Men's Preview by John Cusick Women's Preview by Grace McLaughlin Men's Preview At the beginning of the season, it would have been easy to say that this was Queens (N.C.)'s region to run away with. Three months later, that doesn't seem to be the case (but hey, that's why they run the races). This is essentially a three-team race between Queens (N.C.), Mount Olive, and Augusta University. All three of these program won their respective conference meets, and they won them handily. Queens scored 22 points, Mount Olive posted a perfect score of 15 points and Augusta tallied a total of 29 points. Mount Olive looks to be the early favorite in this region after going 1-2-3-4-5-6 at the Conference Carolinas Championship with only 17 seconds between that group. They were also runner-up at the Royals XC Challenge and 33rd at Paul Short (Gold race). Tai Smith is the low-stick for this team and continues to prove that he should be in consideration for All-American status this year. Jacob Gonzalez has done a good job serving as their #2 man this year while Branson Oduor, Jacob Willis, and Jay Hall have helped bridge the gap between Smith and their #5 scorer. Queens (N.C.) was one of our top 10 teams coming into the season and quickly fell out of the rankings. Anthony Raftis hasn't quite looked like himself since the beginning of the year and it's been a roulette of sorts in terms of who will lead this team on any given race day. Lately, it's been Yannick Duppich who most recently came away with the SAC individual title. Nick Kipkemei was five seconds behind him while Raftis was 11 seconds back in 4th place while Felix Wammetsberger finished 5th. The Royals were 2nd at the Cougar Challenge early in September and then 4th at the Capital Cross two weeks later. This team will need Raftis to move his way back towards the level of Duppich and give them a potent 1-2 scoring punch. If they aren't able to do that, then it wouldn't come as a surprise to me to see this team finishing in 2nd place this weekend. Augusta University is a team that I don't think anyone is really looking at right now. They've been a bit under the radar, but they just pieced together a really solid 35 second time spread at their conference meet to finish 27 points ahead of 2nd place Flagler. Jacob Poston and Chase Kennedy both had very strong races in that conference meet finishing 3rd and 5th, respectively with their teammates finishing 6-7-8 to round out the scoring. The issue for them is that if you look at their schedule, they haven't raced anyone of note this year other than Mount Olive who truthfully made light work of the Jaguars, beating them by 77 points. Will they be able to hang with the top teams this weekend? Or will Queens and Mount Olive simply have too much firepower? Whatever your thoughts are, we still think that they have some solid postseason momentum in their favor right now. To clear up the individual race, this is Joshua Chepkesir's to win. He just won the Peach Belt title by more than a minute and he has run away from most of his competition all season long. He'll take this wire-to-wire and probably won't be challenged for most of the race. Men's Predictions Teams 1. Mount Olive 2. Queens (N.C.) 3. Augusta University 4. Anderson (S.C.) 5. Flagler Individuals 1. Joshua Chepkesir (UNC Pembroke) 2. Silus Kipkoech (UNC Pembroke) 3. Tai Smith (Mount Olive) 4. Yannick Duppich (Queens (N.C.)) 5. Micah Kipchumba (Wingate) 6. Jacob Gonzalez (Mount Olive) 7. Anthony Raftis (Queens (N.C.)) 8. Jacob Poston (Augusta) 9. Marcus Graham (Flagler) 10. Branson Oduor (Mount Olive) Women's Preview Queens University (N.C.) headlines the Southeast Regional Championships. They started off their season with a 3rd place finish at the Cougar Challenge, then a 19th place finish at the Capital Cross Challenge, a 7th place finish at the Royal XC Challenge, and a win at the South Atlantic Conference Championships. It's been a solid season for the Royals so far, but they have a few inconsistencies, mainly when comparing their Capital Cross performance to their other races. Hannah Wolkenhauer will be the top runner for the Royals this weekend and they'll need her to finish near the front. At Capital Cross and their own Royals XC Challenge, the team faced issues with their depth. It wasn't a huge problem at the SAC meet, but it could