Sometimes an emotional high has to be followed up with idleness. A weekend off is the perfect way to process excitement after a big race while still allowing the feelings of accomplishment to simmer, enhancing in flavor and possibility. After an action-packed pre-nationals weekend at the turn of the month, many teams used this past weekend to do exactly that: simmer. For some, it was a time of reflection and regaining composure after a disappointing performance. For others, it was a chance to manage momentum as we enter one of the most crucial months of the season. 

As teams come out of last week’s training cycle and perhaps even a rare weekend of uninterrupted hibernation, they look ahead to a weekend that could be considered even more pivotal than pre-nationals: interregional weekend. With teams across the country crossing regional lines to fight for bids to NCAAs, results in your browser this weekend have larger implications than your entertainment. An upset victory over an interregional team could just be one program’s punched ticket to nationals. As the clock on the stovetop runs toward expiration, the lid is lifted, releasing a tangle of steam and aroma. The simmering is done. It is now time to eat. 

Augustana

Some of the biggest action on the men’s side will take place at the Augustana Interregional Invitational, where the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens will take to the course after lining up a partial squad at home last weekend. The defending national champions fly east to face a lineup of teams from multiple regions including the North and Midwest. While this team’s potential is discernible based on the names on their roster, the full extent of their dominance has not yet been witnessed this year. With names like Colin Kirkpatrick, an 8:46 steepler; Bennett Booth-Genthe, a 3:45 1500 man; Derek Fearon and Lucas Florsheim, 12th and 14th in cross last year, respectively; and Ethan Widlansky, 2021 SCIAC XC Championship runner-up, it is clear that the Sagehens return a stacked roster to the 2022 field. 

However, these names are just a fraction of the depth that Pomona-Pitzer brings forth as a team. Owen Kobett opened his season with a 24:17 8k at Riverside. Jack Rosencrans finished the outdoor season with an All-American honors in a stacked men’s 1500m field. Ian Horsburgh ran two track races last year and came back to score as the Sagehens’ second runner at the Cougar Challenge. Cameron Hatler and Nathaniel Getachew both ran sub-9:05 in the steeple last spring. The list goes on. 

Pomona-Pitzer is a team that doesn’t have to stack their race lineup to send a message. When they do, however, the message will come through loud and clear. The country need only wait a few more days to see what the Sagehens have up their sleeves for this weekend at Augustana. 

And while one program fights to defend their national lead, another fights to regain it. The North Central Cardinals are on a hot streak following their three-peat of national titles from 2016-18. They started the season with a victory at the Spartan Classic in Aurora, followed up with an upset victory at MSU over top-ranked Johns Hopkins and John Carroll, and just two weekends ago emerged victorious over previously ranked USTFCCCA No. 3 team UW-La Crosse. They missed runner-up to No. 2 MIT by 36 points. Each week, they have climbed higher and higher within the national polls. This weekend will be the Cardinals’ first look at both the West-region superpower and the team from Wartburg, who currently sits No. 3 in the D3GD national polls. 

The Cardinals squad of Braden Nicholson, Max Svienty, Connor Riss, Julian Higueros, James McGlashon, Andrew Guimond, and other key members have been highly consistent this year. When one member falls back, another rises to make up the point difference. Just two weeks ago at the pre-national meet, Svienty and Nicholson cruised to a 14th and 15th place finish to lead NCC in a tight pack-time of just 24 seconds. 

Wartburg, another top national contender this year, enters the 2022 national conversation after a disappointing ninth-place finish at last year’s national championships. They graduated their 2021 frontrunner, two-time cross country All-American Joe Freiburger, but return to the course two-time XC qualifier Christopher Collet. Collet, a steady talent out of the Iowa powerhouse, caught fire during the outdoor season when he secured the outdoor steeplechase title over UW-Whitewater’s Christian Patzka. Since then, he’s dominated the cross country season with a streak of collegiate wins at Dan Kurt, Redbird, and Dan Huston. This weekend, Collet will look to keep his winning streak alive and lead Wartburg to a top finish in this stacked interregional lineup. 

