2022 D3 XC: Conference Weekend Recap
And just like the conference weekend is over. While we attempted to cover every single conference last weekend, we won’t be making the same mistake this weekend. We’re covering off on the programs that swept the conference, won their first title in school history (in their current conference) and touch on a few winning streaks. Way shorter than last time and to the point.
In seriousness, thanks for the support. We truly appreciate it. We’re just a few people with day jobs trying to bring more coverage to D3 running. We’ll see you next week for regional previews.
Program Sweep
What’s better than one conference trophy? How about two? These are the programs who swept both men’s and women’s conference titles this past weekend.
Marywood (AEC)
Did you know their coach was on our podcast. How about making their success about us?
PSU Behrend (AMCC)
Wartburg (ARC)
Nationally ranked Wartburg has recently dominated the ARC, having swept titles for both programs every year since 2019. If you’re doing the math, that’s now up to eight program titles.
No. 4 Wartburg men laid down a dominating victory over No. 25 Loras with their 26-point score. The Knights were led by Christopher Collet, who won the ARC title by 28 seconds ahead of runner-up Luke Guttormson from Loras. They put three athletes ahead of Loras’s second finisher and a whopping nine athletes ahead of Loras’s fourth, showing their depth.
Similarly in the women’s race, No. 3 Wartburg women showed unprecedented dominance against the rest of the ARC. Only national champion Kassie Parker offset a perfect 15-point sweep for Wartburg with her ARC title. Led by Aubrie Fisher, the Knights took second through sixth place for a score of 20. They bested No. 16 Loras by 40 points.
McMurry (ASC)
UC Santa Cruz (Coast-to-Coast)
A trip across country to Salisbury, Md. proved fruitful for the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, who swept the men’s and women’s titles for the second year in the row. No. 23 Santa Cruz men packed eight finishers into the top ten, while No. 21 Santa Cruz women had six athletes finish in the top 10. On the Women’s side, they were led by a 1-2 punch of Riley Martel-Phillips and Faith Dyogi. Their pack wasn’t too far behind as they came in at 4-5-6. Close to a perfect score! The Men had a champion of their own in Eric Jackson. His pack took just 33s to round out their scoring going 3-4-6-7.
Santa Cruz now turns their sights to a tough West region. How many will the rest region get this year?
Johns Hopkins (Centennial)
The spotlight in the Centennial conference has long shone on Johns Hopkins women, who claimed their 14th consecutive conference title this past weekend. They did so in sweeping fashion, placing first through fifth for a perfect score of 15. Alex Ross won the individual title, pulling teammates Paloma Hancock and Sydney Friedel to times under 22 minutes.
This past weekend, however, was even more special, as Hopkins swept both men’s and women’s titles. No 10. Hopkins men just edged out 2021 champions Haverford (No. 18) by three points. Though Haverford’s Ryan Kredell won the Centennial title, Hopkins went 2-3-5-11-12 for a winning score of 33.
Valley Forge (CSAC)
What a day for the Valley Forge cross country program. Not only did they sweep the conference but both teams won their first conference title in school history. On the women’s side, Hannah Kopec led the charge claiming the conference title by 53 seconds. After that, her teammates rolled in to give Valley Forge a 30-point victory over Cairn (44-74).
On the men’s side, Valley Forge was led by freshman Ricardo Nunez, who finished second by five seconds. He didn’t have to wait long for his teammates as their 2-5 runners all finished in the top ten giving them a 37-point victory over Clarks Summit (28-65).
Hunter (CUNYAC)
Hunter women have been atop of the CUNYAC podium for the past eight years now. Their men repeated as champions are looking to follow the legacy their women’s team has started.
RPI (Liberty League)
For the third time in recorded conference history, RPI swept both men’s and women’s Liberty League titles. No. 6 RPI men took an easy victory over runners-up St. Lawrence. Their pack of five was only separated by St. Lawrence’s Timothy Boyce, who finished in the middle of RPI’s pack of five scorers, who finished 1-2-4-5-6. RPI’s Cory Kennedy took the Liberty League title by a mere four seconds over teammate Matthew Lecky.
