Women's XC Top 25: Pt. 2

By: Sam Ivanecky

The only team from the Midwest region in our Top 25 returns their entire squad from 2017 and could surprise some people this fall by bettering their 20th place finish from last year.

Annie Frisbie was 45th last November and has the potential to be an All-American this year. Her track season wasn’t stellar, but she has historically been better on the XC course. Callie Logue was 76th last fall and competed in the IAAF U20 World Championships earlier this summer. There she ran a PR of 15:56 in the 5k and placed 8th behind a phenomenal international field. She was a 16:45 (XC) runner in high school and now that she has a collegiate season under her belt, it wouldn’t be surprising to see her in the top 40 at NCAA's.

However, Logue wasn’t the only Cyclone at those World Championships. Her teammate Amanda Vestri ran 9:21 in the 3k to finish 13th and should better her 160th place from last fall.

The big question around Iowa State is how the team will run under new coach Amy Rudolph. She is a former assistant at Drake University and should be coming into a good situation with all of the Cyclones returning. They’ve raced once this season at the Hawkeye Invitational where they won without their top group racing. Like many of the top teams in the NCAA, they’ll likely debut this group at Nuttycombe on Friday.

Despite losing their number one runner, Penn State brings back the rest of their top five and adds two more who should contribute to the top seven. Redshirt senior Elizabeth Chikotas did not compete last fall, but was 15th at NCAA's in 2016. She finished 2nd behind her new teammate Julia Paternain-Muniz at the Spiked Shoe meet earlier this season and looks ready to go after taking last fall off.

Paternain-Muniz is a freshman from Great Britain who owns a PR of 9:23 in the 3k and found previous success with cross country in England. Her first collegiate performance was a win over a talented field at Spiked Shoe which bodes well for her future. Kathryn Munks and Alison Willingmyre finished 6th and 7th at Spiked Shoe and were both in the Nittany Lions top five last fall.

The only member from that scoring group who hasn’t raced yet is Danae Rivers. She was 136th last fall and is known for her performances in the 1500 (4:10 PR). That said, she could be in the top 100 at NCAA's this year which would provide good depth behind a strong front four.

One surprise from Spiked Shoe was redshirt freshman Jordan Williams. Like Rivers, she is typically a 1500 runner (4:32 PR), but was the fifth Nittany Lion and 16th overall in the competition. Keep an eye on her when Penn State races at Nuttycombe this weekend.

The Cougars have the potential to be very good this fall, but there are a few big questions that remain unanswered as the season begins.

The BYU women made their season debut at the BYU Autumn Classic almost three weeks ago. It took all the way until 17th place for someone who wasn’t a Cougar to show up. The one big takeaway from the meet is that Erica Birk ran (and won).

Normally, winning this wouldn’t be a big deal, except Birk has a unique backstory. She was an All-American in 2016 (34th place), but took last fall off for a pregnancy. Seeing her run well this early in the season is not only encouraging, but downright impressive.

BYU returns most of last year's team which includes juniors Courtney Wayment-Smith (76th) and Olivia Hoj (124th), along with sophomore Whittni Orton (115th). They also added Sophie Baird to their roster.

Baird ran for Colorado last fall (44th at Pac-12's) and transferred to UCLA for the spring. It’s hard to speculate what we should expect from her considering she’s jumped between two programs in two semesters, but she was one of the best high schoolers in Utah. Coming back to her home state may be just what she needs.

One other runner who may break into the top five is Aubrey Frentheway. The Wyoming native ran 10:27 in the 3200 as a high schooler and finished 5th at the NXN Northwest regional meet, qualifying her for NXN (where she finished 25th). She was the fifth scorer at the Autumn Classic with all four runners mentioned above as the only ones ahead of her (Baird did not race).

Losing your number one is hard, especially when that number one finished 9th overall at NCAA's. Of course, it helps that the other six runners are all coming back in 2018.

Furman will be led by Savannah Carnahan, 46th last fall, who could be an All-American this time around. Carnahan had a great track season where she ran PR's of 4:20 (1500) and 15:49 (5k), capped off by a 15th place finish at the Outdoor National Championships. She should be ready to fill the hole left by Allie Buchalski and lead the Paladins this year.

Behind her is a trio of juniors in Gabrielle Jennings, Grace Dwyer, and Emma Grace Hurley. Jennings and Hurley went 1–3 at the Eye Opener Cross Country Festival on August 31st, a meet where Furman had seven of the top nine.

