Reminder of the list so far...
50. Graham Crawford, Senior, NC State
49. Jordy Williamsz, Senior, Villanova
48. Wes Gallagher, Senior, Mississippi
47. Jake Leingang, Junior, Oregon
46. Grant Fisher, Freshman, Stanford
45. Ryan Walling, Senior, UNC
44. Chartt Miller, Junior, Iona
43. Sam Wharton, Junior, Stanford
42. Colin Bennie, Sophomore, Syracuse
41. Matthew Schwartzer, Senior, Indiana
40. Mike O’Dowd,
Senior, Iona
O’Dowd is a name that gave me some difficulty. Iona is a
team that doesn’t have a true front-runner nor runs in many invites. It’s hard
to judge guys that are often switching positions with their teammates. Yet,
it’s O’Dowd’s experience and scattered success throughout his career that made
me put him on the list.
The one thing that really popped out at me for O’Dowd, was
his experience. The man has had three straight NCAA appearances and has
improved in all of them. Although, it wasn’t until this past season that he ran
anything halfway decent (62nd). At his last regionals race
(Northeast), O’Dowd placed 11th. While that usually wouldn’t be too
exciting, it’s important to note that of the ten guys ahead of him, five ended
up becoming All-Americans and two were O'Dowd's teammates. O’Dowd will enter regionals this fall as the sixth
best returner from last year.
In retrospect, the 40th spot may have been a
little generous for O’Dowd. However, Iona needs a solidified leader who has
experience on the big stage and O’Dowd can provide that. He will need to wow me
if he wants to move down the list before NCAA’s, but can do just that if he has
a big day at Wisconsin.
39. Kyle King,
Senior, Virginia
My disdain for UVA and my job of making a fair ranking
clashed quite a bit with King. Although in the end, 39th seemed to
be a fair placement considering his inconsistencies.
Kyle King has gone through a multitude of ups and downs in
his racing career. His freshman year was strong, but he truly broke out during his
sophomore year. King would go on to place 5th at regionals
(Southeast) and add an astounding 18th place (All-American) at
NCAA’s to his resume. From that point on, King was the man to watch as he
entered his junior year…which wasn’t as thrilling. King struggled to find that
sophomore year success when he placed 19th at Washington, 29th
at ACC’s, and 88th at NCAA’s.
As he enters his final year, King will try to go out in
style and look to replicate that sophomore year magic. With a strong returning
team and nothing to lose, look for King to reestablish himself as a threat
among the top guys in the nation.
38. Dan Lennon,
Senior, Syracuse
As I admitted with Colin Bennie, I’m a fan of Syracuse this
year. A team led by experienced veterans with young promising talent is a
dangerous combination. Lennon will be one of those veterans this year and is
why I give him the 38th spot.
Lennon flew under the radar for a good portion of last year.
He placed 6th at Harry Groves, 15th at Beantown, and 24th
at Wisconsin. All are solid marks, but don’t necessarily jump off the page. It
was when Lennon got to regionals and nationals that he would make a splash.
Lennon placed 8th at regionals (Northeast) where he was behind two
of his teammates and three future All-Americans. Lennon would also just miss out on an All-American spot
himself after placing 45th at NCAA’s.
Lennon has the capability to do big things this fall. His
28:46 10k this past spring tells us that. In order for him to improve his
ranking, I would like to see him have a big race at either Wisconsin or
Beantown. A low stick at either of those meets would show that Lennon can be a
contender at any point during the season.
37. Brian Barraza,
Junior, Houston
Unfortunately for Brian Barraza, his coach Steve Magness has
been grabbing most of the headlines out of Houston due to his Oregon Project
allegations. Aside from the feud between Salazar and Magness, Barraza is one of
the best kept secrets in the NCAA and the only man out of the South Central
region to make the list.
