdoor national meet where he was a 7th place All-American in the 5k. No one is denying that Gillen is talented enough to be in our top-50 rankings. His ceiling could make him one of the 30-best men in the country this fall. And yet, despite the fantastic success that he has found on the oval, there is simply not enough evidence on the grass to suggest that he is a national-caliber cross country runner right now. Make no mistake, that could definitely change, but the fall of 2023 was supposed to the season where he proved how dangerous he could be in October and November. We still believe in his potential, but for now, he'll reside in our "Just Missed" section. Ben Perrin, Rs. Senior, Montana State When I first started this website, I never once expected to put a 13:30 (5k) and 28:04 (10k) runner in the "Just Missed" section of our preseason cross country rankings. And yet, here we are. On paper, Perrin may have an argument to be listed among our top-50 names. His blazing fast times on the track showcase his excellent aerobic talent and his cross country results from last fall were really solid across the board. Even so, Perrin's 2023 fall campaign can largely be described as "good," (or maybe even "really good") but it wasn't exactly "amazing," either. An 11th place finish at the Joe Piane Invitational demanded respect. However, a 16th place finish at Pre-Nationals left us wanting more. Fast forward to the national meet and Perrin placed 53rd overall, a commendable result. Much like we mentioned with Ben Rosa, there isn't necessarily one truly poor result on Perrin's resume from the 2023 cross country season. Sure, he could have been better at Pre-Nationals, but he didn't exactly blow up in that race, either. But in the eyes of The Stride Report, not having a poor race isn't enough to crack our top-50. We're still waiting for Perrin to have a marquee race where he takes down multiple All-Americans and earns a top finish in a major field. And yet, what you can't knock is his consistency and reliability as a lead scorer. That's not something that all low-sticks can tout. Ethan Coleman, Rs. Sophomore, Notre Dame CJ Singleton, Rs. Sophomore, Notre Dame We're going to lump these two men together for their analysis. Partially because they're on the same team and partially because they have often mimicked each other in certain cross country results. Last fall, when both men we're redshirt freshmen, Notre Dame hosted the Joe Piane Invitational. There, both CJ Singleton (13th) and Ethan Coleman (16th) held their own. Their performances weren't anything jaw-dropping, but the redshirt rookies showed promise. From there, Coleman continued to show promise at the Nuttycombe Invite (59th) while Singleton (111th) faded a bit. Thankfully, both men got back on the same page at the ACC XC Championships where Coleman placed 15th and Singleton placed 19th. And in their season finale, Coleman once again delivered, finishing 48th place overall. Singleton, however, struggled once more, dropping to a brutal 219th place. On paper, Coleman proved to be the better cross country runner. He was surprisingly consistent despite his inexperience and he continued to thrive over the 10k distance by running a 28:29 PR this past spring. Singleton, meanwhile, clearly struggled on the larger, nationally-competitive cross country stages. That, however, wasn't the case on the track. During the spring months, Singleton had the poise of a veteran, running a fantastic 8:27 steeplechase PR and earning 5th place All-American honors in that event. In the grand scheme of things, both Coleman and Singleton are similar-caliber runners. The former proved to be more consistent on the grass, but the latter clearly reached a new tier of fitness on the track which put him in a nationally competitive echelon. As we move into the fall months, the objectives for both of these men are clear. Coleman simply needs to replicate the consistency that we saw from him last fall and further build on his always-solid finishes. If he does that, then he'll be an All-American. Singleton, meanwhile, needs to be far better at high-level cross country meets. That, of course, shouldn't be an issue if he is able to translate his steeplechase success to the grass. Drew Griffith, Freshman, Notre Dame Ah, yes. Drew Griffith. Our first (and only) American true freshman who we will be discussing in these rankings. If you follow the high school scene, then you know just how good this guy is. He ran 3:57 in the mile, posted a jaw-dropping time of 8:31 for two miles and was brilliant throughout last fall, ultimately winning the Foot Locker XC National Championships. So...why is Griffith, one of the single-fastest prep runners ever, not even ranked? Let's take a look at last year's cross country national meet results and attempt to find where the top American true freshman finished. In total, there were eight men who were rookies by eligibility who cracked the top-50 at the 2023 national meet. But the only American of that group, Ethan Coleman (48th), was actually a redshirt freshman. Instead, you have to go all the way back to 74th place to find the top American true freshman. That, of course, was Stanford's Leo Young. And while Young's 2023 fall campaign was very solid, it wasn't all that close to making him a top-50 talent in the country. Need another example? Let's look at the 2022 cross country national meet. That year, there was only ONE runner with freshman eligibility who cracked the top-50 at the national meet. That athlete was Oklahoma State's Fouad Messaoudi, a Moroccan who had already been in the NCAA for the winter and spring track seasons before then. That year, the top American true freshman was Izaiah Steury who placed 63rd overall. He too was a freshman at Notre Dame. And yes, even though Steury was born in Ethiopia, he was adopted at the age of 11 by an American family, therefore granting him USA citizenship. But if you're an especially picky person, then the top American-born true freshman at the 2022 national meet was Villanova's Marco Langon. His finish? 121st place. Now, admittedly, there's a fairly strong argument to be had that Griffith was flat-out better than both Leo Young and Izaiah Steury when they were high schoolers. Across all three seasons, Griffith was absolutely dominant. Only Danny Simmons, who is completing a mission before attending BYU, had an argument of being the better high school talent this past year. Even so, history suggests that American youngsters need time to develop. While it's certainly not impossible for an American true freshman to be a top-50 name or even an All-American, the odds are simply stacked against them. Griffith also seemed to lean more towards to the mile and two-mile as his ideal racing distances rather than the 5000 meters. And in a sport where the championship racing distances extend to 10,000 meters, the more aerobic-centric you are, the better. Are we scared of listing Drew Griffith in our "Just Missed" section? Yes, I'm terrified, actually. There is a very strong chance that he enters the NCAA and makes us look silly by thriving alongside his former high school teammate, CJ Singleton. But for now, we'll lean on the more cautious side of things and settle for placing Griffith just outside of our top-50 rankings. Vincent Chirchir, Freshman, New Mexico We had an incredibly tricky time trying to rank Vincent Chirchir. The raw talent of this New Mexico rookie is evident. This past spring, he ran blistering times of 13:34 (5k) and 28:19 (10k) at the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Stanford Invite. And by just looking at those two efforts alone, Chirchir clearly thrives in fast-paced, aerobic-centric efforts. But when it came time for the championship meets, Chirchir wasn't able to match his more experienced contemporaries. He faltered to 8th place over 5000 meters at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships (although he did earn silver in the 10k earlier that weekend) and was then unable to qualify for the outdoor national meet in either event (although he was close in both). The narrative around Chirchir is pretty straightforward: He is exceptionally talented and has tons of upside, but he's still learning the nuances of NCAA competition. We do love that he gained collegiate experience racing on the track before he was thrust into NCAA cross country racing. In theory, that should at least allow for an easier transition into a new (and very different) season. Rodgers Kiplimo, Junior, Iowa State I know what everyone is thinking. "What? How on Earth can a 37th place All-American from last fall not even be ranked the following year? That makes no sense!" Well, the story with Rodgers Kiplimo isn't as straightforward as one may believe. Yes, it's true, Kiplimo was brilliant at the NCAA XC Championships last