2022 D3 XC: Regional Previews
We’re back with another extensive post about the regional meets this weekend. Here are our thoughts on who has a chance at making it to nationals. Good luck to everyone this weekend! We’re excited to be announcing our first xc national meet.
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East
In its second annual showing since the D3 XC realignment, the East Regional Championship meet will return defending champions and favorites to win No. 2 MIT on the men’s side, as well as present an opportunity for No. 5 MIT women to take the regional crown from last year’s champions Tufts. Both programs come off of dominating NEWMAC victories, making them one of 16 programs across the nation to sweep both men’s and women’s conference titles. MIT is currently tied with Wartburg for highest combined program finish within the D3GD rankings and has the potential to bring home two team trophies from the national meet next weekend. As we all know, however, this feat cannot be accomplished without first advancing through the rounds. Here’s what to expect at the East Regional Championship this weekend.
Coming off of a six-person sweep at NEWMAC’s, look for the MIT Engineers to go largely uncontested once more in the East regional men’s race. The hexad of Sam Acquaviva, Ryan Wilson, Lowell Hensgen, Matthew Kearney, Andrew Mah, and Vedang Lad all finished within 33 seconds of each other to post a perfect score against conference runners-up WPI. Expect many, if not all, of these names to finish within the top 10 this weekend, but not without a fight from other regional challengers.
Most noteworthy on the individual front is that of Colby’s Tyler Morris, who won the inaugural East region title last year and has twice this year finished second to NCAA national runner up Elias Lindgren–once at Conn College and most recently at NESCACs. Morris, who has only raced three times so far this season, will look to comfortably defend his regional title, sending a message that he is leveling up from his regular season and looking ahead to one prize: a top finish at the NCAA national meet. Last year, Morris was seventh, a place he is surely looking to boost, though he only has six options for improvement.
Morris leads No. 27 Colby in their quest to receive a team bid to NCAAs. After losing to conference rivals Middlebury at Conn College, the squad from Colby sought their revenge at NESCACs, where they edged out Middlebury by two points, finishing runner-up to No. 7 Williams. Though they won’t have to replicate a win over Middlebury this weekend, beating conference rivals No. 28 Bates and No. 31 Tufts once more will be crucial in their journey to Lansing. Tufts is led by Walter Wagude, who placed 11th at NESCACs behind Trinity’s Travis Martin. Bates beat Colby once earlier this season at the Maine State Cross Country Championships. Bates has the best shot at advancing alongside MIT and Colby, meaning three of the 22 available bids to NCAAs could be taken by the East.
If the East region takes all three teams–MIT, Colby, and Bates–more individual qualifying spots will be open. Watch for Babson’s Anthony Rodriguez, who finished seventh at NEWMACs behind the flurry of MIT jerseys, as well as WPI’s David Reynolds (10th) and Bowdoin duo Will Goddard and Sam Angevine (21st and 23rd, respectively, at NESCACs) to make it out of the region, punching their ticket to nationals.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (3)
MIT Q
Colby q
Bates q
Tufts
WPI
Individual qualifiers:
Walter Wagude (Tufts)
Anthony Rodriguez (Babson)
David Reynolds (WPI)
Will Goddard (Bowdoin)
Sam Angevine (Bowdoin)
Ivan Appleton (Tufts)
Amokrane Aouchiche (Tufts)
Following their eighth place NCAA finish in 2021, last year’s women’s East regional champions Tufts graduated two XC All-Americans in Danielle Page (third) and Anna Slager (22nd). The defending champs enter a rebuilding phase this year, opening the door wide open for regional foes MIT and Bates to step into the East region spotlight. No. 5 MIT is the favorite to win this year. They come off of a sweeping victory at NEWMACs over No. 24 Smith to follow up their dominating win at Conn College two weeks prior over No. 9 St. Olaf.
With the strong squad of Gillian Roeder (2022 NEWMAC champion), Einat Gavish (fifth at Conn College), Kate Sanderson (fourth at NEWMAC), Anna Haddad (ninth at pre-nats), and Christina Crow (11th at Conn College), the Engineers have only lost to one other D3 program this year: No. 1 U of Chicago. Look for MIT to continue their hot streak this weekend en route to a potential podium finish at NCAAs.
Another rising program within the East region is that of No. 15 Bates. They come off of a third place finish at NESCACs in which they trailed No. 12 Amherst by just 14 points. The rest of their season resume includes a fifth place finish at Conn College and an 18-point victory at Maine State Championships. They lost to Tufts by three points in a dual meet at the beginning of the season, their only loss of three races with them this year. With a more crowded field at regionals, look for the season-long savviness of Bates to prevail. As long as these teams finish in the top three, they should all have a good shot at receiving a bid to NCAAs.
Bates is led by XC All-American Jillian Richardson, who placed third at NESCACs two weeks ago behind Amherst’s Mary Kate McGranahan and Williams’s Genna Girard. Richardson is the favorite to win this weekend, likely only to be challenged by MIT’s Roeder, Bowdoin’s Leila Trummel, and Clark’s Ruby Krasnow. Trummel finished three places behind Richardson at NESCACs, while Krasnow placed fifth at NEWMACs and won the white race at Conn College. Another name in the hunt is that of Richardson’s own teammate, Elizabeth Holcombe, who finished just two seconds behind Trummel at NESCACs. A rematch this weekend between the two is sure to be exciting. Other names to watch for to make it out as an individual include Wellesley’s Claire Anderson and Ellie Murphy-Weise and WPI’s Caitlin Guilfoyle and Amelia Kokernak, all of whom saw top finishes at NEWMACs, as well as Bowdoin’s Stephanie Chun, who finished in the top 20 at NESCACs.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (3)
MIT Q
Bates q
Tufts q
WPI
Bowdoin
Individual qualifiers:
Leila Trummel (Bowdoin)
Ruby Krasnow (Clark)
Claire Anderson (Wellesley)
Caitlin Guilfoyle (WPI)
Amelia Kokernak (WPI)
Stephanie Chun (Bowdoin)
Ellie Murphy-Weise (Wellesley)
Great Lakes
A region too classic to completely dismantle, the Great Lakes instead absorbed schools from Kentucky during the 2021 regional realignment. As the name lives on, so does the legacy of the 2021 regional champions John Carroll men and Hope women. Both programs return to the Great Lakes lineup with a good shot at defending last year’s victory, thus seeking an automatic bid to their home-regional-turf course in Lansing, Mich.
The Great Lakes ties with the Midwest region for the highest number of nationally ranked men’s teams featured in the most recent D3GD rankings. Five Great Lakes men’s programs are currently ranked:
Case Western (No. 15)
John Carroll (No. 17)
Otterbein (No. 21)
Wilmington (No. 26)
Calvin (No. 32)
Case Western comes in with the highest D3GD ranking at No. 15, making them the biggest threat to JCU in their quest to defend their regional title. Both programs have put together impressive seasons–Case comes off of a third place finish at UAAs, where they edged out No. 29 U of Chicago and No. 9 Wash U, while JCU comes off of a victory at OACs over No. 21 Otterbein and No. 26 Wilmington. This weekend will be the first time since the MSU Spartan Invitational that the teams will race each other in full force.
At MSU, JCU finished third of five D3 teams, while Case finished fifth behind SUNY G. Case has been gaining steam since this performance, however, beating SUNY G at home two weeks later, and, two weeks after that, finishing just ten points behind Mid-Atlantic standout program Carnegie Mellon. Their victory over U of Chicago and Wash U at UAAs continues their momentum as they head into regional weekend.