Barraza hasn’t had many headlines in his running career due
to the type of guys he’s been up against. Last year he placed 4th at
AAC’s behind a very strong trio from Tulsa. Barraza’s regional performance was
overshadowed by another trio of big talent that included Stanley Kebenei, Craig
Lutz, and Sam Stabler. The only big flaw of last year came at nationals where
he finished a brutal 224th (out of 246th). Luckily for
Barraza, he was able to rebound and grab PR’s of 3:44 (1500) and 13:56 (5k) this
past spring.
Just like Gallagher, there is a lack of big talent in the
South Central region. Barraza should have relative ease getting the South
Central title, but will have to go up against a tough competitor in Marc Scott
(Tulsa) to get the AAC victory. In addition to those meets, Barraza will need
to show his dominance at venues like Pre-Nats and Nationals to prove that he is
a contender in the NCAA and not just the big fish in a small pond.
36. Brandon Doughty,
Senior, Oklahoma
For those of you that actually read my stuff, you’ll
recognize Doughty’s name from the Zatlin Awards post I did about a month ago.
In that post, I gave Doughty the Most Underrated award and for a good reason.
Doughty hit four PR’s during last winter and spring which were 3:45 (1500),
7:56 (3k), 13:39 (5k), and 8:38 (3kSt.). The guy has talent…and some bad luck.
For those of you who don’t know how the national
championship selection process works, the top two teams from each region go
to NCAA’s. The top four individuals not on a qualifying team will make the trip
as well. Unfortunately for Doughty, he was the first man out last year in the
Southeast region, despite placing 9th. Although he was able to
compete at nationals his freshman year (as part of a team qualifier), he still
hadn’t matured enough (he finished 170th in that race). The man who placed 7th
at the Washington Invite and 8th at BIG 12’s hasn’t had a chance to
truly show his stuff at NCAA’s yet. Considering the massive PR’s he had this
past track season, I’d say he’s ready.
Doughty will almost definitely have better luck this year
and make the trip to NCAA’s (assuming nothing goes wrong). His PR’s indicate
amazing fitness and he’s competed in an underrated region. Unfortunately, his
lack of national championship experience has kept me cautious about where to
place him.
35. Sam Parsons,
Junior, NC State
Parsons was one of the first names that jumped out at me as
I began the list. As someone who matriculates from an ACC school, the first set
of results I wandered across were the ACC championships. It was there that I
realized the talent Parsons has and threw him on the list.
Parsons had a great fall last year with a pair of 4th
place finishes at ACC’s and regionals (Southeast). His Notre Dame performance
was also impressive after he placed 18th there. Throw in a second
place finish at the Adidas invite, and this kid is the real deal. For most,
this would merit a much better ranking than 36th. However, his
national appearances have been lackluster so far after placing 175th
(freshman) and 63rd (sophomore).
While Parsons had a great ACC and regional showing, it will
be tough for him to replicate the success he had last year with only 5 of the
top 20 finishers at ACC’s last year and 4 of the top 20 at Southeast regionals
last year graduating. If he can pull off another top five finish in either
race, he will definitely improve in my rankings.
34. Jerrell Mock,
Sophomore, Colorado St.
Mock is the second sophomore to take a spot on the list.
Mock is part of a very underrated Colorado St. team that will bring in a strong
recruiting class this fall that includes a sub-9 two miler (Eric Hamer) thanks to
a successful new coach (we’ll discuss him later). A very underrated XC season puts
Mock at 34th mainly because the names ahead of him had more
experience on their resumes.
Mock had a very underrated freshman year grabbing 21st
at Notre Dame and 18th at Pre-Nats. Those are two huge meets and to
finish in those spots as a freshman indicates the talent this kid has. Mock
also grabbed a pair of 11th place finishes at the Mountain West
championships and regionals (Mountain) against loaded fields that included top
tier talent. Mock ended his XC season with a respectable, but uneventful 53rd
place at nationals. Once track season rolled around, Mock rode his momentum
from the fall to a PR of 13:55 in the 5k.
Mock is one of the best young talents in the NCAA. The only
thing holding him back from a better place on the list is his lack of
experience. If he can do what he did last year and get a top ten finish at a
big meet, Mock will only improve in the rankings as the season goes on.