prove to be a big one in the future. Next up is Wingate. They placed runner-up behind Queens at The South Atlantic Conference Championships. Earlier in the season, the Bulldogs won their home meet and the Catawba Fleet Feet XC Invite. They were three places behind Queens at the Royal XC Challenge, finishing 10th overall. At Paul Short, the pack time between their 1-2-3-4 runners was 42 seconds. That time spread moved to 1:33 when you add in their #5 runner. At PSAC's, that spread hovered around the same time (1:36) meaning that, at the very least, this team is consistent. Their backend is going to need some work, but this race shouldn't be overly competitive compared to a few of their races from earlier this season. As a result, that gap should play less of a role in their team score. We are projecting to see the Flagler women in 3rd place. They have had a decent season that began with a 3rd place finish at the VSU Border Clash, a 4th place finish at the Queen City Invite, and a 17th place finish at the Lewis Conference Crossover. The highlight of their season thus far is winning the Peach Belt Conference Championships to edge out North Georgia. North Georgia has had an equally impressive season. They started out with a runner-up performance at the VSU Border Clash, a win at their home meet, a 3rd place finish at the Wingfoot XC Classic, a 5th place performance at the Queen City Invite, another win at the Bobcat Cross Country Invite, and a runner-up performance at the Peach Belt Conference Championships. It seems clear that the North Georgia women wanted to get as much race experience as possible this year. They should be well-suited for this weekend after toeing the line for a variety of meets this season. Flagler and North Georgia finished nine points apart from each other at the Peach Belt meet which only highlights the fact that their varsity lineups are actually pretty similar. Flagler went 2-4-7-13-14 to beat North Georgia's finishes of 5-6-10-11-17. Flagler's spread was 38 seconds while North Georgia's was 35 seconds. It wouldn't come as a surprise to see North Georgia finish higher than Flagler this weekend given that the regional field will be larger than their conference meet. Even then, Flagler's low-sticks could make the difference. Lenoir-Rhyne is the biggest surprise in this preview. They were 9th at this meet a year ago, but I'm predicting them to finish 5th this year. They have been close behind the above aforementioned mentioned teams throughout this season. The Bears started their season off with winning their home meet before recording a 2nd place finish at the Wingate University Bulldog Stampede, finishing 6th at the Queen City Invite, placing 17th at the Royal XC Challenge, and taking 3rd at the South Atlantic Conference Championships. On the individual side of things, I can say with certainty that Nicole McMillen of Tusculum will be the champion. She has been on fire since her 6th place performance in the steeplechase at NCAA's last spring. McMillen opened up her season by winning Zaxby’s Open which was then followed by a 2nd place finish at the Wingfoot Classic, followed by three more wins. Every recent result points to her earning yet another W this weekend. Hannah Wolkenhower of Queens was runner-up behind McMillen at their conference meet and it should be a repeat situation on Saturday. Franziska Althaus of Wingate was close behind Wolkenhower and should be favored for 3rd. Janet Kwambai and Caroline Hillard of Lenoir-Rhyne and Rachel Strayer of Carson Newman should round out the top six. There is a pretty clear team winner and an almost certain individual champion going into this meet, but the top five teams and the overall individual race should be exciting to watch. Women's Predictions Team 1. Queens (N.C.) 2. Wingate 3. Flagler 4. North Georgia 5. Lenoir-Rhyne Individuals* 1. Nicole McMillen (Tusculum) 2. Hannah Wolkenhauer (Queens (N.C.)) 3. Franziska Althaus (Wingate) 4. Janet Kwambai (Lenoir-Rhyne) 5. Rachel Strayer (Carson-Newman) 6. Caroline Hilliard (Lenoir-Rhyne) 7. Micah Weathers (Augusta University) 8. Malia Cryan (Flagler) 9. Erman Jepleting (UNC Pembroke) 10. Kayla McManama (Flagler) *We erroneously omitted Leah Hanle from our predictions when transferring the article from a document to our site platform. We apologize for the error.

