​​PREDICTIONS & PREVIEWS: 2023 RMAC XC Championships

Written by Grace McLaughlin & Marissa Kuik

Edits and additional commentary via Gavin Struve & Garrett Zatlin

The most compelling conference meet in Division Two, and perhaps across all divisions, is upon us. Even if not every team races at full strength, Saturday's battle in Denver, Colorado has the potential to be among the most informative and influential races when discussing November's national meet picture.

Below, our Division Two writers previewed both the men's and women's races at the RMAC XC Championships from the individual and team perspectives. Let's dive in, shall we?

On the women’s side, we will see four of our top-10 ranked teams and another two “Just Missed” squads on the starting line. Additionally, we will see 11 of our top-25 ranked individuals and a slew of “Just Missed” and "Honorable Mention" names also scattered throughout this field.

Simply put, this race is absolutely stacked and it will mark the first time that we see some of these programs run their fully-loaded lineups, including the title favorites.

Last year, the Adams State women convincingly took home the conference title with a mere 17 points. Eventual national champion, Stephanie Cotter, won individual conference gold with relative ease.

In 2023, we will likely see a similar scenario as the Adams State women aim to dominate the top spots while claiming the individual title. And per usual, it will likely be Cotter or fellow low-stick teammate Brianna Robles who are crossing the line first.

Behind the elite 1-2 punch of Cotter and Robles, the Grizzlies have numerous veterans to lean on such as Emily Schoellkopf, Morgan Hykes, Nicole Lawrence and Ava O’Connor. However, it may actually be freshman Vienna Lahner who deserves the most attention. After seeing her crack the top-20 at the Louisville XC Classic, she seems poised to be a strong developmental piece who can offer more potent scoring while bridging the two halves of this lineup.

While winning the RMAC title is certainly the priority, we want to see a more cohesive and more potent scoring group from Adams State than what they showed us at the Louisville XC Classic. On that stage, the Alamosa-based powerhouse was soundly beaten by a top-heavy Grand Valley State squad. And even if Cotter had run (and won), the Grizzlies still would have settled for a runner-up finish.

Those aforementioned veterans -- Schoellkopf, Hykes, Lawrence and O’Connor -- will need to take a step up this weekend if Adams State wants to restore and strengthen their national title odds. It will also be interesting to see how Lahner performs. The potential for her to evolve into a low-stick may be necessary if this RMAC juggernaut is going to match Grand Valley State's firepower in November.
 

Nonetheless, the depth and talent of this Adams State program is pretty hard to argue against when it comes to the RMAC team title race. Winning gold on Saturday shouldn't be an issue. However, behind them, the race for runner-up figures to be compelling and it could give us insight as to where some of these programs stand in the national conversation.

Compared to last year, the Colorado Mines women have positioned themselves to be a convincing favorite for silver on Saturday.

Veterans Molly Maksin and Holly Moser have raced at this meet multiple times and the latter has shown a clear jump in fitness this fall. At the Lewis XC Crossover, Moser snagged a very encouraging 7th place finish. Maksin, meanwhile, struggled a bit that day, but it's undeniable that she's better than what she showed.

And truthfully, the rest of the Orediggers weren't that far behind Moser while in Illinois.

Women such as Clare Peters, Grace Strongman and Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge all cracked the top-12 at the Lewis XC Crossover, each delivering on the scoring potency that we knew they had. Yes, Riley McGrath struggled that day, but the emergence of Margaux Basart in the top-10 effectively negated that "off" performance.

The Orediggers' extensive depth and lineup stability is wildly impressive. They still dominated a very good field despite two key names not running at their best. There's a wealth of experienced All-American candidates flooding their lineup and it's hard to see anyone other than Adams State beating them.

In fact, the question for this team going into Saturday should be, "How close can they get to the Grizzlies in the final team standings?"

With Colorado Mines being favored for the runner-up spot, it's Western Colorado that feels like their biggest threat and a clear favorite for bronze. Front-runner Allison Beasley has been unsurprisingly great this fall while Leah Taylor has also become an excellent low-stick, giving the Mountaineers a fantastic 1-2 punch.

Yes, the backend of this lineup is still developing, but Peyton Weiss, Gretchen Slattum, Emma Kjellsen and Lauren Wilson are more than capable of bringing the Mountaineers to a 3rd place finish on Saturday. They just have to stay compact as a backend group and not fall too far behind the supporting casts of other top teams.

Truthfully, it's hard to know just how good Western Colorado is this fall. Their first race was an obvious rust-buster and their effort at the Chile Pepper XC Festival, while solid, made it challenging to compare their performance to other top D2 programs.

