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. Frank Lara, Junior, Furman (Wasn't Ranked)-When Furman decided to bench Templeton, Reeder, and Hinkle for the year, Lara emerged as the leader. He was an aggressive front-runner in many big races and although it didn't always work out, he learned to make it work at the Southeast regional where he placed 6th overall. It was an incredible performance and worthy of a spot in our top 50.
49. Matthew Baxter, Rs. Junior, NAU (-17/32)
-22nd in the Mountain region is far from ideal, but his Wisconsin performance (where he placed 8th) is enough to keep him in the top 50.
Whether or not Baxter ends up as an All-American isn't exactly important. If the team race is tight (which I believe it will be), then the race could come down to whether or not Baxter can show up for NAU.
48. Connor Lundy, Freshman, Princeton (+1/49)
-The Princeton frosh has been so incredibly impressive this year. He has shown the poise and fitness of a four year veteran and he should be proud of what he's accomplished. Lundy was 3rd in the Mid-Atlantic region and was the 2nd individual qualifier out of the region behind only Patrick Tiernan.
47. Andrew Ronoh, Sophomore, Arkansas (Wasn't Ranked)
-The JUCO star has emerged for the Razorbacks and seems eager to make an impact. Ronoh separated from his Arkansas teammates in an effort to catch Tulane's Emmanuel Rotich. Unfortunately, Ronoh came up less than two seconds short of the win, but it's clear that he's in good shape and will be a difference maker in Arkansas' pursuit for the team title.
46. Matthew Schwartzer, Rs. Senior, Indiana (Wasn't Ranked)
-Just like his teammate Jason Crist, Schwartzer knows how to perform in the post-season. He came up with a clutch 4th place finish at regionals and is now on the way to his 4th NCAA championship. If you look at his progression from each year he's run at nationals, then 2016 could be the year he walks away as an All-American.
45. James Randon, Senior, Yale (+1/46)
-Among the sea of Syracuse and Iona runners emerged James Randon who placed 5th overall in the Northeast region and came out as the top individual NCAA qualifier.
Could he be an All-American? Maybe. If the race is tactical and the last few spots come down to a kick, then I'm counting on Randon to earn it in the end.
44. Brent Demarest, Sophomore, Virginia (+1/45)
-It was just a really poor day from Demarest who placed 38th at Southeast regionals. However, I'm not looking too much into this performance. He's been excellent all season and everyone is allowed to have off-day. I'd rather him have a poor race now then at nationals.
43. Emmanuel Rotich, Sophomore, Tulane (Wasn't Ranked)
-Throughout this season, Rotich has been competing against some of the best southern schools in the nation and has done quite well in his endeavors. The result of that experience ended with him earning the South Central title and a trip to NCAA's.
Although I am impressed, I'm not sure how Rotich will be able competition he's not familiar with. NCAA's will also be much bigger than any other meet he's competed in this season. This will be a big adjustment for him compared to what he's used to.
42. Antony Kosgei, Sophomore, UTEP (-1/41)
-He went out and did his job by placing 13th in what is arguably the best region in the nation (Mountain).
41. Jack Bruce, Senior, Arkansas (+1/42)
-Bruce joined the rest of his Arkansas teammates as they packed together and cruised to yet another regional title.
40. Aaron Baumgarten, Junior, Michigan (-12/28)
-Aaron Baumgarten is the Morgan McDonald of 2016. Baumgarten led Michigan the whole year and gave them a leader to rally behind with Ben Flanagan being MIA the entire season. However, the Great Lakes region sent only two teams to nationals and Baumgarten placing 10th wasn't enough to get him to NCAA's. The last few weeks have been rough for the Wolverines and for their leader to not even make the Big Dance has to hurt.
39. Dillon Maggard, Junior, Utah State (+4/43)
-In a region where NAU, Colorado, and BYU dominate, Maggard has been showing off that he is more than just a miler. Maggard placed 8th in the Mountain region and earned himself a spot to nationals. He has seen competition all over the nation at Paul Short, Pre-Nats, Mountain West, and now regionals. He should have a good idea of what to expect come NCAA's and I think he'll be well prepared.
38. Benard Keter, Senior, Texas Tech (-4/34)
-I was hoping for a little more from the BIG 12 champion, but 10th place in the Mountain region will have to do. In my mind, he's just on the cusp of being an All-American (which explains his ranking). It will have to take so smart racing on his part to earn that status.
