2024 D3 Cross Country Season Preview
Though the summer season evanesces, reflections from the preceding 2023-24 year in D3 stick with us:
Fiona Smith became the first woman in D3 history to run under 20 minutes for 6k at the national championships
Faith Duncan ran the breakout race that put an end to Smith’s dominant distance winning streak
Christian Patzka closed the men’s steeplechase in a 2:08 800 and swept national titles in both steeple and the 5k,
First Year Haley Schoenegge ran away with the women’s 1500 national title in a loaded field of veterans
Sam Llaneza posted a long-time-coming, heartfelt victory for up-and-coming program Lynchburg in the men’s 1500.
Now months removed, we enter the time of year when we are left with no choice but to revisit these moments from the previous year in running while we ask ourselves: what will these stars do next? As athletes across the country load up their cars with mini fridges and plastic dressers in preparation for another year away at college, the year is full of promise.
Women’s preview
Last fall, St. Benedict’s Smith became the first woman in D3 history to run under 20 minutes for 6k at the championships. Her 63-second margin of victory was the largest in D3 history over 6k. This year, Smith will move on from D3 as she continues her star-studded career at NC State, the winners of the D1 women’s XC national title last fall.
In Smith’s absence, the race for a national title is wide open. The only returners from last year’s top ten at the championships are Geneseo’s Penelope Greene (3rd) and Middlebury’s Audrey MacLean (10th).
In what would likely be considered her breakout season, Greene exploded onto the cross country scene when she won the Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational in mid-October. She followed up this victory with a pair of wins at the SUNYAC conference meet and the Niagara regional meet–where she won over teammate Rachel Hirschkind by a full 22 seconds–all culminating to her third-place finish at the cross country national meet. She carried her momentum into the track season, coming out of her junior year with three additional All-American honors: fifth in the indoor 5k, eighth in the outdoor 5k, and sixth in the outdoor 10k. Could this momentum carry Greene all the way to her first national title?
MacLean had a productive rookie year, capped by a sixth-place All-American finish in the steeplechase. Now a two-time national qualifier, MacLean is no longer a rookie, and will likely set her sights back in the nation’s top ten this season, perhaps all the way toward gold.
Another name who we would be remiss not to mention as a contender this year is Wilmington’s Faith Duncan, who started her career in D3 only last winter. This coming season will be her first cross country season in a D3 singlet, after starting her college career at Mississippi State in 2021. Last spring, Duncan sent waves through the D3 community when she made a decisive move around six-time national champion and 5k favorite Smith to win her first national title, seconds in front of the rest of the field. As Duncan takes to the grass this fall, she is certainly an athlete to watch contend for the title.
Duncan isn’t the only returning track national champion to keep an eye on this year, either. Vassar’s Haley Schoenegge ran her way to her first national title last spring. Though only a freshman, she ran like a seasoned veteran, confidently controlling her own pace in the women’s 1500, meters in front of the rest of the field. By the time she finished her final lap, she had won by almost 10 seconds and posted the ninth fastest 1500 in D3 history. Even more impressively, Schoenegge followed up her national title with a fourth-place All-American finish in the 5k just hours later. With such a head-turning track season, we’re excited to see what the now-sophomore can do on the cross country course this fall.
Other strong contenders to watch on the women’s side this year include UChicago’s Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel, who posted a pair of third-place All-American finishes on the track in the 3k and 5k indoors, CMS’s Riley Capuano, who took runner-up in the 1500 in the spring, third in the DMR in the winter, and was 11th in cross country last fall, Lewis and Clark’s Riley Buese, who took third in the 10k in the spring and 17th in cross country last fall, and Carleton’s Hannah Preisser, who led the way on the cross country course for eventual national champions Carleton with her 14th-place All-American finish.
Preisser is one of four returning members on Carleton’s 2023 National Champion team, including Aliya Larsen (46th), Sophie McManus (62nd), and Libby Rowland (221st). The Knights lose big performers in Phoebe Ward (16th), Helen Cross (41st), and Mary Blanchard (115th), but with a year more of experience under the belts of some of the youngsters and someone to step up as a scoring fifth, expect this team to remain in the national conversation.
