2024 Conference Weekend First Thoughts (Part Two): Georgetown Women Narrowly Defeat Providence, Princeton Upsets Harvard (Again) & New Mexico Men Sweep Mountain West

Yesterday, we recapped and analyzed all of the action that took place at the Power Four conference meets. Of course, there were plenty of other important races from this past weekend that deserved some of the spotlight as well!

Here are our takeaways from a large handful of other notable conference championships from what turned out to be a very entertaining weekend...

BIG East XC Championships (Men)

1. Villanova Wildcats (35 points)

Seeing Villanova win the BIG East title wasn't a surprise, nor was seeing their duo of Liam Murphy and Marco Langon go 1-2 in this field.

However, the ongoing rise of Bailey Habler (4th) has been huge. He is slowly evolving into a lead scoring talent and giving the Wildcats more firepower than we thought they'd have this fall.

The backend of Villanova's lineup, for the most part, has shown subtle improvements. Devon Comber (10th) had a decent outing on Friday while CJ Sullivan (18th) has proven that he can be a capable fifth man. The margin for error on this team is still extremely low, but I thought that the Wildcats ran as well as we realistically could have asked them to.

2. Butler Bulldogs (41 points)

This was a quietly solid result for a Butler team that desperately needed some momentum for the remainder of the postseason.

Will Zegarski (3rd) was a great low-stick as expected, but we finally got to see Florian LePallec (6th) offer a better scoring result than he has provided all season long. He's still not in his true low-stick form, but compared to the rest of his fall campaign, this was a step in the right direction. It was also nice to see Austin Gabay (8th) provide his team with a sneaky-good scoring effort as well.

However, what really stood out were the performance of David Slapak (11th) and Luke Henseler (13th). Those two men had never been as valuable from a scoring perspective as they were on Friday. They quickly closed out Butler's top-five and allowed the Bulldogs to take full advantage of having two men in the top-six.

Six points in a smaller, top-heavy field like the BIG East XC Championships is by no means a small amount. Despite all of the struggles that Butler has had this fall, they kept things competitive with a strong Villanova team and that deserves respect.

3. Georgetown Hoyas (70 points)

Friday wasn't the strongest effort from the Georgetown men. The Hoyas' lack of a true low-stick paired with multiple gaps in their scoring group caused their team score to inflate quite a bit.

James Dunne (5th) had a nice day, validating his strong Nuttycombe Invite performance from late September. Abel Teffra (9th) also had a solid outing as well, continuing to offer sneaky-good consistency.

However, the latter-half scorers of Luke Ondracek (14th), Birhanu Harriman (19th) and Derek Fearon (23rd) saw gaps form between each other. That, in turn, allowed the Wildcats and Bulldogs to fill those holes and push Georgetown back in the team standings.

This squad is likely built for a larger field. We would also imagine that Lucas Guerra will be better in the future. Even so, this wasn't the most ideal way for the Hoyas to kick-off their postseason.

Notable Individuals (Not Already Mentioned)

Liam Murphy winning the individual title was one of the least surprising results of the weekend. I'm also unsure what to do with Marco Langon (2nd) and Will Zegarski (3rd) in our rankings.

The latter beat the former at Pre-Nationals earlier this season and that race more closely mimics the NCAA XC Championships. However, the former beat the latter name more recently. I'm not sure which scenario is more favorable, but I'll leave that to my writers to decide.

BIG East XC Championships (Women)

1. Georgetown Hoyas (42 points)

2. Providence Friars (43 points)

It's impossible to talk about one of these teams without talking about the other -- so we're combining their analysis.

For the most part, the Providence low-sticks and the Georgetown low-sticks matched our expectations on Friday. Alex Millard (2nd) was outstanding, having the best race of her still-young NCAA career. That firepower was paired with respectable outings from Kimberley May (6th) and Shannon Flockhart (8th). The Hoyas, meanwhile, were led by Chloe Scrimgeour (3rd), Lucy Jenks (5th) and Melissa Riggins (7th), a top-three that continues to be fantastic this fall.

Coming into this race, Georgetown was narrowly favored. However, a quietly great effort from Providence's Laura Mooney (10th) put the Friars in a very strong position to compete for the win.

But then Georgetown's depth came through.

The quintet of Barrett Justema, Charlotte Tomkinson, Olivia Morganti, Fiona Max and Almi Nerurkar packed together to take spots 13-14-15-16-17, respectively. And while the performances of those latter three women may not have produced a scoring result, they DID push back Niamh O'Mahony (18th), the final scorer for Providence -- and that's a bigger deal than you may think.

