Five Things to Watch: Battle in Beantown

Admin (Garrett Zatlin)
Sep 22, 2022
9 min read

As we enter the final days of September, we'll be treated to one of the first major weekends of NCAA competition this fall. In that fold of racing is a Boston-based meet, the Battle in Beantown, an annual staple for early-season cross country races.

While these may not necessarily be the most competitive races compared to a few other weekend showdowns, the Battle in Beantown could still offer plenty of important early-season results. Let's dive in, shall we?

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Harvard Men Enter Key Names, But Conflicts With Cowboy Jamboree Entries Create Uncertainty

The Harvard men do not have their top-two low-sticks, Acer Iverson and Graham Blanks, entered in this meet. That, of course, makes plenty of sense. According to the Cowboy Jamboree entries, both of those men are going to Stillwater, Oklahoma this weekend.

However, according to those same Cowboy Jamboree entries, the Harvard men have freshman Shane Brosnan, Luke Laverdiere, Noah Ward and Vivien Henz venturing to the midwest for Saturday's race on Oklahoma State's course.

That's a little odd considering that all four of those men are also entered in tomorrow's race as well.

And why would Joe Ewing not be listed in the Oklahoma State entries and only listed in the Battle in Beantown entries? And why are some guys doubled entered and others aren't?

Believe or not, I don't have all of the answers to these questions. However, if we do see some of these Harvard men run at Beantown on Friday, then we may leave the weekend with a better idea of who will (and will not) be in Harvard's varsity seven this fall -- and that's important!

Depth is the main area emphasis for the Crimson this fall. While Blanks and Iverson will surely be in the All-American hunt yet again, this squad will need greater scoring support if they don't want to see their team score in the second-half of their lineup skyrocket in larger fields.

Luckily, Friday's race in Boston should be a perfect setting for these backend varsity contenders. While we wouldn't necessarily classify the competition in the Beantown entries as "overwhelming", this race should still prove to be a decent test of how capable these possible varsity contributors can be later in the season.

If we had to guess, rookie Shane Brosnan is the name to watch. He was fantastic in high school, consistently emerging as one of the best postseason prep talents in the country. His times on the track also validate the idea that he can be an immediate-impact name for this team in 2022.

However, if we disregard those who are also in the Oklahoma State entries, then Joe Ewing is likely going to be the Crimson's top guy on Friday. Not only was Ewing a varsity option for Harvard last fall, but he also ran 3:58 in the mile this past winter.

Ewing wasn't necessarily an outstanding cross country runner last fall, but his success on the oval suggests that he could certainly be better in 2022. We'll likely find out if that's the case or not tomorrow afternoon.

Are The Gonzaga Women The Favorites To Win?

If you're looking for a deep sleeper team this fall, look no further than the Gonzaga women, a program that showed tremendous promise last fall and has arguably become even stronger.

The Bulldogs were a pleasantly surprising 4th place at the West Regional XC Championships last fall and also placed 21st at the Nuttycombe Invite earlier that season. That, however, was not enough for Gonzaga to advance to the national meet as a team.

But in 2022, this group returns five of their top-seven, including four of their top-five. And while not having Elizabeth Danis is a tough blow, returning a true low-stick in Kristen Garcia and adding a middle-lineup scorer in Caramia Mestler is promising.

This was also a very young team last fall, meaning that the second-half of their lineup could see some promising growth this weekend and throughout the season.

In terms of lineup structure, this is probably the best team in the field. Their combination of depth, while boasting a true low-stick, should bode well for the Zags. We should also note that neither the Syracuse women nor the Harvard women are running full lineups at the Battle in Beantown on Friday.

In fact, we may even go as far as saying that Kristen Garcia is the individual favorite in this race. She did, after all, finish 3rd at the West Regional XC Championships and 90th at the NCAA XC Championships last fall.

The Bulldog veteran also went on to run 33:27 (10k) this past spring.

Of course, Garcia's status of being the individual favorite in this race may differ for those who are fans of the Mancini sisters or the Virginia women...which leads me to our next topic.

What Kind Of Damage Can The Virginia Women Do?

On paper, I really like this Virginia women's team...a lot.

There is so much high-upside star power and tons of name recognition throughout this entire roster. Athletes like Mia Barnett, Margot Appleton, Sophie Atkinson, Esther Seeland and Rebecca Story are all familiar faces with unique and (usually) exciting backgrounds.

However, "on paper" and reality do not always align.

Mia Barnett was beyond fantastic last winter and spring. She was probably the best freshman in the country last year and her 1500/mile success put her in the elite tier for those distances.

But prior to the winter and spring months, Barnett wasn't all that incredible on the grass. Finishing 46th at the ACC XC Championships and 41st at the Southeast Regional XC Championships last fall was fine for a rookie, but she'll need to be noticeably better in 2022 if the UVA women are going to have any shot of earning a national qualifying bid.

Of course, it seems plenty realistic to think that a 4:33 miler can be a top-five finisher in this field...right?

In my mind, Margot Appleton is going to be the biggest x-factor in this field. The second-year talent may actually be more of a distance-centric runner despite splitting 4:33 on the anchor leg of Virginia's DMR this past winter and running great times in the mile and 1500 meters.

Appleton has run 16:17 for 5000 meters and clearly hasn't run to her full potential yet. After winning the Spider Alumni Open and finishing runner-up at the Virginia Invitational over the last few weekends, it looks like Appleton has potentially assumed the role of the Cavaliers' leading scorer this fall.

Of course, trying to determine just how good she'll actually be this season is not an easy task. Luckily, this race should give us a decent-ish insight into how she handles legitimate competition on the grass.