The team to really watch this year is that of 2023 runners-up NYU, who returns its entire team from last year except Grace Richardson. The Violets will certainly feel the absence of Richardson, who took ninth in cross country and then went on to challenge Smith for national titles in both the indoor 5k and outdoor 10k on the track last year. Indoors, a hard-charging Richardson took Smith by surprise when she passed her in the final 50 meters of the race from significantly far back. Smith, as if waking up from slumber to the sound of danger, responded with a mad surge to capture the crown, leaving Richardson to narrowly finish second.
Richardson leaves behind a strong team at NYU, however, including last year’s national runner-up squad of Morgan Uhlhorn (15th), Vivian Kane (37th), Kate Cochran (47th), Janie Cooper (87th), Lucy Gott (86th), and Olivia Jackson (106th). Jackson’s 106th-place finish was the highest finish of any national team’s seventh runner, indicating that this is a tight and dangerous pack. Add to the roster Cornell transfer Bella DiPalermo, who owns a cross country 6k PR of 21:34, and international student Stella Kuttner from Czech Republic, who owns a 1500-meter PR of 4:45, and the team from NYC certainly has all the pieces to be a threat to this year’s national title.
Another strong team to keep an eye on is that of UChicago, who also returns a majority of their nationals team members. Similarly to NYU, Chicago loses its frontrunner from last year in Maddie Kelly, who took seventh overall. They also lose veteran Caitlin Jorgensen, who was 74th. However, with the track resume Battleson-Gunkel built up last year, replacing their frontrunner should be a smooth transition. They also return All-Americans Elisabeth Camic, who took 19th last year, and Claudia Harnett, who took 17th in 2021, making them a sure threat up front, regardless of who leads the pack. Add in returners Sophie Tedesco (85th last year), Estelle Snider, Emma Kelly, and two-time track nationals qualifier Cat Wimmer, and the depth of this team might just be unmatched.
Other teams to watch this year include CMS, who took fourth last year, and Geneseo, who took fifth. CMS loses national runner-up Natalie Bitetti as well as six-time national qualifier Laura Zimmer, but returns from last year’s national team Capuano (11th), Elle Marsyla (27th), Sara Wexler (73rd), Angie Gushue (88th), and Revere Schmidt (178th). Plug in key returners Sally Gaskell, Sadie Drucker, and Amelia Opsahl and add newcomers Jie Yi Denise Chen (4:39 1500), Olivia Backholm (18:52 5k), Brannan Rosenfeld (18:44 5k), and Olivia Smith (18:40 5k), and the Athenas’ 2024 team has a lot of untapped potential.
Geneseo enters this year with perhaps the most fuel in their fire, having missed the podium last year by one spot. They return an impressive roster, having only graduated one big name in Rachel Hirschkind, the 26th-place All-American in 2023 and third-place All-American in steeplechase last May. Despite Hirschkind’s absence, the Geneseo Knights boast having the top individual returner to the cross country course in Greene, who placed third last year and went on to post three All-American finishes in track in the indoor and outdoor 5k and outdoor 10k.
They also return from last year’s national team Lily Fowler-Connor (56th), Kaitlyn Grossman (69th), Sierra Doody (120th and 93rd in 2022), and Ann Brennan (138th), and expect to add to the mix returners Gabby McCarthy (17:27 5k), Izzy Marzec (18:22 5k), Jillian O’Rourke (18:24 5k), and Mari Naudus (10:09 3k). They will also welcome newcomers Shelby Boise, a middle-distance transfer from Rider University, sub-4:50 high school 1500 runners Ari Reback, Dakota Limbert, and Ella Grinnell, and 10:47 high school 3ker Maggie Kleiber. Upkeeping their reputation for roster depth, the team from SUNY Geneseo will surely be firing on all cylinders toward the top of the national podium this year.
The nation will get a bit of a national preview on October 5th when Geneseo faces off with both NYU and CMS, among other top teams across all divisions at the Paul Short Invite hosted by Lehigh.
