The rest of the list...
50. Nick Tuck, Senior, Penn
49. Jake Leingang, Senior, Oregon,
48. Michael Williams, Junior, Washington State
47. Brian Barraza, Senior, Houston
46. Joel Hubbard, Senior, Syracuse
45. Chase Weaverling, Junior, Virginia
44. Jack Bruce, Junior, Arkansas
43. Jaime Perales, Senior, Eastern Kentucky
42. Luke Traynor, Senior, Tulsa
41. Matthew Schwartzer, Rs. Senior, Indiana
40. Andrew Rafla, Rs. Sophomore, Boise State
39. Travis Neuman, Senior, Oregon
38. Darren Fahy, Senior, Georgetown
37. MJ Erb, Senior, Mississippi
36. Frankline Tonui, Senior, Arkansas
35. Ben Flanagan, Senior, Michigan
34. Joel Reichow, Senior, South Dakota State
33. Colby Gilbert, Junior, Washington
32. Michael Vennard, Junior, Boise State
31. Dallin Farnsworth, Sophomore, BYU
20. Jacob Thomson, Rs. Junior, Kentucky
19. Henry Wynne, Senior, Virginia
18. Dylan Lafond, Senior, Illinois
17. Ben Saarel, Senior, Colorado
16. Edwin Kibichiy, Rs. Senior, Louisville
15. Jacob Burcham, Senior, Oklahoma
14. Jerrell Mock, Junior, Colorado State
13. Jefferson Abbey, Senior, Colorado State
12. Malachy Schrobilgen, Senior, Wisconsin
11. John Dressel, Sophomore, Colorado
10. Colin Bennie, Junior, Syracuse
9. Jonah Koech, Sophomore, UTEP
8. Jonathan Green, Senior, Georgetown
6. Grant Fisher, Sophomore, Stanford
5. Sean McGorty, Senior, Stanford
4. Justyn Knight, Junior, Syracuse
3. Futsum Zienasellassie, Rs. Senior, NAU
2. Patrick Tiernan, Rs. Senior, Villanova
1. Edward Cheserek, Senior, Oregon
30. Philo Germano, Junior, Syracuse
As I mentioned earlier with Hubbard, Syracuse won the national championship and upset Colorado thanks to the success from their fourth and fifth men (Germano and Hubbard). Although Syracuse had some inconsistencies with their final scorer during the regular season, Germano exceeded expectations in the post-season and stepped up when he was needed the most.
In 2014, Germano was just another Syracuse athlete running in the 'B' team races. He did well, but never had a major impact on the team. It was until 2015 that we saw him really breakout. After a pair of 16th place finishes at Spiked Shoe and Beantown, Germano joined the varsity squad at the Wisconsin Invite. In the large field of 244 names, Germano struggled to adjust and finished 89th as Syracuse's 6th scorer. With little room for error in the post-season, Germano stepped up and provided a very encouraging 15th place finish in a deep ACC championship race. Germano would head into regionals two weeks later and prove that his ACC race was no fluke as he placed 15th once again. Syracuse qualified for nationals with ease and the real task of winning a national championship became the focal point for the Orangemen. If Germano ran like he did at conferences and regionals then Syracuse would have a chance at upsetting the Colorado Buffalos. When the gun went off, Germano did more than just replicate his past performances. Germano shocked the nation with an outstanding 39th place finish and earned All-American honors. He was the x-factor that helped win Syracuse a national championship.
It would be easy to dismiss Germano as just a one-season wonder, but he didn't seem slow down during the winter or spring either. After big PR's of 14:00 and 29:04, Germano was also able to qualify for nationals outdoors in the 10k. He is the real deal.
Syracuse can repeat as national champions in 2016. They still have Knight and Bennie as well as some solid depth behind them. However, they'll need to find another low-stick to replace Hehir if they want to secure themselves as favorites for the title. Germano knows this and his teammates know this. The pressure will be on Philo to perform and if his post-season last fall was any indication, he'll come through.
29. Kieran Clements, Rs. Senior, Iona
Kieran Clements is one of the most experienced guys in the nation who has been lucky enough to run in the past three NCAA championships. He's run on some of Iona's top squads and has run some impressive PR's on the track.
It would be impossible to name all of Clements impressive performances since 2013, but it seems like 2015 was his best season of all. He was 7th at the Greater Louisville Classic, 21st at Wisconsin, and 4th at Northeast regionals. Clements would enter NCAA's with the pressure of helping Iona get on the medal stand. Unfortunately, Clements would have a sub-par day finishing 58th overall. It would be the third time he's missed being an All-American.
Now, the British grad student will enter 2016 hungry to get on the medal stand as a team and earn the title of All-American. He's more than capable of doing both and his experience should give him the edge. PR's of 7:57, 13:53, and 28:57 give us an idea of just how talented he is, and we shouldn't dismiss him from the top 30 because of his struggles at one race. I will, of course, want to see Clements grab All-American this fall, but improvements at his regular season meets and regionals will also help him in the rankings.