JCU had a breakout year as a program last year, finishing fourth in the nation in cross country and as national runners-up in outdoor track and field. These accomplishments were marqueed by their men’s distance program, prompting many to expect a strong comeback for the OAC school. However, after the loss of national champion Jamie Dailey and All-American Ian Pierson, JCU has struggled to maintain a top national ranking. They started the season with surprising losses to North Central and Johns Hopkins at MSU. They then suffered another loss to Hopkins in addition to RPI at Paul Short, bumping them down in the rankings.
Their 30-point victory over Otterbein at OACs was the first time this season that JCU has appeared to return to their winning form. This Great Lakes regional weekend will therefore be about more than just defending a regional title for JCU–it will be about fighting their way back into a place amidst the nation’s best teams.
Regardless of who comes out victorious, both teams, JCU and Case, are almost guaranteed bids to NCAAs. The question becomes how many teams after them will also receive bids given the depth of this region. Otterbein has made a strong argument for themselves with their fifth place finish behind WashU at Augustana and runner-up finish at OACs. Wilmington also presents a solid case with their third place OAC finish and victory over U of Chicago and Calvin at Pre-Nats. They will need to replicate a victory over Calvin as well as OAC rival school Mount Union in order to strengthen their chance of making it through to NCAAs.
The odds of Calvin or Mount Union advancing are more up in the air. If one beats any of the above four teams, five might advance to NCAAs from this region. If both beat any of the above teams, six might advance. If they beat none of the above teams, they could be at risk of being left at home. Everything depends on what happens in the other nine regions. May the bidding odds be ever in your favor
On the individual front, defending regional and national champion Alex Phillip of JCU is the favorite to win the 2022 title. He comes off of a controlled victory at OACs in which he gapped the field by 23 seconds on a particularly hilly and challenging course, displaying a different level of fitness than the rest of the field. Look for another controlled victory out of Phillip this weekend on his quest to earn his second XC national title.
His biggest challengers will come from Mount Union’s Jeff Joseph, Wilmington’s Simon Heys, Otterbein’s Cal Yackin, and Case Western’s Joseph Jaster and Jack Begley, all of whom he has already beaten head-to-head this season. Expect many of these names to finish within the top ten, especially with team implications involved.
Other individuals of significant note include Mount Union’s Vince Giumenti, who placed fifth at OACs, Hope’s Connor Vachon, who won MIAAs, Berea’s Luke Wilson, who won CCSC’s, DePauw’s Jacob Kissling, who won NCACs, and Trine’s Noah Acker, who placed ninth at MIAAs. Many of these individuals come off of conference victories that can equip them with the confidence they need to pass every athlete they can in the final stretch. In a region with so much depth, anything can happen if you put yourself in the right position for it.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (6)
JCU Q
Case Western q
Otterbein q
Wilmington q
Mount q
Calvin q
Individual qualifiers:
Connor Vachon (Hope)
Luke Wilson (Berea)
Jacob Kissling (DePauw)
Noah Acker (Trine)
Conor Kolka (Wittenberg)
Enrique Salazar (Manchester)
Connor Havens (Manchester)
Hope women return as the defending regional champions and the hosts of this weekend’s regional championships. Their season thus far has propelled them to the top of the regional rankings but has not come without its bumps in the road. They lost to conference and regional foe Calvin at Augustana over interregional weekend, showing a bit of vulnerability out of the No. 22 seed. They returned to form, however, at MIAAs, where they posted their seventh straight conference title. Their 11-point victory over Calvin came in apt timing, just two weeks out from their rematch at the Great Lakes championships. A home-course advantage could be just enough to tip the scales in their favor for an automatic bid to NCAAs.
Another program to watch out for is that of No. 25 John Carroll, who just won their third straight OAC title. They did so in dominating fashion, placing seven athletes in front of runners-up Ohio Northern’s No. 2. The rest of their season resume includes a sweeping victory at the Oberlin Interregional Rumble, a seventh place finish at Pre-Nats, and a D3 All-Ohio Championships title. With these accomplishments, John Carroll is almost guaranteed a spot on the NCAA startline alongside Hope and Calvin.
Several other Great Lakes teams will attempt to use their wins from the season and a fourth place finish to secure a third at-large bid from this region:
Trine finished just two points behind Calvin at MIAAs and took fourth at Oberlin, ahead of fellow regional teams Case Western and Ohio Northern.
Case Western finished fifth at UAAs behind Emory and finished 11 points behind No. 30 Dickinson at Mike Woods
Centre won SAAs and finished third at Oberlin ahead of Trine
Ohio Northern took second at OACs and finished ahead of Trine and Centre at Pre-Nats
The only team without significant wins over regional foes is Case Western, meaning this team is either the weakest of the four or we just have yet to see their full potential against other Great Lakes programs. With so many complex wins and losses, a fourth place finish for one of these programs at regionals will help, but not guarantee, a fourth bid. A finish higher than fourth might incentivize advancing four teams from this region but, again, will also depend on what happens in the remaining nine regions.
The individual race is a little less convoluted: the higher you finish, the higher your chances of advancing after teams are removed. Hope’s Ana Tucker is the favorite to win following her dominating 42-second MIAA victory. Tucker has only lost to two other D3 competitors so far this year: defending XC national champion Kassie Parker and 6th place finisher in 2021 Aubrie Fisher. If Tucker wins this weekend, it will be her first regional title. Last year, she took runner-up to Trine’s Evie Miller, who took fourth at NCAAs.
Behind Tucker, watch for the chase pack to consist of several key individuals, including:
Franciscan’s Claire Walters, who won the Presidents AC meet, took runner-up at Oberlin, and was runner-up in the Paul Short white race. An NC State transfer, Walters is no stranger to racing a stacked field.
Trine’s Lydia Randolph, who took third at MIAA’s, third at Oberlin, and 13th at Pre-Nats.
Muskingum’s Macy McAdams, who won OACs and was fifth at Oberlin.
Ohio Northern’s Tessa Pitcovich, who took runner-up at OACs and is the second fastest returner from last year’s regional results behind Tucker.
Baldwin Wallace’s Hope Murphy, who placed 7th at OACs, won Oberlin, and placed sixth at regionals last year.
Centre’s Meghan Owens, who won SAAs and took ninth at Oberlin.
Mount Union’s Brit McCauley, who placed fourth at OACs and was the sixth individual qualifier from last year’s regional championships.
Each of these individuals have a good shot at advancing to Lansing as individuals if not with a qualifying team. Other notable individuals who can likely be found up front this weekend, leading their respective teams to an NCAA qualifying performance are Calvin’s Jenna Allman and Sienna Ruiter-Diaz and Hope’s Ellie Jankowski. All finished within the top five at MIAAs alongside Tucker and Randolph. In a clash of multi-conference representation and talent, the Great Lakes region is ready to send forth its best to the national stage in just over one week.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (4)
Hope Q
John Carroll q
Calvin q
Case Western q
Ohio Northern
Individual qualifiers:
Claire Walters (Franciscan)
Lydia Randolph (Trine)
Macy McAdams (Musky)
Tessa Pitcovich (ONU)
Hope Murphy (BW)
Meghan Owens (Centre)
Brit McCauley (Mount Union)
Metro
The question looming over the Metro regional meet is not who will win the men’s race but rather, how much will Haverford win by. The goats have strung together a season worthy of high praise and look poised to roll through the regional meet on their way to Nationals. The team is currently ranked 13th in the country after impressive showings at Paul Short, Conn College, and the Centennial Conference meet. Time and time again they have proven their ability to compete right alongside top DIII programs. Ryan Kredell has been on an absolute tear this year notching a sub 24 minute performance at Paul Short as well as an individual title against a stacked Centennial conference. His incredible individual running is swiftly backed up by a whole cast of strong runners. Peter LaRochelle, Miles Colescott, Aaron Bratt, Peter Buckley, Jamie Moreland, and Max Brelig could most likely give their friend Kredell a day off and still get the job done as a team. Those six all have 8k prs between 24:30 and 25:10 and should all be in the mix for top spots. Based on their depth I would be surprised if more than one team puts their third man in front of Haverford’s fifth.
