Updated Etrain Top 50 List: Week 5 (10/19)

By: Garrett Zatlin

PAST RANKINGS THIS SEASON
Week 4 (10/12)--No changes

KEY
·      Bold: Had performances that influenced a strong change in the rankings
·      (#/#): First number indicates how much the individual has moved in the rankings. A plus means they have improved in the rankings. A minus means they have regressed in the rankings. The second number indicates where they were ranked the week before
·      (Wasn’t Ranked): Was not ranked the week before.
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50. Chris Walden, Senior, California (-28/32) 
-Just simply a bad day for Walden. He placed 42nd at Pre-Nats and failed to be a contender at any point in the race. His 6th place at Roy Griak (off a slow pace) just doesn’t seem to match up to where he was last season and he’s been pretty underwhelming for the most part. Like Hubbard, I’ll give him one more chance to prove himself in the postseason (where he had his breakout performances last year).  

49. Joel Hubbard, Junior, Syracuse (-5/44)
-This is more of gut-feeling pick. Hubbard placed 28th at Wisconsin, which is decent, but not quite where I expected him to be. I’ll give him one more chance at ACC’s before I have to give him the bump off the list.

48. Brian Barraza, Junior, Houston (-10/38)
-I was slightly disappointed by Barraza’s 25th place finish at Pre-Nats. It wasn’t a bad run by any means, but I expected a bit more than that. Barraza seems capable of crushing a fast pace against no name competition, but struggles when he has to face the Goliaths of the NCAA. He won’t have any big-time competition until NCAA’s so I expect him to get wins at leagues and regionals.

47. Henry Wynne, Sophomore, Virginia (Wasn’t Ranked)
46. Izaic Yorks, Senior, Washington (Wasn’t Ranked)
-How about these two at Wisconsin? Was anyone really expecting these guys to be factors in a race like this? Wynne was in the front for a good portion of the race while Yorks hung very tough that last 1.5k. The milers finished 7th (Yorks) and 9th (Wynne) respectively. Typically a result like that would warrant a better ranking. However, that race played out perfectly for milers. Just look at how Chartt Miller and Burcham were able to finish. It was a great race, but I don’t expect these two to have another race like that this season.

45. Meron Simon, Senior, NC State (-3/42)
-Decent race for Simon who placed 23rd overall Wisconsin. It wasn’t anything all that exciting but he got the job done.

44. Hayden Hawkes, Senior, Southern Utah (-1/43)
-Hawkes has been one of the more consistent runners in the NCAA this season…except for this past weekend. Hawkes suffered his first poor race of the season by placing 55th at Pre-Nats. It was his first non top-10 race he’s had this year so I won’t hold this against him too much. He’s a solid runner and good leader for a Southern Utah squad that took a big loss for graduating Nate Jewkes.

43. Thomas Awad, Senior, Penn (-15/28)
-It’s been a rough season for Awad. The man that was once 18th in the preseason rankings hasn’t had a top five finish this season. He placed 17th at Notre Dame and now 7th at Princeton where the field was essentially just Villanova and Penn. He hasn’t had any catastrophic performances, but they haven’t been that exciting either. That once heavily expected Heps title seems to be much further out of reach.

42. Robert Denault, Senior, Villanova (Wasn’t Ranked)
41. Jordy Williamsz, Senior, Villanova (+9/50)
-Villanova continues to stay on the DL and they do so by consistently having their top three place so well. Jordy placed second and Danult placed third at Princeton to continue their streak of top five finishes. These two deserve some love for being able to get pretty close with Tiernan week in and week out. There’s only so much they can do, but they’ve been doing well enough that Denault gets on the list and Williamsz improves.

40. Patrick Corona, Senior, Air Force (Wasn’t Ranked)
-I’ll admit that this guy hasn’t received much love this season. He placed 5th at Washington and now 12th at Pre-Nats. I always seem to dismiss him for some reason which is just my bad. He gets on the list after proving himself.

39. Michael Vennard, Sophomore, Boise State (+7/46) 
-Boise State hasn’t had quite the season everyone expected with Rafla being injured. However, Vennard has stepped up and taken the role as the lead-man for a team that needed a leader. Vennard finished 17th at Wisconsin and continued to make a case that he could grab an All-American spot. I’ll be interested how the younger guy handles the pressures of the post-season and if he’ll be able to stay as consistent as he has been.