Behind Collet, Morgan Shirley-Fairbairn has become a steady No. 2 for the knights, finishing six places behind Collet at Redbird and three places behind at Dan Huston. At Dan Huston, the Knights finished with a 47-second split from 1-5 compared to North Central’s 24-second split from Pre-Nationals. While Wartburg can rely heavily on Collet and Shirley-Fairbairn to lead their pack, North Central becomes dangerous with their depth in the middle of the race. Both teams will bring the heat against No. 1 ranked Pomona-Pitzer in their quest to establish some interregional weekend intimidation before NCAAs in a few weeks.

Other nationally ranked teams (via D3GD Rankings) to watch include:

• WashU (No. 12)

• Loras (No. 19)

• UC Santa Cruz (No. 20)

• UW-Stout (No. 26)

• U of Chicago (No. 28)

• Central College (No. 32)

The women’s race will feature an exciting matchup between No. 2 Wartburg and No. 5 U of Chicago, who will race for the first time this year. Wartburg’s lineup of Aubrie Fisher, Lexi Brown, Shaelyn Hostager, Ellie Meyer, and Riley Mayer have been undefeated in D3 so far this season. Just last weekend, they took down No. 6 WashU at the Dan Huston Invitational at home, scoring 21 points to WashU’s 34. All five scorers from Wartburg finished within 41 seconds of each other, in times spanning from 21:29 to 22:10. If this group can find each other in a more crowded race lineup this weekend, they are sure to further assert their dominance as a trophy contending team. 

Their biggest competition comes from U of Chicago, who has strung together an impressive season of racing thus far. Last weekend at the pre-national meet, they swept third through fifth place, winning the meet over No. 8 MIT by over 50 points. Chicago’s fourth and fifth runners will be crucial this weekend in putting up a fight against Wartburg, as well as the squad from No. 6 WashU, a Midwest and UAA rival they have yet to face in competition this year. 

WashU is led by trio Emily Konkus, Katie Rector, and Lindsay Ott, who have been a steady one through three for the Bears so far this season. Jillian Heth and Avery McCammon have been solid fourth and fifth runners. Both times this squad has raced, their 1-5 split has been under a minute. However, they lost to U of Chicago at Gil Dodds and to Wartburg at Dan Huston when three athletes from each respective rival team finished in front of their second scorer. In order to upset either team this weekend, the WashU Bears will need to tighten up their pack throughout. 

In the individual race, watch out for Loras’s Kassie Parker, the defending XC national champion who comes off of a dominating performance at pre-nationals, in which she secured the victory over CSB’s Fiona Smith in a lightning fast 20:31. Last year, Parker cited wanting to run under 20 minutes for 6k, so look for her to continue pushing limits as she sets her eyes on returning to Lansing in November. 

Challenging Parker will likely be Wartburg’s Fisher, who is undefeated in D3 competition so far this year as well as U of Chicago’s Lucy Groothius, who has led her team to three consecutive victories so far this season. 

Other nationally ranked teams (via D3GD Rankings) to watch for include:

• Pomona-Pitzer (No. 10)

• Colorado College (No. 18)

• Hope (No. 19)

• UW Eau Claire (No. 21)

• Loras (No. 24)

• UC Santa Cruz (No. 26)

• Calvin

Connecticut College

On the East coast, the Connecticut College Invitational will feature several East and Mideast regional powerhouses, while welcoming some programs from the North and Niagara regions as well. The spotlight in the men’s race turns to MIT, who comes off of a pre-national weekend victory in Michigan. Their squad of Andrew Mah, Matthew Kearney, Sam Acquaviva, Vedang Lad, and Lowell Hensgen put an impressive 25 seconds between them as they trickled through the finish line in 6-9-11-16-20 order. 

Though they have only raced their varsity twice so far this season, it is evident that this team has the pieces to back up their No. 2 ranking. Mah opened up the season with a victory at Dartmouth against several D1 runners after finishing 33rd at last year’s national championships for All-American honors. In addition, returners Acquaviva, Kearney, and two-time 800m national champion Ryan Wilson also finished within the top 40 to earn MIT five total All-American honors in a single race (the fifth was senior Finn Jacobson-Schulte). With four returning All-Americans on their roster and the consistency of Lad and Hensgen as backup, the MIT Engineers surely show that they belong in contention for the podium at NCAAs. 