If O'Mahoney had defeated Max and Nerurkar, then Providence and Georgetown would have tied (with the tie-breaker going to the Hoyas). And if she had beaten Morganti, then Providence would have won the title.

In other words, the Hoyas won BIG East gold not necessarily because of their ultra-talented low-sticks, but because of their non-scorers. That is not something that you see every day.

3. Connecticut Huskies (73 points)

Great run for the Connecticut women! Chloe Thomas (1st) looks like a legitimate superstar, Jenna Zydanowicz (9th) is slowly becoming one of the more underrated scorers in the country and Caroline Towle (11th) had a quietly solid day as well.

The 1-2-3 punch of this squad was great as expected. And while the Huskies did see a significant drop-off after their top scoring trio, it was nice to see Malin Rahm (26th) and Chloe Trudel (29th) remain inside of the top-30 spots overall.

A win over Villanova could also be big as we approach the regional meets. If the Wildcats get into the national meet (and there's a good chance that they do), then the Huskies could get a point from them.

4. Villanova Wildcats (77 points)

Sadie Sigfstead (4th) did her job and delivered a very strong low-stick result. We also thought Emma McGill (12th) had a good race. She offered great scoring value for a team that needed more firepower behind Sigfstead.

However, we have yet to see the same Nicole Vanasse who finished 11th at the Nuttycombe Invite earlier this season. After remaining absent from the Princeton Fall Classic, the Lion-turned-Wildcat graduate transfer faded outside of the top-20 on Friday.

Having the best version of Vanasse may be crucial once Villanova reaches the Mid-Atlantic Regional XC Championships. There are a variety of ways in which they can advance to the NCAA XC Championships, but trying to get pushed into the national meet may be their best bet -- and they'll need the low-stick version of Vanasse in order for that to happen.

Notable Individuals (Not Already Mentioned)

Gosh, Chloe Thomas is so insanely good. She truly looks like a top-10 runner in the country right now and there's an even argument that she's among the top-five. The fitness jump that she has made this year (and also sustained) is extremely impressive.

Ivy League XC Championships (Men)

1. Princeton Tigers (51 points)

2. Harvard Crimson (62 points)

Last year, the Princeton men upset Harvard to win the Ivy League title. While the Crimson had greater firepower, the Tigers had stronger depth and had a more complete team. That difference ultimately allowed Princeton to secure gold.

Funny enough, the same thing was true in 2024. However, this time, the talent of the Crimson's lineup was arguably better. Plus, Harvard had likely learned plenty from last year's race. Surely we wouldn't see another upset this season...right?

Wrong.

While Harvard was able to rally around the individual victory from Graham Blanks and a 4th place effort from Ben Rosa, Princeton was able to pack their scorers into the gaps of the Crimson's lineup (specifically at the backend). With Myles Hogan (5th) leading the way, the rest of the Tigers' scoring group went 8-11-13-14 in the final results.

Harvard, meanwhile, was actually great through four runners. Behind Blanks and Rosa were Shane Brosnan (9th) and Sam Burgess (12th), two men who had very solid outings. But with the Crimson's final scorer shockingly fading to 43rd place, the Princeton men were easily able to capitalize on that backend chasm.

In a larger field, Harvard is probably a better team. Their backend runners have proven to be much, much stronger in the past. Even so, the Tigers further showcased that they have one of the higher floors in the NCAA.

Notable Individuals (Not Already Mentioned)

I am a big fan of Penn's Dylan Throop. His runner-up result on Saturday was well-deserved after having a great 2023 fall campaign which ended too early with a late-season injury.

The Quaker ace has been consistently competitive with top names and has been tested on a handful of occasions. He is a sleeper pick to earn All-American honors and he should be on your radar for the next few weeks.

As for 3rd place, I have no idea what to think about Columbia's Talha Syed. He was the 33rd place finisher at the Princeton Fall Classic, but just snagged bronze at a fairly competitive conference meet. Of course, given how much success that he's had on the track, there's good reason to believe that Syed's first race was just a fluke and nothing more.

Ivy League XC Championships (Women)

1. Princeton Tigers (40 points)

2. Harvard Crimson (53 points)

In our eyes, the Harvard women were, to a lesser extent than the men, favorites to win the Ivy League title this fall. They did, after all, beat the Tigers at the Paul Short Run earlier this season.

