Sam Ivanecky
Nov 3, 201814 min
Was not ranked the week before.
First number indicates how much the team has moved in the rankings.The second number indicates where that team was ranked the week before.
Minnesota finished as expected at BIG 10s, placing 6th overall. The Hasz twins continued to lead the Gophers as Bethany finished 5th and Megan was 12th. Besides these two, the Gophers are a bit thin for the rest of their scoring group. Their 3-4-5 runners finished between 48th and 59th and the gap could be crucial moving into a tight regional race. Minnesota will need these three to step up if they want to compete with Iowa State or Oklahoma State.
Oklahoma State enters the rankings for the first time this fall after finishing runner-up to Iowa State at BIG 12s. The team finished 18 points behind the Cyclones, but were well clear of 3rd place West Virginia.
Sinclaire Johnson has proven to be a strong number one, finishing 2nd overall for her second consecutive meet. OK State only had one other runner in the top 10, but if their 3-4-5 can close the gap on their #2, they could challenge Iowa State for the Midwest regional title.
One runner to watch for is Kayt Larson. She started the season slightly banged up and has been recovering for much of the season. If she is healthy by the regional meet, she could make a big impact as she was 13th overall there last fall. Keep an eye out for her next week.
The Thunderbirds rolled through the Big Sky conference meet relatively unchallenged, finishing with only 28 points compared to runner-up NAU with 65. Southern Utah had all five runners in the top twelve and senior Angie Nickerson ran away with the individual title, winning by 12 seconds. This performance should give SUU some much needed momentum as they approach a tough Mountain regional next week.
The Lions cruised to victory at the Ivy League meet this weekend, finishing 34 points ahead of runner-up Dartmouth. Columbia placed four runners in the top 15 and were lead by Erin Gregoire with a 2nd place finish. Not only that, but Alexandra Hayes fell during the race, dropping from 3rd, to 40th, and back to 13th. If she stays with the top group, the score becomes even stronger.
The Lions should move through the Northeast regional if they can replicate their performance from Heps. Only Syracuse is ranked ahead of them and the majority of teams in the region are also in the Ivy League. They may fall one spot, but don't think that they ran poorly. This team has some upside.
After another solid performance, the Gators continue to rise in the rankings. Florida entered the season outside the top 10 teams in the South region, but after placing in the top two at every meet this fall, they’ve worked their way up to regional favorite.
The Gators finished runner-up to a stellar Arkansas squad at SEC's and were well ahead of 3rd place Ole Miss. Jessica Pascoe has shown that she’s a top NCAA talent by taking down of Katrina Robinson to win the SEC meet. Right now, Florida looks on track to return to NCAA's for the first time since 2010.
Syracuse finished 3rd at ACC's, but ran a great race which saw them finish with a spread of only 38 seconds. The team finished with 83 points, only 15 behind #12 Notre Dame and 16 points out of 1st. As of now, Syracuse appears to be the top team in the Northeast region with Columbia as the only other ranked competitor. The Orange should move through to NCAAs barring a major collapse at regionals.
Portland finished runner-up to BYU at the WCC Championships in what essentially became a dual meet. The two teams combined for eight of the first 10 places, finishing with scores of 25 and 40 points, respectively.
Lauren LaRocco has established herself as one of the top runners in the NCAA this fall and finished 2nd behind Erica Birk of BYU. Taryn Rawlings and Aoibhe Richardson finished 4th and 5th to bolster Portland’s presence up-front.
The biggest area holding Portland back this fall will be their bottom two scorers. The gap between them and the front three is significant enough to hurt the Pilots in stronger competitions, even with LaRocco as a low-stick. The team looks ready to return to NCAA's after a hiatus last fall, but don’t expect any breakout performances.
The Paladins breezed through the Southern Conference Championships, scoring only 25 points and placing six runners in the top 10. They ran essentially unchallenged and should get the second auto-qualifier behind NC State in the Southeast region.
The Cyclones won the BIG 12 Championships over current TSR#24 Oklahoma State, but the victory wasn’t particularly convincing. While they had a 17 point margin of victory, they nearly lost before sophomore Larkin Chapman stepped up in the latter portion of the race.
Going into this meet, Chapman had never finished in Iowa State’s top seven. She placed 11th overall and finished as their fifth, 17 seconds ahead of the next Cyclone. Without her, the team battle would have come down to only a few points. While Chapman ran a great race, it’s a hard to consider her as a reliable fifth with only one performance to show. If the Cyclones slip up at the Midwest regional, they could be in trouble as OK State and Minnesota will be right behind them.