year, peaking perfectly alongside his teammates and cracking the top-40 to earn All-American honors. But prior to that race, you likely wouldn't have said that this Cyclone runner was a top-50 runner in the NCAA. In fact, I'm not sure that you would have said that he was a top-150 runner! In his lead up to last year's national meet, Kiplimo placed 128th at the Virginia Invitational and 134th place at the Nuttycombe Invite. And to be blunt, those would be considered bad results for anyone in our top-50 rankings. If you thought Kiplimo's performance would improve in the postseason, then you probably wouldn't have been encouraged after seeing him place 30th at the BIG 12 XC Championships. Although, in his defense, I'm not confident that Iowa State ran all-out for that meet -- just go back and look at the final results. By now, you can likely see why we were so shocked by Kiplimo's All-American result. There wasn't much on his resume which suggested that he had that kind of effort in him. The national meet was, without question, the single-best race of his life. We absolutely love that Kiplimo peaked so perfectly for the national meet last year. It was applause-worthy, really. Even so, we need to see far greater consistency from the Iowa State talent in order for him to be a ranked name. We obviously know what his ceiling is, but being able to replicate that result across the entirety of his 2024 fall campaign will be his next challenge. Marco Langon, Junior, Villanova As a collective group of writers, we really like Marco Langon. The Villanova junior has been an impactful contributor for the Wildcats since he first came to campus. His fast assimilation to the collegiate scene and ongoing rise has made him a high-value name. That's especially true after seeing how well he ran this past winter and spring. On the oval, Langon ran eyebrow-raising times of 7:43 (3k) and 13:28 (5k). He would qualify for the indoor and outdoor national meets in those two events, respectively. But for as strong as those marks are, it's cross country performances that hold the most weight in our rankings. And if you look back at Langon's 2023 fall campaign, then you'll see why we're opting to place him in this section. Finishing 12th at the Virginia Invitational was a huge result for Langon. He looked like a true low-stick who was going to give the fringe-Philly school a three-headed scoring monster alongside Liam Murphy and Haftu Strintzos. But from there, Langon wasn't quite able to replicate that kind of performance. A 110th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was a truthfully tough result. And while his 7th place finish at the BIG East XC Championships certainly wasn't bad, it also didn't raise his stock in any significant way. Once he reached the national meet, Langon would settle for an underwhelming 146th place effort. Our hope for Langon this season is pretty obvious: Be more consistent. We feel extremely confident that he's talented enough to be a top-50 name this fall. His track times suggest that he's at least worthy of a ranking and his Virginia Invite performance proves that he can be a national-caliber name on the grass. Now, we just need to see it all come together. HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no order) Will Muirhead (Oklahoma State) Valentin Soca (California Baptist) Simon Kelati (Tennessee) Dean Casey (Tennessee) Brian Masai (Arkansas) Brett Gardner (NC State) Carter Solomon (Notre Dame) Jesse Hamlin (Butler) Aidan Troutner (BYU) Gary Martin (Virginia) Quick Note(s) & Key Omissions Northern Arizona's 2024 cross country roster shows that Brodey Hasty is still a member of their team. However, The Stride Report has counted four cross country seasons on Hasty's resume (excluding the COVID year) which means that he should be out of fall eligibility. For that reason, he will not be included in our rankings. BYU freshman Danny Simmons has been omitted from these rankings. Simmons will be completing a mission prior to joining the Cougars.

Here we go. Our 2024 men's and women's preseason individual cross country rankings. Let's start with our "Just Missed" and "Honorable Mention" names. As a reminder, you can find our rankings rubric here . This week will be our D1 rankings while next week will be our D2 and D3 rankings. Let's begin... JUST MISSED (in no particular order) Sophie O'Sullivan, Senior, Washington Despite me being the one to write this section, I actually disagree with Sophie O'Sullivan being listed as a "Just Missed" name. Personally, I was pushing to have her inside of our top-50 rankings, but was ultimately overruled by the group. Last fall, O'Sullivan showed up to every cross country meet and offered great scoring value, albeit to varying extents. Her 15th place finish at the very competitive Virginia Invite was a pleasant surprise, although a 65th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational felt like a fairly tepid result. Thankfully, her 6th place finish at the PAC-12 XC Championships was a superb low-stick effort. That would eventually lead to the Husky veteran placing a solid, but shrug-inducing, 56th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. Of course, O'Sullivan's real bread and butter comes on the track. She did, after all, run 4:02 for 1500 meters in the summer of 2023 and just ran 4:05 for the same distance earlier this month. She also recently posted a 2:00 PR for 800 meters overseas. I don't know if there is necessarily one glaring flaw on O'Sullivan's resume. Sure, she didn't always fare as well in larger meets compared to smaller meets, but it's not like she ever had a truly poor race last fall. And yes, O'Sullivan did have an injury that she was recovering from earlier this year, but she rallied enough to make it to the 1500-meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. If someone wanted to rank O'Sullivan in their own top-50 rankings, I certainly wouldn't argue with you. In the meantime, look for the Washington standout to prove us wrong in her first major race of the season. Keira Moore, Rs. Sophomore, Northern Arizona The Northern Arizona women were a problem last year. Part of that is because they had fantastic low-stick stars, but the other reason why was because their depth was a nightmare to line up against. Lost in that pile of upper-tier scoring was Keira Moore, a rising redshirt sophomore was who absolutely brilliant during the regular season. Last year, Moore made a statement by placing 14th at the Virginia Invitational. That was a very strong result, but we wanted to see if she could validate that effort at another large meet like the Nuttycombe Invite. Well, not only did Moore validate her Virginia Invite performance, she exceeded expectations! That's because the Lumberjack redshirt rookie threw down a monster 16th place finish in Madison! For nearly any team in the country, Moore would be a true low-stick ace capable of leading a national-caliber team. And yes, we're willing to say that based on just two cross country results. So naturally, you may ask yourself, "Then why is she not ranked?" The biggest issue is that we never saw Moore race after the Nuttycombe Invite. An injury would sideline her for the remainder of the cross country season. In fact, Moore would also miss the entire indoor track season. It wouldn't be until the spring months when we would see her race again. Thankfully, Moore was able to put together a full season of racing to close out her second year. But truthfully, she wasn't all that close to the level that we saw from her during the 2023 cross country season (although a 16:10 clocking for 5k is respectable). Moore is more than talented enough to be listed in our rankings. In fact, we nearly put her inside of our top-50 based solely on her two main cross country results from last fall! But the still-rising Aussie needs to prove that she can stay healthy throughout the entirety of a season. Despite being with NAU for two years now, she has only been able to complete one full season of competition. If the Lumberjacks can get her to the starting line in November, then Moore could end up being the reason why the NAU women win a national team title this fall. Allie Zealand, Freshman, Liberty When it comes to men's cross country in the NCAA, it is rare that we see an American true freshman emerge as an All-American. Frankly, it's rare if they emerge as a top-50 finisher. The women, however, are a slightly different story. Last fall, Utah's Annastasia Peters was the NCAA's top American true freshman with her 33rd place finish at the national meet. NC State's Leah Stephens was the next-best behind Peters with a 43rd place finish. The year before that, Natalie Cook claimed top American true freshman honors with her outstanding 7th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. The year before