Flotrack XC Rankings - Men's NCAA XC Top 31 Teams (Week 2)

Oct 1, 2013 by Isaac Wood

This past weekend of races were very eye opening for many teams in the NCAA. Here are the rankings reflecting the weekend of 9/28's races.

#1 OK State - 83
Even without Nowak, Moskowitz and the "great unknown" Charles Mathenge, the Cowboys rolled in their home invite over NAU and Michigan.
Next up: Pre Nats- 10/19

#2 Oregon - 163
To much of the surprise to many (not much here), the Ducks looked very good this weekend at the Battle of Beantown. Freshman phenoms Ed Cheserek and Jake Leingang took down some pretty good competition going 1-2. Ryan Pickering had the best race of his college career being the no. 3 man for the Ducks and finishing 4th overall. With Stinson having an off day and not running Eric Jenkins, Mac Fleet, Brett Johnson and the other "great unknown" Tanguy Pepiot, the sky seems to be the limit for Oregon this season.
Next up: Dellinger Invite- 10/5

#3 Colorado - 164
In their home opener, the Rocky Mountain Shootout, the Buffs showed their depth and ran well without Jake Hurysz and Ammar Moussa. Their freshman stars Ben Saarel and Zach Perrin are still running unattached, but that should change soon when Colorado finally opens up the whole squad. Blake Theroux looks fit and ready to lead the squad in the absence of Hurysz.
Next up: Pre-Nats- 10/19

#4 NAU - 221
Although NAU did get beat this weekend, it was by the no. 1 team in the country Oklahoma State. It was OSU's home course, too. The Lumberjacks did not have two of their studs Matt McElroy and Nathan Weitz (both returning scorers from 2012) in the mix. NAU is fine and is still one of the best teams in the NCAA.
Next up: Wisconsin Invite- 10/19

#5 New Mexico - 233
Nothing going on this past weekend in Albuquerque. Very excited to see them open up this weekend.
Next up: Notre Dame- 10/4

#6 Arkansas - 272
The Hogs have their home opener this weekend and we will finally be able to see the entire team get after it. Should be fun to watch.
Next up: Chile Pepper Festival- 10/5

#7 BYU - 275
Confidence abounds in Provo after a overall team victory at Griak this weekend. Tylor Thatcher has never been this fit and Jason Witt is coming around to be a nice no. 2. With many of their guys sick and either not running or not running very well, the Cougars are a very solid top 10 team.
Next up: Wisconsin Invite- 10/19

#8 Syracuse - 311
The 'Cuse had a pretty good showing this weekend at the Battle of Beantown, finishing 2nd behind a very good Oregon team. Martin Hehir is back to his form of 2012 after he finished 3rd behind Ches and Leingang. Without Joe Whelan and Andrew Palmer, the Orange still ran well as a team. The pieces are there for Syracuse it is only a matter of getting everyone healthy and running well on the same day (this is the case for many teams in the NCAA mind you).
Next up: Wisconsin Invite- 10/19

#9 Portland - 321
Nothing from Portland this past weekend.
Next up: Bill Dellinger Invite- 10/5

#10 Stanford - 346
The Stanford men showed some impressive depth this weekend at their home invitational. Jim Rosa and Erik Olson look poised to lead the Cardinal in challenging Colorado and Oregon for the Pac-12 title. Sean McGorty ran well unattached and if/when they pull his redshirt he will be ready and able to help them in their top five. Maybe this is the year Stanford gets it done when it counts.
Next up: Pre-Nats- 10/19

#11 Princeton - 359
The Tigers are opening this weekend at Notre Dame.
Next up: Notre Dame Invite- 10/4

#12 Tulsa - 387
We will finally be able to see what Tulsa really has going on this year at Notre Dame this weekend.
Next up: Notre Dame Invite- 10/4

#13 Florida State - 403
The Notre Dame Invite is loaded with a lot of good men's teams and Florida State is just one more solid squad to add to the mix.
Next up: Notre Dame- 10/4

#14 Texas - 405
Craig Lutz won his opener this weekend at the Texas Invitational. The Longhorns swept the sub-par competition. Ryan Dohner has yet to open up, but Mark Pinales seems to be fit and ready to help the Longhorns this season.
Next up: Wisconsin Invite- 10/19

#15 E. Kentucky - 408
A bit of a disappointing weekend from the Colonels as they fell to North Carolina at the Panorama Farms Invite in Virginia. Soufiane Bouchikhi is in fine form, but per-usual EKU lacks consistency from anyone else but him. Wade Meddles, Thijs Nijhuis and Ole Hesseljberg must find some sort of balance in their workouts and races to find some consistency. There's a lot of talent on this team, it is just a matter of time before they start figuring things out, or not.
Next up: Greater Louisville Classic- 10/5

#16 Notre Dame - 427
Their huge home opener is this weekend. We'll get how good this team is as they have a lot of talent and depth, starting with Jeremy Rae and Martin Grady.
Next up: Notre Dame Invite- 10/4

#17 North Carolina - 448
The biggest jump in the rankings this week goes to the Tar Heels of UNC. The Tar Heels flew somewhat under the radar for the majority of the pre-season until this weekend at Panorama Farms Invite where they beat Eastern Kentucky, Virginia and Auburn (all ranked teams). John Raneri led the way for the Heels finishing 4th individually. Which is good news for UNC because sub-14 5k man Pat Schellberg was back from him in 11th. When Schellberg is finally tapering for a big meet alongside the rest of the crew, this is a surprisingly very good team out of Chapel Hill.
Next up: Wisconsin Invite- 10/19