38. MJ Erb, Junior, Mississippi (-5/33)
-It was a rough day for Erb who fell to 47th at Wisconsin. I can’t penalize him too much for this race considering he was 4th at GLC. However, his Wisconsin performance seemed to be the theme of how Mississippi’s season has been going: disappointing. I still expect Erb to be competitive, but I’m not so sure I’m ready to give him the regional title now.

37. Sam Parsons, Junior, NC State (+2/39)
-Parsons continues to lead the Wolfpack to more success this season with his 15th place finish at Wisconsin. He’s been a great leader and very consistent, but like Pearson, hasn’t shown much of a spark. I want to see him have a big time race where he finishes top five or something like that. I think that race could be coming at regionals…but that’s just a hunch.

36. Morgan McDonald, Sophomore, Wisconsin (Wasn’t Ranked)
-McDonald took advantage of knowing how to run his home course. He placed 10th overall and seemed to be one of the very few things that went right for Wisconsin that day. He was consistent last season, but now it seems like he’ll be another low-stick for Wisconsin this season. I’d like to see him have another race like that considering this was only his first race of the season. Other than that, McDonald has my attention.

35. Lane Werley, Senior, UCLA (+13/48)
-UCLA doesn’t seem to have the same spark as a team like they did last season. However, Werley has regained his spark that he lost last season. He has been having some excellent finishes and making himself relevant on the national scene once again. I was a little worried that he would end up like Kyle King, but he has turned it around. His 14th place at Wisconsin was very solid and a nice result that compliments his 3rd place run at Washington.

34. Ben Rainero, Senior, Cornell (Wasn’t Ranked)
-When this season began, the favorites in the Ivy League were guys like Dooney, Awad, King, and Deluca. Rainero wasn’t even supposed to be the top man on Cornell’s squad, much less the favorite for the Heps title! Now he sits as the man set to win Heptagonal title. He’s been extremely consistent this season with his 5th place run at Beantown, and now an 11th place finish at Pre-Nats. The guy is killing it and deserves respect. I’m eager to see what more he can do.

33. Amon Terer, Junior, Campbell (Wasn’t Ranked)
-How about them Camels? Terer showed everyone that Kipkoech wasn’t the only talent that Campbell had. He finished a huge 10th place overall at Pre-Nats which really took me (and I would assume the rest of the spectators) by surprise. It’s really exciting to see a small school like this prosper with multiple individuals capable of big-time finishes. I’m keeping Terer at 33 until I see him pull off another race like that again. Until then, he’ll be staying on my radar.

32. Brandon Doughty, Senior, Oklahoma (+4/36)
31. Jacob Burcham, Junior, Oklahoma (+16/47)
-Jacon Burcham is for real. I was excited by his race at Panorama Farms, but I had some doubt about whether or not that performance could be replicated. My doubts were put to rest when Burcham crossed the finish line at Wisconsin in 11th place. To be fair, the race did play favorably into his racing style. Yet, I still think this is a guy who can be an All-American at NCAA’s. The same could be said for Brandon Doughty who continues to excel this season. He was one spot behind Burcham in 12th place. He’s another guy I see getting an All-American spot. They’ve been consistent and I think they’ve chosen the right races to run this season. I’m looking forward to see how they handle the post-season pressure.

30. Chartt Miller, Sophomore, Iona (+11/40)
-The Iona sophomore continues to defy my assertion that Iona doesn’t have a front runner. Miller placed 8th at Wisconsin in a race that, like Burcham, favored his racing style. As I mentioned at the beginning of the season, this guy hasn’t ever had a truly bad race and that consistency is showing. He has been the low-stick that Iona needed and hopefully he’s able to continue that front-running ability in the post-season.

29. Grant Fisher, Freshman, Stanford (0/29)
-Did not race with the team this season…and we continue to wait.

28. Cerake Geberkidane, Sophomore, Oklahoma State (Wasn’t Ranked)
-While Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, and Syracuse steal headlines, Oklahoma State silently sits back and continues to work. Geberkidane has convincingly won both his races this season. There’s not a lot to say besides that he’s running very fast and putting away the competition. I have a feeling that he is going to surprise a lot of people come post-season.

27. John Mascari, Senior, Indiana State (-16/11)
-It pains me to put Mascari here considering I’m a fan of his. Unfortunately, his 30th place at Pre-Nats is his second off-race of the season and he hasn’t really shown anything that would merit being in the top 25. It was also surprising that he didn’t run well considering it was a grind-it-out type race that favored his running style. I still have hope that he can rally, but that hope is slowly diminishing.

