Flotrack XC Rankings Men's NCAA XC Top 31 Teams (Week 3)

Oct 7, 2013 by Isaac Wood

To preface today's rankings it is important to remember that the reason there are 31 teams in these rankings, rather than the generic 30 is because this is how, right now, the NCAA Championships would be played out. This includes factoring in how the teams have looked thus far this season, rewarding teams for good races early on, and still recognizing the upside of many teams that have yet to race full squads or are injury-laden. Teams like Dartmouth, Southern Utah, Harvard, and others that had good weekends deserve to be recognized, but will have a very hard time making it out of their brutally-hard regions.

#1 OK State - 103
The Pokes were off this week.
Next up: Pre-Nats- 10/19

#2 Colorado - 157
The Buffs move up one spot mostly because Oregon looked like they were resting most of their guys at Dellinger. It was not convincing enough of a win to be #2 good, though.
Next up: Pre-Nats - 10/19

#3 Oregon - 164
Although they were most likely taking a easy day on the park at their home meet, the Bill Dellinger Invite, Oregon did not blow away Boise State (they should have). The good news is that Parker Stinson looked much better than the previous week. With Eric Jenkins and Tanguy Pepiot (that French steeplechaser we keep talking about), we have yet to see the entire lineup race together.
Next up: Pre-Nats - 10/19

#4 NAU - 214
All quiet in Flagstaff this weekend.
Next up: Wisco Invite - 10/19

#5 BYU - 277
An idle week in Provo.
Next up: Wisco Invite - 10/19

#6 Tulsa - 303
Tulsa looked very good through four at Notre Dame. Marc Scott is really coming around and Chris O'Hare is only going to get better as the season goes on. Regular no. 2 man Andy Heyes had an off day and finished 61st. For an 8:00 3k guy, that's a poor day and will never have a day like that again. If Heyes has an average day at Notre Dame (let's say 30th) Tulsa scores 93 points and wins the meet. Tulsa is very good and with Scott looking as good as he does right now, they're going to be scary come championship season.
Next up: Pre-Nats - 10/19

#7 Portland - 311
Portland ran the Dellinger Invite with most of their "B" team.
Next up: Wisco Invite - 10/19

#8 Arkansas - 319
Kemoy Campbell rolled with Kennedy Kithuka of Texas Tech for much of the Chile Pepper Invite this past weekend, which is a feat in and of itself. Although Kithuka did eventually prevail, Campbell is obviously fit and ready for a top five individual finish at NCAAs. Stanley Kebenei was good no. 2 finishing third and Solomon Haile was solid in his opener placing fifth. Kansas transfer Gabe Gonzales was top-10 and is looking like a nice no. 4-5 man for the Hogs. The question mark for Arkansas really lies in the consistency of their 4-5. If Gonzales, Flynn, or Joseph can prove to be top 100 type guys at NCAAs then this ranking is off because they should be no. 5 if not higher. Until then, we will wait and see what theyve got at Wisco. Overall, Arkansas got the win at their home meet and things will get interesting when they will meet NAU, BYU, and Portland at Wisco in a few weeks.
Next up: Wisco Invite - 10/19

#9 Syracuse - 334
The 'Cuse were idle this past weekend.
Next up: Wisco Invite - 10/19

#10 Stanford - 336
Stanford was off this weekend.
Next up: Pre-Nats - 10/19

#11 Princeton - 353
At an oddly hot, humid and nasty day at Notre Dame, Princeton finished third overall. Similarly to Tulsa, the Tigers had some irregular poor races from some key athletes. Alejandro Arroyo-Yamin, who was 58th at NCAAs last fall, was 78th at Notre Dame. Jonathan Vitez, another usual scorer for the Tigers, did not compete. Princeton is still a very good team and with Vitez and Yamin performing at a normal level, they would have also been right there with Tulsa and Columbia for a team title at Notre Dame.
Next up: Pre-Nats - 10/19

#12 Columbia - 390
Probably the performance of the weekend belongs to the Columbia Lions for their win at Notre Dame. I can admit that I definitely underrated them in the pre-season rankings. Granted, after losing so many front-runners but bringing back some quality guys from track, we were only going to know how good they really were at Notre Dame.

Daniel Everett, Nico Composto, and Jake Sienko are a solid 1-2-3 with John Gregorek (a good mid-d guy) coming up big time for them being their no. 4 at 24th. The biggest surprise for me was how good freshman Jack Boyle from CBA looked. 50th at Notre Dame as a freshman is a solid accomplishment. People don't realize how huge that field is and how difficult it can be to navigate through that massive race. Give him credit for being tough and getting the job done for the Lions.
Next up: Metro Champs - 10/11

#13 E. Kentucky - 402
Idle.
Next up: Wisco Invite - 10/19

#14 Texas - 410
All quiet in Austin this past weekend.
Next up: Wisco Invite - 10/19

#15 North Carolina - 446
We will have to wait and see how for real UNC-Chapel Hill is for a few more weeks.
Next up: Wisco Invite - 10/19

#16 Indiana - 449
Ok ok. I get it. Indiana is pretty good this year. I underestimated them and I can admit that.

I knew that Robby Nierman was a very solid steepler/distance runner (8:08, 14:10, 8:46) and that he would be a nice front runner, plus he was 104th at NCAAs last year. JR Ricker is in a similar boat - solid PRs and would be a good 1-2 for the Hoosiers. (8:08, 14:13).