The battle for second place in the team race is looking strongly in favor of Swarthmore, but don’t be surprised if Rowan keeps it close. The top three punch out of Swat is absolutely lethal, but the slight drop off to their fourth could prove to be their weakness. Cantine, Hempel, and Sheehy are all comfortable mixing it up in the front of races and will certainly be putting up some low scores at the regional meet. While Justin Kelly of Rowan looks more than capable of facing off against those three the battle will truly be decided by whether or not Rowan can pack in their next group ahead of Swarthmore’s fourth. At the NJAC meet Rowan put 7 before TCNJ was able to put five and that secured them their team victory. I think the only way they pull off a second place finish in the Metro Region is with similar tactics. If Kelly can break up Swat’s top three and if they can pull off some heroic pack running then the Profs will take it. If Swarthmore’s 4th and 5th runners can close down that gap and pick off some Rowan guys then their top 3 should yield them a comfortable 2nd place.
Men’s: (1)
Haverford Q
Swarthmore
Rowan
TCNJ
Moravian
Individual Qualifiers:
Atticus Hempel (Swarthmore)
Aidan Cantine (Swarthmore)
Will Sheehy (Swarthmore)
Justin Kelly (Rowan)
Cooper Knorr (Stockton)
Kevin Christensen (TCNJ)
Shane Houghton (Moravian)
The women’s Metro race is looking like it could be very packed up front with several teams vying for top three finishes. Widener should be a lock for that top spot, but there’s no doubt that Swarthmore, Desales, Ursinus, and TCNJ are in their respective locker rooms as we speak discussing the potential for a podium finish. Widener has proven strong all year with a tight spread between their top three runners. Gabriella Nye, Carly Gable, and Katelyn Bernotas have consistently finished within about 30 seconds of one another and have always mixed it up at the front of these races. They took three of the top five spots in their conference meet and led their team to victory in the Paul Short white race. Emily Cooney didn’t race at Rowan’s Border Battle and was a bit back from those three in the Middle Atlantic conference meet, but at Paul Short she was side by side with Bernotas. If she is healthy then that top four, should have no problem claiming victory on the hills of DeSales this weekend.
The race for second will surely be a nail biter as plenty of teams are so evenly matched. Swarthmore beat out DeSales by a mere five points at the DeSales Cross Country Invite with average times of 23:59 and 24:01 respectively setting the two of them up as close competitors. Ursinus was a few spots back in that race, but kept the average close with a 24:03. As the season progressed however Ursinus started to hit their stride. Swarthmore bested Ursinus at the Centennial conference meet by only one point despite Ursinus putting up a slightly faster average. The three of them could go many different ways and it will truly come down to who has the best day when it really counts. While the women of TCNJ haven’t quite gone head to head with these teams as much, they have been making some big noise on their own. They put up a very convincing win for the NJAC title with a 20 second spread between their first and fifth runner. At Paul Short they also put up a slightly faster average than Swarthmore being bested only by Widener as far as other teams from the region. The Lions look poised to take that second place finish, but expect an absolute battle from Swat, Ursinus, and DeSales right on their heels. For the individual title I’m expecting either Rachel Conhoff of Ursinus or Gabriella Nye of Widener to come away with the win, but I would be remiss not to throw Ramapo’s Suzanne Zaugg in the mix. I slept on her before the NJAC meet and won’t make the same mistake twice.
Women
Widener Q
TCNJ
Swarthmore
Ursinus
Stockton
Individual Qualifiers:
Katherine Hirsche (Haverford)
Rachel Conhoff (Ursinus)
Jaquelynn Sheedy (USMMA)
Rose Teszler (Swarthmore)
Holly Chambers (Ursinus)
Suzanne Zaugg (Ramapo)
Jaelyn Barkley (Stockton)
Mid-Atlantic
The Mid-Atlantic region conversation centers around two premier programs: Carnegie Mellon men and Johns Hopkins women. Both return this year as the defending regional champions and both have the potential to be top-10 programs at NCAAs.
Carnegie Mellon men have put together a star-studded season so far this year–a victory in the Paul Short Brown Race over No. 8 Emory caught the nation’s attention, sending a message of dominance home with teams from coast-to-coast (No. 18 Haverford of Pennsylvania and No. 16 CMS of California were among the other teams CMU swept at Paul Short). They then went on to post a victory at Oberlin where they placed eight athletes in the top 20 and most recently come off of a runner-up finish at UAAs to conference rival Emory.
Needless to say, the Tartans enter regional weekend loaded with confidence. Led by Colin McLaughlin, who placed sixth at UAAs, fifth at Oberlin, and eighth at Paul Short, it would not be surprising for this squad to pack at least all five of their scorers (if not more) into the top-ten this weekend. The only team capable of offsetting this accomplishment is that of Johns Hopkins, who has not yet raced CMU head-to-head this season.
Hopkins has only lost to two D3 programs outright this year: No. 3 North Central and No. 6 RPI. They twice bested No. 17 JCU and beat No. 18 Haverford at Centennials two weeks ago, showing that they’re well beyond a mid-teens ranking. Under the right conditions, Hopkins could just pull off an upset victory against CMU to steal the automatic bid.
The Jays are led by Gavin McElhennon and Matthew Kleiman, who went 2-3 behind Haverford’s Ryan Kredell at Centennials. Look for a battle between these two and McLaughlin for the regional title. Kleiman returns as the highest finishing competitor from last year’s regional championships, followed by Messiah’s Logan Horst. Look for Horst to enter the mix, ready to strike toward victory when any of the aforementioned begin to fade.
Other noteworthy individuals include St. Vincent’s Tim Patterson, who took runner-up at Presidents AC, Alexander Kane, a Dickinson freshman who took 15th at Centennials, Messiah’s Andrew Hutchinson, who finished second to Horst at MACCs, and Marywood duo Michael McCann and Jack Baronski, who took first and second, respectively, at AECs.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (2)
Carnegie Mellon Q
Johns Hopkins q
Dickinson
Messiah
Salisbury
Individual qualifiers:
Logan Horst (Messiah)
Tim Patterson (St. Vincent)
Alexander Kane (Dickinson)
Andrew Hutchinson (Messiah)
Michael McCann (Marywood)
Jack Baronski (Marywood)
Jordan Berger (Lebanon Valley)
The women’s race features 2021 national champions Johns Hopkins, who will go for their 14th consecutive regional title this weekend. Previously part of the old Mideast region, Hopkins has shown that realignment is no detriment to their winning streak. After 12 straight Mideast regional titles, they moved to the Mid-Atlantic region, winning the inaugural title and easily picking up where they left off.
This year should be no different for the Jays, who come off of their 14th straight Centennial Conference victory, where they claimed five of seven first-team all-conference honors, sweeping places 1-5, and three of seven second-team all-conference honors, taking places 8-10. All-American Alex Ross was named conference runner of the year, and freshman Viviana Li received Hopkins’s tenth consecutive rookie of the year honors.
Though missing some pieces from last year’s championship team, the youth of this program stepping into the spotlight this year indicates that Hopkins isn’t ready to drop off the national podium just yet. They enter this weekend with a No. 6 national ranking.