37. Jason Crist, Senior, Indiana (0/37)
-Just like Sherod Hardt, Crist is an elite runner when the post-season comes around. 3rd at BIG 10's and 6th at regionals only confirm that theory. He's experienced and will have his teammate Matthew Schwartzer joining him on the line. I like his chances of medaling.
36. Yusuke Uchioshi, Junior, Boise State (-5/31)
-After upsetting Jerrell Mock at the Mountain West conference, all eyes were on Uchikoshi to step up at the regionals and contend for a top-10 spot. Unfortunately, the Boise State junior struggled in the loaded West region and faded to 21st overall.
35. Tyler Day, Sophomore, NAU (+5/40)
34. Cory Glines, Junior, NAU (Wasn't Ranked)
-Both had killer Wisconsin races and have put up regionals performances worthy of being in the top 50. These two could leave Terre Haute as All-Americans AND team champs.
33. Frankline Tonui, Senior, Arkansas (-14/19)
-He was packed up with the rest of his Arkansas teammates and placed 7th in the South Central region. Tonui impressed me a lot at Pre-Nats when he had a surprise 2nd place finish. However, he hasn't been nearly as impressive since then. It's tough to think that he wasn't a one race wonder. Luckily, he'll have new competition at NCAA's to redeem himself.
32. Sherod Hardt, Senior, Michigan State (+4/36)
-Hardt peaked in the post-season last year and things are only looking better for him in 2016. He was 3rd in the Great Lakes with only the Wisconsin duo ahead of him. He's getting hot at the right time and with only a week left in the season, Hardt could surprise plenty of All-American contenders.
31. Chartt Miller, Senior, Iona (+7/38)
-It was only his 2nd race back this season, but Miller cruised through the Northeast region and finished 4th with Clements next to him. Having run in so few races this season, it's tough to say how he'll do at nationals. Still, he's proven his talent level in 2015 and it's not crazy to think he'll be an All-American on Saturday.
-His 9th place finish at the South region may look unimpressive, but he was simply running with the rest of the Mississippi pack.
I'm interested to see Tobin in a full-effort 10k. He's done pretty well at 8k, but increasing the racing distance to 10k may make things only harder for mile-focused runner like Tobin.
29. Alex George, Junior, Arkansas (+4/33)
-George packed together with his teammates to earn 5th place in the South Central region. I'm not reading too much into this regional performance as it looks like he was running with a few other Razorback teammates.
28. MJ Erb, Senior, Mississippi (-2/26)
-It was a bit of a lack-luster result from Erb who placed 6th overall in the South region. That said, it looks like the Ole Miss guys were packing together and staying relatively close to each. Let's see how Erb does when he's unleashed at nationals.
27. Harry Mulenga, Senior, Florida State (-2/25)
26. Malachy Schrobilgen, Senior, Wisconsin (+13/39)
-Statement. Win. Schrobilgen may have crossed the line with his teammate, but he still shut down a very talented Great Lakes field. Malachy is back and as dangerous as ever.
25. Luke Traynor, Senior, Tulsa (+2/27)
-He did what he had to and pulled off a win against a underrated Midwest region. It will be interesting to see what his racing approach will be at NCAA's. Can we expect him to be an early pack leader like he was at Wisconsin? If he wants to put himself in contention for a top-20 spot, then I think he has to.
24. Alex Short, Rs. Senior, San Francisco (0/24)
-4th place in the West region and a chance to avenge his 2015 performance. This will be Short's second time attending NCAA's after pulling out at the 5k mark last year due to injury. He did very well at Pre-Nats this year, so maybe that's a sign of what to expect at nationals.
23. Scott Carpenter, Senior, Georgetown (0/23)
-Just as many predicted, Carpenter placed 2nd overall to Tiernan in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Georgetown senior has been consistently one of the best in the nation, but he hasn't done anything new to ignite himself further in the rankings.
Has he hit his ceiling for the season? Maybe, but you can almost guarantee that this guy will be All-American at NCAA's this weekend.
22. Matthew Maton, Sophomore, Oregon (+7/29)
-Outstanding race from Maton. Oregon needed everyone to step up and Maton did his job by placing 2nd overall. The sophomore is definitely at another level right now, but his PAC-12 performance is still in the back of my head and is essentially the reason why he isn't in the top-20 yet.
