Sam Ivanecky
Oct 16, 201813 min
It took until this weekend for Florida to race outside of their home state and face actual competition, but it appears that the wait was worth it. This weekend the Gators won the Arturo Barrios Invitational with only 46 points compared to 2nd place Oklahoma State (85 points). Florida came in ranked 11th in the South region and beat Vanderbilt (#5 South), Texas (#3 South Central) and SMU (#2 South Central). With other South region teams trending downwards, Florida could be poised to be the Cinderella story of 2018 and qualify for NCAA's.
After just missing out on the team win at Beantown, Georgia Tech finished 3rd at Penn State behind the #13 Penn State Nittany Lions and #15 Michigan State Spartans. They finished well ahead of Princeton (#3 Northeast) and Dartmouth (#4 Northeast), leaving them somewhat in no-man’s land as far as team competition goes. Right now, they look to be the top team in the South region after poor performances by Ole Miss, Georgia, and Florida State this past weekend.
The Thunderbirds were one of the teams sitting on the bubble after Nuttycombe, but they have made their way into the top 25 for the first time this year after a solid performance. They finished 8th in the White race at Pre-Nats, only 17 points behind Furman. They also finished ahead of previously ranked TSR#12 Georgia, TSR#24 Utah State and TSR#25 Yale.
Southern Utah was actually ahead of both Wisconsin and Furman through four runners, but with their fifth runner placing 104th, they finished behind both teams. The bad news for SUU is that their 5-6-7 have been consistently near one another, but nowhere near their fourth. However, after beating Utah State and seeing Utah finish 10th at Penn State, the Thunderbirds should be the number four team in the Mountain region this year.
The Orange have been up and down this season, starting strong with a 2nd place at Spiked Shoe before bombing to a 9th place finish at Beantown. The team appears to have bounced back, finishing 8th in the Cardinal race at Pre-Nats, only nine points behind Minnesota. The top four of Syracuse finished between 29th and 48th, but their fifth was well off the back in 113th.
Their top seven has three freshman which indicates a promising future, but that inexperience could lead to rough patches in the present. Even with a dire need for a fifth runner, Syracuse looks like the second best team in the Northeast region, and the lack of overall depth in the region should help compensate for their fifth runner. Unless Dartmouth or Yale bounce back this season, Syracuse looks like a decent bet to make NCAA's.
Columbia wasn’t far behind Villanova at the Princeton Invitational, finishing with 38 points compared to the Wildcats 21. There isn’t a whole lot to take away from the meet as Temple was 3rd with 107 points. The meet was practically a dual with 12 of the top 15 coming from either Columbia or 'Nova. With Yale running poorly at Pre-Nats, the Lions appear to be the clear favorite in the Northeast region.
With a 7th place finish in the Cardinal race at Pre-Nats, the Golden Gophers enter the Top 25 for the first time this season. Two weeks ago, they won the Roy Griak Invitational, but a lack of competition kept them outside of the rankings. This weekend, they were led by twin sisters Bethany and Megan Hasz who finished 5th and 14th, respectively. Last year, those two just missed out on All-American honors. In 2018, they look ready to claim their spots among the top 40.
The Gophers squad relies heavily on their top two as they finished better than the 1-2 runners on three of the teams ahead of them. After Megan Hasz, the next Gopher was all the way back in 74th. 10 teams had their third runner ahead of Minnesota’s and with a four-five of 75th and 92nd, Minnesota seems to lack the depth of many other ranked teams. Luckily, the Midwest region isn’t terribly deep for women’s teams other than Iowa State and Oklahoma State. Those two, along with Minnesota, should all make it out unless one of them falls apart in the next four weeks.
While the Paladins looked somewhat lackluster as a team, they had a few bright spots in their performance. Savannah Carnahan looks like an All-American with her 7th place finish. Gabrielle Jennings and Emma Grace Hurley both finished in the top 40 as well. They should be a reliable 2-3 as we approach championship season.
The team doesn’t have the same star power as many other top teams and while they look to be a solid team, they’re also not a team that is likely to make a big jump in the rankings. Given that their region isn’t particularly deep, the Paladins look to be a solid number two behind NC State and should return to NCAA's this November.
The Pilots finished 6th in the Cardinal race at Pre-Nats, but had 62 points between themselves and 5th place NC State. Lauren LaRocco looks like an All-American with her 7th place finish while two other Pilots finished in the top 30.