Behind Hopkins, No. 30 Dickinson and No. 32 Elizabethtown will make a run for a bid to NCAAs. Dickinson finished runners-up to Hopkins at Centennials and runners-up to No. 3 Geneseo at Mike Woods. The ability to race with some of the nation’s best teams this season has equipped this team well to post a second-place finish this weekend.
Elizabethtown’s biggest ammunition comes from their Rowan Interregional victory over Metro region favorites Widener. If Widener wins the Metro region and secures an automatic bid and Elizabethtown places in the top three at Mid-Atlantic championships, their chances of advancing increase. However, a single-point loss to Mid-Atlantic team Scranton at Landmarks two weeks ago introduces a new challenger into the picture. Carnegie Mellon is another program to watch in the battle for top three. They beat Elizabethtown at Paul Short, but have twice lost to Great Lakes team Case Western, who is a fringe team for receiving an at-large bid. Though advancing more than two from this region is not guaranteed, any program who sets themselves up well with a third place finish could make it out to Lansing.
In the individual race, expect a tight pack of Hopkins runners up front, displaying similar tactics to the one they employed at conference. Watch for Scranton’s Jessica Hoffmann, who won Landmarks by a full minute, to break up the wall of blue jerseys. Other names to watch include:
Susquehanna’s Kallan Carter, who is the highest-placing non-JHU returner from last year’s championships
Kristen Seballos, frontrunner for Carnegie Mellon
Washington & Jefferson’s Cassie Carr, who was runner-up at Presidents ACs
Alvernia’s Cera Gaston, who took third at MACCs and second at Aubrey Schenk
St. Vincent’s Kristen Prince and Miranda Cincotta, who took third and seventh, respectively, at Presidents ACs
As each individual takes the start line this weekend, they lean on the accomplishments of their seasons as well as on the fact that one of the top programs in the nation is there to pull them through to fast times.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (2)
Johns Hopkins Q
Dickinson q
Carnegie Mellon
Scranton
Elizabethtown
Individual qualifiers:
Jessica Hoffmann (Scranton)
Kallan Carter (Susquehanna)
Kristen Seballos (CMU)
Cassie Carr (Washington & Jefferson)
Cera Gaston (Alvernia)
Kristen Prince (St. Vincent)
Miranda Cincotta (St. Vincent)
Mideast
With the loss of the famed New England region, we’re left with the East and Mideast. If you listen carefully, you may hear some of the coaches slip up and call it the New England region. I mean, how can you go to a school in New England but not compete in the New England region? Anyway, let’s get to why you’re here and talk about the Mideast region.
Looking at the regional map, you’d be extremely confused as to how this region is made up. Majority of the schools are concentrated in Western Massachusetts, Connecticut, and just outside of New York City. Yet, these schools will make the trip close to the New York/Canada border. If there’s an upside, there is potential for pie for All-Region runners as St. Lawrence gave away pie at their home invite.
Getting into the matchups, we’re excited to see RPI vs. Williams. These two faced off early in the season at the Siena Invite where RPI took down Williams (44-89). The breakout season for Cory Kennedy has been key for RPI’s success. He turned heads when he led RPI at Paul Short while they took down Johns Hopkins and John Carroll. RPI has been able to run in packs throughout the majority of the season. They tend to pair off and find a teammate in their big races. We saw this tactic at Paul Short and then at Rowan. RPI has moved up the rankings throughout the season, which shouldn’t have come as a surprise given their depth from track.
Despite losing to RPI earlier in the season, Williams appears to be getting back into form at the right time. A key to that has been Tuohy-Gaydos bouncing back from an early season sophomore slump. Williams has the talent and team to get back on the podium but will need to take on a strong RPI team first. Elias Lindgren has been solid all year and will look to take another stab at taking down Alex Phillip as he did last year when he took national runner-up.
Look for Middlebury to bounce back after a two-point defeat to Colby at NESCACs. They’ve had an up-and-down season and looked great at the Conn College Invite. If they tee up another good performance they’ll be back at the national meet.
Conn College has a strong 1-2 punch in Matt Carter and Jeffrey Love. Both are individual qualifiers from last year, but this year they are trying to get their team to go to the big race with them. Having two low sticks should help them especially with the resume they’ve put together so far this season.
In the individual battle, look for Lindgren to control the race early. He’ll have tough competition from the RPI duo but will use his tactic of waiting late in the race to move up.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (4)
Williams Q
RPI q
Middlebury q
Conn College q
St. Lawrence
Top 7 Individual Qualifiers
Timothy Boyce (St. Lawrence)
Miles Takiguchi (Vassar)
Travis Martin (Trinity)
Theo Dassin (Amherst)
Jackson Hamilton (St. Lawrence)
Nathan Tassey (Roger Williams)
Henry Dennen (Amherst)
Women
Williams and Amherst will meet for the third straight meet. After taking Williams down twice earlier in the season, Amherst is now looking to get revenge on the Ephs’ two straight wins. Amherst has been without Sidnie Kulik the last two meets and if she is back in the line-up, that will be a big boost for the Mammoths.
Williams had a slow start to the year but is picking up steam. Getting All-American Genna Girard back mid-year has been big for their late season success. With a front runner like Girard back and a strong pack, Williams will be knocking on a top-ten finish at nationals this year. Molly Fitzgibbons and Ella Ball add an extra punch as their 2-3 runners. They bring national meet experience to this squad and run with more confidence each week.
Smith has been flying under the radar this season and burst onto the scene at the Conn College invite. They were able to take down ranked teams like St. Lawrence and Tufts. They’re led by Laurel Kruger who finished third at NEWMACs. Smith will need a low stick towards the front as their 1-5 spread was almost 90 seconds at their conference meet.
RPI and St. Lawrence had a battle at the Liberty League Championships. RPI came out on top by six points. Morgan Lee won by 30 seconds ahead of St. Lawrence’s Emma Palumbo. Both of these runners will be key for their teams to have a shot at qualifying. As it stands now, we believe both teams should earn a spot at the national meet if they finish fourth or fifth.
From the individual perspective, it’ll be a great matchup between Mary Kate McGranahan, Morgan Lee, and Genna Girard. McGrananhan is coming off a NESCAC win and is running with confidence. All three runners will be their team’s low stick and will battle for the individual win.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (5)
Williams Q
Amherst q
Smith q
RPI q
St. Lawrence q
Individual Qualifiers
Lauren Selkin (Mt. Holyoke)
Julia Curran (Conn. College)
Stephanie Ager (Wesleyan)
Kate Cochran (New Paltz)
Augusta Stockman (Vassar)
Miranda Graves (Wesleyan)
Claire Semerod (Coast Guard)
Midwest
One of the best things to happen to the regional realignment was adding the state of Iowa to the Midwest region. It came at the loss of Wisconsin, but ope whatcha gonna do. We’ll get a repeat matchup on both sides from the Augustana Invite, but this time, a trip to the national meet is on the line. Both races can expect ultra-deep fields and nail-biting finishes for the automatic bid. Where most regions can expect a steady build in intensity to NCAAs, this region features national-caliber matchups just one week out from the coveted national championship meet.
The men’s lineup will feature an opportunity for No. 4 Wartburg to seek revenge against No. 3 North Central after their 15-point loss to the CCIW powerhouse at Augustana. North Central ran what was arguably their best race of the season at Augustana, placing three athletes into the top ten with Connor Riss (runner-up), Max Svienty (sixth), and Braden Nicholson (eighth), all of whom finished in front of Wartburg No. 2 Connor Lancial.
