Etrain Team Power Rankings: #18 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes

By: Garrett Zatlin

Reminder of the list so far...

#25 Eastern Michigan Eagles

#24 Penn State Nittany Lions

#23 Minnesota Gophers

#22 Cornell Bears
#21 Furman Paladins
#20 Florida State Seminoles

#19 Colorado State Rams

#18 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes

#17 NC State Wolfpack

#16 Penn Quakers

#15 Virginia Tech Hokies

#14 UCLA Bruins

#13 BYU Cougars

#12 Louisville Cardinals

#11 Michigan Wolverines

#10 Virginia Cavaliers

#09 Oregon Ducks

#08 Oklahoma State Cowboys

#07 Iona Gaels

#06 Mississippi Rebels

#05 Villanova Wildcats

#04 Wisconsin Badgers

#03 Syracuse Orange 

#02 Stanford Cardinals
#01 Colorado Buffalos

18. Tulsa Golden Hurricanes

Flotrack’s #18: Washington Huskies

Coach: Steve Gulley

Notable Departures: Tim Rackers, Danny Thater, Adam Palamer
Notable Additions: Luke Traynor (transfer), Braydon Rennie  (Canada) Jay Ort (Canada), Stuart McNutt

Projected Scoring Five: Marc Scott (SR) [ET#22], Ben Preisner (SO), Luke Traynot (JR), Elijah Silva (SO), Braydon Rennie (FR)

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I have a bit of a soft spot for the Tulsa Hurricanes after I robbed Marc Scott of a better ranking in the Top 50 List. What I like about Tulsa, is that they have a history of recruiting excellent talent and improving that talent every year. 2015 is no different. Coach Gulley has brought in overseas athletes this fall to make up for the seniors they lost as well as build on their depth.

Much like Colorado St. and Furman, Tulsa entered last season with many people unsure of what to expect from them. After a quick ‘B-team’ duel meet against Oklahoma, the real action would start at the Notre Dame Invite for the Hurricanes. The top squad would go out against a stacked and deep field looking to make a good first impression on the 2015 season. Unfortunately, the first-race rust would hold Tulsa back. The Hurricanes would finish a decent 10^th overall (7 points away from 9^th), but failed to make an impact. Although Scott finished in a solid 29^th place, a top 10 finish would’ve been appropriate for a man of his caliber.  The next stop on the schedule would be Pre-Nats where the competition would be much stronger than Notre Dame. Many would dismiss Tulsa from their predictions considering their unexciting ND performance. That, however, would turn out to be a poor decision as Tulsa shocked the nation by beating Colorado St. on the tiebreaker and placing 5^th overall in an dominant field. Scott would hold his own in a star-studded field and place 11^th. His teammate Tim Rackers snagged 34^th. The rest of the scoring five took up spots throughout 71^st and 82^nd place putting the team score a bit higher than it should’ve been. Nonetheless, it was a great performance and deserved to be applauded. The Golden Hurricanes would eventually walk in to AAC’s and cruise through the competition taking the top three spots and defeating runner-up Cincinnati by 63 points. Conferences was just the warm-up to the big showdown. With Oklahoma State losing big names to graduation, and Tulsa on the rise, could the Hurricanes actually take the Midwest regional title? Many thought it could be done, but alas, Tulsa was out matched by OKST and settled for a second place finish 14 points behind the Pokes. Although they didn’t get the title, Tulsa had to be happy considering they had never had a top-two team finish since 1997*. Tulsa would enter 2014 NCAA’s making it their 4^th straight visit. But this time, they would have the comfort of an auto-bid. Having made school history, Tulsa stepped to the line with a bit more confidence. Tulsa could very well fight for a top-10 spot and establish themselves as a power-program. That plan, however, did not go as planned as the Golden Hurricanes got caught in the mass waves of talent. Scott continued to shine and grabbed 14^th overall. But only his teammate Tim Rackers cracked the top 100 while their 5^th man hurt their score with his 220^th place finish. Overall, Tulsa grabbed 25^th with the next three teams in front of them all within 6 points. It wasn’t a pretty day for the Golden Hurricanes.

*1997 was the earliest year I could find online results for. Tulsa’s most recent runner-up or title finish could’ve been earlier than 1997 making their 2014 performance that much more impressive.  

When most teams lose three of their top five, they go through a rebuilding process. If you’re the Tulsa Hurricanes, you reload. Marc Scott returns to lead a talented squad back to NCAA’s and avenge their 25^th place finish. There is only so much Scott can do in the scoring however. He has already placed so low that the best impact he can have on the scoring is about 10 points better. Ben Preisner returns this season as a sophomore after a great freshman year on the track. The youngster ran 8:53 for the steeplechase last spring which is a great sign considering the success steeplechasers have had during XC. His first year experience is huge and hopefully that experience will correlate to an improved season. Elijah Silva is another rising sophomore that has plenty of potential. With one year under his belt and a 3:47 1500, look for him to make an impact. Yet, the real difference makers will be the men from Canada and Great Britain. Luke Traynor will team up with his fellow countryman, Marc Scott, and look to be the third/fourth man that can close the gap between the top two. The freshman on this squad will probably fill the rest of the varisty and contribute some excellent depth. McNutt had an outstanding XC last fall placing 10^th at NXN AND 21^st at Footlocker. Clearly, the kid is durable. Jay Ort and Braydon Rennie of Canada are both sub 8:30 3k guys and it’s impossible to think they won’t improve in their first year of collegiate running. The potential with this team is endless. Unfortunately, that’s just what this team is: potential. They need to execute their race plans and stay healthy. If each individual can progress and improve to their expected fitness, then watch for this team to return to NCAA’s even stronger than last season.

When I look at Flotrack’s ranking of Tulsa (28^th), I scratch my head and wonder how that could be. I understand the argument that there are of a ton of new guys in a new program, but there is too much depth and potential to think that Tulsa can’t return to the talent level they were at least year. I’m not sure how teams like NAU, Georgetown, and Washington are ahead of this team after losing so many names. 18^th may be a bit of a generous ranking, but I believe it’s much more fair than 28^th.