DIII Niagara Region XC 2023

NiagaraRegionEnthusiast wrote:

Back before Covid hit and the D3 XC regions got redone, the yearly Atlantic Region thread was consistently very in-depth and entertaining. Though the Atlantic Region no longer exists, I’ve decided to try to pick up the pieces and run it back with a Niagara Region thread for this coming season. Let’s start with a recap from last year’s regionals at Rochester.

1. Geneseo: Not sure if these guys were just tempoing at Regionals or if some of these guys had bad days, but they shocked everyone at Nationals by pulling a 3rd place finish overall. Nicky Andrews won the region and was also an All-American alongside Ruggles and Hillyard, while their entire team was All-Region.
Losses: Ruggles (13th), Timmons (14th)

2. Brockport: Brockport seemingly came out of nowhere to be within spitting distance of Geneseo at both SUNYACs and Regionals. Ultimately only having one runner in an individual qualifying position doomed their Nationals chances, though I firmly believe these guys would have done better than Tufts in Michigan. All-American Paul Suflita is gone, which is a huge loss, as well as All-Region runner VanDemortel.
Losses: Suflita (8th), VanDemortel (25th)

3. NYU: Once again, NYU seemed to blow their load early in the season (even being ranked ahead of Geneseo at one point!) before regressing later in the season when things actually counted, ending up almost 40 points behind Brockport. Ryan Tobin was 3rd in the region and they don’t have any of their best guys leaving.
Losses: Diaz (56th)

4. Rochester: Scott Sikorski was clearly the 2nd best runner in the region last year and was an All-American at Nationals. However, he’s off to the University of Virginia to play with the big boys. There’s a huge gap between him and the rest of their team, who also loses All-Region runner Weiner (funny).
Losses: Sikorski (2nd), Weiner (35th), Brunacini (41st)

5. Hamilton: Hamilton was just 3 points behind Rochester but had to settle for 5th. Hamilton qualified Brady and Harrell to Nationals with a pair of top 10 finishes, but both have graduated, which will leave a big hole.
Losses: Brady (5th), Harrell (10th)

6. RIT: Was very close to both Hamilton and Rochester but are even more trouble than either team for this coming year. They lose their top three men, with Nationals qualifier Eissa graduating alongside All-Region runners Bingham and Beaudry.
Losses: Eissa (9th), Bingham (15th), Beaudry (18th)

7. Cortland: Absolutely no idea what happened to Ryan Cory this year, but the 2022 All-American didn’t even make All-Region this past fall (how many times has that ever happened?). They also lose their one All-Region runner Cameron Szabo. Was a pretty big gap between them and RIT.
Losses: Szabo (33rd), Cory (62nd), Zinger (83rd), Adamescu (96th)

8. Nazareth: Not too far behind Cortland last year, but they lose their top guy and All-Region runner Bowers.
Losses: Bowers (24th), McNally (48th)

9. Oneonta: Was only 9th last but easily bring back the most of any team besides NYU, including 3 All-Region guys.
Losses: O’Connell (86th)

10. Ithaca: A Walmart version of Rochester, these guys lose their low stick/National qualifier Jagoe, and there’s an even bigger gap to the rest of the team.
Losses: Jagoe (4th), Whatley (65th), Medeiros (106th)

Now, for some way, WAY too early predictions. These are almost certainly going to be fairly inaccurate, as some guys may come back for 5th years and some may transfer. In addition, a solid freshman class could really help some of these teams (but historically they won’t change things up that much for teams, there were only 3 freshmen in the top 40 last year). Regardless, things will certainly change once we have a better idea of any stellar additions that these teams make and see them in action.

The Sparknotes:
Teams that will make a marked improvement: NYU, Oneonta, Fredonia
Teams that will stay similar-ish: Geneseo, Brockport, Rochester, Nazareth
Teams that will see a backslide: Hamilton, RIT, Cortland, Ithaca

1. Geneseo (NCAA Qualifier): Betting against these guys seems like an awful idea. Andrews is coming back for a 5th year and should spank everyone else in the region once again. Fellow All-American Hillyard returns as well. Losing Ruggles (3:44) and Timmons stinks but they have a million guys and develop them well. No idea what their recruiting class is like, but someone will step up to fill the hole.