Portland ran into problems with their four-five runners who finished 84th and 94th. Nine teams had a better #4 and eight teams a better #5. The Pilots have a talented top three, but they aren’t good enough to compensate for this lack of depth behind them. They can get by in weaker fields, but if they get to NCAA's these two will likely be even farther back. Unless they see improvement between now and November, Portland will be hard pressed to crack the top 20 at NCAA's.
The Cyclones dropped one spot solely because teams below them looked a lot better, not because they underperformed. In a relatively weak field, Iowa State dominated the Bradley Pink Classic as Callie Logue took the individual title. Annie Frisbie and Amanda Vestri both finished in the top 10 while their four-five were 19th and 22nd. Given the minimal competition they faced, the Cyclones should have a bigger challenge when they face Oklahoma State and Texas at Big 12's.
Another week, another result without Lilli Burdon. The star transfer from Oregon has gone another meet without racing and there’s growing suspicion if she’ll even race this season. If she remains absent, Washington has minimal hope of getting near the top 10 this fall. Rainsberger continues to lead the Huskies, placing 10th, with teammates Emily Hamlin and Kaitlyn Neal placing 22nd and 31st.
The Huskies are hurting on the backend, with Olivia O’Keefe finishing in 85th as their fifth runner. Their sixth was even farther back in 147th, leaving no room for error by the scoring group. If Burdon were to run, Washington would have substantially more room for error and would also have another low-card alongside Rainsberger. Even with a loaded West region, Washington should still make it to NCAA's.
Where they end up after that will likely rely on the status of Burdon...
It’s hard to gauge where the Spartans are after facing minimal competition at the Penn State Open. The finished 12 points behind Penn State for 2nd place, but were substantially ahead of Georgia Tech (who score 147 points). The Spartans did not run Erin McDonald, their top finisher at Nuttycombe, but saw Annie Fuller make a big jump to finish with Maggie Farrell.
India Johnson, their fourth from Nuttycombe, finished all the way back in 113th and appeared to have an off day. If McDonald had finished with Farrell and Fuller, Michigan State would have easily beaten Penn State. Farrell and Fuller finished 2nd and 3rd while their fifth scorer was 31st.
Assuming McDonald is healthy, the Spartans should improve in the rankings when she returns to competition.
The Badgers look to be a team that relies heavily on frontrunner Alicia Monson. When she won Nuttycombe, the team finished 6th in a deep Nuttycombe field. With her 33rd place finish this weekend, the team could only manage 6th in a weaker field where they were beaten by three teams ranked below them.
The blame doesn’t lie solely on Monson though as all their scorers (except Alissa Niggemann) placed comparable or worse than they did at Nuttycombe. While the performance wasn’t that bad, losing to two Great Lakes teams isn’t the setup the Badgers would like coming into championship season.
Right now the Great Lakes region looks to be the toughest region in the country and while Wisconsin should make it out, there’s a chance they don’t if they underperform at Big Ten’s and Great Lakes.
The Nittany Lions were absent at Pre-Nats this weekend as they hosted the Penn State Nationals Open, where they came away with a narrow victory over Michigan State.
Penn State went 1-5-7 with freshman Julia Paternain continuing to lead the way. The team scored a total of 62 points compared to the Spartans 87. The Nittany Lions had four runners ahead of the Spartans third. Although Penn State had the same top six at Nuttycombe, Elizabeth Chikota was notably absent, the 15th place finisher from NCAA's in 2016.
After finishing 134th at Nuttycombe, it’s hard to envision Chikotas making a big comeback this season. Regardless if she does or not, Penn State looks to be trending upward and will sit close behind Villanova in the Mid-Atlantic region rankings.
Even with Anna Rohrer performing slightly below expectations, the Irish appear to be trending upwards. In fact, Rohrer wasn’t even the top finisher for Notre Dame, that honor belongs to freshman Jacqueline Gaughan. The pair finished 13th and 17th with Rachel DaDamio close behind in 19th.
The team is still waiting on senior Allie Heffernan to come around after she finished sixth for the team in 84th. Back in 2016, she was 41st at NCAA's, but has started this season with a DNF at Joe Piane and a non-scoring finish at Pre-Nats. She seems to be improving, but with ACC's approaching in two weeks, there’s not much time left.