Though no other men’s team comes close to MIT in the rankings, look for No. 11 Williams, No. 14 Haverford, and No. 16 St. Olaf to have strong showings in Connecticut. Though lacking some pieces from last year, Williams brings forth one of the strongest cross country duos in the nation this year with 2021 national runner-up Elias Lindgren and outdoor 5k runner-up Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos. Look for this duo to lead early–Lindgren has not lost a race yet this season and is sure to fight to keep this streak alive. The Ephs come off of a dominating performance at home at the Purple Valley XC Classic in which they swept the top ten places. With a much more crowded field at Conn College, this crew will need to dial in on keeping their pack times tight and teammates in sight. 

Haverford men showed up to Paul Short two weeks ago on a mission. They left victorious over previously ranked USTFCCCA No. 9 CMS and as the bronze-winning team in the Brown race behind current No. 6 Carnegie Mellon and No. 9 Emory. They were led by Ryan Kredell, who placed seventh overall and second among D3 competitors behind Lynchburg’s Frank Csorba. Their split from Kredell to fifth finisher Jamie Moreland was just over a minute with lots of finishers between them, so a tighter pack this weekend could play in their favor. If their confidence coming off of Paul Short has successfully carried them through the past two weeks of training, an upset over Williams could be imminent.

Traveling from the North, the squad from St. Olaf takes their talents to Connecticut after a victory at the Blugold Invitational two weeks ago. With a 53-second split from frontrunner Logan Bocovich to fifth scorer David Lynn, St. Olaf put six athletes in front of runner-up Stout’s fourth scorer. A trip to the East coast could be just what this squad needs to solidify their bid out of the North region come regional weekend.

Other ranked teams (via D3GD Rankings) to watch in the men’s race include:

• Bates (No. 25)

• Middlebury (No. 27)

• Connecticut College (No. 29)

• Tufts (No. 30)

• NYU (No. 31)

The women’s race will feature a tight battle between No. 7 Amherst and No. 8 MIT. This will be the first time this season that the Mideast and East schools face each other on the course. Amherst is currently undefeated in competition. They started the year with a victory at Wesleyan, followed it up with a historic win at Little Threes, and, most recently, captured a title at Purple Valley. They are led by Mary Kate McGranahan, who, in a breakout season, has not lost a race yet this year. A year ago, McGranahan was trying to navigate the excitement of a first national meet. Three years ago, she ran 26 minutes in her first collegiate 6k. Now, she’s steadily rising as one of the top D3 female cross country athletes in the country. Look for her to dictate this race early. Joined by national qualifiers in track Sophia Wolmer and Sidnie Kulik, Amherst brings a strong team to the line this Saturday. 

MIT women are coming off of a runner-up finish at Pre-Nationals two weeks ago behind No. 5 team U of Chicago. Led by Einat Gavish, who placed sixth overall, MIT finished with a split of 61 seconds from their first to their fifth, averaging a finish time of 22:39. Earlier in the year at Dartmouth, a much smaller race, this squad’s split was just 28 seconds. With big start lists at Conn College, MIT will need to navigate the crowd better than at pre-nationals for a chance to upset Amherst. 

Behind Amherst and MIT, No. 11 St. Olaf also brings forth a strong roster and perhaps the tightest pack time of the three aforementioned teams. They won the Blugold Invitational by 14 points over No. 15 Carleton, splitting a mere 26 seconds from their first to fifth runners. Clearly making an effort to finish close together, frontrunners Sofia Carlson and Christine Albrecht finished within a second of each other, runners three and four were within eight seconds of one another, and their fifth and sixth team finishers crossed the finish line within half a second of each other. With team tactics like these, St. Olaf could just sneak enough bodies ahead of crucial scorers for Amherst or MIT and pull off an upset. 