that, if you're willing to count the 2021 NCAA Winter XC Championships despite it's timeline change, then the top American true freshman was Katelyn Tuohy who placed 24th overall. In other words, it is far more likely for the women than it is for the men to produce an individual All-American in the athlete's first year out of high school. That should bode well for Liberty freshman, Allie Zealand, someone who finished her prep career as our TSR #1 recruit. Zealand was beyond outstanding during her senior year of high school, especially at the end. The Virginia native, who was homeschooled, posted a jaw-dropping 4:30 mile PR at the HOKA Festival of Miles before running an arguably more impressive time of 9:41 for two miles! Of course, Zealand was plenty productive on the grass as well. Not only did she earn a strong 13th place finish at Nike Cross Nationals, but she also secured a 2nd place finish at the Foot Locker XC National Championships a week after that! Zealand was already earning top finishes against the nation's very best cross country runners...and then she somehow got even better after that. I'll admit, I'm not quite as high on this women's incoming freshman class as I have been in prior years, specifically when it comes to cross country. Even so, Zealand has a shot to be an All-American this fall. That, however, will come down to whether or not she can translate and sustain her recent success from the track to the grass. Brenda Tuwei, Freshman, Alabama I'm not sure that this write-up requires a ton of detail like I've provided for the above-listed women. I say that simply because this feels like a fairly simple conversation. We know that Brenda Tuwei is talented. In fact, many of us at The Stride Report believe that she is talented enough to be a top-50 name. We know that because she ran an incredible 10k time of 31:20 on the roads back in 2023. However, when it has come to racing on the track, Tuwei has not yet produced any results that match her outstanding road racing performance. Sure, her recent marks of 15:51 (5k) and 33:00 (10k) each deserve a nod of respect. Even so, those results, as well as a lack of known cross country performances, makes it challenging to give her a top-50 spot over other women who are more established. Tuwei probably has the highest ceiling of anyone in our "Just Missed" or "Honorable Mention" sections. We just need to see her fully exhibit that potential before we can rank her. Makenna Veen, Junior, Michigan State We really like Makenna Veen. It feels like the Michigan State veteran does all of the small things right and often boasts many of the intangibles that we look for. Consistency, for instance, has been one of the strongest attributes of this fringe low-stick. Last fall, Veen earned a "just okay" 37th place finish at the Virginia Invite before going on to the Nuttycombe Invite where she earned a much more encouraging 32nd place finish. Top-five finishes at the BIG 10 XC Championships and the Great Lakes regional meet were eventually followed by a 70th place finish on the national stage. Having an athlete as reliable as Veen can often be a huge boost for any program, especially in a sport as volatile and chaotic as cross country. She clearly has a high floor in terms of her baseline performances and she seemed to fare well at a variety of meets. The main thing holding us back from ranking Veen is that she simply needs to be a little bit better at meets like the Virginia Invite and the NCAA XC Championships. She didn't necessarily race poorly on those stages, but we're still waiting to see if her ceiling extends high enough to the point where we are convincingly saying, "She can be an All-American." We certainly think that last part is possible. But for now, we'll keep her in the "Just Missed" section of our rankings. Shannon Flockhart, Senior, Providence Shannon Flockhart is someone who has been gaining more and more attention as a national-caliber runner as of late. The Providence veteran had a breakout track season this past winter, running a 4:30 mile PR and helping the Friars' DMR to All-American honors. On the outdoor oval, Flockhart was even better, running 4:05.99 for 1500 meters and placing 6th overall at the outdoor national meet. Flockhart would then venture overseas where she ran 4:04.98 for the metric mile distance, earning a statement win at the Morton Games. There is no denying that Flockhart is currently in the best shape of her life. She was not only racing at a national-caliber level more consistently, but she also gained far greater control of her fitness. Of course, these are track times and the mile is not often a distance that directly correlates to the 6k distance in cross country. So...why is she listed here? Flockhart's history of being clutch in the postseason doesn't exclusively apply to the track. That's because the Providence star has finished as high as 69th place at the NCAA XC Championships...twice. Yes, you're reading that correctly: Shannon Flockhart finished in 69th place at the NCAA XC Championships in both 2023 and 2022. The UK native also posted decent efforts last fall at the Virginia Invite (36th) and the Nuttycombe Invitational (45th). When you pair that season-long steadiness with Flockhart's postseason success and a recent leap in fitness, the argument for her to be ranked becomes increasingly harder to ignore. But for now, we'll place her in our "Just Missed" section while we await to see if her recent momentum will push her into the All-American hunt. Allison Wilson, Senior, Florida When Allison Wilson transferred from Alabama to Florida last fall, her move was mostly overlooked. That, of course, was because the Gators had landed more established distance stars in Flomena Asekol, Amelia Mazza-Downie and Elise Thorner. But as we reflect on the 2023 cross country season, we find that Allison Wilson was arguably the most underrated transfer pickup in the NCAA last summer. The collegiate veteran more than held her own at the Nuttycombe Invite, posting an impressive 38th place finish. And at the national meet, Wilson once again found success, grabbing 49th place. Admittedly, Wilson wasn't without imperfections last fall. She faded to 19th place at the SEC XC Championships and settled for a slightly better 14th place result at the South regional meet (although we don't put a ton of stock into the latter result). We also haven't seen Wilson post any head-turning PRs on the track, instead settling for times of 15:58 (5k) and 33:34 (10k). At the end of the day, those are mainly the reasons why we opted to keep Wilson out of our top-50 rankings...for now. Regardless, Wilson proved last year that she was one of the more clutch distance runners in the country. In the two biggest meets of the season, Wilson had her best-ever races. And if we were analyzing results from just those two meets, she would almost certainly be ranked. Frankly, we wouldn't argue with anyone who has her ranked in their preseason top-50. Savannah Roark, Senior, Syracuse In the fall of 2022, Savannah Roark was one of the biggest breakout stars that the NCAA had. The Syracuse ace stunned the nation by initially placing 9th at the loaded Cowboy Jamboree. She would later earn a 31st place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite which mostly validated her earlier effort in Stillwater. After a not-as-great performance at the ACC XC Championships, Roark capped her sophomore campaign with a massive 23rd place All-American finish. Roark seemingly came into the 2023 season with tons of momentum. She had just broken through to a nationally competitive tier and had run a 10k PR of 32:49 on the outdoor oval. However, the Orange ace was clearly not in top form last fall. Roark placed 41st at the Virginia Invitational and then 63rd at the Nuttycombe Invite. She later ended her season with an 87th place effort at the NCAA XC Championships. Since then, Roark has seemingly made progress in her fitness, running three PRs in three different events and qualifying for the outdoor national meet in the 10k. Even so, we're now left wondering which version of the Syracuse veteran we will see this fall. We're willing to bet that Roark will be noticeably better in the fall of 2024 than she was last year. She did, after all, display promising momentum and consistency on the track over the last few months. Of course, trying to figure out exactly how much better she will be is the biggest challenge we have. And for that reason, we've opted to place the cross country All-American in our "Just Missed" section of names...for now. Siona Chisholm, Junior, Notre Dame We were exceptionally high on Siona Chisholm going into last fall. The Notre Dame talent was coming off of a freshman year where she placed 7th at the 2022 ACC XC Championships and had qualified for the 2023 outdoor national