The Huskies performed pretty much as expected at PAC 12s, coming in 4th but well behind the top three. Katie Rainsberger doesn’t look like the same runner as years prior, managing only an 11th place finish after placing 12th at NCAA's last fall. She’s been struggling since track this spring and it would be surprising to see her suddenly improve in the next couple of weeks.
Lilli Burdon finally made her debut, but it was somewhat underwhelming for someone who placed 21st at the national meet last fall. She finished as the fourth Husky, placing 31st, only one spot ahead of teammate Olivia O’Keefe. Given Burdon was running very well during outdoor track, it’s likely she is coming off an injury right now and opted to race as she’s previously redshirted cross country. Burdon is talented enough where another two to three weeks could make a big difference in her performance, but it’s a lot for Washington to hope for. Her performance will likely dictate how high the Huskies can finish the rest for the rest of the season.
After surpassing expectations all season, Indiana was bound to falter at some point and BIG 10's was that time. The Hoosiers entered the meet ranked #2, but ended up 5th after rough performances from their 3-4-5 runners.
Indiana raced aggressively from the start, sitting in 2nd place through the first 3000 meters before falling back to 5th by fourth kilometer. While the 1-2 duo of Receveur and Allen moved up a combined three places, Indiana’s 3-4-5 fell back 29 places over the second half of the race.
Indiana will face strong competition going into the Great Lakes regional, but shouldn’t have issues qualifying for NCAA's thanks to strong performances throughout the fall. If they improve their tactics going into NCAAs they should finish higher than their ranking.
The Nittany Lions are heading into the Mid-Atlantic regional in a good spot. They’re coming off a 4th place finish at BIG 10s where freshman Julia Paternain continued to lead Penn State with a 10th place finish. She ran a gutsy race, taking the lead at 4000 meters before eventually falling back during the final kilometer.
The next three Nittany Lions weren’t far behind, all finishing within 10 seconds of one another. Penn State was hurt by their fifth runner who fell off the other four, finishing 17 places. Had they been able to close this gap, the Nittany Lions could have been right on the heels of Wisconsin.
After this weekend, any doubts about Alicia Monson were eliminated with her commanding win at BIG 10's. Over the last kilometer, only she and Aubrey Roberts remained, and once Monson decided to make her move, Roberts quickly fell off.
The Badgers finished 3rd and were an even split of 14 points out of 2nd and 4th. Amy Davis was the second Badger, coming in at 13th and Lucinda Crouch made a big jump from Pre-Nats to finish 3rd for Wisconsin. The team likely would have been closer to Michigan State had Shaelyn Sorensen and Alissa Niggemann moved up a few spots. Both were right with Davis at Pre-Nats, but fell off at BIG 10s to finish 22nd and 33rd.
Tactically, the team ran smart, moving from 8th at the kilometer to 3rd by 5000 meters. As the races get progressively deeper moving into regionals and NCAA's, the impact of Monson should boost the Badgers substantially.
The Irish have been steadily rising in the rankings this fall and much of that success can be attributed to freshman star Jacqueline Gaughan. This fall she has proven to be one of the best freshman in the NCAA and has filled in for the absence of senior Annie Heffernan.
While Anna Rohrer hasn’t been as dominant as usual, the junior has been a solid number one and looks like she may be peaking at the right time. She started the year with a 6th place finish at Joe Piane, but challenged Dorcus Wasike for most of the ACC meet until eventually fading to 3rd. While she may not be in the form of previous years, she continues to be a reliable low-card for Notre Dame in big meets.
Like many teams, Notre Dame’s success will ride largely on the ability of their fifth runner. At ACC's, Annasophia Keller was the fifth Irish runner, coming in at 38th. There were 24 people between her and their fourth runner and 13 between her and NC State’s fifth. The Irish looked strong through four, but their fifth could be questionable as they head into a deep Great Lakes regional.
The Wolfpack started the year on a rough note when they finished well back at Nuttycombe, but since then they’ve seemed to sort things out. This weekend, they just barely edged out Notre Dame for the ACC title with only one point separating the two teams.
Elly Henes continues to improve this fall, finishing 2nd overall behind Dorcus Wasike. Henes was an All-American in 2017 and looks on pace to better her 32nd place finish from then. Stanford transfer Nevada Mareno also appears to finally be coming around as she finished 22nd overall. Mareno has struggled much of the season after transferring from Stanford and redshirting her freshman year. She could be a strong fourth or fifth for NC State if she can keep progressing through the regional meet.