26. Lawrence Kipkoech, (Rs.) Freshman, Campbell (-6/20)
-Kipkoech had a slightly off-day (I use ‘off-day’ lightly) as he placed 18th overall at Pre-Nats. He barely lost to Peterson at Panorama Farms so I don’t think this race was a true representation of his fitness. However, his ability to run in races with large fields against big-time competition is now in question. I wont jump to conclusions, but I hope he can handle the mass herds of people at NCAA’s.

25. Jerrell Mock, Sophomore, Colorado St. (+2/27)
24. Jefferson Abbey, Junior, Colorado St. (+1/25)
-The Ram duo continues to stay consistent. Abbey placed 16th while Mock was 17th (at Pre-Nats). They handled a fast pace better than they did at Notre Dame. The middle teens is about where I expected them so keeping them in the middle twenties seems to be the right spot for me. I will say that this is their third big invite of the season and it makes me wonder if the Rams will be able to keep this up…

23. Morgan Pearson, Senior, Colorado (-1/22)
-It seems like redshirting hasn’t hurt the senior Buffalo this season. Pearson placed 15th overall to finish as the Buff’s 4th man. He’s consistent and plays a big part as a scorer for Colorado. At the same time, he doesn’t have much of a spark to his racing. He only has two top-10 finishes in his XC career with one of those being this season at the Rocky Mountain Shootout (he placed 2nd). I’d like to see something a little more exciting if he wants to be around that 20th spot.

22. Jonathan Green, Sophomore, Georgetown (Wasn’t Ranked)
-No Gil. No Leibold. No Manahan. No problem. Green has embraced his role as the lead man for a Georgetown squad that proved the doubters (which included me) wrong with consistently excellent performances. He has been the spark that this Hoyas squad desperately needed. Now, Green is set to lead the Hoyas back to NCAA’s. Something I didn’t think would be a possibility this season. His 6th place finish at Pre-Nats shows that he’s in shape. I’d like to give him a better ranking, but the other guys in front of him are simply just too established and too elite. Yet, for just a sophomore and all that controversy, Green is handling this season extremely well.

21. Ben Saarel, Junior, Colorado (-17/4)
-We saw him at the Rocky Mountain Shootout running unattached. Now he just didn’t race. That’s a bit worrisome and essentially indicates that he’s injured or redshirting. There are rumors that it’s a minor injury and that he’ll be back for PAC 12’s so hopefully that is true. However, until I actually see him run with a Colorado uniform on, then I’ll be keeping him out of the top 20.

20. Edwin Kibichiy, Junior, Louisville (-6/14) 
-Kibichiy ran a solid race at Pre-Nats to finish 13th overall. He continues to make up for the shortcomings that Kibet has gone through. No particular reason he moved back six spots. I just liked the guys ahead of him more. He won't be taking another drop like that for a while unless something terrible happens. 

19. Colin Bennie, Sophomore, Syracuse (+12/31)
-Colin. Bennie. He has been constantly improving in my rankings week after week. At Wisco he showed that he is the real deal with a 6th place finish and staying tough in that final 1k. I’m a big fan of this guy who is constantly overshadowed by Knight and Hehir. He has been one of the most consistent guys in the nation this season and he continues to impress. Props to him.

18. Connor Winter, Senior, Colorado (-3/15)
-Winter finished a very impressive 9th place at Pre-Nats and continues to be a very underrated part of this Colorado squad that is often dominated by Moussa, Saarel, and Murphy. I’d like to place him higher than 18th, but the others simply have more races under their belt and I know more about what they are capable of this season. I expect Winter to improve in my rankings in the coming weeks.  

17. Matt McClintock, Senior, Purdue (-7/10)
-The first off day of the season for McClintock who fell to 27th at Pre-Nats. He’s been pretty consistent this season with runner-up finishes at Beantown and Notre Dame. I’m dismissing this race as just a fluke and I expect him to contend with the leaders at BIG 10’s and Great Lakes.

16. Mason Ferlic, Senior, Michigan (-9/7)
-A bit of an off-day for Ferlic who placed 13th at Wisco. He looked a little uncomfortable during the second half of the race. He seemed unsure about when to make his move and whether or not he wanted to pull away. I think he hesitated too much and didn’t take advantage of his fitness. I’m confident that he’s better than what this past weekend indicated.