Sophomore Kristlin Gear was their seventh runner at NCAA's, but had a breakout track season this spring. She finished 24th in the steeplechase at Nationals where she ran a PR of 9:52 and followed it up with a 13th place at the IAAF U20 World Championships. She should be much higher than 239th this fall based on how she’s been running.

Furman will see their first real competition this weekend at the Joe Piane Invitational after their home meet was cancelled last weekend due to hurricane related weather.

Over the summer, the Huskies added a wealth of talent in both the athlete and coaching areas. Former University of Oregon duo Maurica and Andy Powell became the new head coaches at Washington. With them, they brought along Oregon stars Katie Rainsberger and Lilli Burdon. The addition of those coaches and transfers could vault Washington into the top ten at Nationals this year if the transitions go smoothly.

Rainsberger was “only” 16th at the national meet last fall, but finished 4th at Pre-Nats as a true freshman. She may have struggled on the track last spring, but she is easily a top 20 finisher at NCAA's this fall.

After her first 21st place finish last fall, Burdon carried her success to the track where she finished 9th in the NCAA Indoor Championship 3000 and 3rd in the 5000 during outdoors. Like Rainsberger, she should be in the conversation to finish among the top 20 this fall.

After those two, the Huskies fall off quite a bit. Washington “raced” at the Sundodger Invitational where they finished 3rd behind Boise State and Oregon State. According to Coach Powell, the meet was used as a tempo workout, so trying to gather anything from it is meaningless.

Washington did pick up freshman Olivia O’Keefe, the younger sister of Stanford All-American Fiona O’Keefe. In high school, Olivia ran a 10:14 two mile and placed 11th at the California Cross Country State Championships, bringing a lot of talent to a coach who has done well at developing similar runners (i.e Rainsberger).

The success of the Huskies will largely hinge on the abilities of their final three scorers this fall. If they are able to improve substantially from last year, the Huskies may find their way into the top 10 at Nationals.

All seven runners from UGA's 2017 lineup are back for another season. Led by the All-American duo of Jessica Drop (31st) and Samantha Drop (30th), the Bulldogs should improve on their 17th place finish from last fall.

Jessica had phenomenal track seasons in the spring and winter. She was 4th at the indoor national meet for 5000 meters and was 7th in the same race during outdoors. Samantha also qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships where she finished 21st in the 10k.

The two Drop sisters will be followed by Yanley Gomez who finished 140th last fall and followed it up with a strong outdoor track season. She ran PR's in both the 5k and 10k and missed national qualification in the steeplechase by only four places. If she’s able to crack the top-100 this fall, it will be a big boost for the Bulldogs.

At their home meet earlier this season, Georgia finished runner-up to Georgia Tech, but did not run Samantha Drop. Still, even if she had run, Drop likely wouldn’t have made a difference (they lost 24–38). However, at any larger meet, having two low-cards would easily swing them ahead.

Their season opener was a typical early-season race with little info to gain. However, Georgia freshman Skylar English finished as the fourth Bulldog in her collegiate debut. She could have an impact later this season depending on how she progresses. English was 3rd at the 2016 Georgia Cross Country State Championship meet, but has only raced twice in college so her potential is still relatively unknown.

UGA's first real challenge of the year will begin this week at the Paul Short Run.

Last fall the Pilots finished 10th at the West Regional Championships. This year, they could be near the same place at the National Championships.

But...why?

For starters, they bring back redshirt senior Lauren LaRocco who sat out for the 2017 season. The three-time All-American was 29th at XC Nationals in 2016 after finishing 4th (5000) and 6th (10,000) at the Outdoor National Championship the season prior.

LaRocco will be joined up front by fellow senior Taryn Rawlings who was 51st last fall and was the only individual qualifier from the team. The Pilots also bring back all seven from last years regional meet and add freshman Camila Noe who won NXR Northwest in 2017.

While the Pilots have run at both the Oregon Preview and the Bill Dellinger Invitational, neither lineup featured their top runners. Portland is scheduled to race this weekend at the Nuttycombe Invitational where they will likely debut their top group.

The biggest uncertainty for the Pilots will be how LaRocco performs after her hiatus from cross country. If she can replicate her previous fitness, there’s reason to think Portland may sneak into the top 10 at NCAA's.