#18 Michigan - 464
Another surprising performance this weekend came from Michigan. At the Cowboy Jamboree at Oklahoma State this weekend, the Wolverines finished third as a team behind top ranked teams Oklahoma State and NAU. Steeple stud Mason Ferlic has finally figured out how to translate his steeple skills to the XC course and Morsi Rayyan and Mark Beams were solid behind him. No sign of Tony Smoragiewicz yet, which means that there is still room to get better for Michigan.
Next up: Wisconsin Invitational- 10/19

#19 Wisconsin - 466
Not having the services of Rob Finnerty this weekend really hurt the Badgers at the Battle of Beantown where they were beat by Oregon, Syracuse and Providence. The good news is the Michael Van Voorhis looked much improved from 2012 and freshman Malachy Schrobilgen is as good as previously thought. Once Finnerty can join his team, this is a solid top-15 at NCAAs good team.
Next up: Wisconsin Invite- 10/19

#20 Providence - 474
Another surprisingly impressive team from this weekend were the Friars of Providence. Shane Quinn is finally not alone in leading his team from the front as grad student transfer from Fordham Julian Saad has come in and helped push the pace with Quinn. Those two, along with nice performances from Northeastern transfer Brian Doyle and Ben Connor, have Providence looking like a quality program once again after a few down years.
Next up: New England Championships- 10/12 & Wisco Invite-10/19

#21 Virginia - 484
A bit of a down week for the 'Cavs as they were beat on their home course by ACC foe North Carolina and Eastern Kentucky. Kyle King is still a very solid runner and is on track to lead UVA as the season goes on. Usual counter-part up front Thomas Porter struggled a bit in his opener, but redshirt-frosh Adam Visokay was excellent in his debut for Virginia finishing no. 2 on the team and 19th overall.
Next up: Notre Dame Invite- 10/4

#22 UCLA - 485
The Bruins look to open up their "A' squad this weekend at the NCAA preview in Sacramento.
Next up: NCAA Preview- 10/4

#23 Villanova - 507
The Main Line Invite was good for the Wildcats this past Thursday as Villanova went 1-2-3. The trio of Australian's were led by Freshman Patrick Tiernan who is as good as advertised winning by 12-seconds over Jordy Williamsz and Sam McEntee.
Next up: Chile Pepper Invitational- 10/5

#24 NC State - 519
After going back-to-back weekends racing hard at the adidas XC Invite last week and Griak this past weekend, the Wolf Pack felt the effects of those two races at Griak. Andrew Colley was the lone standout performance where he finished fourth individually. Following Colley, the next closest teammate was 34th place finisher Sam Parsons and 49th place finisher Graham Crawford. It's not time to panic for the Wolfpack as back to back weeks is tough to do and they are too talented to run so poorly as the season goes on.
Next up: Wisconsin Invite- 10/19

#25 Colorado State - 544
Another huge surprise performance that earned them a national ranking goes to the Colorado State men. The Rams were very impressive at Griak placing second overall and beating some very good teams, including: Adams State (DII), Arizona State, Georgia, Michigan State and North Carolina State. What makes the Rams so good is their :15 second spread from 1-5. That is a kind of spread that will keep you in any race, as long as those five are somewhere in the mix of the race and not in the back one-third of the pack. Andrew Goodman seems to be the leader of this CSU team and placed 9th overall at Griak. They will be tested here once again this weekend at Notre Dame.
Next up: Notre Dame Invite- 10/4

#26 Georgetown - 567
The Hoyas have been quietly waiting to prove their chops and will get their chance this weekend.
Next up: Paul Short Invite- 10/5

#27 Iona - 602
Last year's most up and down team will show what they have going on in 2013 this weekend at Paul Short.
Next up: Paul Short Invite- 10/5

#28 Auburn - 659
Although the Tigers did get beat pretty handily this weekend at Panorama Farms Invite placing 5th as a team, there is still hope for Auburn and that is why they still linger in these rankings. A :29 second spread from 1-4 was excellent and without Griff Jaworski (14:16, 30:11) running they were without a key member of their top five. If Jaworksi had been in the mix, you can speculate that Auburn could have beaten both Virginia and Duke. Either way, the Tigers are still a very solid team and a have a chance to qualify to NCAAs through the South region.
Next up: Crimson Classic- 10/18

#29 Florida - 670
The Gators are still holding out their complete "A" squad until the big one at Wisco.
Next up: Wisconsin Invite- 10/19

#30 Washington - 677
The Huskies will have another chance to prove themselves as they will race against some quality competition at Bill Dellinger.
Next up: Bill Dellinger Invitational- 10/5

#31 Columbia - 682
Nothing out of the Upper-West side of Manhattan yet, but we will finally see where Columbia stacks up against some of the best in the NCAA this weekend at Notre Dame.
Next up: Notre Dame Invite- 10/4

Dropped out: Georgia, Michigan State, Iowa State

New in: #17 North Carolina, #20 Providence, #25 Colorado State

Other teams to consider: Arizona State, Duke, Oklahoma