meet over 5000 meters. In other words, we thought the classic freshman-to-sophomore leap was inevitable for Chisholm. That, however, was not the case. Chisholm did start off her season on a high note, placing 5th at her home meet, the Joe Piane Invitational. There, she took down six eventual All-Americans. But the rest of Chisholm's season left us wanting more. She was 85th at the Nuttycombe Invite, 13th at the ACC XC Championships and 114th at the NCAA XC Championships. And based off of those results, you can see why we opted to leave her out of our rankings. Thankfully, momentum has begun to swing back into Chisholm's favor following an extremely encouraging outdoor track season. This past spring, the Notre Dame talent ran 15:32 for 5000 meters and qualified for the outdoor national meet over that same distance. We are still holding Siona Chisholm stock despite some of her challenges with consistency. We think her upside is among the best in the nation and it truly wouldn't surprise me if she ended up being a top-30 name in the NCAA this fall. Bethany Graham, Rs. Junior, Furman You could make the argument that the best version of Bethany Graham is the most underrated cross country low-stick in the country -- or at least one of them. This Furman veteran has been so steady and so reliable for the Paladins over the years. She has evolved into a focal name for a distance squad that has become increasingly more competitive in recent years. Graham has also been fantastic at the cross country national meet, boasting a clutch factor that other NCAA standouts can sometimes lack. The problem, however, is that she was injured throughout the second-half of the 2023 cross country season. And truthfully, her latest efforts on the track haven't been all that great. But are we really going to ignore someone who is a two-time cross country All-American and a two-time top-30 finisher at the Nuttycombe Invite? The answer to that question is easy: No, we are not going to ignore her. Trying to balance the nationally competitive pedigree of Graham with her latest challenges isn't an easy thing to do when it comes to crafting rankings. Even so, her history is strong enough to the point where she'll at least remain in our "Just Missed" section while we await for greater clarity this fall. HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no order) Julia David-Smith (Washington) Lindsay Cunningham (Wisconsin) Joy Gill (Alabama) Jane Buckley (Providence) Lily Murphy (Penn) Ava Earl (Northeastern) Caroline Jeptanui (Tulane) Florence Caron (Penn State) Riley Chamberlain (BYU) Chloe Thomas (UConn) Quick Note(s) & Key Omissions N/A

Click here to read our rankings rubric Click here to read our Just Missed & Honorable Mention names 50. Gable Sieperda, Senior, Iowa State In many ways, Gable Sieperda reminds me of former Iowa State runner, Thomas Pollard. The two men found early success on the grass, especially on the national stage, but they were never the lead name for a Cyclone group that has been nationally competitive in both eras. It also wasn't until their latter years in the NCAA when both men truly began to realize their full potential as national-caliber talents. When it comes to Sieperda, it's truthfully hard to look past his regular season inconsistency in recent years. In the fall of 2021, the Iowa State standout was the 21st place finisher at the Nuttycombe Invite. But just last fall, Sieperda faded to 72nd at the Virginia Invite and 87th at the Nuttycombe Invite. The year before that, he placed 56th at Nuttycombe, a decent effort, but not necessarily a "great" result, either. There is, of course, a catch: Sieperda is often at his best on the national stage. Over the last three years, this Iowa State veteran has finished 43rd (2023), 74th (2022) and 41st (2021) at the NCAA XC Championships. That is really strong reliability on a stage that can often be wildly chaotic and volatile. Even so, we felt like we needed a bit more of a spark from Siperda if he was going to crack our top-50 rankings. Thankfully, we got exactly that at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the steeplechase finals where Sieperda placed 3rd overall and ran an 8:25 PR! We'll admit, we don't necessarily put as much stock in steeplechase success as others might when attempting to project cross country success. And yet, there is no denying that Sieperda took a leap up in his fitness, something that he just happened to showcase over the water pits and barriers. Plus, with a handful of great cross country national meet results on his resume, we felt like he had enough to return to our top-50. 49. Dismas Korir, Freshman, Alabama Alabama's newest addition made headlines upon signing with the Crimson Tide. That's because he has run times of 13:56 (5k) and 28:36 (10k)...and yes, I know what you're thinking. "Wait, those times are hardly competitive in today's day-and-age of NCAA distance running. Why on Earth should we be excited about that?" Well, what if I told you that both of those marks that I just listed for Korir were actually run at altitude? Specifically, 5600 feet of altitude? Now, when you factor in conversions, Korir has times of 13:22 (5k) and 27:19 (10k)...and that last mark is incredibly hard to ignore. There have only been a few instances where Korir has toed the line for a cross country race. However, his only performance on the grass in 2024 came at the Kenyan XC Championships where he placed 40th -- and we'll admit, we're not entirely sure how to put that result into perspective. On one hand, finishing 40th at a national championship in a country known for their distance stars seems pretty impressive. On the other hand, Middle Tennessee State's Brian Kiptoo soundly defeated Korir by 20 spots. And while Kiptoo is a very solid cross country talent in his own right, he wasn't someone who we viewed as a top-50 name. We want to find the middle ground of respecting Korir's incredible converted times (especially his 10k) while also understanding that many international athletes occasionally need an adjustment period when they enter the NCAA. For now, we think this is a fair spot, although it's impossible to know if this is the "correct" spot. 48. Victor Kibiego, Senior, Texas A&M Victor Kibiego first made a name for himself in the spring of 2023. That year, he finished 3rd at the outdoor national meet, running a then-PR of 8:26 over the barriers and water pits. Naturally, that left us with high expectations for his 2023 cross country season. While he was still with UTEP, Kibiego proved to be a strong cross country talent, although his admittedly light racing schedule left us wanting more. Come the national meet, Kibiego settled for a 44th place finish, a result roughly on par with his successful, but somewhat unexciting, cross country season. Since then, Kibiego has transferred to Texas A&M, run a new steeplechase PR of 8:25 and dropped out of the outdoor national meet in the steeplechase prelims. This is going to be a very big fall campaign for Kibiego, mainly because he will no longer be able to thrive in smaller meets for the entirety of the season. Texas A&M's 2024 cross country schedule indicates that the Aggies will venture to the Nuttycombe Invite this fall. That meet, along with the SEC XC Championships, will give Kibiego far greater tests than what he experienced last year. That, in turn, should give us a better idea as to just how good Texas A&M's newest low-stick truly is. 47. Matt Strangio, Senior, Portland We believe in Matt Strangio -- and we have for quite some time. But when it has come to performances on the grass, the Portland veteran has often left us scratching our heads and thinking, "He's probably better than that." Last fall is a good example. Two poor regular season showings at the Griak Invitational and the Nuttycombe Invite were a bit surprising for someone who had finished 38th at the Nuttycombe Invite the year prior. Those challenges, however, were due to an illness. Strangio later rebounded in the postseason to win the West Coast Conference title over Nicholas Russel and Wil Smith before going on to place 76th at the national meet. Strangio's indoor track season was arguably even more perplexing. The Pilot star had a massive breakout season, running incredible times of 3:55 (mile) and 7:39 (3k). But despite having all of the momentum in the world, Strangio struggled mightily at the indoor national meet, finishing last. He would then compete just twice on the outdoor oval this past spring. It feels like we're still waiting for Strangio to truly have his moment. The talent is so overwhelmingly apparent and he's had enough success on the grass for us to believe that he can translate his 3k success. The only question is, can he put it all together for a full season? 