This performance came at the peak of what has already been an illustrious year for the Cardinals. They started the season with a head-turning victory at the MSU Spartan Invite over Johns Hopkins and 2021 podium finishers John Carroll. They then followed up this performance with a victory over current No. 5 UW-La Crosse at Pre-Nats. This early success came as somewhat of a surprise to many after an uncharacteristically low 15th-place 2021 nationals finish, the Cardinal’s lowest program finish at cross NCAAs since 2007. They also didn’t have a single male distance athlete qualify to indoor or outdoor track nationals in 2022, while many of the teams currently in their company in the rankings qualified several athletes who have returned to competition this fall.
No matter what triggered the switch, North Central has awoken this season determined to regain their usual podium position at NCAAs. If they can continue the upward trend they’ve already established so far this season, a Midwest regional victory is but a stepping stone on their way back to the top.
Wartburg should put up a good fight this weekend, however, especially in the absence of No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer, who offset many of the top finishing places at Augustana. They are led by distance standout Christopher Collet, and lean heavily on the supporting roles of Morgan Shirley-Fairbairn, who took eighth at regionals last year, and Connor Lancial, who took third at ARCs. Their only team losses this year have been to Pomona-Pitzer and North Central at Augustana, losses that are sure to fuel them as they take the start line this weekend.
Behind these two front-running teams, expect three additional teams to make their case for a trip to nationals: WashU, Loras, and U of Chicago. So far this season, neither WashU nor Loras have beaten Wartburg, but both have taken down U of Chicago at least once. U of Chicago comes off of a solid UAA conference performance, however, in which they bested WashU by a mere four points. They were led by John Hood, who took runner-up to Case Western’s Joseph Jaster. Regardless of the finishing order of these three teams, a total of five are likely to make it out of this region as all have shown they have the chops to compete with the nation’s best with their performances from throughout the season.
Collet is the heavy favorite for the individual crown. One scroll through his TFRRS will show you nothing but 1st place finishes (click on his second place finish and you’ll learn he was still the first collegiate finisher), and he is likely not about to stop now. He comes off of a controlled ARC victory in which he beat runner-up Luke Guttormson of Loras by nearly 30 seconds. He overtook NCC’s Connor Riss at Augustana with a monster kick down the final straight and showed that neither Wash U’s Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff or Jeff Candell were a match for him at Dan Huston.
Look for this race to play out similarly to Augustana with a few swap-outs of interregional athletes for Midwest ones. NCC’s Riss, Max Svienty, and Braden Nicholson have the potential to sweep places two through four if their race at Augustana is any indication of what is to transpire Saturday. At CCIWs, they finished within a pack of nine who swept the front of the race, putting just 28 seconds from the first finisher, Riss, to the ninth finisher. Guttormson will certainly be a player up front as well following his runner-up ARC finish, as will Wartburg’s Connor Lancial, who finished ten seconds later in third, and Luther’s Ian Kelly, who was fourth.
An athlete who might fly a little under the radar following a lackluster conference race is Simpson’s Spencer Moon. Up until his conference meet, Moon was on a hot streak, winning the previous two races he competed in and coming in second in his season opener to an NAIA athlete from Graceland. Don’t be surprised to see Moon bounce back and finish closer to the top four.
Other athletes to expect in or near the top ten include Wartburg’s Shirley-Fairbairn, U of Chicago’s Hood, Wash U’s Candell, and NCC’s Andrew Guimond.
Top 5 Team + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (5)
North Central Q
Wartburg q
WashU q
Loras q
U of Chicago q
Individual qualifiers:
Ian Kelly (Luther)
Spencer Moon (Simpson)
Noah Jorgenson (Central College)
Tom Altier (Luther)
Kyle Miller (Buena Vista)
Aaron Davidson (Cornell College)
Caleb Silver (Central College)
The women’s race might just be the biggest race of the weekend, or will at least give a good glimpse at how two top nationally-ranked teams are looking just one week out from NCAAs. No. 1 U of Chicago and No. 2 Wartburg will face off for the penultimate time this season, following their race at Augustana and preceding their battle for an NCAA title next weekend. U of Chicago narrowly took the win at Augustana, besting Wartburg by just three points. They spent UAA weekend taking over the D3GD Instagram as well as taking the conference by storm–their 36-point finish won over runners-up No. 7 WashU by 10 points.
Their squad of Frances Schaeffler, Anna Kenig-Ziesler, Lucy Groothius, Maddie Kelly, Katarina Birimac, and Caitlin Jorgensen have swept the season, posting a perfect winning record thus far. They just recently plugged in 1500-meter national qualifier and DMR All-American Maddie Kelly, who was their fifth scorer at Augustana and second scorer at UAAs, and have not yet lined up XC All-American Claudia Harnett, who was a DNS at UAAs. If Harnett is able to plug in late in the season as Kelly was, she could just be Chicago’s secret weapon. However, they’ve shown their strength and ability to win all year with the squad they have and will continue to send their message of dominance as the NCAA meet quickly approaches.
Wartburg will be the biggest challenger for the automatic bid. Their squad of Aubrie Fisher, Riley Mayer, Ellie Meyer, Lexi Brown, and Shaelyn Hostager showed off a dominating 2-6 sweep at ARCs, putting just 28 seconds between their first and fifth scorers. They won in a landslide over No. 16 Loras, who will also contend for a bid to NCAAs this weekend. Though the women’s race at Augustana was ruled by Midwest teams and individuals, the removal of finishers from North, West, and Great Lakes schools this weekend will open up the opportunity for even tighter point totals. Look for Wash U to also be in the mix following their runner-up UAA finish and third place finish at Augustana. All four schools have established themselves as top-32 programs this year and should have no issues putting up a case for a bid to NCAAs.
The individual race is Kassie Parker’s to win. You know when you’re a shoo-in for a job, but still have to complete the interview as a formality? Regionals is Parker’s NCAA race formality. Certainly, anything can happen, but there are some characters that are just too difficult to bet against. Parker’s only documented loss this year came from her own teammate, Brianna Renner in the first race of the season Was it a tempo effort? A pacing job? An act of friendship? We aren’t sure. What we are sure of is that Parker will be determined to keep her near-perfect winning streak alive through November 19.
She cruised to a 76-second victory at ARCs to follow up her incredibly impressive 20:00 race at Augustana. Only Wartburg’s Missy Buttry has dipped under the 20-minute barrier for 6k in cross country. Parker could join her in the coming weeks. Behind Parker, Wartburg’s Fisher is on course for a second-place finish. Parker is the only D3 athlete that Fisher has lost to this season, a statistic that has somewhat taken away from the level of talent Fisher possesses. Despite losses to Parker, she is still one of the top athletes in the country, a fact she will be determined to prove next week. Like Parker, the regional meet is but a stepping stone to her larger team and individual goals.
Again, look for this race to take a similar form as Augustana–Wash U’s Emily Konkus is in good position for third following her fourth place finish at Augustana and runner-up finish at UAAs. Look for Schaeffler to return to form this weekend alongside Kenig-Ziesler and potentially Kelly, who has had two weeks of extra fitness to gain since her fifth place UAA finish. The remainder of the top ten will likely feature a three-team race between Chicago, Wartburg, and WashU. Look for WashU’s Lindsay Ott, Wartburg’s Ellie Mayer and Lexi Brown, and Chicago’s Groothius and Birimac to fight their way to the top. Some other individuals to watch for include:
Central College’s Caroline McMartin and Nebraska Wesleyan’s Gabby Thomas, who took seventh and eight, respectively, at ARCs
Aurora’s Deyanneira Colon Maldonado, who was NACC runner-up
Wheaton’s Alyssa Mantia and Susannah Bennett, who took first and third, respectively at CCIWs
Illinois Wesleyan’s Annalese Chudy, who was CCIW runner-up
Top 5 Team + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (4)
U of Chicago Q
Wartburg q
WashU q
Loras q
Wheaton
Individual qualifiers:
Caroline McMartin (Central College)
Gabby Thomas (Nebraska Wesleyan)
Deyanneira Colon Maldonado (Aurora)
Alyssa Mantia (Wheaton)
Susannah Bennett (Wheaton)
Annalese Chudy (Illinois Wesleyan)
Patrycja Miazek (North Park)
Niagara
When the regional realignment restructured the nation, one of the biggest benefactors were SUNY Geneseo. They caught the region on a downswing and took full advantage of their new surroundings last year. The men and women combined for 47 points as a PROGRAM. The women won 17-70 over Rochester and the men won 28-122 over Rochester as well. SUNY Geneseo will look to showcase the same dominance from last year, but a few schools and individuals will look to make their time a little difficult in 2022.