15. Martin Hehir, Senior, Syracuse (+2/17)
-Hehir continues to prosper in his role as the #2 man (something he probably wasn’t expecting a year ago). He was just two or three strides off from Knight and McGorty and was constantly towards the top of the pack at Wisco. His 4th place finish is about where I expected him so ranking him at 15th seems about right. It’s crazy to think that the guy who won ACC’s last fall is now the 4th ranked ACC runner on this list. 

14. Erik Peterson, Senior, Butler (-2/12)
-Peterson is arguably one of the most underappreciated guys in the nation. He won Panorama Farms but didn’t get much love. Now he grabs 8th in what I believe was the hardest race for individuals this season. Although he does move back a bit, Peterson could be a sleeper pick to upset Tiernan at BIG East’s and Schrobilgen at Great Lakes.

13. Shaun Thompson, Senior, Duke (+13/26)
-I said I wanted to see more and Thompson delivered. The Duke standout continues his excellent racing this season by placing 7th at Pre-Nats. It seems like this guy thrives off of a fast pace. I also really like the racing Thompson has been exchanging with Curtin. Thompson torched Curtin at Princeton, but then got left in the dust this past weekend. ACC’s and regionals should be very fun to watch.

12. Joe Rosa, Senior, Stanford (+1/13)
-Did not run with the team this weekend.

11. Ammar Moussa, Senior, Colorado (-2/9)
10. Pierce Murphy, Senior, Colorado (+8/18)
-Moussa opened up his first race of the season by placing 14th while his teammate Murphy had a very strong race and placed 5th. The Buffs are just too good and these two are the reason why. Yes, Moussa was 14th but considering it was his first race and he’s not injured like some rumors had suggested, I’m happy with keeping him at 11th. Murphy really surprised me. A top-10 finish was within reason but a top five finish is something else. He had a great spring season on the track and it looks like that fitness may have translated to the grass.

9. Malachy Schrobilgen, Junior, Wisconsin (-4/5)
-Nice racing by Schrobilgen. He made the race competitive that last 1.5k of the race and it was a nice display of guts. I like how he tried to pull away rather than trying to kick. He outdueled Ferlic, which makes him an even heavier favorite for the Great Lakes title considering Rhynard and Mascari haven’t been in 2014 fitness.

8. Jonah Koech, Freshman, UTEP (+22/30)
-When this season started, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Grant Fisher would be the best freshman in the nation…well we were wrong. Koech has been cruising past experienced veterans like it was nothing. After a third place finish at Notre Dame, Koech came to Pre-Nats and placed 4th behind the best runners the nation has to offer. I haven’t been given a reason to not place him in the top 10…so why not? Plus the other guys just weren’t doing it for me.

7. Marc Scott, Senior, Tulsa (+12/19)
-I’ll get some crap for having him behind the two guys he outkicked. Don’t get me wrong, Scott ran that last 1k to perfection. He made his moves at the right time and was a contender the entire race. He won the race on his own merit, not anyone else’s. Despite that, there are a couple reasons why I have him at 7th. Like Curtin, I haven’t seen him much this season besides one other race that didn’t really tell too much. I don’t truly know if Scott can do that week in and week out. My other reason is because I just don’t see a kick like that happening again. Basing rankings off a final-kick doesn’t hold the same worth as it does when you lead from start to finish (see Thomas Curtin). Still, Scott ran extremely well and showed that he should not be forgotten among the best in the nation.

6. Sean McGorty, Junior, Stanford (+2/8)
-After a fast opener at the Stanford Invite, McGorty continued to impress and show his strength at Wisco. He fought Knight stride for stride that last 1k and made it a very interesting race. His experience played a big part in being able to handle a somewhat awkward race play-out. He reminds me a lot of Korolev during XC last year.

5. Patrick Tiernan, Junior, Villanova (-2/3)
-Nothing special here as the Aussie takes another win at the Princeton Invite. He cruised in with his teammates Jordy and Denault, which made it look like a relatively easy effort. He hasn’t had any major wins that I can really say have him merit anything higher than #5. He’s still a beast, but I have to give the better spots to guys that have raced against better competition.

4. Thomas Curtin, Senior, Virginia Tech (+17/21)
3. Justyn Knight, Sophomore, Syracuse (+5/8)
-Thomas Curtin: Wow. Just wow. What a race. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it but not only did Curtin win, he convincingly won. I’m a fan of this guy mainly because he has no fear. He is a grinder that goes out there and runs hard at every meet. A victory over Cheserek and a Pre-Nats title it pretty exciting.
-Justyn Knight: This guy is the real deal. I do acknowledge that he came in second to Scott. However, the way that race played out wasn’t exactly typical. It was fast enough for the top XC guys to break away, but not fast enough to take out the kick of anyone. It looked like Knight had the Wisco title until Scott came out of nowhere with an unbelievable kick. He was calm and patient the entire race while the entire field tried to frantically find positioning. It was a great display of maturity.   