Keep an eye, too, on MIT, who returns their entire top seven from nationals, including 2024 cross country All-American Kate Sanderson, indoor mile All-American Lexi Fernandez, 2023 1500 All-American Gillian Roeder, 16:54 5ker Rujuta Sane, 10:48 steepler Liv Girand, 17:22 5ker Heather Jensen, and 4:35 1500 runner and 83rd-place finisher last year Cristina Crow. They add to an already deep roster a strong freshman class, which includes three sub-11 two milers in Ava Hartman, Kate Friedman, and Katie Stabb. Don’t let their 11th place finish from last year deceive you. This team should feel confident heading into the season and don’t be surprised if they bring a trophy back to Cambridge. A year of preparation and experience can bode well for the Engineers.
Another up-and-coming team who could be lethal with a strong fifth runner is that of Lynchburg. They return their top four runners from their 2023 seventh-place national team and come off of strong track seasons from frontrunners Kayla Werner (10th in the indoor 3k and 20th in the outdoor 5k) and Allison Dell (13th in the indoor 5k).
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Men’s preview
Anyone who’s even paid a glimpse of attention to D3 men’s distance running in the past year knows the name Christian Patzka, the UW-Whitewater athlete who cruised his way to victory in both the 5k and the steeplechase last year. Though both fields saw some of the deepest talent in D3 history, Patzka made the final laps of each race look like everyone but him was going for a light, Sunday jog. His closing laps in the steeplechase were both 64s. His closing laps in the 5k? Even faster: 62, 61, 62 for a final 1200 meters of 3:06, unprecedented speed at the D3 level. He went on to set a new D3 record in the men’s steeplechase two weeks later, a blazing 8:31.89, seven seconds faster than the record set by Wartburg’s Christopher Collet one year prior. Owner of one D3 record, four top-10 all-time marks, thirteen All-American honors, and five national titles, there seems to be just one line missing on Patzka’s resume: cross country national champion.
Twice the runner-up in cross country, 2024 could be the year that Patzka finally takes the title for his own. Since last year’s champion, Ethan Gregg, graduated from UW-La Crosse, the prospects toward success for Patzka seem even more likely. However, any place Patzka secures within the top 40 will earn him another impressive accolade: the honor of becoming a four-time cross country All-American. Only 15 men in D3 history have achieved this level of consistency. Eau Claire’s Darin Lau was the last to do so in 2017. Not only would a national title be the cherry on top of a storied career for Patzka, but it would put him at the fourth lowest finishing average on this list of D3 cross country legends.
Another athlete with the potential to add this title to his name is none other than Patzka’s Whitewater teammate, Gunner Schlender. After an impressive double indoors in which he secured two consecutive All-American honors in the 3k and 5k, Schlender is on the right trajectory to land at the top. He placed 11th last fall and enters this season as the fourth-ranked returner from last season’s championship results. The potential for the duo of Patzka and Schlender to go 1-2 at the national meet has Whitewater fans everywhere giddy with anticipation for that fateful day in November. Any All-American finish from Schlender would make he and Patzka the second overlapping duo from the same school to accomplish this feat (Scott Steuernagel and Dave Lambert from UW-Oshkosh did so one year apart from each other in 1990-91), and the first to do so from the same recruiting class. Dan Tudor, take notes.
In addition to Patzka and Schlender, other top returners from last fall include North Central’s Max Svienty (3rd) and RPI’s Vince Simonetti (8th). Both will look to lead their teams to top finishes after placing third and seventh, respectively, in the team battle. Svienty comes off of somewhat of a bumpy track season, missing the national meet indoors and finishing no higher than 18th outdoors, but brings to the course loads of experience, impressive PRs, and, of course, the armor of the NCC candy stripe. Their outdoor PRs of 13:57 and 29:06 ranks No. 13 and No. 8 all-time in D3 history, making them the fourth North Central Cardinal on the top-ten all-time 10k list, just behind Whitewater’s Schlender, and several places ahead of aforementioned four-time All-American and 2017 Cross Country National Champion, Lau.
Svienty, a graduate student at North Central, will be rejoined by members from last year’s third-place national team BJ Sorg and Matt Jett. The Cardinals lose some heavy hitters in their lineup, including Drew Guimond (15th), Braden Nicholson (17th), Connor Riss (81st), and James McGlashon (111th). However, the now-sophomore Sorg presents loads of promise. If he continues to learn from the seasoned Svienty and Jett, and the Cardinals can find some replacements for last year’s roster, don’t count them out of the top ten at nationals.