Right now, Notre Dame looks likely to qualify for NCAA's, but nothing is a guaranteed in a loaded Great Lakes region. ACC's will be their last chance to show out before regionals.
The Wolfpack had a rough start to the season when they raced at Nuttycombe, but rebounded this week with a 5th place finish behind BYU. Elly Henes appears to be coming around after finishing 9th overall. Dominique Clairmonte had a big performance of her own, placing only seven spots behind her
With another meet down, NC State is still waiting on Nevada Mareno to have a big performance. There were high expectations after she transferred from Stanford, but she has yet to meet those expectations after finishing 109th at Pre-Nats. Given that the field was somewhat weaker than Nuttycombe, her finish is comparable to her 137th at Nuttycombe. At this point, the team appears good enough without her, but she’s someone with potential to show up if everything falls into place.
Facing their first real competition this fall, the Cougars looked solid, running to a 4th place team finish in the Cardinal race at Pre-Nats. Erica Birk led the team with a 4th place showing and solidified her position as a top runner in the country.
Courtney Waymont looked better than she ever had, finishing just behind Birk for 13th.
The interesting part of BYU’s performance was that Whittni Orton was missing. At Joe Piane, Orton finished right behind Birk for 2nd (and was ahead of Anna Rohrer). With Orton, BYU likely would have beaten Indiana as they finished only nine points behind without her. With Orton in the lineup, BYU could move up substantially in the rankings.
The Hoosiers continue to impress when they run the Tom Zimmer course. After finishing 7th at Nuttycombe, they came back to take 3rd in the Cardinal race at Pre-Nats this weekend.
Katherine Receveur led the team with a 15th place finish and Margaret Allen continues to step-up for Indiana as she was only five spots back in 20th. Freshman Bailey Herenstein is having a great start to her collegiate career, finishing as the third Hoosier in 36th.
Like many other teams, Indiana’s one concern is a lack of depth. There were 82 people between their fifth and sixth runners, putting a lot of pressure on their top five to show up every race.
Finishing 3rd in the White race at Pre-Nats was a decent showing for Stanford, but they should have been much closer to New Mexico. Those who raced performed well, starting with the duo of Elise Cranny and Fiona O’Keefe. Back in 2014, Cranny was 12th at cross country national meet, but hasn’t cracked the top 50 since. This season she appears to be back on track (no pun intended) with her 4th place finish at Pre-Nats. Right behind her in 5th was teammate Fiona O’Keefe. The two have been close at every race this season and give Stanford a phenomenal 1-2 punch. Keep in mind that right now, only New Mexico has a better pairing in Kelati and Kurgat.
Jessica Lawson continues to look impressive, finishing as the third Cardinal in 25th. Behind her, freshman Rebecca Story was 46th with Julia Heymach close behind in 48th.
The question is, how good is Stanford when they actually run everyone? Christina Aragon raced earlier this season and coasted to a 1-2-3 finish with Cranny and O’Keefe. Besides that meet she has yet to toe the line.
Neither Courtney Smith or Ella Donaghu have raced this season, but theoretically, they should both be ahead of Lawson. If Aragon, Smith, and Donaghu all race and finish ahead of Lawson, Stanford is suddenly right in the mix with New Mexico. With a full roster, this team easily has podium potential, but won’t move up in the rankings until they play all their cards.
Michigan finally faced real competition this fall and it didn’t appear to phase them. The Wolverines appear to be one of the deepest teams from one to seven, with their entire lineup finishing between 8th and 59th. While they don’t have the firepower up front like many other teams, Avery Evenson and Hannah Meier appear to be closing the gap on the 1-2 runners from other programs after their 8th and 12th place finishes at Pre-Nats.
True freshman Camille Davre has stepped up big this fall, finishing as Michigan’s fourth this weekend. One wildcard on their roster is Anna West. Last fall, West was an All-American for Baylor, but hasn’t looked nearly as good this fall. If she comes around by November, she could greatly improve Michigan’s front-end and give them a shot at a top five team finish.
One of the few teams to not race at Pre-Nats, the Wildcats quietly dominated the Princeton Invitational, totaling only 21 points. After finishing 89th at Nuttycombe, Lauren Ryan took a big step to finish 3rd behind fellow Wildcats Alcorta and Hutchinson. Bella Burda was Villanova’s fifth runner after racing in the "B" race at Nuttycombe. She was consistently in their top seven last fall and looks to be back after this weekend.