We then come to the UC-Colorado Springs women who, based on the Louisville XC Classic, are not quite at the same level that they were a year ago when they reached the podium. That, of course, can largely be attributed to the departures of key scorers such as Layla Almasri and Riley McGrath.

It doesn’t help that McGrath will be lining up in an Orediggers uniform this weekend, but the Mountain Lions are still in contention to finish in the top-five in this stacked field. Despite the drop in overall firepower and depth, low-stick standouts such as Kate Hedlund and Anna Fauske have made significant strides and should be among the top-10 individuals.

But at the end of the day, this team's success will be determined by how compact their backend scoring group is on Saturday.

Colorado Christian would be the next team to analyze in terms of top programs, but they are not fielding their best runners. Without low-sticks such as Paige Tack and Shannon King, the Cougars don’t seem to have the top-end talent that they would need to contend for a top-five finish.
 

That leaves CSU-Pueblo as the next-best team in our eyes.

Helen Braybrook, a highly versatile and experienced ace, will lead this program. However, we haven’t seen her in a super competitive setting yet this season. Her 23rd place finish at the 2022 cross country national meet was extremely impressive, but that was a clear outlier compared to her other efforts on the grass. Naturally, that leaves us with some uncertainty.

Thankfully, support scorers such as Margot Thomas-Gatel and Sophie Kretschmer have shown improvement on the grass as of late. They should give the ThunderWolves a solid middle-lineup core and allow the team to hang on for a top-five result. Jadyn Herron, Sarah Renberg and Elodie Herbert will give CSU-Pueblo backend support.

While not the flashiest of lineups, the ThunderWolves' low-stick and good-enough depth should allow them to be competitive in the middle of the team standings on Saturday.

When it comes to the individual race, there's realistically only two women in contention for the title: Stephanie Cotter and Brianna Robles. Those two women gapped this same field by 40 seconds last year with Cotter crossing the line a few seconds ahead of her Grizzly teammate.

Both women have won an individual RMAC title before and are simply on another level in terms of talent. They both tend to race hard from the gun, so it’s unlikely that anyone will be able to stay with them in the latter portion of the race.

That being said, Cotter, who is listed in the entries, hasn’t raced since early spring. We aren’t sure exactly where her fitness is or what to expect from her. Of course, based on her history and typical late-season emergence, we don’t think there is much to worry about.
 

Robles is having a solid season thus far and with her consistency, it’s hard to imagine her not taking home gold or silver.

But if Adams State's top women falter, dark horse names for the individual title would be Allison Beasley and possibly Vienna Lahner.

The former hasn’t raced against top RMAC talent this season, but she has been on a tear in terms of her individual results as of late. As for the latter, she is a wildcard rookie, but she was not too far behind Robles at their last outing in Louisville. Both women have momentum going in their favor and could pull off some surprises against this loaded field.

You can also expect the Mountain Lion duo of Kate Hedlund and Anna Fauske to be in contention for top-five finishes as well.

via Grace McLaughlin

Teams

Individuals

Without the likes of Dillon Powell and Afewerki Zeru, the RMAC XC Championships on the men’s side will look a little different than they were last year. But what will not be different is the firepower and competitiveness that this meet always offers, even with the Colorado Christian men not fielding their usual "A" team.

Let's get straight to the point: The Colorado Mines men should repeat as RMAC champions. That shouldn't be too surprising of a statement. However, in 2023, a different Oredigger ace may take home the individual title.

The men of Golden, Colorado have raced sparingly throughout this season, but when they have toed the line, they have dominated at both of their outings.

At their most recent meet, the Lewis XC Crossover, the Orediggers easily secured the win, taking down a very talented Colorado Christian team that was racing their top lineup which featured tons of upfront firepower.

Aside from Andrew Kaye, the rest of that Colorado Mines squad from the Lewis XC Crossover is slated to race on Saturday. That includes Duncan Fuehne who placed a close 2nd behind Matthew Storer of Colorado Christian in that setting.

Though he has not raced this season, Loic Scomparin is also listed in the entries and could help fill any gaps that may appear within the Orediggers' scoring lineup. After a tremendous year on the track where he ran times of 7:51 (3k) and 13:45 (5k), this Colorado Mines veteran could put himself among the top individuals in this field if he's firing on all cylinders.

But even if Scomparin does not race, this team still has very few weaknesses.

They have an elite low-stick in Fuehne and a very tight spread between the rest of their scoring contingent. The introduction of transfers Logan Bocovich and JP Rutledge during the offseason have given the Orediggers an embarrassment of riches.