46. Corey Gorgas, Senior, Northern Arizona Consistency. Reliability. Steadiness. Those are probably the best words to describe Northern Arizona veteran, Corey Gorgas. The Lumberjack talent proved last fall that he has an incredibly high floor, meaning that he very rarely has poor outings. Last fall, Gorgas placed 25th at the Virginia Invitational, 33rd at the Nuttycombe Invite and 62nd at the NCAA XC Championships. If you were to look at each of those performances independent of each other, then you would likely say, "He's good, but he's probably not top-50 good." Of course, it's the entirety of Gorgas' resume that truly makes him a ranked talent in our eyes. He proved to be an extremely reliable name who always offered strong scoring in loaded fields. His Nuttycombe result is also better than some people may realize. We'll admit, we're not quite sure what Gorgas' ceiling is. Can he be a top-20 name this fall? What about top-30? Would cracking the top-40 of our rankings be considered a success? We also have to note that he hasn't raced since February. That's not exactly a super encouraging sign as NAU prepares to fight for another podium spot. Even so, there is way more to like about Gorgas than there is to dislike. And for that reason we felt plenty comfortable listing him inside of our top-50. 45. Yasin Sado, Senior, Transfer Portal There's no way to dance around it: This ranking requires some projection. Yasin Sado had proven to be a nationally competitive name in prior seasons, but he has never truly been viewed as a top name on the grass. Yes, he did finish a promising 73rd place at the NCAA XC Championships last fall after placing 13th at the ACC XC Championships. However, his two races prior to that -- 39th at Pre-Nationals and 109th at the Virginia Invitational -- were simply not good. Of course, what we saw from Sado after last winter and spring was too much to ignore. The Virginia veteran (who is in the transfer portal right now) ran 3:55 (mile) and 13:31 (5k) on the indoor oval. He would then venture to the outdoor oval where he ran a then-PR of 8:27 in the steeplechase and placed 7th at the national meet. Now, typically, those results would still not be enough to crack our rankings. Make no mistake, Sado certainly improved his fitness this past spring and 8:27 is an excellent mark. Even so, it's been proven before that top steeplechasers are not always guaranteed to be top cross country runners. And yet, we're willing to look past that. Why? Because Sado ran a jaw-dropping steeplechase PR of 8:17 at the University of Pennsylvania (after the Olympic Trials) in the same race where James Corrigan ran 8:13. That, ladies and gentlemen, sparked a handful of debates at The Stride Report. And when all was said and done, we gave Sado a nod for a top-50 spot. 44. Will Anthony, Junior, Virginia Throughout last year, Will Anthony showed signs of potentially being a true low-stick for the Virginia men. Now, as we prepare to enter the fall of 2024, we're expecting Anthony to be a legitimate threat for All-American honors. Last fall, Anthony finished 29th at the Virginia Invite and 13th at Pre-Nationals. Those were both solid results -- maybe even good results -- but they weren't quite enough for us to say that he was a top-50 name. That, of course, changed when Anthony secured an excellent 7th place effort at the ACC XC Championships. The Kiwi distance ace would end his season with a commendable 62nd place finish. However, it did feel like there was room for him to be better. Thankfully, we began to see the full extent of Anthony's improved fitness on the track. After running mile and 3k PRs on the indoor oval, the Virginia underclassman secured a win at the Raleigh Relays with a 28:21 (10k) PR. He would later win the 5k at the Virginia Invite in 13:35 and advance to the national meet in the 10k where he placed 18th. Anyone who follows this sport closely enough can see that Anthony has all of the tools to be a national-caliber low-stick and a multi-time All-American. The raw talent is borderline palpable. However, in order to truly cement himself as the guy that we know he can be, Anthony will need to take down more All-Americans this fall than he did last year. 43. Timothy Chesondin, Sophomore, Arkansas Arkansas' newest weapon comes into our rankings at our TSR #43 spot. The Akron transfer, who was followed by fellow teammate Brian Masai to Fayetteville, will join a Razorback group that seems like a near lock for the podium this fall. There's admittedly not as much to talk about with Chesondin as there is with a few others. His track times are largely negligible and he only had one regular season meet that was truly notable. That meet, of course, was the Joe Piane Invitational where the now-former Zip runner produced a promising 7th place finish. We wouldn't see Chesondin again until the postseason where he earned a shrug-inducing runner-up finish at the MAC XC Championships. And after qualifying for the national meet out of the Great Lakes region, Chesondin put together a pleasantly surprising 36th place All-American finish to cap his season. This spot may be a bit low for someone who didn't truly have a poor race last fall. However, you could argue that, prior to the national meet, the best names that Chesondin took down were Charlotte's Nickolas Scudder, Montana State's Matthew Richtman and Furman's Dylan Schubert, the latter of whom was recovering from having mono. As we enter 2024, we'll likely be lucky enough to see Arkansas go to bigger and better meets. That, in turn, will give Chesondin more opportunities to prove himself against top competition. And yet, if the only real critique that we have for this Arkansas runner is that he only beat three eventual All-Americans prior to the national meet, then that's a good problem to have. 42. Florian Le Pallec, Rs. Senior, Butler The best way to describe the profile of Florian Le Pallec is by saying that he has the reliability of Corey Gorgas, but the upside of Will Anthony. After spending time at California Baptist, Florian Le Pallec transferred to Butler. But before he did that, he ventured overseas and ran two 5k races. One race produced a 13:29 PR and the other race was close to doing the same via a 13:30 mark. Naturally, we were high on the Bulldogs' newest low-stick going into last fall. Le Pallec made us look very good at the Virginia Invitational last fall, placing 9th overall in what was arguably the best race of his career. From there, our already-high expectations got even higher. But the rest of Le Pallec's season, while strong, didn't quite match our hopes for him. A 47th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was fine and a bronze medal performance at the BIG East XC Championships left us shrugging our shoulders and thinking, "Yeah, that's about right." A 65th place finish at last year's national meet was yet another result that deserved a nod of respect, but not much more. On one hand, it feels like Le Pallec has left a good bit of scoring on the table and we think he can be even better than he's shown. The latter part is where the Will Anthony comp comes in. On the other hand, it's not like he had a truly poor race last fall. If anything, he is one of the more consistent and reliable low-sticks in the country. That's where the Corey Gorgas comp comes in. If Le Pallec can remain just as consistent as he has been while also elevating his fitness one more tier up, then you can expect this Butler standout to skyrocket up our rankings. 41. Colin Sahlman, Junior, Northern Arizona I'm sure you were all wondering if Colin Sahlman would be ranked inside of our top-50. Well, you no longer have to wonder. The resume of Colin Sahlman goes against pretty much every aspect of our rankings rubric that we so heavily lean on. He has proven to be more of a middle distance runner on the track, his 5k PR of 13:38 doesn't stand out in any major way and there isn't any singular cross country result that catches our attention. So...why do we have him ranked at TSR #41? To put it simply, we are basing this ranking entirely on projection. The high school pedigree of Sahlman still rings loudly in our ears and so does the developmental aerobic mastery of Coach Mike Smith. None of this is to say that Sahlman has been bad in cross country. However, with his main highlights on the grass being a 60th place finish at the 2022 Nuttycombe Invite and a 33rd place finish at the 2023 Virginia Invite, he is not usually a name who would find his way into our top-50 rankings. Of course, it's not like there are a ton of guys in the NCAA who can run 3:33 for 1500 meters. And yes, it's true, middle distance performances rarely translate to the 8k or 10k on the grass. But Sahlman's raw fitness that he showed this past spring paired with his fantastic range should, in theory, lead to him being a top cross country name in 2024...we think.