On Saturday, schools spread across New York will head to Genesee Valley Park for the Niagara Region Championships hosted by Rochester. The host school held the Yellowjacket Invitational earlier this year to give teams an idea of what to expect about the looped course.
Taking a look at the men’s race, SUNY Geneseo looks to continue their streak of qualifying for the national championship. They had a 12-point win at conference over Brockport, and a resurgent NYU will ensure Geneseo is on their A game. Nicky Andrews has led the Knights all year and had an epic battle with RPI’s Matt Lecky at the Rowan Border Battle. Andrews is making a case to be a top-ten threat at the national meet and will need to be the low stick Geneseo can count on. Having won SUNYACs last week, Andrews should feel comfortable against his conference foes but should also keep an eye out for Scott Sikorski of Rochester. Sikorski is having his best cross country season of his career and will look to qualify individually for the second year in a row. He’s coming off a fifth place finish at UAAs and will be Andrews’s main competition.
Others to look for up front will be Ryan Tobin of NYU, George Brady of Hamilton, WIlliam Hall of Geneseo and Dillon McClary of Geneseo. Ryan Cory could be in this top pack, too. He’s been off his game after winning the White Race at Paul Short. At full health, Cory will be right up there. Geneseo will look to take control of the race early by placing their top runners in the top 10 with their four and five look to seal the deal just inside the top 15. Relying on their pack running together early on will be Geneseo’s key to walking out of Rochester unscathed.
While Geneseo should feel very comfortable walking away as the team champions, the duo from the UAA will be battling it out for second place. NYU has flirted with being a ranked team earlier this season after an impressive performance on the regional course. We never want to be negative here on D3 Glory Days but the men from NYU are in for an uphill battle to make the national meet. They didn't have any notable interregional wins when they went to Conn College Invite, and, while a potential second or third place finish at regionals this year will be a big step for the program, they’re going to have to wait to get back to the big dance. A win for them this year will be getting individuals to the national meet to gain experience preceding an attempt at qualifying as a team next year.
Brockport State will look to break up the UAA party after their 12-point defeat to Geneseo at SUNYACs. Brockport ran well at Rowan and are gaining confidence meet after meet. Led by Paul Suflita, Brockport followed Geneseo’s 1-2-3 finish with a 4-5-6 at SUNYAC and could have given a scare to the Knight faithful. They looked primed to compete with NYU and Rochester to finish runner-up.
Rochester finished second last year and will need to get the better of their conference foe if they want to repeat as runner-ups. They’re in a similar situation as NYU and will need to win the region to qualify as a team. Sikorski is their hope of repping the Yellowjackets in Lansing. NYU got the better of Rochester at UAAs by 9 points, and Rochester will have to overcome NYU’s depth. NYU put their seventh runner in front of Rochester’s fifth scorer. The Yellowjackets will need to move their pack up on their home course if they want to repeat as runner-ups.
Top 5 teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (1)
SUNY Geneseo Q
NYU
Brockport St
Rochester
Cortland
Individual qualifiers:
Scott Sikorski (Rochester)
Ryan Tobin (NYU)
George Brady (Hamilton)
Paul Suflita (SUNY Brockport)
Ryan Cory (Cortland)
Danny Jagoe (Ithaca)
Nick Ankuta (NYU)
Up until a few weeks ago, SUNY Geneseo was proving their No. 1 ranking. A one-point win over Carleton sent the polls into a frenzy and moved the Knights down the line. Geneseo is eager to get to the national meet to show their No. 1 ranking was for real. A way to show off their depth was resting their top runners at SUNYACs and still winning by 46 points. Geneseo will look to make another statement this weekend against a ranked and resurgent NYU.
NYU is one of the feel good stories of the season. After finishing eighth last year in the region, NYU has a shot at returning to the national meet for the first time since 2013. NYU burst onto the scene this year and cemented themselves in the national conversation after finishing sixth at the Conn College invite. With notable interregional wins over Emory, Smith, St. Lawrence and Tufts, NYU should qualify for the meet with a second place finish. They seem clear to finish runner-up behind Geneseo but that won’t stop them from going after the previous top-ranked team.
On the individual front, Grace Richardson and Vivian Kane look to mix it up with the Geneseo pack. The five that Geneseo didn’t run at SUNAYCs include Kathleen McCarey, Rachel Hirschkind, Windsor Ardner, Marcie Hogan, and Erin Eivers. All five have the opportunity to be inside the top ten to launch them back to the national meet with something to prove. The Geneseo pack will dictate the race early and will try to make the win as easy as possible to get those fresh legs to Lansing.
Other individuals to look for in the pack are Megan Francoeur from Oneonta and Kerry Flower from Brockport. Francoeur won the SUNYAC individual championship and was the first individual champion from Oneonta. She’ll look to continue her strong season by qualifying for the national meet. If she can hang around the top ten, she’ll get another race this season.
Jessica Goode from Ithaca will look to mix it up in the top pack and earn a trip to the national meet. She finished third at the Liberty League Championship behind Morgan Lee of RPI and Emma Palumbo of St. Lawrence. The first year has been running well this year and mixing it up in the big invites. Getting to the national meet on her first attempt will set herself up for a strong career.
While we believe only two teams will make it to the national meet, the battle for third looks to be between Hamilton and Rochester. Hamilton finished 10 points behind Tufts at the NESCAC championship and seem to be gaining momentum since their defeat to Rochester earlier this season.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (2)
SUNY Geneseo Q
NYU q
Hamilton
Rochester
Ithaca
Individual Qualifers
Jessica Goode (Ithaca)
Megan Francoeur (Oneonta)
Kerry Flower (Brockport)
Lisa Pink (Rochester)
Clara Fu (Hamilton)
Kylie Oblak (Hamilton)
Riley Cory (St. John Fisher)
North
On both sides, the North region is shaping up to be one of the most competitive regions in the country. It’s also one of the more exclusive regions because if you don’t go to school in Wisconsin or Minnesota, you’re not part of the club.
As you read this, the weather is currently in the 60s but quickly drops to a high of 28 degrees on Saturday. Welcome to Minnesota in November.
Regardless of the weather, teams will look to heat the course up. On the men’s side, UW-Lacrosse is in poll position after taking down conference foe UW-Whiteater at WIACs. St. Olaf is Minnesota’s only hope at breaking up a 1-2 punch from the Wisconsin schools, and UW-Stout appears to be the final school looking to get an at-large bid based on their season performances.
Let’s take a look at these top teams. UW-Lacrosse has boasted a dynamic 1-2 punch all season with Ethan Gregg and Isaac Wegner. They haven’t been more than three places away from each other all year. Whenever Gregg wins a race, Wegner is right there in either third or fourth. This combo led them to finish third at Pre-Nats and win WIACs. They’ll face another great duo in Christian Patzka and Gunner Schlender from UW-Whitewater. The battle of duos will be the race inside the race.