2. NYU (NCAA Qualifier): Not losing anyone of note is huge, but what’s even bigger is that they pick up former Hamilton runner George Brady (5th last year, 14:44 5000m) for a graduate year. He’ll form an extremely good 1-2 punch with Ryan Tobin (3:54/8:24/14:31). Both men should be competing for the top spot in the region behind Nicky Andrews. The rest of their team should only continue to get better. Freshmen Andy Taylor (15:03), Shaurya Srivastava (15:05), Mubeen Zainul (14:51) and Jeffrey Chen (14:57) along with Nick Ankuta (14:49) and Aidin Hasan (14:45/30:52) gives NYU a remarkable 8 (!!!) guys that are sub 15:05 on the track. They always seem to go backwards throughout the season, which makes me nervous. But on paper, they will be far and away the 2nd best team in the region and should qualify for Nationals as a team for the first time since 2017. And if Geneseo decides to tempo again or has an off day… you never know what could happen.

3. Brockport: Losing Sulfita is a bummer but I have a feeling these guys will have another solid year. Zavala and Smith were the 1st and 2nd men out of Nationals and should form a nice 1-2 punch in the fall. Smith managed to run 14:48 for 5000m while Zavala qualified for Indoor Nationals in the mile and ran 3:48/15:03. It could even be a Cerbeus at Brockport as Kressley (3:51/15:03) showed huge improvement on the track. These guys should be able to fill the hole, and some stud freshman should keep them close to NYU. Should have multiple individual Nationals qualifiers… however as the 3rd team in a weak region I can’t see them making Nationals as a team.

4. Oneonta: These guys are ready to make a big jump. Jonthomas Bierman (8:23/9:03 steeple) improved a ton on the track and somehow ended up first man out of the steeplechase at Nationals on a tiebreaker (yes, to the 1/100th of a second) due to the fact that he ran the time later in the season. He should be hungry this fall. Eion McClain (14:54 5000m) should be the 2nd man up. They had the top freshman (and only one to achieve All-Region) in the region last year in Sullivan, who finished 29th, but didn’t do anything killer on the track. Luke Jarski was only 75th last year but ran 1:51 outdoors, which could translate into some big improvement on the grass. Their 4th and 5th men will really make or break them, but I’m counting on them continuing to improve.

5. Rochester: Losing Sikorski is obviously devastating, their point total will certainly go up next year. I think there will be a gap after Oneonta but I’ll take Rochester in 5th. Gaitanis (8:39/15:07) and Spergel (8:40/14:53) did some solid things on the track, and Yalamanchili seemed to make a nice improvement as well. My one concern is they seem to lack depth behind these guys. With a solid freshman or two and some good development these guys should round out the top 5.

6. Hamilton: This is where things start to get a bit murky for me, but I think there’s a big gap between Rochester and the rest of the region. Losing Brady and Harrell is a bummer. Mansbach was All-Region (32nd) but didn’t seem to do much on the track. Gallagher ran 4:15 indoors but then disappeared for outdoor season. They do bring back one of the best freshmen in the region in Simeone (4:20/8:42) who was 47th. They’ll be looking for other guys to step up or for some fresh blood. If they can find it, they could be closer to Rochester; if not, they may fall back to 7th or 8th.

7/8. Cortland / Nazareth: These two teams could go either way for me. Cortland losing 4 out of their top 7 is just tough for anyone to adapt to. Brignall is solid (8:27) and should make a run at Nationals but they don’t seem to have much else. Nazareth loses less but had less to start: Look for Eells (8:39) and Reimann (31:36) to lead them this year. Either of these teams could sneak up on Hamilton.

9. Fredonia: 11th last year, they lose their All-Region runner in Campbell but return everyone else. This might be a terrible choice, but I’ll count on a little bit of development to get them over the edge and into the top 10.

10. RIT: Chaikowsky (1:53/3:56) was only 56th last year but will be the #1 guy this year. Could be in the running for a nationals spot this year, but is definitely a more middle distance guy. Very little depth behind him.

Team Qualifiers: Geneseo, NYU

Individual Qualifiers:
Bathgate (Alfred State)
Zavala (Brockport)
Kressley (Brockport)
Smith (Brockport)
Logan (Cobleskill)
Brignall (Cortland)
Bierman (Oneonta)

I hope this thread will stay active throughout the fall. Let me know your thoughts below!

DancingInTheMind wrote:

NiagaraRegionEnthusiast wrote:

Back before Covid hit and the D3 XC regions got redone, the yearly Atlantic Region thread was consistently very in-depth and entertaining. Though the Atlantic Region no longer exists, I’ve decided to try to pick up the pieces and run it back with a Niagara Region thread for this coming season. Let’s start with a recap from last year’s regionals at Rochester.