Men's Preview by John Cusick Women's Preview by Grace McLaughlin Men's Preview The Midwest region may be the most entertaining region in all of Division Two this weekend. There. I said it. That's because TSR #3 Grand Valley State will likely get the biggest test of their season. The Lakers will see TSR #9 Michigan Tech, TSR #10 Walsh, Southern Indiana, Saginaw Valley State, Hillsdale, and Illinois-Springfield all next to them on the starting line this weekend. All of these teams have a very legitimate shot at making the national meet in two weeks. Let's begin our conversation with Grand Valley State. TSR #2 individual Tanner Chada has been leading the way for this group throughout the entire season. He helped guide the Lakers to a runner-up finish at the MSU Spartan Invitational and then a team victory at the Lewis Crossover. They may not be as good as they were in 2018, but the supporting cast of Ben Zaremba, Colin Hermann, Noah Steffen, Dawson Winters, Jesse Becker, and Jacob Domagalski is a strong one. That contingent hasn't been as air-tight in terms of consistency this year, but they are reliable scorers who are capable of getting the job done. Whatever the order of those scorers may be on Saturday, it should be enough to get them the regional title. Despite the great success of Grand Valley State, Michigan Tech has been steadily closing in on the Lakers' grasp of the region this season. They most recently finished 13 points back of GVSU behind the likes of Braden Reichl and Matthew Pahl, a duo that has been scary good throughout 2019. #3 scorer Clayton Sayen continues his breakout season and is a big reason why the Huskies continue to inch closer to the top. Earlier in the season, Michigan Tech finished just four points back of Grand Valley at the MSU Spartan Invitational, signaling a promising future. However, Nate Carey and Brendan Klynstra will need to step up on the backend of their lineup if Michigan Tech has any real chance of taking home the regional title. Walsh might be one of the most underrated teams coming into the regional weekend. The only downfall for them is that they come from a conference that isn't the strongest. They took home the G-MAC title with 35 points, placing four inside the top 10, and five inside the top 15. Their time spread was 60 seconds at that meet, which is respectable, but it will need to improve if the Cavaliers want to find themselves among the top three teams this weekend. Noah Murray and Jacob Caniford have the potential to be in the top 15 individually, but Walsh will need the rest of their scorers to jump inside the top 30 for them to be successful. Earlier in the year, they took down Saginaw Valley State and Illinois-Springfield en route to a 9th place finish at Lewis Crossover. The time spread in that race was worse than it was at G-MAC's which tells us that they are making the necessary improvements at the right time of the season. Then we have Southern Indiana who returns the reigning regional champion in Titus Winders who will be looking to repeat on Saturday. He certainly has his hands full with Chada, but will be the low-stick that the Screaming Eagles need in order for them to finish inside the top five and possibly even the top three. Austin Nolan and Nathan Hall bring experience to this team that should help put them over the top. When Nolan is at this best, he can be a very dangerous front-runner. Saginaw Valley State, Hillsdale, and Illinois-Springfield are all relatively the same when it comes to their lineup dynamic. They all have a strong low-stick, an efficient pairing at the #2 and #3 positions, but also hold some backend scoring concerns. Saginaw Valley State went 2-3-8 at their GLIAC meet before closing out their top five with finishes of 22nd and 28th place. Hillsdale went 1-5-6-11 before a 23rd place finish finalized their team score. As for Illinois-Springfield, they went 2-6-7 before ending their day with finishes of 15th and 23rd at the GLVC Championships. Saginaw Valley State's CarLee Stimpfel and Dayton Brown, as well as Hillsdale's Joseph Humes, should find themselves near the front of this race. However, the success of their teams will come down to how the rest of their lineup performs Men's Predictions Teams 1. Michigan Tech 2. Grand Valley State 3. Walsh 4. Southern Indiana 5. Saginaw Valley State Individuals 1. Tanner Chada (Grand Valley State) 2. Titus Winders (Southern Indiana) 3. CarLee Stimpfel (Saginaw Valley State) 4. Braden Reichl (Michigan Tech) 5. Matthew Pahl (Michigan Tech) 6. Joseph Humes (Hillsdale) 7. Noah Murray (Walsh) 8. Ben Zaremba (Grand Valley State) 9. Dayton Brown (Saginaw Valley State) 10. Clayton Sayen (Michigan Tech) Women's Preview The TSR #2 team in the nation. Four (yes, four!) “Just Missed” teams. Three "Honorable Mention" teams. On both the team and individual side of things, there is a clear leader followed by tight competition. The Grand Valley State Lakers should have another easy win and qualify for their 20th National Championship in a row. After the Lakers, there’s a group of teams that could make their way into the #2 spot. Hillsdale, Walsh, Southern Indiana, Southwest Baptist, Saginaw Valley, Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, Malone, and Wayne State are all the notable teams competing in