Simonetti will look to be the frontman for RPI this season as teammate and fifth place-finisher Cory Kennedy moves his career to Colorado State. Simonetti took fourth indoors in the 5k in a time of 14:01, a time one pretty much has to run to hang with the best in D3 these days. With some grass under his feet, look for Simonetti to be a contender at the top. He may also be joined by teammate Mitchell Daily, who posted an impressive fourth-place finish in a loaded men’s 10k field in the spring.
In RPI’s case, losing Kennedy certainly hurts the Engineers, but they do return Simonetti and Daily, as well as the rest of their 2023 national team members in Justin Cascio (98th), Jason Gibbons (116th), Jonathan Craun (156th), and Jack Loughery (258th). Though a young team, another year of development could shine brightly for RPI this season.
Other individuals to watch after big track seasons include Lynchburg’s Chasen Hunt, who placed third in the outdoor 5k and anchored the Hornets’ DMR team to a national title the night before placing fifth in the 3k indoors. Also keep an eye on Wartburg’s Tyler Schermerhorn, who posted a head-turning runner-up finish in the 10k outdoors. Roger Williams’s Nathan Tassey flew somewhat under the radar last year, but finished 22nd in cross, fourth in the outdoor 5k, and set PRs in pretty much every event he ran, from 4:19 in the mile to 29:50 in the 10k. With the momentum all of these athletes carried with them into the spring, don’t be surprised to see any of them in the top all year long.
The team battle certainly looks interesting this year. All four podium teams from last year lose some pretty heavy hitters up front, potentially making room for a new lineup in 2024. Williams, who rounded out the podium in fourth place, loses John Lucey (sixth), and Nate Lentz (72nd). They do, however, return strong veterans in All-American Nikhil DeNatale (20th), Chuckie Namiot (52nd), and Ryan Hardiman (120th), and also show 2021 cross country All-American and 2022 outdoor 5k national runner-up Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos on their roster, indicating that this team could stand a great chance of defending a spot on the podium.
2023 National Champions Pomona-Pitzer captured four All-Americans en route to their first-place team trophy last year, but return only one of these athletes in Cameron Hatler, who took 25th. Hatler placed seventh outdoors in the steeplechase and will look to come back stronger in 2024. Without Lucas Florsheim (9th), Derek Fearon (10th), and Colin Kirkpatrick (25th), however, the Sagehens have some work to do up front. With nationals experience from Jack Stein and Owen Kobett (119th and 200th last year, respectively) and opportunities to step up for Quinn White, Peter Neid, Oscar Roering, and Evan Villano, this team likely focuses on rebuilding the year after their national title.
Runners-up UW-La Crosse also suffer considerable losses without 2023 Cross Country National Champion Ethan Gregg and 18th-place All-American Isaac Wegner, their top two scorers in 2023. Gregg won his first national title in cross country amidst a storied career, including the highs of two consecutive national titles in the indoor 3k, two runner-up finishes, and three top-five D3 all-time marks in the men’s distance events, as well as some lows, like being the center of a highly controversial disqualification from the 2023 outdoor 5k for a false start. Upon graduation from La Crosse, Gregg posted that he’s been logging 100+ mile weeks and that the “next era of life begins soon” (stay tuned for updates on our Instagram).
Most known for hammering the pace as soon as the gun goes off, the D3 community will miss watching his unique racing style, and the Eagles will certainly miss having him as their low-stick scorer. However, D3 does not so easily forget how many La Crosse jerseys took the start line at the national meet in men’s distance events in the winter and spring. The Eagles return several key performers this year, including Adam Loenser and Grant and Aidan Matthai, all of whom come off of momentous track seasons. Loenser led the way in a line of four total La Crosse national finalists in the men’s steeplechase to take third overall, just ahead of fellow returners Joey Sullivan (5th), Mason Brown (8th), and Jayden Zywicki (9th). Aidan Matthai was one of three La Crosse athletes to earn All-American in indoor 5k, including his twin brother, Grant, who captured three total All-American honors in track after missing out on All-American status in the fall.