1. Geneseo: Not sure if these guys were just tempoing at Regionals or if some of these guys had bad days, but they shocked everyone at Nationals by pulling a 3rd place finish overall. Nicky Andrews won the region and was also an All-American alongside Ruggles and Hillyard, while their entire team was All-Region.
Losses: Ruggles (13th), Timmons (14th)

2. Brockport: Brockport seemingly came out of nowhere to be within spitting distance of Geneseo at both SUNYACs and Regionals. Ultimately only having one runner in an individual qualifying position doomed their Nationals chances, though I firmly believe these guys would have done better than Tufts in Michigan. All-American Paul Suflita is gone, which is a huge loss, as well as All-Region runner VanDemortel.
Losses: Suflita (8th), VanDemortel (25th)

3. NYU: Once again, NYU seemed to blow their load early in the season (even being ranked ahead of Geneseo at one point!) before regressing later in the season when things actually counted, ending up almost 40 points behind Brockport. Ryan Tobin was 3rd in the region and they don’t have any of their best guys leaving.
Losses: Diaz (56th)

4. Rochester: Scott Sikorski was clearly the 2nd best runner in the region last year and was an All-American at Nationals. However, he’s off to the University of Virginia to play with the big boys. There’s a huge gap between him and the rest of their team, who also loses All-Region runner Weiner (funny).
Losses: Sikorski (2nd), Weiner (35th), Brunacini (41st)

5. Hamilton: Hamilton was just 3 points behind Rochester but had to settle for 5th. Hamilton qualified Brady and Harrell to Nationals with a pair of top 10 finishes, but both have graduated, which will leave a big hole.
Losses: Brady (5th), Harrell (10th)

6. RIT: Was very close to both Hamilton and Rochester but are even more trouble than either team for this coming year. They lose their top three men, with Nationals qualifier Eissa graduating alongside All-Region runners Bingham and Beaudry.
Losses: Eissa (9th), Bingham (15th), Beaudry (18th)

7. Cortland: Absolutely no idea what happened to Ryan Cory this year, but the 2022 All-American didn’t even make All-Region this past fall (how many times has that ever happened?). They also lose their one All-Region runner Cameron Szabo. Was a pretty big gap between them and RIT.
Losses: Szabo (33rd), Cory (62nd), Zinger (83rd), Adamescu (96th)

8. Nazareth: Not too far behind Cortland last year, but they lose their top guy and All-Region runner Bowers.
Losses: Bowers (24th), McNally (48th)

9. Oneonta: Was only 9th last but easily bring back the most of any team besides NYU, including 3 All-Region guys.
Losses: O’Connell (86th)

10. Ithaca: A Walmart version of Rochester, these guys lose their low stick/National qualifier Jagoe, and there’s an even bigger gap to the rest of the team.
Losses: Jagoe (4th), Whatley (65th), Medeiros (106th)

Now, for some way, WAY too early predictions. These are almost certainly going to be fairly inaccurate, as some guys may come back for 5th years and some may transfer. In addition, a solid freshman class could really help some of these teams (but historically they won’t change things up that much for teams, there were only 3 freshmen in the top 40 last year). Regardless, things will certainly change once we have a better idea of any stellar additions that these teams make and see them in action.

The Sparknotes:
Teams that will make a marked improvement: NYU, Oneonta, Fredonia
Teams that will stay similar-ish: Geneseo, Brockport, Rochester, Nazareth
Teams that will see a backslide: Hamilton, RIT, Cortland, Ithaca

1. Geneseo (NCAA Qualifier): Betting against these guys seems like an awful idea. Andrews is coming back for a 5th year and should spank everyone else in the region once again. Fellow All-American Hillyard returns as well. Losing Ruggles (3:44) and Timmons stinks but they have a million guys and develop them well. No idea what their recruiting class is like, but someone will step up to fill the hole.

2. NYU (NCAA Qualifier): Not losing anyone of note is huge, but what’s even bigger is that they pick up former Hamilton runner George Brady (5th last year, 14:44 5000m) for a graduate year. He’ll form an extremely good 1-2 punch with Ryan Tobin (3:54/8:24/14:31). Both men should be competing for the top spot in the region behind Nicky Andrews. The rest of their team should only continue to get better. Freshmen Andy Taylor (15:03), Shaurya Srivastava (15:05), Mubeen Zainul (14:51) and Jeffrey Chen (14:57) along with Nick Ankuta (14:49) and Aidin Hasan (14:45/30:52) gives NYU a remarkable 8 (!!!) guys that are sub 15:05 on the track. They always seem to go backwards throughout the season, which makes me nervous. But on paper, they will be far and away the 2nd best team in the region and should qualify for Nationals as a team for the first time since 2017. And if Geneseo decides to tempo again or has an off day… you never know what could happen.