Even if the UW-Whitewater duo are able to fare better than Gregg and Wegner, Lacrosse’s pack should make up the difference. Corey Fairchild has emerged as a reliable fourth man for the Eagles and is the point man for their pack. Freshman Aidan Matthai and Parker Huhn secured La Crosse’s WIAC title by finishing eighth and tenth. Look for these two to anchor La Crosse’s scoring this weekend by finishing in the top 20.
Looking at Whitewater, they’re going to need a big day from their pack. While qualification isn’t in question, we can assume they’ll want to hold onto a top two spot and not get overtaken by St. Olaf. Justin Krause, 1500m All-American, is currently running third for them. Having finished 17th at Pre-Nats and 12th at WIACs, Krause will look to be in the top 15 this weekend to better Whitewater’s chances. Whitewater will rely on two freshmen to anchor their scoring. Dan Anderson and Nick Hardin are running 4-5 right now and if they can close the gap between Krause, they’ll have a good opportunity to hold off St. Olaf.
St. Olaf is hosting the regional championship this year and will want to give the massive home crowd fans a show. While they have a tough task of taking UW-Lacrosse, they also have an opportunity to finish second and take down Whitewater. Led by Logan Bocovich and Will Kelly, the Oles headed east to capture coveted interregional wins. They made some noise at the Conn College invite by taking down Haverford, Colby, and Bates while only being six points behind Middlebury. With a strong ranking and resume, the only task left is seeing what they can do against the Wisconsin schools.
Bocovich and Kelly will want to have a say in who’s the best duo in the region as they have been running together all year, too. The two finished eighth and eleventh at Conn College and won’t be afraid to mix it up with the Wisconsin duos. Andrew Skemp is St Olaf’s third man and matches up well with Justin Krause from Whitewater. It isn’t out of the question that Olaf and Whitewater are matching up fairly close through three leaving their coaches with only encouraging words for the fourth and fifth man. Similar to Whitewater, the closer David Lynn and Noah Massanari can be to Skemp, the better Olaf’s chances are at finishing second.
Lastly, look for Stout to round out the North qualifiers. They have been solid all year with a slight slip up at WIACs. Eau Claire took advantage of this and came within four points of them. This performance is a major improvement when you compare their results at Augustana when Stout was ahead of Eau-Claire by 130 points.
Stout is led by Spencer Schultz and Matthew Ryan. Ryan is having a breakout year this season as he’ll look to improve upon his 40th place finish from regionals last year. Schultz seems to be on a mission after finishing 19th in the 10k outdoors. His fourth place finish at Augustana should give him confidence to compete with the best in the country. Look for these two to lead the Blue Devils to a national championship at-large bid.
Outside of the individuals mentioned above, we’ll get to see how Mohammed Bati fares against strong D3 competition. Bati has yet to lose to D3 competition and it appeared UW-Lax didn’t run all out when they faced him at Jim Drews. Bati has quietly put together a very strong season and will look to make a big splash at nationals. In order to do that, he’ll need to make some noise here at regionals. He’ll be joined by other MIAC runners Lloyd Young of St. John’s and Henry Bowman of Carleton
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (4)
UW-La Crosse Q
St. Olaf q
UW-Whitewater q
UW-Stout q
UW- Eau Claire
Individual qualifiers:
Mohammed Bati (Augsburg)
Lloyd Kelly (St. John’s)
Steven Potter (Oshkosh)
Henry Bowman (Carleton)
Calvin Boone (St. Scholastica)
Spencer Kirsteatter (Carroll)
Craig Hundley (Carthage)
The women’s race will feature four teams that’ll look to get themselves to the national meet. All four teams chose four different interregional races to compete at, which of course doesn’t make it easier for us!
Carleton made noise when they lost to then No. 1 SUNY Geneseo by one point. They used a fire front pack to put Geneseo on their toes and followed it up with a decisive win over St. Olaf at MIACs. Carleton boasts a strong 1-2 punch in Clara Mayfield and Hannah Preisser. The concern for Carletonl is their 1-5 spread. At MIACs, St. Olaf was able to get all five of their runners between Carleton’s four and five, which will be the key on Saturday. Carleton can get four runners ahead of Olaf’s first, but how much can their fifth runner close the gap? The closer that gap is, the deadlier Carleton becomes.
UW-La Crosse is a team that can take advantage of Carleton’s large 1-5 spread. They notoriously pack it up and run together in their races. It appears Maddie Hannan has gotten the okay to be the low stick for the Eagles and compete for the win. This tactic worked at WIACs as she took down Eau-Claire’s Carolyn Shult. Her teammates went 4-5-6 at the conference meet and only had four seconds between them. The key for La Crosse will be to match Carleton’s 2-4, which they have the runners to do. Katelyn Chadwick, Julia Anderson, and Maddy Vantassel are running together better than what Carleton has done recently. If they’re able to get their 2-4 inside of Carleton’s pack, La Crosse will come away with the regional win.
The trip to Conn College also paid off for the women from St. Olaf. A somewhat surprise runner-up performance over Williams and Amherst sent confirmation to the rest of the country that they are for real. While they won’t have a low stick, they make up for it with their pack. At Conn College they had an 11-second spread and finished within 11 places of each other. At MIACs the spread increased to just 16 seconds. All of this to say that their pack is ready to eat up any mistake that another team makes. Your team put a few in the top eight? Oh cool, here's St. Olaf’s ENTIRE team coming down the shoot together.
The last team we’re looking at to qualify is UW-Eau Claire. The MIAC runners-up feature a top runner in Carolyn Shult. They jumped into the higher ranks in the nation after finishing eight points behind Pomona-Pitzer at the Augustana Invite. With Schult up top at sixth, their pack finished within 18 seconds of each other. They’ll look to have the same top of pack runners while Schult does her thing to hold off a charging St. Benedict.
While we expect Fiona Smith and Clara Mayfield to have an epic battle up front, other individuals to watch out for outside of the schools mentioned are Amelia Lehman of UW-Oshkosh. Lehman finished third at WIACs behind Maddie Hannan of Lacrosse and Schult of UW-Eau Claire. Another name from the WIAC to look for is Rachel Krouse. The sophomore from Stevens Point was fourth at the Oberlin Interregional and seventh at WIACs. Also looking to earn a spot at the national meet is Rachel Ehrhart of Edgewood. She won her conference meet (NACC) by 16 seconds and was 30th at the Pre National meet.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (4)
UW-La Crosse Q
Carleton q
St. Olaf q
UW-Eau Claire q
St. Benedict
Individual qualifiers:
Fiona Smith (St. Benedict)
Amelia Lehman (UW-Oshkosh)
Rachel Krouse (UW-Stevens Point)
Rachel Ehrhart (Edgewood)
Ally Verbauwhede (Edgewood)
Mikayla Erlenborn (Bethel)
Cristyn Oliver (Lawrence)
South
The South has been headlined by two teams on both sides throughout the season: Emory and Lynchburg.
On the men’s side, Emory made program history by winning their first ever UAA title, taking down the likes of Carnegie Mellon, Case Western and WashU. The Emory team first turned heads with their runner-up performance at Paul Short. The team that finished 23rd last year at nationals was ready to make a mark this year.
Throughout these previews, we’ve mentioned power duos on these teams and Emory is no different. Led by Spencer Moore and Brett Lucas, the Eagles have two low sticks at these big meets. At UAAs, they went 3-4 and will look to take on Lynchburg’s Frank Csorba as they travel north to Newport News, VA.