Click here to read our rankings rubric Click here to read our Just Missed & Honorable Mention names 50. Lydia Miller, Senior, Lipscomb We will admit, we struggled mightily to find the right spot for Lydia Miller in our rankings. Miller's 2023 cross country season was filled with ups, downs and everything in between. Take for instance her effort at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational. A 5th place result in one of the more underrated meets of the year was impressive. And yet, no one whom she beat would go on to be an All-American. A 68th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was the slightest bit underwhelming. And after cruising through the ASUN XC Championships with her teammates, an 18th place finish at the South regional meet felt like it could have been better, too. And yet, in the grand scheme of things, none of that mattered. That's because Miller would put together an insanely clutch 38th place All-American performance on the national stage. That result gave her team a true low-stick which led the Bison to an 11th place team finish in their season finale. The goal for Miller this fall is fairly straightforward: Be more consistent at the highest levels of her fitness. That, however, isn't to say that she was running poorly last fall. Outside of maybe the South regional meet (which we rarely review anyway), this Lipscomb ace never had a truly poor effort. And sometimes, that's half the battle when it comes to our rankings. Now, with a valuable year of high-level experience under her belt, the sky is the limit for the Bison's focal lead scorer. 49. Ashley Jones, Junior, Tennessee Throughout last fall, you could see that Ashley Jones was on the verge of a major breakout. Since transferring over from High Point, the now-junior has evolved into a lead scorer for a fast-rising Volunteer team. A 12th place finish at Pre-Nationals, which led to wins over Jenny Schilling and Izzy Thornton-Bott, was a very encouraging result for Jones. However, a 10th place result at the SEC XC Championships, while great, also had the potential to be the slightest bit better. But Jones' true breakout race came at the national meet where she secured a huge 42nd place finish. And although she was two spots out from All-American honors, she still led the Volunteers to an incredible 6th place finish. Of course, things have gotten quite crazy since then. If you (somehow) didn't hear, Tennessee coach Sean Carlson has been hired as Colorado's next Director of Track & Field and Cross Country. And naturally, speculation has shifted to whether or not certain Volunteer athletes (like Ashley Jones) will join him in Boulder. But regardless of whether Jones stays or leaves, the momentum and consistency she has shown throughout last fall has been very promising. As long as she is able to maintain this ongoing progression, then she'll end up as an All-American favorite in November. 48. Emily Covert, Rs. Senior, Notre Dame The journey of Emily Covert through the NCAA has been anything but boring. After joining the Colorado women as a star recruit from the high school ranks, Covert picked up momentum and found great success as a collegian. The former Buffalo earned a 31st place cross country All-American honor in the fall of 2021 and later earned a 10k All-American honor the following spring. Simply put, Covert could do no wrong. Covert's 2022 fall campaign was arguably just as good after she placed 16th at the Cowboy Jamboree, 29th at the Nuttycombe Invite and 3rd at the PAC-12 XC Championships. Unfortunately, she would struggle for the remainder of the postseason. After battling through injuries and illness, Covert returned to the grass last fall and captured plenty of attention with her strong 5th place result at the Virginia Invitational. That, however, would be her main highlight of the season as she went on to place 42nd at Nuttycombe, 12th at the PAC-12 XC Championships and 50th at the NCAA XC Championships. Since then, Covert has transferred to Tennessee for the indoor and outdoor track seasons before transferring yet again this summer to attend Notre Dame. At her best, Covert is an All-American talent who can lead a team and take down top-tier names. Yes, her consistency in recent seasons needs improvement, especially on the national stage. But if the floor for Covert's performances leads to a 50th place finish at the national meet, then her ceiling is theoretically that of a top-30 runner. We may not always know what version of Covert we're getting, but we do know that any version of Covert is good enough for her to be a high-impact scorer. Side note: I thought it was pretty ironic that Covert went from Colorado to Tennessee to Notre Dame while her now-former coach Sean Carlson went from Notre Dame to Tennessee to Colorado. 47. Erin Strzelecki, Senior, Notre Dame You will not find many women who are as clutch as Erin Strzelecki is in the postseason. If you don't believe me, then just look at her TFRRS resume and compare her regular season results to her postseason results. Sure, we could go through each race of Strzelecki's 2023 season and talk about whether or not certain results were good or not. But when it comes to this Fighting Irish veteran, the larger picture is what truly matters. In her three cross country national meet showings, Strzelecki has placed 80th (2021), 54th (2022) and 37th (2023) with the latter result earning an All-American honor. Not only that, but she was also a surprise 2023 outdoor national meet qualifier in the 10k as well as the ACC indoor 5k champion this past winter. Make no mistake, Strzelecki's regular season performances have also improved. However, if you were to take last year's national meet result out of her resume, then I'm not confident that she would have made our "Honorable Mentions" list. As a website that values someone's entire body of work, we're still hoping that Strzelecki will replicate her postseason magic before the championship portion of the upcoming season. But even if she doesn't, it's hard to be too critical of someone who always shows up for the single-most important meet of the year. 46. Maggi Congdon, Junior, Northern Arizona I imagine that a lot of people are reading this article and thinking, "They just ranked Maggi Congdon at this spot because she ran 4:02 (1500) at the Olympic Trials." And to some extent, yes! That's true! But as we all know, one race cannot make up someone's entire athletic identity. And given how different cross country usually is from the middle distances on the track, it would be silly lean on that lone PR and only that PR. That's why it's important to also highlight the fact that Congdon was strong across the board last fall, showcasing promising consistency. Her 16th place result at the Virginia Invite was arguably the best result of her season, but a 47th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invite was also a really solid performance as well. Congdon then capped her season with a 60th place result at the national meet. If you were strictly looking at Congdon's 2023 cross country season (and only that season), then that wouldn't be enough for her to be ranked. Similarly, if you only looked at Congdon's fantastic success on the track this past year, specifically her 4:02 (1500) mark, then we wouldn't see enough aerobic-centric results for her to be ranked. Of course, when you combine her already-strong cross country prowess with an obvious jump in fitness from the track, one has to think that Congdon is at least capable of threatening for an All-American honor this fall. Yes, this ranking does require a bit of projection, but we feel like we've seen enough to comfortably justify putting Congdon at TSR #46. 