Flotrack XC Rankings Men's NCAA Top Teams 20 - 11 (Week 5)

Nov 7, 2013 by Isaac Wood

Rankings guru Isaac Wood returns with his Flotrack NCAA XC Rankings. Though there were some major shifts in the poll, the picture for the NCAA XC Championship is starting to become a bit more clear. Below, Wood has listed the teams who will be making the NCAA meet, where they will finish in Terre Haute, and how many points they'll score. For the sake of brevity, we've broken up the countdown into three parts. Below are the men's teams from 20 to 11.

Click here to view 31 - 21.

20 - Texas 472
The Longhorns' 1-2 punch is SO good. Craig Lutz and Ryan Dohner are shoo-in All-Americans. Can they get a little help? A third place finish at the Big-12 meet definitely was not the goal the Longhorns set at the beginning of their year, but they are getting better. Mark Pinales is talented and has improved throughout the season. If Texas can get something out of Will Nation, Collin Smith, Brady Turnbull or someone else to step up and be decent four and five type guys, Texas could be better than 20th at NCAAs. As of right now though, they're grateful for the South Central Region that they should be fine to qualify out of to get to the Big Dance.

19 - Michigan 456
The Wolverines' :14 second spread from 1-5 was huge in helping them beat out Wisconsin for the 2nd place team spot at Big 10s this weekend. Mason Ferlic led Michigan with his 9th place finish and the rest of the Michigan scorers finished in the top-20. Michigan looks to have found their mojo at the right time as their win over Wisconsin will be huge in helping them get the points needed to make it out of the Great Lakes Regional.

18 - E. Kentucky 452
Eastern Kentucky won their 8th straight conference championship this weekend, by dominating the Ohio Valley Conference with a score of 16 points. Granted, the conference is mediocre at best. But this could be a sign that Eastern Kentucky might actually be able to keep their pieces together throughout the whole season.

Soufiane Bouchikhi is far and away the most talented athlete on this team and Ambrose Maritim (new to the team this year) has been running well up front along with steeple stud Ben Toroitich. If the Colonels can keep the wheels rolling as the season rolls on they could actually be much better than 18th. The talent is there, just a matter of producing when it matters at the Big Dance. EKU should roll through the Southeast Regional.

17 - Princeton 441
via Andy Biladeau
After coming out on the wrong end of a close battle with Columbia at Heps, Princeton is looking to improve their their fitness and start a march to NCAAs. In what will be a dual-meet like atmosphere similar to Heps, Princeton will be racing a strong and blossoming Villanova team at the Mid-Atlantic Regional. The Tigers have had a different finishing order in each of their meets this season and are looking to sync up on to make their case as a top 10 contender heading into NCAAs.

With firepower and experience up front in Chris Bendsten, Alejandro-Yarmin and Tyler Udland, the key for Princeton going forward will be Sam Pons, Matt McDonald and Eddie Owens. If Jason Vigilante is able to orchestrate a late season push from his 4-7 runners, the upperclassmen-heavy team should have a good shot to top their 11th place finish from last year.

16 - Harvard 441
Maksim Korolev is a monster right now. Right now he might be the best American runner in the NCAA. A 2nd place individual finish at Wisconsin and a :16 second win over the field at HEPS solidifies Korolev as one of the top individuals in the country right now. Along with stud teammates James Leakos and Tom Purnell, Harvard have a very under the radar good 1-2-3.

The sole reason Harvard has a chance to break into the top 15 at Nats is because of how good their low sticks really are. That trio is going to be crucial in helping the Crimson get out of the very relevant Northeast Regional.

15 - Tulsa 428
Tulsa has had a bit of an up and down season, but I still believe that they have the pieces to be much better than 15th at NCAAs. Chris O'Hare is an awesome low stick and was smart not to attempt to match the pace of Anthony Rotich at Conference USAs and settle for 2nd individually. In fact their :35 second spread from 1-5 was actually good when considering how legitimate O'Hare is up front.

Getting out of the Midwest Regional should be an easy go for the Golden Hurricane and they should be fresh heading into NCAAs after cruising through the conference meet (scored 26 points) and regionals.

14 - North Carolina 422
The Tar Heels can be pleased with their 2nd place finish at ACCs this weekend as Syracuse is very deep and if UNC only had a no. 5 they would be very comparable to the 'Cuse. Going 6-10-14-16-38 is tough when if their no. 5 could have been in the 20s it would have really tightened up the team scores. The Southeast Region should be simple enough to get out of for the Heels and with athletes still getting better (Pat Schellberg, Isaac Presson, where was Joe Sansone?) North Carolina appears to be a top-15 in the country quality squad.

13 - Indiana 388
I openly apologize for the lack of respect I gave the Hoosiers earlier this year because I simply figured there was no way without Andy Bayer or Zach Mayhew that they could be good enough to make the NCAA meet. For example, before this past weekend Jason Crist (no. 1 man, placed 5th at Big 10s) was still just a redshirt freshman figuring out the whole college thing (ran 8:18 3k this past indoor), Rorey Hunter (who was 7th) has some solid PRs 3:46 1500m and Carl Smith was only a 14:42, 8:21 3k guy who beat studs like Mason Ferlic , Michael Van Voorhis, etc. this past weekend. Those two beat guys who I thought would be the saving grace for Indiana if the Hoosiers were to make the meet. I figured it would be because JR Ricker and Robbie Nierman put the team on their back. Those two finished 24th and 22nd respectively.

Credit Coach Ron Helmer as he could be one of the most underrated coaches in the NCAA. Indiana has plenty of points to get them to NCAAs and will be cruising through the Great Lakes Regional.

12 - Syracuse 370
One of the deepest teams in the NCAA are the Orange of Syracuse who have so many interchangeable parts that it's hard to keep track of who ran in what spot in the 1-7 at which race. What is known is that Martin Hehir is a legitimate All-American candidate and is the set in stone no. 1 man for the 'Cuse.

After Hehir it's a jumble of Ryan Urie, Robert Molke, MJ Erb, Griff Graves, Joe Whelan, Max Straneva, and Reed Kamyszek. With that depth, Syracuse was able to win pretty smoothly at ACCs and could beat the curse of the 14th or 15th at NCAAs if they can do what they need to do at the Northeast Regional.

Men's ACC Highlights

11 - Columbia 369
Columbia is good. Who would have thought this summer that the Lions were going to beat Princeton at HEPS? Obviously they did.

Nico Composto has been solid as figured, but where they have really been impressive is their depth. John Gregorek has transformed himself from a middle-distance, steeple guy to a very good cross country runner. Daniel Everett has translated his track PRs to the cross course, and most impressively this has all been done with top returner from 2012 Jake Sienko lacking a solid race so far. Sienko was 74th at NCAAs in Louisville and when he can return to that fitness he makes Columbia even better. Jack Boyle continues to be impressive as a freshman and Columbia will need to get over the haze and happiness of winning HEPS and prepare for war at the Northeast Regional