21. Jerrell Mock, Junior, Colorado State (-6/15)
-He was kicking butt early on in the season, but he has since leveled off in terms of performances. He was 26th at Wisconsin, failed to win the Mountain West conference, and has now placed 10th at regionals. His performances seem to be regressing and I'm not a loving that. Will he rebound at nationals? Only time will tell.
20. Ferdinand Edman, Senior, UCLA (+2/22)
-I am such a big fan of Edman. He hasn't given me a reason to doubt him this season and his 5th place finish at regionals only helped his cause. Consistency is key in cross country and he shown that.
19. Gilbert Kirui, Junior, Iona (+2/21)
-When looking at the Northeast region results, you'll see some pretty predictable results...then you'll notice that Kirui just simply didn't run. Why? I have no idea. Hopefully it's not anything injury related.
18. Ben Saarel, Senior, Colorado (-7/11)
-I don't really know what to think about Saarel's 25th place performance at regionals this past weekend. Was he taking it easy? Did he just have a bad race? Did Wetmore tell him to hold back? I'm really confused about that result and hopefully this isn't a sign for what to expect at nationals.
17. Colin Bennie, Junior, Syracuse (+1/18)
-It was nice confidence booster for Bennie who placed 2nd overall in the Northeast region as he crossed the line with Knight. Bennie has been solid, but hasn't had quite the spark he had last season. Hopefully this will give him some momentum for Saturday.
16. John Dressel, Sophomore, Colorado (-2/14)
-Dressel did his job and secured 5th place at the regional meet to help the Buff's get the 2nd auto spot. We saw Dressel break-out in the post-season last year and with the Wetmore Factor always looming, expect Dressel to peak at the Big Dance.
15. Jonah Koech, Sophomore, UTEP (+5/20)
-A very nice bounce-back race for Jonah Koech who hasn't seemed quite as sharp as he was last season. He was the runner-up in the Mountain region and gave Futsum a nice push for most of the race. It'll be interesting to see how he handles the bigger crowd of elites at NCAA's.
14. Nicholas Montanez, Senior, BYU (+2/16)
-I'm not necessarily surprised that he placed so well in the Mountain region (4th overall), but the other guys around him just weren't doing it for me. He's been consistent all season and hasn't given me a reason for concern. He's top 15 material.
13. George Parsons, Senior, NC State (-3/10)
-Another gutsy effort that results in Parsons coming up just short of Kibichiy and placing 4th overall in the Southeast region. He may be exciting to watch and a gutsy runner, but he'll need to find out a way to finish stronger come NCAA's.
12. Jacob Choge, Freshman, Mid. Tenn. State (+5/17)
-With each passing week, I continue to say that Choge isn't the next Cheserek...and with each week I get less and less confident with that statement. The MTSU freshman took down a very good field of individuals in the South region. It looks like change from racing an 8k to a 10k has had little to no effect on him.
11. Kieran Clements, Rs. Senior, Iona (-2/9)
-Nothing too exciting as Clements and Miller did their job and finished just behind Syracuse's Knight and Bennie.
10. Edwin Kibichiy, Rs. Senior, Louisville (-2/8)
-Kibichiy was primed to take the Southeast title after being so close for the past few years. Unfortunately, he couldn't hang with the Campbell duo that have taken it to another level this year. Even if he didn't get the win, he's still having another excellent season.
9. Lawrence Kipkoech, Rs. Sophomore, Campbell (+3/12)
8. Amon Terer, Senior, Campbell (+5/13)
-Are they the best duo in the NCAA? McGorty and Fisher might have something to say about that, but these two have been incredibly consistent. They went 1-2 against a strong Southeast region which included guys like Edwin Kibichiy and George Parsons.
I continue to be impressed by these guys and it looks like they have yet to hit their ceiling. I'm giving Terer the edge over Kipkoech this week just because he hasn't had an off-race yet this season. Still, there is nothing that says one is better than the other.
7. Sean McGorty, Senior, Stanford (0/7)
6. Grant Fisher, Sophomore, Stanford (0/6)
-I expected these two to take it easy and that turned out to be the case. They did just enough to get through the team battle as McGorty placed 9th and Fisher placed 11th. We'll see a much stronger effort from them at NCAA's.
5. Morgan McDonald, Junior, Wisconsin (0/5)
-McDonald cruised through the line with his teammate Malachy Schrobilgen next to him. McDonald technically didn't get the win, but I'm not going to read into that.