45. Sophia Kennedy, Sophomore, Stanford Sophia Kennedy's best result last year was either a 33rd place finish at the Virginia Invitational or a 95th place effort at the NCAA XC Championships. And yes, I can already hear what you're about to ask. "But Garrett, those results aren't anywhere close to others who are being ranked! Why did you guys rank this relatively unproven sophomore?" Well, for a variety of reasons. Kennedy was a true star at the prep level and probably had one of the best rookie years of anyone in her national high school class. Sure, a few of her cross country results were respectable, but it was the jumps that she made on the track that caught our attention. The Stanford runner posted a 15:43 (5k) mark on the indoor oval and then advanced to the outdoor oval where she ran a new 5k PR of 15:33 to place 11th at the outdoor national meet. Between the pedigree, the flashes of cross country promise and the statement 5k performances made on the oval, Kennedy is 100% primed to have a monster year on the grass. The Cardinal athlete is brimming with tons of upside and has the potential to exceed this ranking if her freshman-to-sophomore-year jump is as effective as we think it will be. Sure, Kennedy is still unproven and she will most likely have at least one hiccup this fall. But if the end result comes anywhere close to matching this ranking, then that should be considered a highly successful season. 44. Sadie Sigfstead, Rs. Junior, Villanova I would argue that Sadie Sigfstead is one of the more underrated women's cross country runners in the NCAA. The Villanova talent was so incredibly steady throughout last fall and earned some quietly great finishes. She even got better on the track! Here's a fun fact: Sigfstead never finished outside of the top-10 of any cross country meet last year until the NCAA XC Championships. She won the Main Line Invitational (rust-buster), was 2nd at the Battle in Beantown (encouraging), placed 8th at Pre-Nationals (very strong), settled for 4th at the BIG East XC Championships (which was expected), was victorious at the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships (great) and then took 71st place at the NCAA XC Championships (not ideal, but not awful). The Wildcat veteran later went on to run 32:45 for 10,000 meters and qualify for the outdoor national meet this past spring. Just like we go on to mention with Yasna Petrova below, Sigfstead is a super reliable name who is going to deliver impactful scoring value at pretty much any meet she toes the line for. Yes, we would agree that her national meet results needs to be better. That, however, shouldn't take away from her entire body of work. 43. Silan Ayyildiz, Sophomore, Oregon We'll admit, this is a bit of a controversial ranking. Silan Ayyildiz transferred from South Carolina to Oregon last winter -- and the move has (for the most part) been a success. During the winter months, Ayyildiz posted times of 4:30 (mile) and 8:54 (3k). She also helped the Ducks earn All-American honors in the DMR. Of course, it was the outdoor oval where Ayyildiz caught everyone's attention. At the Bryan Clay Invitational, Ayyildiz moved up to the 5000-meter distance. And yet, despite that being only her second-ever 5k on the track, the newest Oregon runner threw down a jaw-dropping time of 15:15! That mark put her at NCAA #14 all-time for the outdoor track season. The problem, however, is that Ayyildiz struggled (a lot) in that event throughout the postseason. She failed to score a point in the 5k at the PAC-12 Outdoor Championships and she barely qualified for the outdoor national meet in that event (she was the final woman in). On the national stage, Ayyildiz faded to 16th place. Historically, Ayyildiz has built her reputation over 1500 meters and she has proven to be far more comfortable with that distance than the 5k. Sure, her Bryan Clay Invitational performance was absolutely brilliant and she even placed 7th at the SEC XC Championships last year (one of her two cross country races). Even so, the comfort with the longer distances still feels like a work in progress. And yet, despite all of that, there was zero chance that we were going to leave Ayyildiz out of these rankings. Being among the top-15 outdoor 5k runners in NCAA history and not being ranked in our top-50 cross country rankings seems pretty ridiculous. We still need to see her prove herself on the grass, but we at least know that the talent is very much there for her. 42. Yasna Petrova, Senior, California Baptist When people think of California Baptist, they likely think of Greta Karinauskaite, the team's steeplechase star. But the woman who has offered so much valuable scoring and support behind Karinauskaite has been Yasna Petrova. Sure, Petrova's upside doesn't seem to be as high as a few others in this section. That, however, shouldn't really matter. The CBU veteran has been fairly consistent and very reliable throughout her career. Last fall, for instance, Petrova placed 6th at the Griak Invitational (solid), 35th at the Nuttycombe Invitational (really encouraging) and 45th at the NCAA XC Championships (on par with expectations). Yes, she did have an odd flukey day at the WAC XC Championships, but for the most part, Petrova was incredibly steady last fall. And if you need more evidence of Petrova's scoring value, then just look back at the fall of 2022 when she placed runner-up at the Weis-Crockett Invitational (Pre-Nationals) and was 77th at the national meet. It was also promising to see Petrova throw down a strong 10k PR of 32:36 at the Stanford Invite in the spring. Petrova is probably not going to spark many major headlines this fall. In fact, I would argue that she is going to be overlooked by many. But thankfully, you read The Stride Report, so you won't surprised if you look at the national meet results in November and find her in the top-40. 41. Carmen Alder, Senior, BYU No one left us scratching our heads last fall more than Carmen Alder did. The BYU runner showcased multiple moments of incredible fitness in 2023. But on the stage that mattered the most, her performance was...well, bad. Alder was one of last year's more pleasant surprises when she took down women like Maddy Elmore, Paityn Noe, Margot Appleton, Sadie Sigfstead, Sydney Thorvaldson and all of her teammates to win gold at Pre-Nationals. And for those who needed to see more from Alder, the Cougar low-stick mostly validated her effort with a 7th place finish at the BIG 12 XC Championships. Unfortunately, Alder fell victim to an old-fashioned bad day (well, awful day) at the national meet, finishing second-to-last among finishers. But in a weird way, it was almost better that Alder finished in 246th place rather than 100th place. At least with the former result, no one is going to look at that performance and think that it was anything other than a fluke -- because it was. We're not going to overreact to a clear outlier performance and suddenly suggest that Alder doesn't deserve a ranking inside of our top-50. We do, admittedly, need to pull her back on our list and find a good middle ground which rewards her Pre-Nationals win, but also requires a stronger national meet performance in the future. Thankfully, we're not too worried about that last part.