Not only that, but their depth is impeccable and they have the scoring insurance if someone were to have an "off" day. Watch out for sophomore Daniel Appleford, a former high school standout who seems primed for a breakout race at some point this year.

Of course, the one team that is a true candidate to play spoiler is Adams State. As ever, this team has incredible talent, even after the departure of a majority of their top-seven from last year’s squad.

With the emergence of Romain Legendre as a low-stick star and the return of Dayton Brown to his fall of 2022 form, the Grizzlies' firepower looks plenty potent. However, maybe the biggest x-factor for this team on Saturday will be Awet Beraki.

If Beraki runs up to his full potential, then the Grizzlies have a real shot at taking down the men of Colorado Mines. Remember, this guy was our TSR #1 runner in our preseason top-25 individual rankings. However, a surprising "off" day at the Louisville XC Classic leaves us a little uncertain as to what we should expect from him on Saturday.

Despite that, the Grizzlies don't seem to have the same kind of depth as Colorado Mines. There have also been multiple instances over the last year in which Beraki and a few other men have had sub-par races and the scoring insurance was limited.

We saw that exact scenario unfold at the catastrophic South Central Regional XC Championships last year as well as at the less-urgent Louisville XC Classic where they lost to Grand Valley State.

To be blunt, Adams State will need a near-perfect day in order to retake the RMAC title. Even so, that's still a realistic possibility for the Grizzlies and that's not something that we can say about any other team in this field.

As for everyone else, Western Colorado will be heavily favored to finish in the bronze position. Without Colorado Christian racing their top group, the Mountaineers should be a top-three squad.

Simon Kelati has looked strong all season, especially after a 7th place finish in a competitive field at the Chile Pepper XC Festival. In that same race, the rest of his team kept a tight spread behind him, finishing within 16 seconds of each other.

That cohesive lineup structure will help this squad a lot on Saturday. Plus, Tyler Nord has some clear low-stick potential that we he hasn't had a chance to put on full display yet. Other names such as Albert Hesse and Michael Grabowski have also had multiple moments of brilliance throughout their careers. Don't be surprised if one of them snags a top-15 finish.

On paper, that top-four can be quietly very dangerous. However, that likely won't be enough to sneak ahead of Adams State unless something unforeseen arises.

UC-Colorado Springs and New Mexico Highlands are two teams that faced-off earlier this year at the UCCS XC Rust-Buster (and it seemed like it was actually a competitive race). The Mountain Lions came out on top in that setting and in our eyes, they should finish in front of the Cowboys once more.

Both of those teams have a very solid top-two, but the rest of the scoring five projects to be a little too far back in the field to make any jumps in the standings. Expect these two squads, and possibly the CSU-Pueblo men, to be fighting for team placements in the 4-5-6 range.

In terms of individuals, Duncan Fuehne and Romain Legendre offer the most promise in terms of their conference title prospects.

Fuehne has the most experience against top-tier Division Two competition, boasting a 3rd place finish at the 2022 NCAA XC Championships. He also appears to have picked up where he left off after finishing runner-up at the Lewis XC Crossover a couple of weeks ago.

While Legendre oozes upside and talent, as attested by his 3rd place finish at the Louisville XC Classic, he does not have as much experience racing in this type of setting. The French distance star most definitely has the potential to take home the title, but his inexperience in the RMAC makes him an underdog by only the slightest bit.

Another individual who has a shot at contending for the title is the aforementioned Adams State star, Awet Beraki. The challenge with Beraki is that, on paper, he holds some of the nation's best times on the track and on the grass.

However, there have been multiples times where he has struggled to turn his elite talent into top finishes on the biggest stages.

During the 2022 cross country postseason, Beraki failed to place in the top-five, placing 7th at his conference meet and 33rd at his regional meet. And as we already mentioned, he settled for a 33rd place finish in Louisville earlier this season.

This Adams State star has all of talent in the world to win this conference title, but his aggressive front-running approach does seem to carry some risk. If he can fully execute his race plan on Saturday, then Beraki should stay in contention for the individual title.

You should also expect to see Simon Kelati and Dayton Brown with the front pack as well. Both men have been very strong this season and have tons of experience in higher-level meets. They may not be able to hang with Fuehne, Legendre and Beraki as the race progresses, but they should hang in there for at least half of the race.

One final name to keep an eye on is Andrew Amor. He has been very consistent this season, highlighted by a 3rd place finish at the Southern Stampede meet where he defeated names like Amos Pkiach, Jan Lukas Becker and Gidieon Kimutai.

Amor will put himself in the mix, alongside many of the Orediggers' top scorers, and should finish within the top-10 fairly convincingly.

via Marissa Kuik

Teams

Individuals