this weekend's regional race. Grand Valley State hasn't shied away from top-tier competition this year (and they haven't performed poorly either). The Lakers placed 2nd at the MSU Spartan Invite, 5th at the Ohio State Buckeye Preview, they won the team title at the Lewis Crossover meet, and took home the win at the GLIAC Championships. They started their season battling Division One competition and then dominated Division Two fields at their last two meets. They are in good shape heading into this weekend. Their top runners have shuffled around a bit, but Allie Ludge, Hanna Groeber, Madison Goen, Jessica Gockley, and Klaudia O’Malley should be their scoring five. That group will likely be more concerned about the national meet than the regional meet. Ludge and the triple-G trio (trademark pending) have all been consistent low-sticks this year while O’Malley made her collegiate debut with a fantastic 3rd finish at their conference meet. We then have Hillsdale who placed 11th in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Gold race and later won the GMAC Championships the other weekend to edge out Walsh, 43 to 46. The GMAC runner-ups, the Walsh Cavaliers, have also had a decent season thus far. They were 4th at the National Catholic Invite, 3rd at the All-Ohio XC Championship, and 3rd again at the Lewis Conference Crossover. I'm projecting Hillsdale to take that runner-up spot this weekend, but Walsh is a close 3rd. This could be one of the best battles of the weekend that doesn't result in a team title. These two teams are not only similar, but they are also very familiar with each other. Can the depth of Walsh turn the tables? Or will the Hillsdale front-runners be able to finish low enough to the point where Walsh's backend wont matter? In 4th place, we have the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles. They won the GLVC Championship a few weeks ago, but that shouldn't overshadow their very impressive results from the regular season. After winning their home meet, they finished runner-up at the Trevecca Nazarene DII Showcase and were 6th in the highly competitive Lewis Conference Crossover meet. Rounding out our top five is Southwest Baptist thanks to their recent performances and increasing momentum throughout the season. With key finishes such as 4th place at the Southern Stampede Invite and 8th place at the Louisville Classic, this team has enough big-meet experience to thrive against their competition on Saturday. On the individual side of things, my entire top 10 runners have some kind of mention in our XC Top 25 (either in our rankings, Honorable Mentions, or Just Missed categories). Allie Ludge of Grand Valley should continue her winning streak, but Elysia Burgos of Southwest Baptist could making things interesting. Burgos has recorded three sub-17:30 marks for 5000 meters as well as a 21:05 6k last weekend. She won the FHSU Tiger Open and took home the GLVC win as well. Some combination of Groeber, Gockley, and Goen should earn top 10 finishes. They are consistent veterans who would be top-tier low-sticks on pretty much any other team. The Lakers also have a surprise freshman in Klaudia O’Malley who placed 3rd overall at the GLIAC Championships. We've only seen one result from her so far, but as of right now, we don't have any reason to think that she won't be racing next to her teammates this weekend. Lauren Bailey of Indianapolis has greatly improved and made her name known this season. She started off with a win at the Taylor University Ray Bullock Invite, then placed 4th at the Lewis Crossover meet before settling for silver behind Burgos at the GLVC Championships. Kathryn Etelamaki of Ferris State is another extremely consistent athlete heading into the regional meet. She placed 28th at the MSU Spartan Invite, 32nd at the Ohio State Buckeye Preview, 9th at the Lewis Conference Crossover meet, and 5th at GLIAC Championships. Not only does she have experience against top-ranked competition, but she has thrived in those fields. She should near the GVSU trio of Groeber, Goen, and Gockley on Saturday. Emily Byrd of Michigan Tech should be a big name to watch. She slightly underwhelmed at the GLIAC Championships with an 8th place finish, but her 6th place result at the Lewis Crossover meet should not be forgotten. Finally, we have Jennifer Comastri of Southern Indiana who is having a breakout season which should result in her qualifying for her first National Championship. She was runner-up at the Trevecca Nazarene DII Showcase Meet and then recorded two more top five finishes at Lewis and GLVC's. Overall, this meet is filled with insane talent and depth. The predictions I made are of my best judgment, but there are several teams and a ton of individuals who are very close together. Any of them could have fantastic races and put themselves in the top five team-wise or record a top 10 finishes individually. The Midwest region reminds us about the most important lesson of cross country... Anything can happen. Women's Predictions Teams 1. Grand Valley State 2. Hillsdale 3. Walsh 4. Southern Indiana 5. Southwest Baptist Individuals 1. Allie Ludge (Grand Valley State) 2. Elysia Burgos (Southwest Baptist) 3. Hannah Groeber (Grand Valley State) 4. Lauren Bailey (Indianapolis) 5. Madison Goen (Grand Valley State) 6. Klaudia O’Malley (Grand Valley State) 7. Kathryn Etelamaki (Ferris State) 8. Jessica Gockley (Grand Valley State) 9. Jennifer Comsastri (Southern Indiana) 10. Emily Byrd (Michigan Tech)