One notable name missing was Rachel McArthur. She was the 3rd Wildcat at Nuttycombe, but given the lack of competition at this meet there isn’t reason to worry about her absence yet.
The Ducks were full of surprises this weekend, starting with Jessica Hull taking the individual win. Hull is known better for her national title in the 1500 meters last spring, but she proved that she’s a threat on the grass as well. Her highest NCAA finish to-date is 79th which should be much higher after November.
Behind her, the group of Pyzik, Bowden, Baez, and Brauer went 12-17-19-22, giving Oregon a great top five. With their sixth runner finishing in 49th, it appears that the Ducks don’t have the depth of some other top teams. However, when the top five are running well, the team is poised to place high.
It’s hard to say if they’ll look this strong in future races as both Hull and Bowden had breakout races this weekend. Clearly, the team has a ton of potential, but there’s no guarantee they run this well every weekend. After PAC 12's we should have a better idea on how good Oregon will be come November.
The Razorbacks looked phenomenal after they took the win over Oregon in the Cardinal race. Freshman Katrina Robinson has blossomed into a star for the team, finishing 2nd overall. She looks poised for top 10 finish at NCAA's this fall after beating a field full of All-Americans from 2017.
Their 2-3-4 of Taylor Werner, Carina Viljoen, and Lauren Gregory all finished in the top 10 and Sydney Brown was 25th. Given some of the runners they beat, Arkansas should have at least three All-Americans this fall, maybe even more.
The one area of concern for the Razorbacks was their sixth runner finishing in 62nd. Had one of their top five had an off day, Oregon would have won the race. That said, if you replace any runner in their top five with their sixth, Arkansas still would have finished 2nd. Right now, the team looks poised to make the podium if their scoring five continue to run this well.
This weekend, New Mexico made a statement by dominating the White race at Pre-Nats, winning with only 69 points. Adva Cohen stepped up big after her 35th place at Nuttycombe by finishing 14th this weekend. There was question as to how good she could be at the D1 level, but Cohen eliminated any concerns we had.
More importantly, New Mexico may finally have some depth. Hannah Nuttall came up huge as their fifth runner with a 41st place finish and Alondra Negron wasn’t far behind in 64th. For perspective, Nuttall was the second-highest fifth runner of any team in the White race, finishing right behind Michigan’s fifth.
If the Lobos can get consistent performances from Nuttall and Negron, they may be back as the title favorites. At Nuttycombe, Colorado’s fifth was 38th in a slightly deeper race. While Nuttall would likely be behind her, the Lobos have a better top four, making the race for the title incredibly close. Right now, New Mexico stays 3rd only because neither Boise State nor Colorado raced. However, once everyone is back in action, things should get interesting between the three.
The Broncos largely took this weekend off. They ran a few runners at the Inland Empire Challenge, but no one in their top seven competed.
The Buffs opted to keep their "A" team at home this weekend. Their "B" team finished 10th in the Cardinal race.
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Minnesota Golden Gophers
Syracuse Orange
Southern Utah Thunderbirds
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Florida Gators
Georgia Bulldogs
California Golden Bears
Ole Miss Rebels
Utah State Aggies
Yale Bulldogs
Princeton Tigers
Oklahoma State Cowgirls
Air Force Falcons
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
UCLA Bruins
Dartmouth Big Green
Utah Utes
South Dakota Coyotes
Vanderbilt Commodores
Oregon State Beavers
Florida Gators
After showing up in no national results all year, the Gators have burst onto the scene with their dominant win over Oklahoma State this weekend. This team was ranked 11th in a region that typically only sends two teams. With Chris Solinsky as the head coach, Florida looks like they have a real shot at contending for an NCAA qualifier this fall. Keep an eye on them in two weeks when they face fellow South region contenders Georgia and Ole Miss at SEC's.
Arkansas
The Razorbacks keep creeping their way up the national rankings and their big win this weekend is evidence as to why. Katrina Robinson has proved to be a force as their number one runner and the four women behind her all could be contending for All-American spots at NCAA's. They shouldn’t see too much competition in their next two meets as both SECs and the South Central region lack much depth. It wouldn’t be surprising if they sat some of their top group at SEC's to rest for a big day at the regional meet.
● Not much should change in next week’s rankings as many teams will take a week off of competition to prepare for conference meets.