Other ranked teams (via D3GD Rankings) to watch out for in the women’s race include:

• Tufts (No. 14)

• NYU (No. 16)

• Bates (No. 17)

• Williams (No. 20)

• St. Lawrence (No. 22)

• WPI (No. 30)

• Coast Guard (No. 31)

Rowan Border Battle

The Rowan Border Battle will feature No. 1 ranked SUNY Geneseo on the women’s side and No. 7 ranked RPI on the men’s side. Both programs from Johns Hopkins are splitting squads between Rowan and Virginia this weekend, so the highly anticipated rematch between No. 1 Geneseo and defending national champions Hopkins might have to wait just a few more weeks. This meet will not be without entertainment, however, for there is a reason “battle” is in the meet title. 

Be prepared for SUNY G women to steal the show here. They remain undefeated in D3 competition so far this year and it’s no wonder why–two weeks ago at Mike Woods, this squad swept first through sixth place and took eighth and ninth place as well. The week before that, they hopped in a 5k in Rochester and swept first through ninth place, all finishing under 19 minutes. One week prior to that, they took down No. 4 Johns Hopkins at Michigan State en route to also beating several D1 programs. SUNY G is on a mission. 

They are led by XC All-American Kathleen McCarey, who has only suffered one divisional loss this year to Hopkins’s Alex Ross. Behind McCarey, All-American Windsor Ardner and national team returners Penelope Greene, Marcie Hogan, Rachel Hirschkind, Kaitlyn Grossman, and Greta Flanagan all join forces again in 2022. We said last year that this team’s youth would bode well for them in 2022, and so far this theory has yet to be disproven. Look for much of this squad to run up front at Rowan this weekend in a quest to maintain a perfect winning streak throughout this entire season. 

Other teams to watch for in the women’s race are No. 13 Lynchburg and No. 15 Carleton. Lynchburg comes off of a second place in D3 and third place overall finish in the Brown race at Paul Short, while Carleton follows up a runner-up finish to No. 11 St. Olaf at the Blugold Invitational. Carleton’s Clara Mayfield dominated this race, winning by almost a full minute over the second-place finisher, Carolyn Shult of Eau Claire. Mayfield only has one loss on her record so far this year, which came from the early-season Hamline Invitational in a head-to-head battle with CSB standout Fiona Smith. Mayfield finished tenth last fall, was fourth in the indoor mile, and took fifth in the outdoor 10k to round out three All-American honors on the year. She enters Rowan this weekend as the favorite, but will be challenged by Geneseo’s McCarey. After her breakout season, McCarey has carried her momentum into this year. She will be key in their quest for a title with a low stick.

More nationally ranked teams (via D3GD Rankings) in the women’s race include:

• RPI (No. 27)

• Widener (No. 29)

• Dickinson (No. 32)

• Johns Hopkins (No. 4)*

No. 7 RPI will take to the course at Rowan after an exciting victory over Johns Hopkins and John Carroll in the Paul Short Gold race two weeks ago. They trickled through in pairs, led by Cory Kennedy and Matthew Lecky, who finished 59th and 61st, and followed by Patrick Smyth and Mitchell Dailey (218th and 219th) as well as William Hawkins and Connor Wooding (267th and 273rd), proving that the buddy system was an effective method in a crowded, largely D1 race. They beat Johns Hopkins by 33 points and John Carroll by 76, quickly etching their own spot ahead of each of these teams in the national rankings. After coming down from the emotional high of this race, it will be interesting to see if this performance can be replicated or, better yet, improved upon in a smaller race, so the nation can see if RPI may just be in contention for a podium finish. 

No. 17 Lynchburg will also be making an appearance at Rowan, following their fifth place D3 finish in the Brown race at Paul Short. Lynchburg is led by duo Frank Csorba and Maximillian Sparks, but last week was without Sparks, which certainly had implications toward the team scoring. Assuming both will line up this weekend, Lynchburg has the potential to jump ahead in the rankings and make their case for a bid to NCAAs out of the South region. Look for Csorba and Sparks to run comfortably up front in this race and for teammates Sam Llaneza, Connor McCroy, and Corbin Green to lurk close behind, ready to close hard in the last 3k. 

No. 23 SUNY Geneseo rounds out the nationally ranked teams lining up in the men’s race at Rowan this coming weekend. They suffered a narrow loss at home to Great Lakes school Case Western two weeks ago, but with some determination to reclaim their spot in the top 20, don’t count out this squad just yet. They are led by three-time All-American Nick Andrews, who was the first place D3 competitor at Mike Woods two weeks ago. Look for Andrews to help lead the way for the Knights up front with the race leaders.