Men's Preview by Quenten Lasseter Women's Preview by Grace McLaughlin Men's Preview The Lee University Flames will be the team to watch in this region after putting together an outstanding regular season, but underwhelming a bit at their conference meet. At the Gulf South Conference Championships, the Flames were ready to rewrite history by winning the title for the fifth straight year, but fell short to an up and coming Alabama-Huntsville team. Back in mid-October at the University of Queens home meet, Lee defeated a strong team in Mount Olive and (at that time) TSR #10 ranked team Queens en route to putting all five scorers in the top 25 to capture the meet win. This team performance showed their potential and what they were capable of, but they didn’t seem to have their best day in their first postseason race. Regardless, there are still many positives about this team such as the consistent pack-running of Casey Guthery, Caleb Eagleson, and Moises Ponce. All three men have proven to be consistent top scorers all season long and they are no stranger to the big stage. I wouldn’t worry about too much about their conference performance as the Flames will look to shine brightly once again. Alabama-Huntsville has been in the back of everyone’s minds all season, but finally came to view at the Gulf South Championships after they took down heavy favorites and four-time defending champions Lee University. The Chargers were able to put three runners in the top four, including Jay Day winning the meet individually. The rest of Alabama Huntsville’s scorers placed 13th and 14th overall to secure the team title. What made this win over Lee the most impressive was how the Chargers put all three of their top runners in front of Lee’s top three. This widened the margin of victory for them as they won the meet by 17 points. If Lee is able to have the type of race they previously had at Queens, they will have no problem fighting off Alabama-Huntsville for the regional title. But if Lee doesn’t seem to catch fire again, this could be an exact repeat of the Gulf South Championships. The Alabama-Huntsville Chargers will be ready to prove to everyone this weekend that their conference victory was no fluke as they look to capture the team title once again over Lee. Two teams from the Sunshine State conference will look to add their names to the mix this weekend as well. Saint Leo and Embry-Riddle finished 1st and 2nd at their conference meet and have legitimate shots at sneaking inside the top three of the overall standings if things go their way. Shane Bracken leads this Saint Leo team after taking home the individual title over Mason Jones of Florida Southern and Ryan Szklany of Embry-Riddle. The Lions placed their top five scorers all inside the top 14 at their conference meet and took home the title by 14 points. They will likely need to perform like that this weekend in order to have a chance at pulling off an upset over Lee or Alabama-Huntsville. Meanwhile, Embry-Riddle will look to solve their problem at the #5 scoring spot. They had four runners inside the top 13, besting Saint Leo at their conference meet, but fell victim to a backend gaffe. Their top four showed off improved pack-running, but that could be due to the smaller size of their conference meet. It'll be interesting to see if they can overcome their backend woes this weekend. With 2018 South regional champion Christian Noble of Lee redshirting this season, there will be a new individual champion crowned on Saturday. Jay Day of Alabama Huntsville will look to take that spot after his strong winning performance at the GSC championships. Lee’s Caleb Eagleson is the next top returner from last year’s regional results as he has had a great season helping lead the Flames (along with Will Stone). Another name to watch for is Saint Leo’s own Shane Bracken. Bracken had a breakout race at the Sunshine State Championships as he won the meet over stout competition. The door is wide open in the South region for anyone’s taking this year. It will be interesting to see which individuals (and teams) come out on top... Men's Predictions Teams 1. Alabama Huntsville 2. Lee University 3. Saint Leo 4. Embry-Riddle 5. Mississippi College Individuals 1. Jay Day (Alabama Huntsville) 2. Caleb Eagleson (Lee) 3. Harold LaCroix (Alabama Huntsville) 4. Will Stone (Lee) 5. Shane Bracken (Saint Leo) 6. Evan Del Rio (Mississippi College) 7. Allan Anderson (Alabama Huntsville) 8. Moises Ponce (Lee) 9. Mason Jones (Florida Southern) 10. Ryan Szklany (Embry-Riddle) Women's Preview Lee is the overwhelming favorite heading into the South Regional Championships. They are currently TSR #8 and have been on fire since the beginning of the season (they are currently undefeated). They won the UTC Twilight Meet, Trevecca Nazarene DII Showcase, the Royal XC Challenge, and the Gulf South Conference Championships. The duo of Chloe Flora and Celine Ritter are seemingly impossible to beat right now and that shouldn't change this weekend. Add in Charlee Boxall, and the top three of Lee looks to be one of the best in the country. Lee