Earlier today, Josh Grenade reported that Kenyan superstar Justine Kipkoech was joining the Eastern Kentucky men for the upcoming cross country season. Kipkoech was previously enrolled at the College of the Sequoias in California. The Stride Report has independently verified the report that Kipkoech has signed his National Letter of Intent with EKU. To say that Kipkoech is "elite" may actually be underselling him. That's because the 25-year old from Kenya has produced jaw-dropping times of 3:32.93 (1500) and 7:38.19 (3k) on the track. That former mark would have broken the NCAA 1500-meter record if it was run in-season. World Athletics also notes that Kipkoech has produced an 8:13 mark for two miles as well as a 13:22 result for 5000 meters on the roads. But what truly makes Kipkoech such an unreal prospect is the fact that he is running ultra-fast times while still defeating upper-echelon stars at the pro level. At the Sound Running Sunset Tour in California this past weekend was where the future EKU runner ran his 1500-meter PR (he also won the race). And if you think that his recent success is just a fluke, then I'd implore you to review his 1500-meter performance at the Ed Murphey Classic from July 12th of this year. On that stage, Kipkoech produced a mark of 3:33 (1500) where he finished runner-up. His 3000-meter performance of 7:38 came overseas last summer in France. When it comes to his track prowess, one thing is clear: Kipkoech is going to be a legitimate national title threat on both the indoor and outdoor ovals. That is going to be an interesting storyline to monitor as Colin Sahlman is still seeking his first NCAA title and Nathan Green is looking to further establish himself as an all-time great collegiate miler as well. And don't forget, Oregon's Elliott Cook ran 3:33 for 1500 meters at the USA Olympic Trials in June. From a cross country perspective, it's only fair to assume that the Eastern Kentucky men are overjoyed with their newest addition. While it's still unclear how Kipkoech will handle the cross country scene and the longer racing distances of 8k and 10k, it still seems safe to assume that he will make some sort of significant impact as soon as this fall. Last year, the Colonels were certainly better than what their 2023 cross country national meet performance would suggest (they finished last). That season, EKU placed 10th at the Virginia Invitational and 17th at the Nuttycombe Invite. With a large handful of top men set to return from last year -- including a potential low-stick in Taha El Raouy as well as promising track talents such as Mohammed Jouhari and Kristian Imroth -- Kipkoech makes this team look far more complete. Of course, we'll still have to see how much of his recent success can be translated to a very different setting and a very different series of racing distances.

The Stride Report has confirmed that Tennessee's head cross country coach, Sean Carlson, has been hired as Colorado's next Director of Track & Field and Cross Country. The Volunteer men and women were informed of the move earlier today. The hiring comes a little over a month after it was reported that long-time CU coaches Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs were not having their contracts renewed by the university. Carlson's Tenure at Tennessee Carlson's decision to join the Colorado men and women admittedly comes as a bit of a surprise. Just two years ago, the now-former Tennessee coach joined the Volunteers in a move that shook the NCAA track and field and cross country world. During his time at Tennessee, Carlson revitalized a women's distance program that had largely been a non-factor in the distance events, nationally. After entering the 2023 cross country season unranked in The Stride Report's top-25 preseason teams list, the Lady Vols stunned the nation with a near-unbelievable 6th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships. The rise of Ashley Jones as the team's newest low-stick on the grass has been complemented by the better-than-expected output seen from current sophomores such as Jillian Candelino, Caroline Lyerly and Jessie Secor. Returing veterans Rachel Sutliff and Kayla Gholar proved to be critical lineup members as well. With all but one runner returning from last year's national meet lineup, and a small handful of transfers also entering the program, the ladies of Rocky Top were potentially in store for a historic fall campaign (and they maybe still are). The Tennessee men have also seen a rise to national competitiveness since Carlson came to Knoxville, although not to the same level as the women's team. The introduction of star-caliber transfers such as Dylan Jacob and Yaseen Abdalla in the summer of 2022, paired with the return of Volunteer veteran Karl Thiessen, allowed the Tennessee men to reach the NCAA XC Championships for the first time since 2002. They placed 20th that year at the national meet. The following year, the Volunteer men remained as a nationally competitive program, but they also struggled to replace the lost firepower of Dylan Jacobs. The men in orange would go on to finish a truthfully underwhelming 26th place at the national meet. Under the direction of Carlson, Dylan Jacobs would become one of the top NCAA distance runners of the post-COVID era, running times of 7:36 (3k) and 13:11 (5k). Jacobs also won the 2023 NCAA indoor 3k title, giving him his second national title after winning the 2022 10k national title during his time at Notre Dame. Rise to National Acclaim at Notre Dame Prior to joining Tennessee, Carlson first rose to national prominence for his coaching efforts at Notre Dame where he was the head men's distance coach. When Carlson began coaching Notre Dame's men's cross country team in 2016, the Fighting Irish earned an unexciting 14th place at the Great Lakes XC Regional Championships. The next year, they placed 9th at the same meet. Fast forward to 2018 and Notre Dame had won the ACC XC Championships, earned a top-two automatic national qualifying spot at their regional meet and placed 14th at the NCAA XC Championships. In 2019, the Irish placed 9th at the NCAA XC Championships. And finally, at the 2021 NCAA Winter XC Championships, the South Bend men secured a runner-up team finish with six individual All-Americans. In addition to Dylan Jacobs, Carlson was also responsible for developing Yared Nuguse as a collegian, someone who is debatably the best distance runner in America right now. And on the recruiting trail, Carlson set a new standard for excellence, twice securing our TSR #1 freshman distance class ranking with the Fighting Irish men (as well as TSR #2 ranking after he left for Tennessee). What Happens Now? Carlson's unexpected jump to Colorado will almost certainly set off a chain reaction of significant coaching moves within the NCAA. With a high-paying SEC head coaching role now open for the taking (Carlson was technically the "Director of Cross Country" while Duane Ross is the "Director of Track & Field"), the nationwide speculation as to who would land with the Buffaloes will now shift to Rocky Top. It's also likely that a handful of athletes follow Carlson from Tennessee to Colorado. Of course, figuring out who those athletes are and how many of them do transfer are the biggest uncertainties that have stemmed from the recent news. But if there is any cross country program in the NCAA that needs an injection of scoring, it is almost certainly the Buffalo men and women. Last year, both teams struggled mightily throughout the fall months. The Colorado women finished 19th at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships while the men faded to 25th place. Now, as we prepare for the 2024 season, the Colorado men have an incoming class that is nearly non-existent (among distance runners) while the Colorado women have lost their top-four runners from a lineup that was already struggling to find scoring. Coach Sean Carlson has developed a reputation for taking unexciting cross country programs and turning them into national powers. However, it may be his upcoming move to Boulder that poses his most challenging project yet.