The other guys I was not so sure on. But Indiana is good this year and will make the NCAA meet out of the Great Lakes, which is looking more and more of a crapshoot after every race. A :26 second spread from 1-5 is good enough for me and was good enough for a win at Paul Short. I'm interested to see Kieran Reilly suit up for the Hoosiers (a British freshman signee). With him in the mix, Indiana could be even better than what they look like right now.
Next up: Wisco Invite/Pre-Nats (schedule very ambiguous)

#17 Wisconsin - 463
Idle.
Next up: Some random home meet - 10/19

#18 New Mexico - 468
Here is another one where I might have missed a little. By looking purely at the numbers side of things, Lobos are stacked. Caldwell, Millington, Matheson, Engholm, Stam, Zacharias, Cornwell, Shelley, Herring, the list goes on. Apparently, Millington is hurt. Stam didn't run and the rest of the Lobos besides Caldwell, Bitchell and Zacharias, struggled. UNM eventually ended up sixth overall, but will get better as the season goes on. Especially if Millington can get back to his top form and Matheson can figure out how to run NCAA XC, which is way different the BUCS.
Next up: Wisco Invite - 10/19

#19 Providence - 475
Idle.
Next up: New England Champs - 10/12, Wisco Invite - 10/19

#20 Villanova - 490
Patrick Tiernan was money in his first big race in the 'Nova uniform. Finishing fourth overall, just behind Kithuka, Campbell and Kebenei is a solid feat for a freshman in his first large NCAA outing. The good news for Villanova is that Jordy Williamsz and Sam McEntee were also solid placing 8th and 13th. Overall, the team finished second behind host Arkansas 31-44. With Denault as their fifth runner, who is capable of being their four, that means Brian Basili is going to be a crucial part of this squad as he'll most likely be their fifth guy at NCAAs. This team could be dangerous if they can time it right going into the championships portion of the season.

Next up: Princeton Invite - 10/19

#21 UCLA - 492
Without front-runner Lane Werley, the Bruins won NCAA Preview meet up in Sacramento this past weekend. Sergey Sushchikh was the no. 1 man for the Bruins and looked pretty good early. 800m specialist Nick Hartle had a good day and will be a nice asset for UCLA as the season goes on. Dustin Fay, their normal no. 2 was a bit back and when he comes on, he will add some depth to the front pack. UCLA has yet to really show us their cards this season, so it will get really interesting when they do.
Next up: UCLA Double-Dual - 10/11

#22 Virginia - 499
Back-to-back weeks Virginia got after it in two big meets. Virginia was 8th at Notre Dame, coming off of a hard effort the week before at their home meet. Although, they were beat by some teams that are ranked below them, with front-runners Kyle King and Thomas Porter both losing their shoes on the course.

The Cavaliers are better than what they looked like this past weekend. Add Chris Foley into the mix, who did not run this weekend and Virginia will be fine.
Next up: ACCs - 11/1

#23 Michigan - 513
Michigan ran a "B" team at Notre Dame. Their big boys will have a chance to see where they stack up (post-Jamboree) at the Wisco Invite.
Next up: Wisco Invite - 10/19

#24 Notre Dame - 527
Jeremy Rae ran very well placing fifth individually at the Notre Dame's home invite. Although there were many quality programs, the Irish did struggle a little bit to find any kind of grouping. Martin Grady had a bummer race finishing 32nd and J.P. Malette was 59th. This team is much better on paper than what they did this weekend and should look better as the season goes on.
Next up: Wisco Invite -10/19

#25 Colorado State - 552
A fifth place finish at Notre Dame was just what the Rams needed to prove that Griak was no joke. What makes Colorado State so good is that their pack of five is so tight and that they are actually all solid athletes. Sometimes you'll see a team with good grouping, but they're just so far behind the main core runners that it does not do them a whole lot of good. Alex Muntefering and Alex Goodman were a nice 1-2 punch for CSU and the rest of the team followed suit with nice races.
Next up: Pre-Nats - 10/19

#26 Minnesota - 552
John Simons ran out of his mind for the Gophers this weekend and helped them to a very good fourth place team finish. What was really helpful for Minnesota was that their 2-5 were only :8 seconds a part. If they can keep that spread all year and Simons maintains his front-running form, the Gophers look to have a recipe for success coming into the championship portion of the season.
Next up: Wisco Invite -10/19

#27 NC State - 570
Nothing out of Raleigh this weekend.
Next up: Wisco Invite - 10/19

#28 Georgetown - 580
The Hoyas struggled a bit this weekend at Paul Short, getting beat by Indiana and up-start Dartmouth. With studs Darren Fahy, Ahmed Bile, Max Darrah, and Dylan Sorenson all not competing, G-Town still held their own with the few guys they had go. Andrew Springer and Brian King are running well and when they can find a few more guys to step up they will be fine coming out of the Mid-Atlantic.
Next up: Pre-Nats - 10/19

#29 Iona - 620
Only Ethan Heywood ran from the Iona "A' squad this weekend at Paul Short and he placed 35th.
Next up: Metro Championships - 10/11

#30 Florida State - 622
A bummer day at Notre Dame leaves Florida State towards the bottom of the rankings. The good news for the 'Noles is that they have the pieces to be good, it just might take a while for them to be able to put them together. At Notre Dame, the 'Noles were led by Matt Mizerek, Bryant Blahnik and Josh Gracia. Zak Seddon, Jakub Zivec, and Australian transfer Glen Yarham are still waiting for their chance to step up and race healthy for FSU. When all of the pieces can come together, Florida State will be fine.
Next up: Pre-Nats - 10/19

#31 Florida - 681
Nothing out of Gainesville.
Next up: Wisco Invite -10/19

Dropped out: Washington, Auburn

New to the rankings: #16 Indiana, #26 Minnesota

Others teams considered: Dartmouth, Southern Utah, Harvard