No. 29 RPI women upset No. 26 St. Lawrence with their six-point victory to round out the program sweep. They were led by Morgan Lee, who took the individual title in 22-flat, a full 31 seconds ahead of St. Lawrence’s Emma Palumbo. Nia Goddard took fourth, their third and fourth runners came in together to round out the top ten, and Eileen Beres finished off their 47-point score. They beat St. Lawrence at every position except fifth.
Williams (NESCAC)
For the third year in a row, the program from Williams swept both men’s and women’s NESCAC titles. For No. 7 Williams men, this victory came as no surprise following an easy victory over conference rivals Middlebury (No. 13), Colby (No. 27), Bates (No. 28), Conn College (No. 30), and Tufts (No. 31) at the Connecticut College Invite two weeks ago. Elias Lindgren took the individual title in a blazing fast time of 23:25 over Colby’s Tyler Morris, who took runner-up in 23:51.
No. 11 Williams women entered this weekend with slightly more uncertainty following their one-point victory over No. 12 Amherst at Conn College. With another chance to showcase their dominance, Williams women delivered with a larger-margin 14-point victory over Amherst this past weekend. They were led by Genna Girard, who took runner-up in 21:31. Four of Williams’s athletes finished ahead of Amherst’s number two, which all but sealed the deal for their victory.
MIT (NEWMAC)
For 15 straight years, MIT has captured both men’s and women’s NEWMAC titles, and this year was no different. No. 2 MIT men swept the top six, only allowing six non-MIT finishers to sneak into the top 20. Sam Acquaviva took the individual title over runner-up and 800m national champion Ryan Wilson. No. 5 MIT women packed nine of their athletes into the top 20, finishing with a point total of 30, 32 points better than runners-up Smith (No. 24). Behind Wartburg, MIT has the second-best combined program ranking total.
George Fox (NWC)
George Fox has established themselves as the premier program of the Pacific Northwest. This is the second straight year that both programs have won a title and the third straight year for the men. While many fans turn to the Midwest and East coast powerhouses, George Fox quietly is making a name for themselves. On the women’s side, they put their top six inside the top 10 led by a 1-2 punch from Brenna Sclair and Kayla Aalpoel. With a 44s spread and a deadly 1-2 punch, George Fox is ready to make some noise this November.
It was a similar story on the Men’s side. Led by freshman Caden Hildenbrand, George Fox went 4-6-7-10-11 with a 38s spread. The strong pack held of Pacific Lutheran that went 1-3 to claim the Northwest crown by 7 points (38-45). An impressive win with one of their top runners, Peter Weiss.
Photo Credit: Garrett Cooper Photo
John Carroll (OAC)
The program from John Carroll swept both the men's and women’s titles for the second year in a row at the OAC championships this past weekend. It was evident that both teams employed the same strategy under the tutelage of men’s and women’s head coach Kyle Basista: keep the pack together. No. 25 JCU women executed this strategy extremely well, placing individuals in third and sixth place, followed by a sweeping pack from eighth to 12th place. They scored 36 total points, which was 31 points better than runner-up Ohio Northern.
No. 17 JCU men were slightly more spread out amidst finishers from nationally ranked No. 21 Otterbein and No. 26 Wilmington, but still managed to land seven athletes in the top 20. They were led by 2021 national champion Alex Phillip, who easily took the OAC title, winning in a controlled 25:06 on the hilly course. Last year was JCU’s first ever men’s cross country OAC title.
Photo Credit: David Wahl
Lynchburg (ODAC)
The new name taking over the ODAC is Lynchburg. When looking at the All-Conference podium it was clear Lynchburg had a pretty darn good day. Having a team win with a perfect score is a great day, but having both teams win with a perfect score is the best day ever. Lynchburg Men went 1-5 then 7-9, putting eight men inside the top 10. Frank Csorba and Corbin Green could have crossed the line fist bumping as they were separated by 0.3 seconds. A 14-second spread was the cherry on top for the day.
On the Women’s side, Lynchburg followed suit with their own perfect score of their own. Led by Kelsey Lagunas, the Hornets won their second straight ODAC conference. They’re boasting their highest ranking in school history, and the momentum continues to rise as they head into regionals. They’ll face off against South region rival Emory, but have the upper hand in their head-to-head matchup this season.