But to put it simply, Princeton was just flat-out better than the Crimson on Saturday. Mena Scatchard and Anna McNatt placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively, to give their team great firepower. However, it was the efforts of Alexis Allen (7th) and Meg Madison (8th) who had better-than-expected performances.

Those latter two runners were the biggest reasons why Princeton was able to open up a significant lead and keep it. Meanwhile, Emma de Jong (20th) did a decent enough job of closing out the scoring.

Harvard had success with Molly Malague (5th) and Penelope Salmon (6th), but their next four runners went 13-14-15-16 in the overall results. That pack was collectively too far back to counter the impressive firepower that the Tigers had conjured up.

Just like their men's team, we still believe in the overall talent of the Harvard women and we think that they can be better in the future. But for a Princeton team that has to go through a sneaky-deep Mid-Atlantic region to get to the national meet this year, beating the Crimson may have given them a valuable Kolas point.

Notable Individuals (Not Already Mentioned)

There was little doubt that Columbia's Phoebe Anderson was going to win the Ivy League title this past weekend, and that's exactly what happened. The Lion star is arguably even better than last year, but Saturday's field wasn't going to give her a legitimate test.

Also, nice 4th place run from Yale's Claire Archer. She has had a quietly solid season so far and it seems like she's maintaining that momentum going into the postseason.

Mountain West XC Championships (Men)

1. New Mexico Lobos (15 points)

We were very confident that the New Mexico men were going to win the Mountain West team title. But were we expecting Habtom Samuel, Vincent Chirchir, Collins Kiprotich, Evans Kiplagat and Lukas Kiprop to go 1-2-3-4-5 in the overall results?

Truthfully, no, we were not.

At their very best, we were confident that the Lobos had five low-sticks this season. However, we haven't always seen that from them this fall. And although New Mexico is the class of their conference, there were still enough talented individuals to break up the Lobos' pack...or so we thought.

If each of those New Mexico men run up to their full potential at the national meet like they did this past weekend, then they will undoubtedly be a podium team.

2. Colorado State Rams (70 points)

I will fully admit, I had written off the Colorado State men after their underwhelming 3rd place showing at the Roy Griak Invitational. Given their personnel and their experience, I felt that the Rams should have been better than that.

But maybe we should have seen this result coming after seeing that CSU placed 5th at the Princeton Fall Classic a couple of weeks ago. That was a sneaky-good result for a team that had struggled earlier on.

Even so, Wyoming had proven to be the better team this fall and so had Utah State (although they didn't run their top men on Friday). Naturally, you can understand why I was surprised to see the men of Fort Collins snag silver in this race.

Michael Mooney (7th), Lars Mitchell (8th) and Cory Kennedy (10th) were surprisingly good. They offered far better scoring potency than Wyoming. There was, however, a gap that opened up as the team's final two scorers took 21st and 24th place. Even so, the value of CSU's top-three was simply too much for the Wyoming men to match.

Kudos to Colorado State. This is valuable momentum for the Mountain Regional XC Championships, a meet where they will hope to get pushed into the national meet.

3. Wyoming Cowboys (80 points)

This was a surprisingly poor performance for Wyoming given what they have accomplished this season.

Despite having all five of their scorers finish inside of the top-20, the Cowboys didn't have a single runner crack the top-10 of this meet. Jacob White (11th) didn't look like the low-stick that he has been this season and Gus McIntyre struggled a good bit as well.

Even so, this performance was likely a fluke for a Wyoming team that has been otherwise great this fall (compared to expectations). As long as they're ready for the regional and national stages, we won't worry too much about this performance.

Notable Individuals (Not Already Mentioned)

Everything that we said about the New Mexico men largely applies to this section as well...we can move on to the next meet.

Mountain West XC Championships (Women)

1. New Mexico Lobos (32 points)

The New Mexico women were expected to win this meet with relative ease -- and they did. With Pamela Kosgei (1st) leading the way, the Lobos were more or less guaranteed to have one point through their first runner.

Mercy Kirarei (4th) was great as expected while Christina Nisoli (6th) had a surprisingly strong race. With three other women going 10-11-12, there was no other team in this field that was going to match the Lobos' balance of low-sticks and depth.

2. Boise State Broncos (54 points)

Despite not even coming within 20 points of New Mexico, I thought this was a quietly great race for Boise State. I loved the 1-2 punch of Yasmin Marghini (2nd) and Kaiya Robertson (3rd) who proved how dangerous they can be when they're firing on all cylinders.