Stanford continues to drop in the rankings as they have yet to run some of their top talent. The team finished a distant 3rd at PAC 12's, but could have been much closer than the 33 point gap indicated had they run Christina Aragon or Ella Donaghu.
While Donaghu has yet to race this fall, Aragon competed (attached) back in September and would no longer be eligible to redshirt this fall. There’s potential that she's injured, but Stanford has a history of holding out runners until late in the season and this could be one of those instances. While it seems unlikely, if Aragon returns, Stanford will get a much needed boost in a deep West regional.
Despite absences, the Cardinals also had some strong finishes at the meet. Elise Cranny continues to impress with a 3rd place finish and Fiona O’Keefe was right on her heels per usual. Both runners look like top 20 finishers at NCAA's and Cranny certainly could contend for the individual title depending how the race plays out.
The Spartans have been trending upward this season and the return of Erin McDonald to the lineup certainly helps. Michigan State finished 2nd to Michigan at BIG 10's, but were only 18 points back. Sophomore Maggie Farrell led the team with a 4th place finish and Erin McDonald was only three seconds behind in 7th.
Like Michigan, the team doesn’t have any crazy star power up-front, but their overall depth more than makes up for it. The team had all five scorers in the top 30 and their sixth was only two places behind their fifth.
Two weeks ago the Spartans finished a close 2nd to Penn State when they held out McDonald, but with her back in the lineup, they look much stronger. A tight-knit front five will be key moving into the Great Lakes regional as both Notre Dame and Wisconsin will be challenging for the second auto-qualifier.
Similar to many of the top teams, BYU easily rolled through their conference meet, winning the WCC with 27 points compared to runner-up Portland who had 40.
Erica Birk continues to find success this season, taking the individual title over Lauren LaRocco of Portland. Courtney Waymount was once again the second Cougar, finishing 3rd and Olivia Hoj bounced back after a rough race at Pre-Nats to finish 6th.
One notable name missing from the results is Whittni Orton. At Joe Piane, Orton finished right behind Birk for a big 2nd place finish over returning All-American Anna Rohrer. Since then, Orton has been absent from the lineup, bringing into question if she may be injured. While the Cougars are a strong team even without her, she could be a huge addition if she returns this fall. Her name will be one to look for when BYU competes at the Mountain West regional in two weeks.
Villanova took care of business this weekend by capturing the BIG East title in dominant fashion. The Wildcats scored only 21 points, 52 ahead of runner-up Georgetown, and placed six runners in the top eight.
North Carolina transfer Caroline Alcorta has established herself as Nova’s number one this fall and came away with the individual conference title. Rachel McArthur had a strong showing to finish only four seconds back in 2nd. Nicole Hutchinson was their third with the freshman duo of Taryn O’Neill and Lydia Olivere rounding out the scoring five.
After winning with relative ease, the Wildcats shouldn’t be challenged much in two weeks when they compete at the Mid-Atlantic regional. Outside of Penn State, the field poses no real challengers and based on recent performances, Villanova should easily come away with the victory and an automatic trip to NCAA's.
The Wolverines ran like they have all season and the result was a big win at BIG 10's. The team gradually moved up throughout the first half of the race and didn’t take over the lead until 2000 meters to go. Avery Evenson lead the team with a 3rd place finish and freshman Anne Forsyth was only four seconds back in 8th.
Forsyth looks to be one of the best true freshman in the NCAA this fall. She had only competed attached once this fall, winning the Eastern Michigan Classic with a time of 16:57. Forsyth was the top freshman in the BIG 10 this fall and will make a big impact if she can stay close with Evenson and regionals.
The Michigan women have shown great consistency this season and look ready to defend their Great Lakes regional title. The team has a lot of potential, but their performance at NCAA's will likely hinge on how high their top runners finish. Unlike the teams ahead of them, the Michigan squad doesn’t have the same level of individual talent. However, if Evenson and Forsyth are able to mix in with the top individuals the team may be able to finish top five overall.
PAC 12's was disappointing for a Colorado team that came in ranked number one. The team finished runner-up to Oregon, but it wasn’t close, finishing with 48 points to Oregon’s 32.
Dani Jones continues to impress as she came away with the individual title while both Makena Morley (7th) and Tabor Scholl (9th) also cracked the top 10. Sage Hurta had been Colorado’s third at Nuttycombe, but appeared to have a rough day, finishing back in 28th. Expect her to bounce back at regionals and be up with Morley and Scholl.