On top of Emory’s 32-second spread, they were able to put their top five inside the top 17 at UAAs. To have that performance against the ranked teams at UAAs shows that Emory is ready to compete next week at Nationals. Ethan Thompson was just eight seconds off of Moore and Lucas, which will be beneficial over these final two races. Keeping in eye shot of potential All-Americans can only increase their chances of making a statement at nationals. While the south may not have the quantity of teams represented at the national meet, the quality will surely be there. It’ll be interesting to see the type of race Emory runs. They have the ability to control things up front with their depth. With Emory and Lynchburg favorites to qualify, how hard will they push to get the job done?
Lynchburg will look to cap off their strong season with a trip to the national meet. They’re coming off a perfect score at their conference meet. Unfortunately for Lynchburg, they’ve been without Max Sparks since September but stepping up has been Corbin Green. Green finished step-for-step with Frank Csorba and adds another factor to the Lynchburg lineup. Sam Llaneza continues to move up well in distance during cross country. The 1500m All-American has stepped up for the Hornets this season and is coming up with big performances when they need him to.
On the individual side of things, you have a handful of individual qualifiers returning this year. Both Dylan May from Southern Virginia and Bradshaw Lathbury from Berry will be looking to get back to the national meet after finishing second and third last year. They each won their respective conference meets as well and will be filled with confidence to go after the guys from Emory and Lnycburg. Not too far behind them were Drew Topoly of Methodist and John O’Rourke of Catholic, who were able to nab individual spots as well, bringing the total number of returning individuals coming back to get another shot at competing at nationals up to four.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (2)
Emory Q
Lynchburg q
Washington and Lee
Berry
Christopher Newport
Individual Qualifiers
Dylan May (Southern Virginia)
Drew Topoly (Methodist)
Bradshaw Lathbury (Berry)
John O’Rourke (Catholic)
Nathanael Ferrante (Christopher Newport)
Charles Scharf (Washington & Lee)
Daniel Ferrante (Christopher Newport)
After losing to Emory at last year’s regional meet, the Lynchburg women will look to turn that result upside down. Having already gotten the best of their region rivals at Paul Short, the Hornets are primed to get the regional win. Similar to the men, the women are also coming off a perfect score at the conference meet. Led by Kelsey Lagunas and Sarah James, Lynchburg boasts a 36-second spread. The spread will be key because they’re going up against Emory’s Annika Urban. Urban, we feel, has the best chance at Kassie Parker next week.
The preparation for this chance at a regional title came last year after Lynchburg won their first conference title since 2009. They finished 32/32 as a team and, from their track performances, you can tell they used that as inspiration. With the possibility of winning their first ever regional meet, Lynchburg has upped their performance this season. They have steadily improved over the season and have gone from last in the nation to a top-20 national ranking. The key for them this weekend will be to keep their spread similar to the one from conference. Their 3-5 runners have been running together all year. Allison Dell, Molly Silva, and Lauren Massey stayed within eight seconds of each other at conference when they went 3-4-5. With Lagunas and James up front, they have a recipe for a win.
Emory is coming off a fourth place finish at UAAs and is led by Urban. Urban is undefeated this season and will look to take her undefeated record into the National meet. Since September 2nd, no one has been closer than 11 seconds during this win streak. She’s taking down D1 runners, D2 runners, and big names in D3. She mentioned on the podcast that she is running with confidence and is having a blast doing so. Those are the two keys for her to run well. While Lagunas and James will be up there, this should be another race where Urban wins easily. The question becomes: how quickly can her teammates get to the finish line?
The bright spot for Emory is their 2-5 spread is only 18 seconds. The downside is Urban was nearly two minutes ahead of their second runner at UAAs. With the pack Lynchburg has, it won’t matter in the team battle if Urban wins. Emory’s pack at regionals will need to close the gap to Urban if they want a chance at taking down Lynchburg.
From an individual perspective, Madison Lowery of Pfeiffer, Corrine Weaver of Meredith, and Carolyn Todd of Washington and Lee will all look to be in the top ten and qualify individually for the national meet. Lowery and Weaver went 1-2 at the USA South Conference meet and Todd finished sixth at ODACs.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (2)
Lynchburg Q
Emory q
Washington and Lee
Christopher Newport
Meredith
Individual Qualifiers
Madison Lowery (Pfieffer)
Carolyn Todd (Washington and Lee)
Corrine Weaver (Meredith)
Mackenzie Young (Bridgewater)
Maddy Rawlings (Christopher Newport)
Elise Molinaro (Washington & Lee)
Emily Smeds (Bridgewater)
West Region Preview
While much of the focus is on Natalie Bitetti and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS), the depth of this race should be the storyline. Going into Saturday, the West Region has five teams ranked in the top-25 of the National Coaches’ Poll: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5), Pomona-Pitzer (10), George Fox (13), UC Santa Cruz (18), and Colorado College (21). Will all five punch their ticket to Lansing? They should.
Although Pomona-Pitzer put together a really solid performance at the SCIAC Championship meet and only lost to CMS by 12-points, you have to think that George Fox, UC Santa Cruz, and Colorado College all believe they can claim the runner-up trophy. With the regional meet being in the northwest, we have our eyes on the Bruins of George Fox. Led by Brenna Sclair and Kayla Aalpoel, George Fox has put together an impressive season that included a fourth place finish at Pre-Nationals and a Northwest Conference Title.
At the end of the day, the SCIAC conference will prevail. The CMS Athenas will win the West Region and look to continue their momentum into the national meet, and Pomona-Pitzer will hang on for a second place finish. Our upset of the day will go to Colorado College who will take down the UCSC Banana Slugs and likely secure their spot at the national meet.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (5)
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Q
Pomona-Pitzer q
George Fox q
Colorado College q
UC Santa Cruz q
Individual Qualifiers:
Sarah Paquet (Pacific Lutheran)
Riley Buese (Lewis & Clark)
Annie Berry (Pacific)
Kylah Holland (Hardin-Simmons)
Chloe Bullock (Redlands)
Sophia Dalfonzo (Cal Tech)
Madelyn Buckley (Whitworth)
Men’s Preview:
Everyone knows that Pomona-Pitzer will win and they might even have a chance to put seven in the top-10. Unless the unbelievable happens, the only thing the Sagehens will have to worry about is what uniforms they should wear. The Men’s side of the West Region isn’t nearly as deep, but it’s still impressive to have four squads ranked in the top-25 of the National Coaches’ Poll: Pomona-Pitzer (1), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (16), UC Santa Cruz (19), and George Fox (23). Will all four toe the line at nationals? We would be very surprised if they only took three teams.
Back in August, we mentioned that UC Santa Cruz and George Fox would be on CMS’ heels. As Saturday quickly approaches, both of these teams are eager to get a crack at taking down the Stags in Spokane. It feels like both the Banana Slugs and Bruins are heating up at the right time, and CMS will have to be at their best to avoid the upset. While both Adam Sage and Oliver Pick have really stepped up for the Stags, to be a contender at the national level they need both Henry Pick and Miles Christensen in the front pack. The biggest question for this weekend is: Will Henry Pick emerge from the shadows once again?
At the end of the day, we think the SCIAC will go 1-2 with Pomona-Pitzer winning with ease and UC Santa Cruz will fall to CMS in a tight battle. Our upset of the weekend will go to Enrique Verschoor of Redlands, who will have a top-10 finish and punch his ticket to Lansing.
Top 5 Teams + D3 Glory Days’ Qualifying Team Prediction: (4)
Pomona-Pitzer Q
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps q
UC Santa Cruz q
George Fox q
Pacific Lutheran
Individual Qualifiers:
Enrique Verschoor (Redlands)
TK Berhe (La Verne)
Ryan Stracke (Pacific Lutheran)
Amir Barkan (Occidental)
Ben Kerr (Puget Sound)
Michael Sahagun (La Verne)
Ronan Byrne (Redlands