Oberlin Rumble

Though fields at the Oberlin Interregional Rumble in Ohio are not quite as stacked as Augustana or Connecticut College, this meet, known for its “rumbling” Taiko drummers partway through the course, is sure to stir up some hype. 

The men’s race will feature 2021 XC national champion Alex Phillip of John Carroll, who, last year, used this race as practice moving late in a race toward the win. The essence of such a tactic brings to focus one of the biggest obstacles of being a national champion: finding ways to challenge oneself in smaller race settings. So far this year, Phillip has found himself amidst multi-divisional talent, making this year, unlike last year, one that has not filled up his TFRRS page with first place finishes. At Michigan State, Phillip lost to D2 XC runner-up Tanner Chada of Grand Valley State. At Paul Short, he placed seventh behind several D1 runners. With challengers around him every step of the way, Phillip has spent the early part of his season learning to change levels. This weekend at Oberlin will be the first time he faces some of his D3 competitors. Will he race or will he tempo? Only time will tell. 

The team to watch in the men’s race will be the squad from Carnegie Mellon, who garnered an impressive victory over No. 9 Emory in the Brown race at Paul Short two weekends ago. After graduating cross All-American Matthew Karee and indoor 5k runner-up Michael Obroin, it was not clear what CMU would be capable of this year. However, in a brilliant effort led by Colin McLaughlin at Paul Short, the Tartans showed they came into 2022 completely leveled up. 31 seconds transpired from McLaughlin to fifth man Charlie Murphy. They beat runners up Emory at every scoring position, putting multiple scorers between Emory in some places. Look for much of this squad to load the front pack this weekend in an effort to run comfortably and out of trouble up front. 

CMU’s largest cross-regional competition comes from Great Lakes school John Carroll, who currently ranks No. 13. Similarly to CMU, this squad lost several key members last year, including 5k national champion Jamie Dailey and All-Americans Ian Pierson and Cormac-Peppard Kramer. Behind Phillip, a huge gap exists to their No. 2 runner and another gap forms before their fourth and their fifth. Having only run in crowded, highly competitive races so far this year, it will be interesting to see how the Streaks recover racing in a smaller setting. 

Behind JCU, fellow OAC team Otterbein and Great Lakes regional mates Case Western enter as the No. 21 and No. 22 seeds in the nation, respectively. Otterbein comes off of a somewhat disappointing seventh place finish at Pre-Nationals, while Case Western comes off of an exciting upset victory over Geneseo at Mike Woods. Depending on how each team manages their emotion coming off of these different efforts, another upset could go down. 

No. 23 John Carroll headlines the women’s race at Oberlin after a seventh place finish at the pre-national meet. The Streaks are led by 10k national qualifier Erica Esper and also have 10k All-American Cameron Bujaucius on their starting roster. To add even more experience to their cause, four of last year’s national qualifying team members return to competition this year. Look for Esper and Bujaucius to run up front in this race alongside Trine’s Lydia Randolph, whose breakout season has seen her no worse than third in her early-season meets and 13th at the pre-national meet. Other names to watch are 1500m All-American Hope Murphy of Baldwin Wallace and 10k national qualifier Tessa Pitcovich of Ohio Northern.

Other Meets

While these four meets cover most of the nationally-ranked teams competing this weekend, other results to keep an eye on include:

• The UAB Blazer Classic, which will feature No. 9 Emory men and No. 25 Emory women

• Panorama Farms XC 23 Invitational hosted by UVA will feature No. 8 Johns Hopkins men and No. 4 Johns Hopkins women

• Jim Drews will feature UW men’s programs La Crosse (No. 5) and Whitewater (No. 10)

• Lewis and Clark out west will cover George Fox men (No. 18) and women (No. 12)

• No. 9 La Crosse women will head to Tori Neubauer

• No. 24 Wilmington men race at home at the Jenna Strong

As teams line up this weekend, they both reflect on the weeks behind and look forward to the weeks ahead. Caught in the stasis between pre- and post-season, they realize the only solution is to move. The gun goes off and interregional weekend is underway.