is not the only team that has had an impressive season so far. Tampa should easily be 2nd and qualify for Nationals. They were 7th at this meet last year, but a solid recruiting class and consistent improvement should propel them up five spots this year. Tampa started their season off with a win at the VSU Border Clash, followed by a 2nd place finish at the Mountain Dew Gator Invitational, a 13th place finish at the Capital Cross Challenge, a runner-up result at the USF Invitational, a 3rd place finish at the FSU Invitational, and (most recently) won the Sunshine State Conference Championships. Gosh, that is a lot of racing. At their biggest meet of the season, Tampa placed their top three inside the top 55, but had a large drop off at their final two scoring spots. At the Capital Cross Challenge, there were only 20 seconds between their top three runners, but had another 30 seconds to their #4 runner and another 1:07 to the #5 runner. That time spread improved at their conference meet, but it's still an issue that needs to be addressed. Saint Leo was runner-up at the Sunshine State Conference Championships and I predict them to be 3rd this weekend. Earlier in the season, they won the Florida Tech Invitational, were 10th at the Mountain Dew Gator Invitational, and finished 19th at the Royals XC Challenge. They should easily improve upon their 6th place regional finish from last year. With that being said, a lot of things need to improve for Saint Leo to have a successful weekend. Without a clear low-stick, they will need to run as a pack (just like they did at their conference meet) if they want a chance at finishing inside the top two. A repeat of the Royals XC meet could spell disaster for them. Union (Tenn.) was the runner-up in the South region last year which helped them qualify for Nationals (where they placed 34th). I predict them to be 4th on Saturday, putting them in a tough fight for a spot to Nationals. Union started their season with a 7th place finish at the Rhodes College XC Invite, a runner-up performance at the UAH Chargers XC Open, an 18th place finish at the Royals XC Challenge, and most recently, a 2nd place result at the Gulf South Conference Championships. Last but not least, I predict Florida Southern to be 5th. During the regular season, they made visits to the Mountain Dew Gator Invitational, Roy Griak Invite, and Royals XC Challenge, finishing no better than 11th (Mountain Dew) and no worse than 15th (Royals). They later went on to earn bronze at the Sunshine State Conference Championships behind Tampa and Saint Leo. While their regular season performances may not elicit any special attention, the Florida Southern women still ran in some pretty competitive meets and were not far behind Saint Leo at their conference meet. The fact they have been competing against quality competition should leave them with enough experience to outperform other schools this weekend. Similarly to the team preview, Lee headlines the individual side of things as well. Celine Ritter, Chloe Flora, Charlee Boxall, and Toni Moore are all capable of ending their race inside the top 10 (maybe the top five). Ritter and Flora will, without a doubt, be the top two finishers in this race. In what order? Who knows... Charlee Boxall of Lee has been closing the gap between herself and that top duo throughout the season and I think she will be 3rd. Justine Glass of Montevallo was 4th behind Boxall at their conference meet and I think she will have the same finish this weekend. A Tampa duo consisting of Zoe Jarvis and Aspen Gordon should be in the top six as well. They were respectfully 1st and 2nd at the Sunshine State Conference Championships and have recorded impressive performances throughout the regular season. Next up is another teammate duo, this time from Alabama- Huntsville. Auburn Cohon and Kaylee Stewart should be in the chase pack. Cohon was 5th and Stewart was 6th at the Gulf South Conference Championships. Sarah Edens, who was 4th at the Sunshine State Conference Championships, should also be in the top 10. Behind the blazing Flames of Lee University will be an exciting battle for national qualifying spots on both the team and individual sides. The South region is often overlooked when it comes to distance running, but that shouldn't be the case with this regional championship. Women's Predictions Teams 1. Lee University 2. Tampa 3. Saint Leo 4. Union (Tenn.) 5. Florida Southern Individuals 1. Celine Ritter (Lee) 2. Chloe Flora (Lee) 3. Charlee Boxall (Lee) 4. Justine Glass (Montevallo) 5. Zoe Jarvis (Tampa) 6. Aspen Gordon (Tampa) 7. Auburn Cohan (Alabama-Huntsville) 8. Kaylee Stewart (Alabama-Huntsville) 9. Sarah Edens (Embry-Riddle) 10. Toni Moore (Lee)