Colorado College (SCAC)
The Colorado College women showing why they are ranked No. 23 on the latest D3GD polls. They put 13 runners inside the top 15 after going 1-9! The 13 runners were separated by 42 seconds. The tigers absolutely dominated the race and will take this momentum into a resurgent West region.
Greenville (SLIAC)
Greenville have been atop of the SLIAC for some time now. This is the third year in a row the program has swept and the men have won seven straight. On the men’s side, they just missed a perfect score going 1-2-3-4-6. Gianni Estrada led his team to a big win over Webster (16-70). Their teammates took care of business on the women’s side going 2-4-5-6-7. They were led byGretchen Carie’s runner up performance.
Coach Patton gives great meet recaps as well that are worth watching.
SUNY Geneseo (SUNYAC)
SUNY Geneseo successfully pulled off their eighth consecutive program SUNYAC sweep this past weekend. Most impressively, No. 3 Geneseo women pulled off a victory without much of their top runners–none of Geneseo’s top five finishers from Rowan raced. Regardless, the Knights swept places fourth through tenth, tallying up a winning point total of 30. They were led by Lily Fowler-Conner, who led Geneseo to a 39-second pack time.
Nick Andrews led No. 19 Geneseo men with his first ever SUNYAC victory. Teammates William Hall and Alex Hillyard completed the 1-2-3 punch, and two-time indoor All-American Ezra Ruggles rounded out the squad’s 23-point finish.
Photo Credit: Francesca Frasco
UW-Lacrosse
Another clinical WIAC meet from UW-Lacrosse. On the Men’s side, Ethan Gregg led the Eagles to a 27-51 victory over UW-Whitewater. Gregg put a 30s gap over the entire field and shows he can be contending for a national title. His pack behind him went 3-5-8-10. They had a fairly big spread but when you’re front runner goes 23:38, that’ll happen.
On the Women’s side, they had their own winner in Maddie Hannan. The Eagles put all five in the top 10 and had a 65s spread. They handle the No.14 with ease and made us rethink picking against them.
First Time Conference Winners
These are the programs who have caught fire this year, creating momentum that has carried them all the way to their first ever conference titles.
Berea Men (CCS - First year of the conference)
Piedmont Women (CCS - First year of the conference)
Valley Forge Men (CSAC)
Valley Forge Women (CSAC)
Plymouth State Men (Little East)
Widener Women (Middle Atlantic Conference)
Ripon Women (MWC)
Witt Women (NCAC)
Oberlin Men (NCAC)
Mitchell Men (NECC)
Allegheny Women (PAC - first time winning PAC)
SUNY Morrisville (United East)
Emory Men (UAA)
Though shocking that a program as established as Emory has never won a conference title, one need only look at the lineup in their conference to understand why–the UAA is arguably one of the most competitive conferences in the nation, and with teams like No. 9 Wash U, No. 11 Carnegie Mellon, No. 15 Case Western and No. 29 U of Chicago, the UAA is second only to the NESCAC in highest number of nationally ranked teams this year. No. 8 Emory has proved, however, that they belong at the forefront of this prestigious conference–after a loss to Carnegie Mellon at Paul Short, the Eagles bested Carnegie Mellon at every position, putting two in front of their first and five in front of their fourth finisher.
Streaks in the current conference (4+)
This how how you run the final straight away when a 35 year streak is on the line!
NCC men (48) - Should there be a cash prize for the CCIW school that ends this streak?
Calvin Men (35) - The only interview question for the new Calvin cross coach was “can you uphold the MIAA winning streak?”
MIT Men (24) - Realistically, where would this team finish at Ivy League Heps?
MIT Women (15) - And this one?
Johns Hopkins Women (14) - Heck, what about this one?
CMS Women (12) - The true conquerors of the West
Geneseo Women (11)
Geneseo Men (8)
Hunter Women (8)
Hope Women (7)
Greenville Men (7)
Centre Women (6)
RPI Men (6)
Wartburg Men (5)
UW-Lax Men (5)
Marywood Women (4)
Marywood Men (4)
PSU Behrend Women (4)
Wartburg Women (4)
Colorado College Men (4)