And how about Sophie Atkinson? She was another high school superstar from the Class of 2021, but was admittedly not great last fall and finished a modest 13th place at the UVA Invite last week.

Atkinson still appears to have a long way to go in her development, but we like the potential that she brings to the table. She has a resume that could absolutely make her due for a breakout season. Will that breakout happen on Friday? Maybe not, but she is a key name to monitor tomorrow afternoon.

I'll also be interested to see how Columbia graduate transfer, Linnaea Kavulich, performs tomorrow. She is a very solid and reliable distance talent, owning personal bests of 9:39 (3k), 16:39 (5k) and 34:53 (10k). Sure, those times don't blow you out the water, but they don't necessarily need to.

If Kavulich can enter this lineup as a respectable backend scorer, then that could help stabilize a very inexperienced lineup that may have a roller coaster 2022 cross country season based simply on their youth.

The upside that many of these UVA women have this fall is very exciting to think about. If all of these women deliver on their full potential, then they could realistically win this race. However, I just don't know if this team will be at that point by Friday.

And yet, at the same time, it's that uncertainty that makes the Cavaliers so dangerous.

The Virginia Men Load Up, Gary Martin To Make Debut

After a very encouraging season opener at the UVA Invite where the Cavaliers went 1-2-3-4 in the scoring results, the men from Charlottesville, Virginia are returning to competition this weekend.

And frankly, I don't know how they lose.

On paper, the Cavaliers simply have too much talent to fall to any of the other teams in this field. Rohann Asfaw is an established (and very accomplished) veteran, Yasin Sado is an 8:33 steeplechaser, Wes Porter has run 13:36 for 5000 meters and Justin Wachtel was fantastic in his season-opening win last weekend.

And then there's Gary Martin.

The true rookie is known for his grand success in the mile, running 3:57 multiple times before venturing to the collegiate level. However, some people seem to forget that Martin is an elite long distance talent as well.

The Pennsylvania native has run a jaw-dropping time of 8:41 for 3200 meters and finished 11th at the Garmin RunningLane XC National Championships last spring where he ran 14:24 for 5000 meters. And if you're not totally sold on that time, then just know that Martin also ran 14:49 for 5000 meters at Paul Short.

To put it simply, Martin is expected to make a massive impact for UVA on the grass.

Will Martin emerge as a cross country scorer for the Virginia men this fall?

Yes, almost definitely.

But where in that top-five will Martin reside? We all have big aspirations for Wachtel, Sado, Porter and Asfaw this fall, so if Martin were to slip into a scoring position where he's ahead of one of those men, then just how good could this team be? And just how much better will Martin get by season's end.

Based strictly on last year's cross country results, it's understandable why there may be some hesitation when it comes to this Virginia roster. Even so, the five men who I just mentioned each have very good arguments for playing major scoring roles for the Cavaliers this fall.

In theory, at least two or three of these guys are going to deliver on their recent track success.

And if all of them do?

Well, then this might be a top-20 or even a top-15 team in our rankings when the season is all said and done...but first, let's see how they handle this field before I make any of those proclamations.

Key Individuals To Watch (Who Weren't Already Mentioned)

I'll be really interested to see how Northeastern's Alex Korczynski fares during tomorrow's race. While his regular season performances last fall were unexciting, it's important to note that he did win CAA XC Championships and place 17th at the Northeast Regional XC Championships that same season. With an 8:39 steeplechase personal best from this past spring, there's a very real possibility that this Husky ace takes home the win in Boston. However, he'll have a legitimate challenge when it comes to the Virginia men, a potential battle that could be fun to monitor tomorrow afternoon.

The Mancini sisters of La Salle, Eleanor, Elizabeth and Christine, could form a lethal scoring trio that may make the Explorers one of the more competitive teams in this field. Eleanor Mancini is likely the biggest name to watch. She ran 15:58 (5k) and 33:24 (10k) earlier this year and her accomplishments extend over the last few seasons of competition. Meanwhile, Elizabeth ran 15:56 (5k) this past spring and actually qualified the outdoor national meet. As for Christine, she led La Salle last year in the 800 meters (2:04) and the 1500 meters (4:22). Together, these three women could be very dangerous names. While Kristen Garcia and maybe a few UVA women will be favored for the individual win, the Mancini sisters may try to play spoiler -- and they very easily could!

The Harvard women aren't fielding a full lineup for tomorrow's race. They do, however, have a handful of top varsity talents toeing the line. One of those varsity talents is Isabella Sagar. We've been talking about Kristen Garcia, the Mancini sisters and a few Virginia women as possible individual winners for Friday's race. However, Sagar is someone who finished 3rd at the Ivy League XC Championships and 5th at the Northeast Regional XC Championships shortly thereafter. After continuing to progress on the track, there's a very real scenario that Sagar challenges for the win in Boston.

Be sure to also keep an eye out for Eloise Freitag. She was 8th at the Ivy League XC Championships and 18th at the Northeast Regional XC Championships last fall. Her youth suggests that she still has some untapped upside, something that could come out in full force during Friday's race.

The Syracuse men are also fielding a handful of non-varsity runners in this race, although some of their entrants could be sneaky-good in this setting. Veteran Dom Hockenbury, for instance, has run 29:25 (10k) and finished as high as 7th at the 2018 Northeast Regional XC Championships. He'll be paired with Kamari Miller, a still-young Georgia native who was phenomenal in high school. With 8:46 steeplechaser Kevin Robertson in this field, as well as 13:46 (5k) runner Karl Winter, the Syracuse men have a sneaky-good contingent that could keep things honest with the Virginia Cavaliers.