Men's Preview by John Cusick Women's Preview by Grace McLaughlin Men's Preview The West region has the potential to be one of the best meets in terms of the team and individual battles within it. This race likely runs through TSR #5 Chico State. They've won this meet for the last three years and are looking to add to their resume. They won their CCAA meet with ease, scoring just 33 points. In fact, Chico has dominated the entire season. They finished runner-up at the Capital Cross Challenge behind only Cal Poly and followed that up with a win at the Western Washington Classic. The spread time at Capital Cross? 34 seconds. The spread time at Western Washington? 34 seconds. How about CCAA's? 24 seconds. It's been a team effort all year long led by Trad Berti, Matthew Herrera, Wyatt Baxter, and Jhavan Holston. They have a great, consistent group of runners that will overwhelm their competition with depth. There isn't much more we need to say about Chico and their ability to take home the title. The team that should come in 2nd place this weekend is Western Washington. They just took home the team title at the GNAC Championships in a snow-laden race in Montana. They placed four inside the top 10 and all five of their scorers in the top 20. The top four at GNAC's were within four seconds of each other while their #5 was 16 seconds back of their #4 runner. They have been putting together a strong team in recent years and it looks to be paying off. We could say they have a chance at knocking off Chico State, but after losing by 72 points at their home meet (where they ran a 10k) it's hard to say that they could pull off the upset. Cal St. San Marcos, UC San Diego, and Cal Poly Pomona should be the teams rounding out the top five. We've mentioned Cal St. San Marcos and UC San Diego quite a bit this year after some early strong performances and they should find themselves in a good position heading into the weekend. Joshua Litwiller just won the CCAA title over Chico State's Trad Berti and could potentially be a top five finisher this weekend. He was a big reason why the Cougars finished 2nd two weeks ago while his teammates finished 12th, 19th, 22nd and 27th. The Cougars finished 7th at the Lewis Crossover earlier this season behind Litwiller's 7th place finish and Shea Vavra's 16th place finish. However, they saw a big drop off in their 3-4-5 runners (who all finished in the 70's) and they can't afford that to happen if they want to be in the top three this weekend. UC San Diego is led by Samuel Blake and Aren Johnson. They've interchanged between the 1-2 spots this season, but achieve the goal of a strong scoring duo. At the Capital Cross Challenge earlier this season, they finished 3rd despite a poor showing from Blake (47th). Johnson finished in 22nd place and Elijah Horwitz stepped up and finished 26th. Blake should return to form this weekend (he was 7th at CCAA's) and if Horwitz replicates his performance, we could see them finish in the top three. The last team here is Cal Poly Pomona. They've certainly had a quiet year, but finished only six points back of UC San Diego and 14 points back of Cal St. San Marcos. Eamon Smythe leads this team and did so finishing 8th overall at CCAA's. The final four scorers finished within 13 seconds of each and give the Mustangs a strong chance at usurping the two teams mentioned before them. Men's Predictions Teams 1. Chico State 2. Western Washington 3. Cal Poly Pomona 4. Cal St. San Marcos 5. UC San Diego Individuals 1. Wesley Kirui (Alaska Anchorage) 2. Joshua Litwiller (Cal St. San Marcos) 3. Trad Berti (Chico State) 4. Felix Kemboi (Alaska Anchorage) 5. Matthew Herrera (Chico State) 6. James Jasperson (Western Washington) 7. Aren Johnson (UC San Diego) 8. Edward Kiolbasa (Western Washington) 9. Justin Crosswhite (Western Oregon) 10. Eamon Smythe (Cal Poly Pomona) Women's Preview The West Regional Championships will be a combination of the top CCAA and GNAC schools. Chico State has dominated the CCAA all season and won the conference title with a score of 23 points. Cal State East Bay placed 2nd in that race with 81 points and are looking to earn a top five finish this weekend. The GNAC has three strong schools fighting for national qualifying spots in Western Washington, Alaska Anchorage, and Seattle Pacific. Western Washington upset Seattle Pacific and Alaska Anchorage for the GNAC title, but Seattle Pacific was missing their top runner, Kaylee Mitchell. Chico State is ranked TSR #7 and Western Washington entered the rankings at TSR #10 in our last update to knock Seattle Pacific off. It is pretty safe to say that Chico State will take home the title, but there are four teams competing for the next two spots to earn an automatic bid to Nationals. The Chico State Wildcats showed their depth and talent at the CCAA Championships. Destiny Everett won the race, followed by Gracie Dupuis (3rd), Talia Swangler (4th), Nora Pizzella (5th), and Haley Boynton (10th) for their scoring five. Desirae Jones (12th) and Carrie McDonough (14th) also had solid performances as Chico’s #6 and #7 runners. Talia Swangler has led the team most the season, but freshman Destiny Everett had an impressive race to win the title. The Western Washington Vikings will look to carry their momentum into their regional meet this weekend. Earlier in the season, they placed 4th at Griak and finished runner-up at their home meet behind Chico State. They won the GNAC Championships with an impressive pack of four finishing together. Alaska Anchorage has easily the most impressive 1-2 punch in this region, but their backend scorers are too far back for the Seawolves to be in contention for the title. Seattle Pacific could be as far up as 2nd, but they need front-runner and TSR #5 Kaylee Mitchell in order to accomplish that. Mitchell has not raced since the Capital Cross Challenge over a