Emily Jobes (13th) had a very solid race, offering great stability to the middle portion of this lineup. Amit Koma (16th) was surprisingly good and the same could be said about Abby Kendrick (20th).

A lot of different women stepped up for the Broncos on Friday, especially in the areas where they were needed the most. That's a great sign as Boise State prepares for the West regional meet.

Notable Individuals (Not Already Mentioned)

Pamela Kosgei is really good, but we already knew that. However, seeing Boise State's Yasmin Marghini earn silver is a key development as we dive deeper into the postseason. Remember, she was an All-American back in the fall of 2022, but hasn't been in the same form since then. Could she potentially be returning to her prior peak level of fitness at just the right time?

West Coast Conference XC Championships (Men)

1. Portland Pilots (27 points)

It's not necessarily a surprise that the Portland men beat Gonzaga. They were, after all, favored to take home the win and they had simply proven to be a stronger team this season.

Matt Strangio (2nd) was unsurprisingly great, but it was his fellow Pilot teammates -- Jona Bodirsky, Bradley Peloquin, Jonas Gertsen and Kgadi Monyebadi -- who went 4-5-7-9, respectively. Those men loudly slammed the door shut on any hopes of Gonzaga pulling off an upset.

This is arguably the best that Portland has looked at this point in the season over the last few years. They clearly have a star low-stick, they have plenty of great depth and there are minimal gaps in their lineup.

A larger field will present a different (and greater) challenge for Portland in the coming weeks. But right now, it's hard not to feel good about where the Pilots are at.

2. Gonzaga Bulldogs (42 points)

While I did think that the Gonzaga men could have inched the slightest bit closer to Portland, I can't say that their final result surprises me too much.

Seeing Wil Smith (3rd) return to low-stick form was very encouraging. He wasn't having a poor season, but he has not been at his best in his last few races. Behind him, Bryce Cerkowniak (6th) continues to put together a very underrated season while veteran Drew Kolodge (8th) offered great value as well.

Cooper Laired, Logan Law and Paul Talens were somewhat quick to close out the scoring for the Bulldogs, going 12-13-14, respectively. And given how small this field was, it doesn't feel like Gonzaga's lineup will be too far behind Portland's at a larger stage like the national meet (assuming both teams qualify).

Notable Individuals (Not Already Mentioned)

Washington State's Evans Kurui secured a strong win over a top-ranked name in Matt Strangio en route to the West Coast Conference title on Saturday.

We were truthfully a bit surprised to see Kurui falter to Utah Valley's Mohamed Guled in the "B" race at Pre-Nationals earlier this season. However, after seeing Guled take down two ranked names at his conference meet this past weekend, we feel like we have a better grasp of how good Kurui is, especially with a win over Strangio now under his belt.

West Coast Conference XC Championships (Women)

1. Gonzaga Bulldogs (35 points)

The Gonzaga women were just flat-out better than every other team in this field -- and it showed. Rosina Machu (1st) proved that she is a true superstar. Behind her, Logan Hofstee, Willow Collins and Jessica Frydenlund all cracked the top-10 and gave the Bulldogs tons of scoring value.

Having their fifth scorer drop to 14th place wasn't exactly ideal, but it also wasn't the end of the world. We also believe that Sadie Tuckwood can be much better in the future.

At the end of the day, we didn't really learn anything new about Gonzaga, but it was nice to see them comfortably secure WCC gold against a respectable field.

2. Portland Pilots (49 points)

I was incredibly impressed by Portland's Fleur Templier's runner-up effort. She has slowly become a true low-stick for the Pilots and could realistically compete for All-American honors later this month.

However, the other big development was that two-time All-American Laura Pellicoro returned to their lineup! Her 4th place finish reaffirms her role as a low-stick and she should theoretically make this team far more challenging to shake off come the West Regional XC Championships.

With Maebh Richardson (9th) and Juliette Forstrom (10th) offering high-impact scoring efforts of their own, Portland really wasn't that far off from Gonzaga through four runners. Of course, with the Pilots' fifth scorer dropping back to 24th place, the Bulldogs were able to run away with gold.

It may not have ended with a WCC title, but Portland should be able to take a lot of positives from this result, especially now that they have Pellicoro entering the West regional meet.

Notable Individuals (Not Already Mentioned)

Solid 3rd place run from Washington State's Zenah Cheptoo. I thought she had a good chance to earn silver, but Portland's Fleur Templier has turned out to be much better this season than I thought she would be.