Class of 2018

Two years ago, then freshman Edward Cheserek shocked the running community by winning the 2013 Cross Country individual title for the University of Oregon. This year’s recruiting class includes names like Grant Fisher, Alex Ostberg, Matthew Maton, and John Dressel, who will all look to be impact freshman for their respective new teams and try to help in the pursuit of a national title (with the exception of Dressel, who is a likely candidate to redshirt given CU’s depth). That leaves a gap: This year’s freshman class. There was no shortage of  big name freshmen, including Oregon’s Blake Haney, or OK State’s Cerake Geberkidane. Yet a year after a race which included freshmen Cheserek, Colorado’s Ben Saarel, and Villanova’s Patrick Tiernan, all in the top ten, things took a downward turn. What about the impact freshmen this year? Here are the top five freshmen from this year’s race and the 2013 championship:

2013 NCAA XC CHAMPIONSHIPS         2014 NCAA XC CHAMPIONSHIPS                        

1) Edward Cheserek (UO) - 29:41              39) Sam Wharton (Stan.) – 30:55

8) Ben Saarel (CU) - 30:14                         53) Jerrell Mock (CU St.) – 31:06

9) Pat Tiernan (Nova) - 30:15                     61) Gilbert Kirui (Iona) – 31:11

33) Malachy Schrobilgen (Wisc.) – 30:39  75) Morgan McDonald (Wisc.) – 31:19

48) Jason Crist (Indiana) – 30:53                76) Chart Miller (Iona) – 31:19

That’s right, running fans. The second fastest member of the class of 2018 is Jerrell Mock of Colorado State (and the crowd goes wild!). All jokes aside, what happened? Haney wasn’t in Oregon’s top 7, Geberkidane finished in 126th, and Syracuse’s Justyn Knight, who had ran consistently well all season in helping Syracuse look like a team with top three potential finished in 143rd. Could the class of 2018 be that much weaker than the class of 2017? The numbers don’t lie; three in the top ten versus just one finisher in the top 50! Wharton’s impact shouldn’t be overlooked, as his finish (5th on Stanford) did help the Cardinals shock many people and take second place behind Colorado. Still, there is no comparison. Here is my only explanation: this year’s race was incredibly deep. The talent in the NCAA right now for male distance runners is phenomenal.  Proven guys like Craig Lutz and Kirubel Erassa couldn’t break into the top 50 this year at nationals. Yeah those two had bad days, but even on a bad day for them, most would bet their house on a top 50 finish. Not this year, simply because the field had that much depth. This year’s freshman class win be just fine. Cheserek was older than most freshman when he won his race, Saarel is a tank who received the best coaching in the NCAA from Mark Wetmore, and Tiernan entered the race with international experience. I look for guys like Haney and Geberkidane to mature and improve throughout track and into next year’s cross country season. Having been a freshman runner at college, the adjustment is difficult straight out in the fall. There is no lack of talent and guys in the class of 2018 will show up at next year’s national meet and fair better. But until then, go Jerrell Mock.