The list goes on–Elias Ritzke returns from last year’s runner-up team, Corey Fairchild returns as a ninth-place fisher in the 10k, and Luke Chaffin and Ben Stangel boast 5k PRs under 15 minutes, only to be the ninth and tenth fastest on the La Crosse lineup. It’s as if the UWL Eagles have a monopoly on distance men. Though they lack the low-stick finish from Gregg this year, they certainly do not lack in depth, and will be the team to watch.
Another team who loses their frontman but returns a strong and deep roster is that of Wartburg. Led by Christopher Collet (12th) last year, the Knights placed fifth overall. Collet was their only All-American and will not be returning this year, but he leaves behind an impressive crew, including Lance Sobaski (lead off leg for their indoor 2024 national runner-up DMR team), Tyler Schermerhorn (2024 national runner-up in the 10k), Jacob Green (2022 cross country All-American and fifth in the 10k outdoors), Sam Schmitz (48th last year), Jack Kinzer (61st), Isaiah Hammerand (sub-15 5k last year as a freshman), and Shane Erb (sub 3:50 1500 runner). With a resume this stacked and several of their athletes coming off of tremendous track seasons, Wartburg has all the pieces to be a threat to the national title.
Another podium threat could come from Mid-Atlantic school Carnegie Mellon, who placed sixth (tied for their highest finish in school history) last year despite an unfortunate fall from grad student Matthew Porter. Though Porter will not return to the CMU lineup, this team does return four members from their 2023 national squad and Alex Ivanov, who ran on their national team in 2022. The Tartans were led last year by the trio of Colin McLaughlin, Ryan Podnar, and Matthew Coyle, who placed 47th, 55th, and 60th, respectively, all within eight seconds of one another. In fact, their whole scoring pack finished within 25 seconds of one another, an impressive split at the national meet. McLaughlin went on to place third in the indoor nationals 3k, and Coyle placed 16th in the outdoor 10k. If the returning squad can replicate their tight pack from a year ago and plug Ivanov or another developed member into the front group, the team from Pittsburgh could do some damage.
Just six hours south of Pittsburgh, another team is cooking up what could be their best season in program history. They placed ninth last year in their first top-ten and highest finish ever, but the ceiling seems to be much higher for the Lynchburg Hornets. Coming off the momentum of cross country season, frontrunners Frank Csorba, Chasen Hunt, and Sam Llaneza teamed up with sprinter Zachary Jacobs (and eventually Jacob Hodnett) to set the fifth fastest DMR time in D3 history with their 9:44.44 run in Boston. They went on to nab the national title, with the help of Hodnett, establishing themselves as the fastest distance (or middle distance) squad in the country.
Just one month later, tragedy struck. The University of Lynchburg Athletics Department announced the tragic passing of Csorba, national champion, All-American, teammate, friend. When mid-distance specialist Llaneza won the national title in the men’s 1500 at the end of an emotional season for the Hornets, he did so for the entire Lynchburg community. Now, Llaneza and his teammates have the opportunity to do something special again in cross country. With Llaneza and emerging distance standout Hunt at the helm, the returning national squad of Tor Hotung-Davidson, Jonathan Cobb, and Cooper Hurst help make this one of the most talented group of returners Lynchburg has ever seen. Add to their depth sub-25 8kers Tanner Baker, Ronan Creamer, and Marko Kovacevic, 2022 national qualifier Corbin Green, and fourth-place finisher at New Balance Nationals in the indoor 5k freshman Alex Jordan, and that ninth place finish is already in their rearview mirror, eyes instead looking up.
As teams mark off the days until their season openers, an energy fills the air. It’s equal parts anxious and excited. It hangs promise just out of reach, and the only way to catch it is to close one’s eyes and take a leap headfirst into the 2024 season of D3 cross country. Ready or not, here it comes.
Watchlist:
Women’s teams:
NYU
SUNY Geneseo
U Chicago
CMS
Lynchburg
MIT
Women’s Individuals:
Penelope Greene
Audrey MacLean
Faith Duncan
Haley Schoenegge
Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel
Riley Capuano
Hannah Preisser
Riley Buese
Men’s teams:
UWL
Lynchburg
Wartburg
Carnegie Mellon
Williams
RPI
Men’s individuals:
Christian Patzka
Gunner Schlender
Max Svienty
Vince Simonetti
Mitchell Dailey
Chasen Hunt
Tyler Schermerhorn
Nathan Tassey