Kevin Fischer
Sep 6, 20225 min
Edits and additional commentary by Garrett Zatlin
If you're an astute observer of the D3 distance running scene, then you might be surprised to see a team that finished second-to-last at the 2021 cross country national meet ranked in our preseason top-10.
Of course, there are several reasons why a finish in (or around) the top-10 of this year's national meet is not only plausible, but maybe even expected for this year’s Amherst women's cross country team.
Allow us to break it all down...
In reality, the Mammoths were much better than the 31st-best team in the country last year.
After keeping things somewhat interesting with Williams at the Little Three Championships, the Mammoths placed 4th overall in a very deep "Brown" race at Paul Short, beating a handful of mid-major Division One programs as well as a few highly respectable Division Three teams.
It's true, they did falter to 6th at the Connecticut College XC Invite, but every team that beat them eventually finished amongst the top-16 at the national meet with a few programs even finishing in the top-10 on the national stage.
It was a similar story when the Mammoths placed 5th at the NESCAC XC Championships, although key low-stick Sidnie Kulik faltered to 85th place in that race. On paper, the scores likely could have been much closer had she run to her full potential.
Amherst maintained a top-20 USTFCCCA ranking for the majority of last season and their best team performance came at the Mideast Regional XC Championship. There, they finished a narrow 3rd behind powerhouse teams in Williams and Middlebury.
And the best part? The Mammoths were just 12 points away from taking home the regional title from a Williams squad that would ultimately finish 7th at last year's NCAA XC Championships.
Finishing where they did at the cross country national meet was simply the product of a tough, fluky day where a lot of things went wrong. Even good teams can be unlucky.
But throughout most of last season, the firepower that this team exhibited in the form of Mary Kate McGranahan and Sidnie Kulik was phenomenal. Those two women were one of the better 1-2 punches on the eastern-half of the country for D3 distance running.
And while the team's backend could have been better, Julia Shor and Sophia Price still proved to be fairly reliable.
This was a very young team last year. In fact, this roster returns six of their top-seven women from their 2021 national meet lineup, including FIVE women who had freshman eligibility last fall. Of those five women, four of them true freshmen.
However, what’s even more important to note is that none of the returners who we just mentioned from last year's national meet are likely going to be Amherst’s top runner this year. That honor will probably belong to Sophia Wolmer who only raced once last fall at Connecticut College XC Invite where she recorded a DNF.
Wolmer being a low-stick scoring factor for Amherst this fall will be a huge lift for this team. She ran 16:50 (5k) as well as 34:59 (10k) last spring and has been an All-American once on the track in addition to two 9th place finishes.
It really can’t be understated how much of a boost Wolmer alone will provide if she runs to her full potential this year. Not only will she cut off a significant amount of points, but she'll be able to potential counter some of the firepower that other top-tier teams in Amherst's conference and region boast.
But throughout the fall of 2021, it was Sidnie Kulik taking over for Wolmer as the team's lead low-stick scorer, a role that she handled incredibly well.
Kulik was the 5th place finisher at last year’s Mideast Regional XC Championships and although her national meet performance was one to forget, she went on to have excellent winter and spring track seasons.
The Mammoths' 2021 front-runner now holds personal bests of 4:41 (1500), 9:54 (3k) and 17:13 (5k) on the oval. She was also an individual indoor national qualifier in the 3000 meters back in March.
Also returning to this team in 2022 is Mary Kate McGranahan who did a great job of stepping up in the absence of Wolmer last year, finishing 8th at the NESCAC XC Championships, 3rd at the Mideast Regional XC Championships and 77th at the national meet.
In a tough season that was full of “what ifs", McGranahan was one of the constants. And if she can improve upon her national meet placement, the Mammoths could potentially come very close to having three All-Americans by November.
We'll admit, beyond that top-three, there are some questions about what the rest of this lineup will look like. But even with that uncertainty, we will likely still see significant improvement from at least some of the other returners, especially given the upside that comes with their youth.
Julia Schor looks the most ready to answer those lingering lineup questions, having run 4:35 for 1500 meters last spring. She was also 141st at the NCAA XC Championships last fall, but if her speed translates to the grass, then she is in a great position to make a jump and provide scoring support to Amherst's lethal top-three.
There’s also Ally Deegan who did not race last fall, but holds a 4:39 personal best for 1500 meters. It remains to be seen if she will be a key factor on the grass for this team in 2022, but there is absolutely potential for that to happen.
Sophia Price didn’t do anything crazy on the track earlier this year, but she was Amherst’s third scorer at the national meet last year as just a true freshman. It’s hard to imagine that she, a) won’t be a scoring contributor once again, and b) won't be better than she was last year.
There are several other names who can contribute to Amherst’s success this fall like Claire Callon (18:42 for 5000 meters) and Sylvan Wold (4:51 for 1500 meters), as well as any high-level rookie that they’ve brought in.
On paper, everything about this 2022 Amherst team, compared to their 2021 roster, is going to be noticeably better. They return all of their high-impact scorers, return a star low-stick who didn't race last fall, boast greater all-around experience and should generally improve by the simple virtue of being another year older.
When you put all of those aspects together, there's good reason to believe that this team will be a problem for the regional and conference rivals in the coming months. Yes, even for Williams and Middlebury.
The sixth and seventh Mammoth runners may have finished 280th and 288th at last year's national meet, but surprisingly, it seems like depth won’t be quite as much of a concern this fall as it has been in the past.
Don't be misled by the end of their 2021 cross country season.
In 2022, this team will be far more dangerous than some people realize.