4. Futsum Zienasellassie, Rs. Senior, NAU (0/4)
-Just like Knight, Futsum was the favorite to win his region and he did just that. Jonah Koech made him work for it, but Futsum is still one of the best and I think as the distance increases to 10k, he gets even better.
3. Justyn Knight, Junior, Syracuse (0/3)
-He cruised to the Northeast title with Bennie right behind him. It's not anything too exciting as he was the heavy favorite to win.
2. Patrick Tiernan, Rs. Senior, Villanova (0/2)
-He's in top-tier form once again. The Aussie Olympian settled for a 10 second victory over Georgetown's Scott Carpenter. Can we expect another all-out Ches vs Tiernan battle at nationals? It sure is shaping up that way.
1. Edward Cheserek, Senior, Oregon (0/1)
-Complete and utter dominance. Just another day for Cheserek as he locked down an West region title. This weekend, the Oregon senior is set to make history and there's no reason to say he won't.
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Just Missed
-Hassan Abdi, Junior, Oklahoma State
-Zach Perrin, Junior, Colorado
-Rory Linkletter, Sophomore, BYU
-Thomas Ratclife, Freshman, Stanford
-Michael Ward, Junior, Bradley
-Fred Huxham, Junior, Washington
-Jacob Thomson, Rs. Junior, Kentucky
-Joel Hubbard, Senior, Syracuse
-Josh Thompson, Senior, Oklahoma State
-Joe Klecker, Rs. Freshman, Colorado
-Andrew Marston, Rs. Freshman, Villanova
Who To Watch
-CJ Albertson, Senior, Arizona State
-Tanner Anderson, Sophomore, Oregon
-Cerake Geberkidane, Junior, Oklahoma State
-Nick Tuck, Senior, Penn
-John Whelan, Senior, Washington State
-Evan Stifel, Junior, Ohio State
-Miguel Bautista, Junior, Texas Tech
-Euan Makepeace, Freshman, Butler
Kicked Off
-Jonathan Harper, Junior, BYU (Last Ranked 44th)
-Calvin Chemoiywo, Senior, Louisville (Last Ranked 47th)
-Connor Mora, Senior, Michigan (Last Ranked 48th)
-Michael Williams, Junior, Washington State (Last Ranked 50th)
-Jonathan Harper, Junior, BYU (Last Ranked 44th)
-Calvin Chemoiywo, Senior, Louisville (Last Ranked 47th)
-Connor Mora, Senior, Michigan (Last Ranked 48th)
-Michael Williams, Junior, Washington State (Last Ranked 50th)
New Additions
-Frank Lara, Junior, Furman
-Andrew Ronoh, Sophomore, Arkansas
-Matthew Schwartzer, Rs. Senior, Indiana
-Emmanuel Rotich, Sophomore, Tulane
-Frank Lara, Junior, Furman
-Andrew Ronoh, Sophomore, Arkansas
-Matthew Schwartzer, Rs. Senior, Indiana
-Emmanuel Rotich, Sophomore, Tulane
Biggest Surprise of the Week
-Joe Klecker, Rs. Freshman, Colorado
-Joe Klecker, Rs. Freshman, Colorado
MVP of the Week
-Malachy Schrobilgen, Senior, Wisconsin
-Malachy Schrobilgen, Senior, Wisconsin
Notes
-Joe Klecker earns the "Biggest Surprise of the Week" award after placing 3rd in the Mountain region. He was not ranked this week as I felt that others had proven themselves in multiple races rather than just one. If I had to rank him, he would be 51st.
-Malachy Schrobilgen earns the "MVP of the Week" award after rebounding from a tough regular season and grabbing the regional title.
-Keep an eye out for the freshmen this weekend (true and redshirts). They have huge impacts for their respective teams and have become crucial low-sticks for many programs.
-Joe Klecker earns the "Biggest Surprise of the Week" award after placing 3rd in the Mountain region. He was not ranked this week as I felt that others had proven themselves in multiple races rather than just one. If I had to rank him, he would be 51st.
-Malachy Schrobilgen earns the "MVP of the Week" award after rebounding from a tough regular season and grabbing the regional title.
-Keep an eye out for the freshmen this weekend (true and redshirts). They have huge impacts for their respective teams and have become crucial low-sticks for many programs.
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