2016 Updated Etrain Top 50 Rankings: Week 1 (9/12)

By: Garrett Zatlin

PAST RANKINGS THIS SEASON
Preseason (7/29)
Week 1 (9/12)
Week 2 (9/19)
Week 3 (9/28)
Week 4 (10/3)
Week 5 (10/10)--No changes
Week 6 (10/17)
Week 7 (10/24)--No changes
Week 8 (10/31)
Week 9 (11/7)--No changes
Week 10 (11/14)
Week 11 (11/21)

KEY

·      Bold: Had a performance or important piece of news that influenced a change in the rankings

·      (#/#): First number indicates how much the individual has moved in the rankings. A plus (with green) means they have improved in the rankings. A minus (with red) 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. Nick Tuck, Senior, Penn (0/50)
-Tuck grabs a pretty easy win at the Big 5 Invite which was expected of him. We'll have to wait and see how he does in more competitive fields before he makes any moves in the rankings.

49. Michael Williams, Junior, Washington State (-1/48)

48. Brian Barraza, Senior, Houston (-1/47)

47. Joel Hubbard, Senior, Syracuse (-1/46)
-Hubbard placed 3rd at the Spiked Shoe Invite behind two teammates this past weekend. It will be interesting to see what his role on this team will be later on in the season.

46. Chase Weaverling, Junior, Virginia (-1/45)

45. Jack Bruce, Junior, Arkansas (-1/44)

44. Iliass Aouani, Sophomore, Syracuse (Wasn't Ranked)
-Iliass Aouani gets a big win at the Spiked Shoe Invite in his first race as an Orangeman. He didn't just win, but he convincingly put away guys like Germano and Hubbard. That race puts him in the top 50.

43. Jaime Perales, Senior, Eastern Kentucky (0/43)

42. Luke Traynor, Senior, Tulsa (0/42)

41. Matthew Schwartzer, Rs. Senior, Indiana (0/41)

40. Andrew Rafla, Rs. Sophomore, Boise State (0/40)
-I'm not looking too much into it, but Rafla placed 17th at the Sagebrush Invite (7th on his team). Not a great start, but I imagine he'll step up when it matters.

39. Travis Neuman, Senior, Oregon (0/39)

38. Darren Fahy, Senior, Georgetown (0/38)

37. MJ Erb, Senior, Mississippi (0/37)

36. Frankline Tonui, Senior, Arkansas (0/36)

35. Ben Flanagan, Senior, Michigan (0/35)

34. Joel Reichow, Senior, South Dakota State (0/34)

33. Colby Gilbert, Junior, Washington (0/33)

32. Michael Vennard, Junior, Boise State (0/32)

31. Dallin Farnsworth, Sophomore, BYU (0/31)

30. Philo Germano, Senior, Syracuse (0/30)
-He was 2nd at the Spiked Shoe Invite. He was expected to win, but you can't help it that his teammate just had a breakout race.

29. Kieran Clements, Rs. Senior, Iona (0/29)

28. Gilbert Kirui, Junior, Iona (0/28)

27. Amon Terer, Senior, Campbell (0/27)

26. Cerake Geberkidane, Junior, Oklahoma State (0/26)

25. Micheal Clevenger, Rs. Senior, Georgetown (Wasn't Ranked)
-This is more of a correction ranking. Marc Scott may not have eligbility but Michael Clevenger (somehow) does! Clevenger was an All-American in XC and happened to transfer to Georgetown for graduate work. He will be a huge help to the Hoya's this year.

24. Lawrence Kipkoech, Rs. Sophomore, Campbell (+1/25)

23. Chartt Miller, Junior, Iona (+1/24)

22. George Parsons, Senior, NC State (+1/23)

21. Jacob Thomson, Rs. Junior, Kentucky (-1/20)
-Thomson took the L this past weekend at the Kentucky Bluegrass Invite to Erik Rotich of Eastern Kentucky. It's not a great start for a guy who should be ranked in the top 20, but I won't penalize him too much for it.

20. Kyle Eller, Senior, Air Force (+2/22)

19. Morgan McDonald, Junior, Wisconsin (+2/21)

18. Henry Wynne, Senior, Virginia (+1/19)

17. Dylan Lafond, Senior, Illinois (+1/18)

16. Ben Saarel, Senior, Colorado (+1/17)

15. Edwin Kibichiy, Rs. Senior, Louisville (+1/16)

14. Jacob Burcham, Senior, Oklahoma (+1/15)

13. Jerrell Mock, Junior, Colorado State (+1/14)

12. Jefferson Abbey, Senior, Colorado State (+1/13)

11. Malachy Schrobilgen, Senior, Wisconsin (+1/12)

10. John Dressel, Sophomore, Colorado (+1/11)

9. Colin Bennie, Junior, Syracuse (+1/10)

8. Jonah Koech, Sophomore, UTEP (+1/9)

7. Jonathan Green, Junior, Georgetown (+1/8)

6. Grant Fisher, Sophomore, Stanford (0/6)

5. Sean McGorty, Senior, Stanford (0/5)

4. Justyn Knight, Junior, Syracuse (0/4)

3. Futsum Zienasellassie, Rs. Senior, NAU (0/3)

2. Patrick Tiernan, Rs. Senior, Villanova (0/2)

1. Edward Cheserek, Senior, Oregon (0/1)
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Just Missed 
Joe Klecker, Rs. Freshman, Colorado
Antibahs Kosgei, Senior, Alabama
Alex Short, Senior, San Francisco 
Jake Leingang, Senior, Oregon
Erik Rotich, Sophomore, Eastern Kentucky
Christian Alvarado, Junior, Georgetown 

Kicked Off
Jake Leingang, Senior, Oregon (Last Ranked 49)

New Additions
Michael Clevenger, Rs. Senior, Georgetown
Iliass Aouani, Sophomore, Syracuse

Biggest Surprise of the Week
Iliass Aouani, Sophomore, Syracuse

MVP of the Week
Iliass Aouani, Sophomore, Syracuse

Notes

-Leingang was kicked off simply because of the great race by Iliass Aouani and because Tuck put in a win this past weekend. He will have another chance to get back in the Top 50 should he perform as I expect him to.
-The Biggest Surprise and MVP of the week is Iliass Aouani who pulled off a big upset win over teammates Philo Germano and Joel Hubbard. Hopefully we see more from him later.
-Taking out Marc Scott (who had no eligibility) and replacing him with Clevenger (who I didn't realize still had eligibility) pushes all of the guys ranked in between them up one spot.
-There are plenty of others who raced this weekend, but they either simply did not go all out or there wasn't any significant competition that they raced.