28. Gilbert Kirui, Junior, Iona
I'm not just pairing these two Iona teammates next to each other for convenience. They have been pretty close in almost all of the results with the difference being how Kirui performed at NCAA's...
Kirui had a nice start at the Greater Louisville Classic finishing 13th overall, but had a dreaded finish at Wisconsin where he fell to 94th overall. After a couple more weeks of training and cruising through conferences, Kirui regained his confidence and finished regionals in 6th place. Iona always had their men ready to peak at nationals, but I questioned whether or not Kirui would be able to show up on the national stage. Of course, Kirui blew away my expectations and ended the 10k championship race in 20th.
When it counted the most, Kirui showed up to play. Now, he's a rising-junior with the status of All-American and solid experience. Even in college, sophomore to junior year is the time where we see the biggest improvement in long distance runners. Having placed 20th at nationals and being surrounded by high-caliber teammates makes Kirui a potential breakout star.
27. Amon Terer, Senior, Campbell
We have finally arrived at one of the little-known stars in the cross country world. Last season, we saw Terer and his teammate Lawrence Kipkoech breakout and put Campbell university on the map. Now, with Kipkoech by his side, Terer will make some noise when he faces off against his big school opponents.
Terer's first race of 2015 was at Virginia's Panorama Farm's Invite. In a small but deep field, Terer placed 7th overall. Nothing too flashy, but not a bad performance either. After cruising through a small meet in North Carolina, Terer had the race of his life and placed 10th at a loaded Pre-Nats field. Everyone knew Kipkoech was talented, but now he had another teammate that was defeating some of the best names in the nation. The Campbell duo was becoming scary good.
But consistency is something I often preach, especially in my predictions and rankings. After another easy meet at conferences, Terer placed 20th at regionals (Southeast) and failed to make nationals. It was one of the biggest surprises of the season after Terer had such an incredible race at Pre-Nats.
Although Terer didn't make nationals, him and Kipkoech did something this past outdoor season that only Edward Cheserek could pull off. Terer and his teammate qualified for BOTH the 5k and 10k at nationals. Although neither walked away being an All-American, their ability to qualify for both shows just how incredibly strong they are in the longer distances. He'll need to be more consistent, but don't be surprised when you keep seeing Terer at the top of the rankings.
26. Cerake Geberkidane, Junior, Oklahoma State
It's often tough to rank an Oklahoma State runner like Geberkidane. OKST often runs at small and unknown meets with the goal of staying out of the spotlight. At the same time, the program is known for their excellence during cross country and Coach Dave Smith is one of the best coaches in the nation.
In late October, we saw Geberkidane begin his season at the Cowboy Jamboree (a home meet). Despite Kentucky's Jacob Thomson threatening for the win, CG was still able to hold him off and record the first win of his career. Cerake and his teammates then headed off to Alabama where he would get another win with similar competition. An unimportant third place finish at BIG 12's prepped Cerake and the rest his teammates for a deep and talented field at regionals. It was there that Geberkidane would take 3rd, only behind Mid-West stars Marc Scott and Jacob Burcham. The Cowboy's front-runner was throwing down fast times and entered nationals primed to place in the top 40. But as fate would have it, Cerake crumbled on the big stage and ended his season with a dreaded 125th place finish.
There's no way I was leaving an Oklahoma State runner out of the top 30. He got wins against guys like Thomson and Kosgei while also getting a bronze medal in an underrated Mid-West region. His nationals race is holding him back in the rankings, but he is the future of the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
25. Lawrence Kipkoech, Rs. Sophomore, Campbell
As you already saw with Terer, the Campbell duo has been showing that you don't need to go to a big-name school to beat the best. Although Terer and Kipkoech have run pretty close to each other, Kipkoech's consistency and strong performances early on give him the edge at number 25.
As I mentioned with Terer, Kipkoech started the season running at the Panorama Farms Invite. The field was on the smaller side, but filled with some top-tier individuals. Kipkoech battled with Butler's Erik Peterson (ended last season being ranked 15th) and lost by less than a second. Kipkoech continued his season by grabbing an easy win in North Carolina and then traveling to Pre-Nats where he ran a very strong race to place 18th. Kipkoech would later cruise through his conference meet and prepare for a deep regional race that promised to be fast. Sure enough, guys like Thomas Curtin, Edwin Kibichiy, and Shaun Thompson pushed the pace early and Kipkoech ended up in 11th. Thankfully for Kipkoech, the southeast region contained six teams that would advance to nationals and therefore, give him the last auto-bid spot to nationals. Unfortunately, Kipkoech couldn't replicate his race at Pre-Nats and finished far back from his expected spot at 131st.
As you can probably tell by now, I don't like to penalize someone too much for one poor run at nationals. Rarely does everything go right in a big race like nationals. Still, that 131st place is the biggest reason why Kipkoech isn't ranked higher. I also want to see how he handles another fast race like regionals. If the southeast region hadn't sent six team last fall, there's a good chance Kipkoech doesn't even make nationals. I will, however, credit him for qualifying in the 5k AND 10k this past spring. Only Terer and Cheserek were able to pull that off in 2016. That is a great sign of strength and hopefully that translates to the grass this fall.