-Knight over Curtin? Here’s my reasoning… Knight already has a big win over McClintock this season and cemented himself as the alpha on a loaded Syracuse team. He held off a surging Sean McGorty and nearly won Wisconsin until Scott surprised everyone with a kick. Curtin on the other hand actually won. However, just the other week he lost to Shaun Thompson of Duke by 31 seconds. Once I notice some consistency then I’ll give him the nod over Knight. I’ll be interested to see if Curtin tries that ‘hard from the gun’ approach again.  

2. Anthony Rotich, Senior, UTEP (0/2)
- If you want an explanation as to why Curtin is still ranked behind Rotich check #4. Rotich continues his excellence by finishing third overall behind Curtin and Ches of course. The guy continues to stay consistent while being able to bring his younger teammate, Koech with him. He came within a second of Cheserek and showed that he’s still one of the best in the nation. I’m not totally convinced he can beat Cheserek come NCAA’s, but he won’t let him go easily.

1. Edward Cheserek, Junior, Oregon (0/1)
-Now hold on stay with me here… Yes, his loss was surprising. I won’t doubt that. I will also say that it was a totally legitimate win for Curtin. I don’t really care if you’re “trying to go slow” or not. Curtin beat him convincingly. I won’t argue that. What I will argue is Cheserek is still the best out there. He simply is. He is the most talented athlete with the best record and has shown that he can win in nearly any situation. Did anyone really think Ches was going to lose at nationals this past spring after Jordy outkicked him at Penn? Or when Korolev edged him at regionals? The answer is no. Cheserek came back to dominate the race. He is still the best in the nation. All this race shows is that he’s human. I’ve doubted Ed too much in the past. I wont make the same mistake again.
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Just Missed
Dallin Farnsworth, Freshman, BYU
Aaron Fletcher, Senior, BYU
Trent Lusignan, Senior, South Dakota State
Dylan Lafond, Junior, Illinois
Hassan Omar, Senior, UMBC
Nick Tuck, Junior, Penn
Darren Fahy, Junior, Georgetown
Charles Mathenge, Junior, Stephen F. Austin

Who To Watch
-Andrew Marston, Freshman, Villanova*
-Casey Comber, Freshman, Villanova*
-Japhet Kipkoech, Senior, Louisville
-Jake Leingang, Junior, Oregon
-Matthew Maton, Freshman, Oregon
-Austin Dalquist, Sophomore, Arkansas
-Kyle Eller, Junior, Air Force
*Both are currently running unattached. It is unclear as to whether or not they are redshirting or not.

Kicked Off
Matthew Schwartzer, Senior, Indiana (Last Ranked 49)
Dan Lennon, Senior, Syracuse (Last Ranked 45)
Kevin Dooney, Senior, Yale (Last Ranked 40)
Joe Hardy, Sophomore, Wisconsin (Last Ranked 37)
Fabian Clarkson, Senior, Oklahoma St. (Last Ranked 35)
Craig Nowak, Junior, Oklahoma St. (Last Ranked 34)
Caleb Rhynard, Senior, Michigan St. (Last Ranked 24)
Ernest Kibet, Senior, Louisville (Last Ranked 23)
Jim Rosa, Senior, Stanford (Last Ranked 16)

New Additions
Henry Wynne, Sophomore, Virginia
Izaic Yorks, Senior, Washington
Robert Denault, Senior, Villanova
Patrick Corona, Senior, Air Force
Morgan McDonald, Sophomore, Wisconsin
Ben Rainero, Senior, Cornell
Amon Terer, Junior, Campbell
Cerake Geberkidane, Sophomore, Oklahoma State
Jonathan Green, Sophomore, Georgetown

Biggest Surprise of the Week
Thomas Curtin, Senior, Virginia Tech

MVP of the Week
Thomas Curtin, Senior, Virginia Tech

Notes
-Schwartzer, Clarkson, Nowak, and Rosa were kicked off the list for their lack of racing. The rest were kicked off due to sub par performances.

-Curtin wins both MVP and Surprise of the Week for upsetting Cheserek, which warrants both titles.

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