33. Amos Bowen,
Senior, Wyoming
If you haven’t noticed yet, the numbers in my “At A Glance”
article have been edited a couple times. My editing is mainly due to people
that I completely missed and had to add on. Amos Bowen was one of those guys.
It’s easy for someone to get lost in the crowd of talent that makes up the
Mountain region.
As I mentioned above, it’s easy to get overlooked in a
Mountain region dominated by the Colorado Buffalos and other top-ranking
individuals. Bowen, however, made a statement last fall after he shocked
everyone by beating out 5 of the 6 Buffalos in that race (Colorado only ran 6
men instead of 7) and placing 6th. Connor Winter was the only
Buffalo to beat Bowen. While most people were focused on his performance there,
they may have also overlooked his 13th place finish at Washington
earlier in the season where he beat out guys already on this list like Sam
Wharton, Matthew Schwartzer, and Kyle King (as well as other big names).
Unfortunately for Bowen, his disappointing 217th place at NCAA’s and
98th place at Pre-Nats hold him back from going any further down the
list.
Bowen is a name that deserves your attention and someone to
be on the watch for. He has run against some of the best and proven that he can
hold his own. However, he may be getting too comfortable running with guys
around his region and conference. I want to see how he deals with guys not in
the Mountain region (think Pre-Nats and NCAA’s) before I give him any
improvement in the rankings.
32. MJ Erb, Junior,
Mississippi
Just like Bowen, Erb was one of the guys messing up my
numbers in the “At A Glance” post. Not because I forgot about him, but because
I didn’t know he had transferred to Ole Miss! The former Syracuse Orangeman
made the switch after this past cross country season and will now be wearing a
Rebels uniform. Changing up his coaching, teammates, and environment after he
had great success last fall worries me about he’ll do this season. I’ll hold
him at 32nd until I can see if he’s a made an easy transition or
not.
Aside from from his big switch, Erb has been a beast for
Syracuse during his time there. After a solid season as a freshman (59th
at NCAA’s), Erb took it up a notch his with big time racing his sophomore year.
Erb finished 23rd at Wisconsin, 11th at ACC’s, 9th
at regionals (Northeast). His final race in orange would be a big one as he
placed 37th at NCAA’s (All-American) and finished as the top guy for
a deflated Syracuse team.
It seems that of Ole Miss’ top five this year, FOUR of them
will have transferred from another school (Engels from NC State, Gallagher from
Northeastern, Erb from Syracuse, Walling from UNC). Erb is still set up to be successful but will
face barriers. He enters this season with less talented teammates, a less
established coach, and less competition. It will take a couple of races to know
how he’s adjusting, but talent is talent and I’m excited to see how he does.
31. Jefferson Abbey,
Junior, Colorado St.
I’m rooting for Colorado St. this year, which means I’m also
rooting for Jefferson Abbey. The rising junior has done an excellent job
navigating through a tough Mountain region and guiding youngster Jerrell Mock
throughout the collegiate scene.
What I like most about Jefferson is the person he’s
associated with… his coach. Since joining CSU in 2012, Coach Siemers has done
an excellent job in not just recruiting talented kids to his program, but
training them as well. In 2013, Coach Siemers molded Abbey Jefferson into a
front-runner and helped give CSU their first NCAA birth in nine years. Now
Jefferson has become a reliable leader grabbing 12th at Mountain West
conferences and 10th at regionals. A 73rd place at NCAA’s
was a bit of a bummer, but made up for it with a 13:50 5k in the spring.
It’s hard not to think positively about Abbey and what the
future holds for him. Abbey has a talented sidekick in Mock, a successful
coach, and two years of experience at nationals. Everything is going well for
Jefferson and the CSU squad. My only concern is that the number of high-profile
regular season meets they attend (Roy Griak, Notre Dame, Pre-Nats) can lead to
burnout. However, with the success the Rams have been so far, I wont question
their methods.
Be on the look out tomorrow night for the next set of 10! The names are becoming more and more notable. As always feel free to discuss and let me know your thoughts.
Until tomorrow,
Garrett
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