24. Chartt Miller, Junior, Iona
In last year's team rankings, I made a pretty bold statement and said that Iona "[didn't] have a solidified front-runner". I even went on to say that I had over-ranked Chartt Miller in last year's top 50...boy was I wrong.
As a freshman, we saw Miller put up some solid races at Paul Short (3rd) and Wisconsin (22nd). However, it wasn't until the 2015 season that we saw him give Iona the true low-stick that they desperately needed. Miller made his presence known nationally as he logged awesome finishes at the Greater Louisville Classic (3rd) and the Wisconsin Invite (8th). Miller went from being over-ranked to under-ranked in a matter of two weeks. After sweeping the conference meet, Miller fought through the Northeast region to finish 10th overall. The strong start from Miller was beginning to dwindle and it was evident at nationals as the Iona sophomore finished a heart-breaking 43rd overall, three spots away All-American.
In 2015, Miller gave Iona a much needed low-stick and a true front-runner to rally around. As the Gaels prepare for the 2016 season, they know they can contend for a national title if everyone can come through in the post-season. Syracuse is far from invincible, Stanford is never perfect, Colorado loses a heavy portion of their varsity squad, and Oregon lacks more than one low-stick. Iona can pull off an upset, but only if Miller lives up to his potential.
23. George (Sam) Parsons, Rs. Senior, NC State
Parsons was one of the most consistent runners in the nation throughout 2014 and 2015. He provided NC State with a low-stick in nearly every meet he's run in and beat some of the top names in the nation. But there's a catch...
Look at what Parsons has done during the past two seasons...
Notre Dame
|
Pre-Nats
|
Wisconsin
|
ACC's
|
Southeast Regionals
| |
2014
|
18th
|
32nd
|
x
|
4th
|
4th
|
2015
|
9th
|
x
|
15th
|
7th
|
5th
|
NCAA's
| |
2013
|
175th
|
2014
|
63rd
|
2015
|
63rd
|
In the big picture, 63rd isn't all that bad and a respectable finish. Still, Parsons can do better and I'm sure he knows that. He's a great athlete and I'm a big fan. Obviously, I would like to see him do better at NCAA's, but if he can pull off yet another consistent season, then I will happily put him in the top 20.
22. Kyle Eller, Senior, Air Force
In 2015, we saw Patrick Corona take command of the Air Force squad early on in the season. Yet, as the season progressed, we saw Corona fade from the front and Eller take the role of leader. Despite the Air Force Academy not making nationals, they were put on the map thanks to the duo they had up front.
When he began his season, Eller was a bit on the slower side as he placed 15th overall at the Washington Invite. It would be at Wisconsin where he quickly redeemed himself and finished a commendable 22nd place. The true breakout point for Eller would be at the Mountain West championships as he placed third behind Corona and Mock. Defeating solid names like Jefferson and Vennard gave him the necessary confidence to grab another medal, this time at regionals. UTEP's Rotich and Koech took the top two spots, but Eller walked away defeating the entire Colorado team, the CSU duo of Mock and Jefferson, his teammate Patrick Corona, and many more talented names. Eller easily qualified for nationals, but would he be able to handle the pressure of running at his first national championship? His answer to that was a convincing "yes" as he crossed the line in 28th place.
Aside from the Washington Invite, Eller ran extremely well at nearly every meet he was in. With experience as one of the top runners in the nation, Eller should contend for titles at conferences and regionals. I'd like to see a bit more improvement during the early meets, but he's done well enough to earn the 22nd spot.
21. Morgan McDonald, Junior, Wisconsin
What you saw happen to the Wisconsin Badgers last year was a complete collapse. Their leader was injured, their depth lacked experience, and no one could run well on the same day. There were very few bright spots on that team last fall, but the one good take-away from that season was watching the rise of an emerging star in Morgan McDonald.
Wisconsin started their season by using meets like Iona's Paddy Doyle Invite and the Greater Louisville Classic as workouts. After weeks of criticism for their relaxed approach to invitationals, the Badgers went all out at their home invite (the Wisconsin Invite). At one of the biggest meets in the nation, we saw a sophomore blow past some of the nations most elite distance runners and place 10th. McDonald didn't let up either as he went straight into BIG 10's and rallied to get 5th overall. With teammate Malachy Schrobilgen struggling and becoming more and more unreliable due to injury concerns, McDonald was the man to watch at regionals.
Sometimes people just get really unlucky. That was the case for McDonald at regionals. The sophomore had a great race and placed 9th, but the region only sent two teams to nationals which allowed the four auto-bid spots to be long gone by the time McDonald crossed the line.
Although McDonald didn't make nationals, he will almost certainly be one of the top juniors entering the 2016 cross country season. Even better, we saw McDonald bust out a 13:29 5k this past spring. He has such raw talent and now he has the experience to match it. He may not have made nationals, but I might still be underrating him at 21st.
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