3. Brockport: Losing Sulfita is a bummer but I have a feeling these guys will have another solid year. Zavala and Smith were the 1st and 2nd men out of Nationals and should form a nice 1-2 punch in the fall. Smith managed to run 14:48 for 5000m while Zavala qualified for Indoor Nationals in the mile and ran 3:48/15:03. It could even be a Cerbeus at Brockport as Kressley (3:51/15:03) showed huge improvement on the track. These guys should be able to fill the hole, and some stud freshman should keep them close to NYU. Should have multiple individual Nationals qualifiers… however as the 3rd team in a weak region I can’t see them making Nationals as a team.

4. Oneonta: These guys are ready to make a big jump. Jonthomas Bierman (8:23/9:03 steeple) improved a ton on the track and somehow ended up first man out of the steeplechase at Nationals on a tiebreaker (yes, to the 1/100th of a second) due to the fact that he ran the time later in the season. He should be hungry this fall. Eion McClain (14:54 5000m) should be the 2nd man up. They had the top freshman (and only one to achieve All-Region) in the region last year in Sullivan, who finished 29th, but didn’t do anything killer on the track. Luke Jarski was only 75th last year but ran 1:51 outdoors, which could translate into some big improvement on the grass. Their 4th and 5th men will really make or break them, but I’m counting on them continuing to improve.

5. Rochester: Losing Sikorski is obviously devastating, their point total will certainly go up next year. I think there will be a gap after Oneonta but I’ll take Rochester in 5th. Gaitanis (8:39/15:07) and Spergel (8:40/14:53) did some solid things on the track, and Yalamanchili seemed to make a nice improvement as well. My one concern is they seem to lack depth behind these guys. With a solid freshman or two and some good development these guys should round out the top 5.

6. Hamilton: This is where things start to get a bit murky for me, but I think there’s a big gap between Rochester and the rest of the region. Losing Brady and Harrell is a bummer. Mansbach was All-Region (32nd) but didn’t seem to do much on the track. Gallagher ran 4:15 indoors but then disappeared for outdoor season. They do bring back one of the best freshmen in the region in Simeone (4:20/8:42) who was 47th. They’ll be looking for other guys to step up or for some fresh blood. If they can find it, they could be closer to Rochester; if not, they may fall back to 7th or 8th.

7/8. Cortland / Nazareth: These two teams could go either way for me. Cortland losing 4 out of their top 7 is just tough for anyone to adapt to. Brignall is solid (8:27) and should make a run at Nationals but they don’t seem to have much else. Nazareth loses less but had less to start: Look for Eells (8:39) and Reimann (31:36) to lead them this year. Either of these teams could sneak up on Hamilton.

9. Fredonia: 11th last year, they lose their All-Region runner in Campbell but return everyone else. This might be a terrible choice, but I’ll count on a little bit of development to get them over the edge and into the top 10.

10. RIT: Chaikowsky (1:53/3:56) was only 56th last year but will be the #1 guy this year. Could be in the running for a nationals spot this year, but is definitely a more middle distance guy. Very little depth behind him.

Team Qualifiers: Geneseo, NYU

Individual Qualifiers:
Bathgate (Alfred State)
Zavala (Brockport)
Kressley (Brockport)
Smith (Brockport)
Logan (Cobleskill)
Brignall (Cortland)
Bierman (Oneonta)

I hope this thread will stay active throughout the fall. Let me know your thoughts below!

On paper NYU should give Geneseo some problems. Geneseo had some weak 5k/10k times this spring. However, Geneseo always rounds into form during XC. It would be nice if some team broke up the dominance of Geneseo though.

BroGenSuny wrote:

Geneseo will run away with it on the Men's side and Brockport will prove they have the best young coach in D3 when they stomp NYU by 30 points with a quarter of the talent.

1. Geneseo

2. Brockport (Miss qualifying for nationals barely)

3. NYU (Have two individuals qualify)

The real place of interest is on the women's side. The region should have two of the best teams in the country with Geneseo and NYU. I honestly am not sure who is favored but going to give it to Geneseo because of their history. NYU returns everyone, adds in a few big freshman and two solid transfers. It should be interesting.... Who does Geneseo return on the Women's side? If everyone in the senior class comes back they should be just fine but it will at least be close. NYU probably the most improved team in the country over the past few seasons. Reasonably both teams could be top 10/5 in the country.

1. Geneseo (Greene wins the region)

2. NYU (Kane and Richardson are dangerous low sticks)