While Colorado has had great depth this season, they may not have the talent up-front to match Oregon or New Mexico. The Buffs will rely on their 3-4-5 runners to close the gap on Morley if they want to contend for the team title. The performance this weekend wasn’t great, but Mark Wetmore always has his team’s ready when it counts most.
Arkansas won the SEC title in dominating fashion by scoring 24 points and putting six runners in the top 10. The Razorbacks had the lead at every kilometer split and never totaled more than 26 points during the race. The team was once again lead by Katrina Robinson who continues to be a dominant individual with her runner-up finish.
The next four women behind her all appear to have a chance at All-American honors this fall. Lauren Gregory and Cameron Viljoen finished 3rd and 4th with Taylor Werner 12 seconds back in 6th. Sydney Brown and Maddy Reed also cracked the top 10 with a 9-10 finish, another 21 seconds behind Werner.
Werner is the only All-American from 2017, but right now the team has the potential to have at least four on a good day. The team should roll through the South Central region meet in two weeks and shouldn’t be tested until NCAAs.
Although the Lobos narrowly beat out Boise State for the Mountain West title, the Lobos continue their struggle in finding a reliable fifth. Per usual, the front three of Weini Kelati, Ednah Kurgat, and Charlotte Prouse looked dominant as they went 1-2-3 with Adva Cohen coming in 9th. Cohen looks to have found her rhythm among the Lobos and looks like a reliable fourth runner at NCAAs.
Even with such talent up front, New Mexico only won by two points due to their fifth runner finishing back in 18th. They have now had three different women finish fifth at their three competitions this fall and this lack of consistency is worrisome for a team looking to defend their team title. Sophie Eckel, the fifth Lobo, was 20 seconds behind Boise State’s fifth which cost her eight places on the day. In a deeper meet like Nuttycombe that same gap would have been 26 places.
New Mexico looks to have the best 1-2-3 in the country but unless they find a fifth runner in the next two weeks, their chances of winning the team title will remain lower.
While New Mexico barely edged out Boise State for the Mountain West title (33 to 35), the Broncos remain ranked ahead. Normally, New Mexico would move ahead, but the field for the Mountain West had minimal depth which strongly favors the Lobos lack of a fifth runner. In a larger field, Boise State would have likely came away with the win as the fifth Lobo would have been much further back.
Despite losing, the Broncos ran an impressive race with five runners in the top 10. Allie Ostrander led the team with a 4th place finish and the next four scorers placed 6-7-8-10. Clare O’Brien was the fourth Bronco and finished just ahead of Adva Cohen, the fourth Lobo.
The next two races will be the West regional and NCAA's. Both have significantly deeper fields and will benefit Boise State’s strong front five. The team’s overall performance will rely heavily on how high the pack of Venters, O’Brien, and Fuller can place. If they can minimize the gap between themselves and Ostrander, Boise State will be looking to challenge for the team title.
The women of Oregon are the new number one after taking down the previously top-ranked Colorado Buffaloes in dominating fashion at PAC 12's. Oregon won the meet with 32 points compared to Colorado’s 48 and placed five runners ahead of the fourth Buff.
The Ducks were led by Jessica Hull who earned a 2nd place finish and right behind her were teammates Weronika Pyzik (4th), Susan Ejore (6th), and Carmela Cardama Baez (8th).
Isabelle Brauer closed out the scoring five with a 12th place finish. The Ducks established their depth with Philippa Bowden and Amanda Gehrich coming in 17th and 18th, both right behind Colorado’s fifth.
Right now the difference for Oregon vs the NCAA is their fifth runner. If they keep the front pack tight, the Ducks will be hard to beat at NCAA's.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
UCLA
Florida State
Oregon State
NAU
Air Force
Northwestern
Oregon Ducks
Colorado looked like a dominant number one after their win at Nuttycombe, but Oregon ran a great race at PAC 12's to win with ease. With all five runners in the top 12, the Ducks look like they have at least five All-Americans this fall if everyone shows up on the day.
Florida Gators
After jumping into the rankings for the first time last week and having not made NCAA's since 2010, Florida ran a great race to finish 2nd at SECs' behind Arkansas and look on track to qualify for Nationals this fall. In his second year as head coach, Chris Solinsky looks to have revitalized the program and with Jessica Pascoe leading the way, it’s hard to see the Gators not winning the South region.