month ago and sat out at her conference meet. We have reason to believe that she will not be racing this weekend. The Cal State East Bay Pioneers have had a solid season so far with a 2nd place finish at the Southern Stampede, 11th place at the loaded Capital Cross Challenge, and a runner-up finish at CCAA's. They have a very quiet, but strong, squad that should be competitive against this top West region competition. On the individual side of things, Kaylee Mitchell is the favorite, but we don't expect her to toe the line. Assuming that's the case, then the Alaska Anchorage duo of Emmanuelah Chelimo and Nancy Jeptoo should easily go 1-2 this weekend. Angelina Ranquillo of Cal State East Bay has built an impressive resume this season and I predict that she will finish in the top five. Talia Swangler and Destiny Everrett of Chico State should also be up there. There are clear front-runners in both the individual and team aspects, but the race should be a fun one to watch as the path to Nationals is loaded with a handful of exciting battles. Women's Predictions Teams 1. Chico State 2. Western Washington 3. Seattle Pacific 4. Alaska Anchorage 5. Cal State East Bay Individuals 1. Kaylee Mitchell (Seattle Pacific)* 2. Emmanuelah Chelimo (Alaska Anchorage) 3. Nancy Jeptoo (Alaska Anchorage) 4. Angelina Ranquillo (Cal State East Bay) 5. Destiny Everett (Chico State) 6. Talia Swangler (Chico State) 7. Kate Lilly (Seattle Pacific) 8. Hasna Kaarour (Academy of Art) 9. Dania Holmberg (Seattle Pacific) 10. Grace Knapp (Western Oregon) *Mitchell is not expected to toe the line this weekend

Men's Preview If there is a preface to the South Central Regional Championships, it likely begins with the RMAC Championships. The South Central is composed of teams that have been powerhouses over the last two decades and we are now welcoming more names into that conversation. At least it feels that way. Immediately, the top teams that jump off the page are TSR #1 Colorado Mines, TSR #2 Adams State, and TSR #4 Western Colorado. If distance running was a business, these programs would be the titans of industry. Yet, despite their grand success, we should make sure that they don't overshadow two other talented programs: UC-Colorado Springs and West Texas A&M (but more on them in a moment). Let’s begin our conversation with the first three teams we mentioned. Colorado Mines is the heavy favorite. And I mean heavy favorite. After dismantling both Adams State and Western Colorado two weeks ago, they should gain an even greater advantage as the distance moves from 8k to 10k. Dylan Ko has proven that he’s a name to look out for during the championship season while Luc Hagen and Kyle Moran have proven to be some of the best low-sticks in the country when paired alongside him. It’s not entirely a revolving door with the 4-5-6-7 runners, but it’s certainly a crapshoot as to who is going to finish where each week. Ben Schneiderman, Jake Mitchem, and Max Sevcik have all played important roles for their team this season and continue to do so for the regional meet. I don’t see any reason why Mines doesn’t win the South Central region with relative ease. Adams State and Western Colorado will likely be battling for the 2nd and 3rd place spots here, and given that both teams didn’t run their full squads at their conference meet, it’ll be interesting to see which semi-rested lineup benefits the most from that. As far as team scoring goes, Western Colorado has a clear advantage with Taylor Stack and Charlie Sweeney expected to finish near the front of the race. A top duo, however, only goes so far though as Adams State placed all five of their scorers ahead of Western’s #3 runner just two weeks ago. Granted, Ross Husch, the normal #3 runner for Western, wasn’t racing and he should help fix that issue. But Kale Adams also didn’t run for Adams State, leaving the Grizzlies essentially without their top runner. Dane Blomquist and Isaiah Rodarte did a fine job of serving as the 1-2 runners for the Grizzlies and a lineup of Paddy Robb, Miguel Villar, and Justin Andrade will certainly offer great support in the final few scoring spots. The race for 2nd and 3rd will be close once again, but without a clear understanding of who their final two scorers will be, the Mountaineers will be scrambling to find someone to step up prior to the national meet. The West Texas A&M Buffaloes have been an intriguing team throughout the season. They are led by Ezekiel Kipchirchir who should place inside the top 10 this weekend, especially given that the race is on his home course. But the makeup of this team is unique as the rest of their scorers seemingly run as a pack. They let Kipchirchir score as few points as possible, and then they pack up and work as a team from there. Daniel Haymes and Emmanuel Too have been strong, finishing as the #2 and #3 options for their team this season while Ahmed Omer, Justin Vigil, and Butare Rugenerwa have split time between 4-5-6 spots this season They easily won the Lone Star Conference behind this same strategy, but if we look back at the Louisville Classic, they showed us that they were capable of doing this on an even larger scale. From Haymes to Rugenerwa (Haymes was scorer their #2 scorer and Rugenerwa was their #6), there was only a 30 second gap. If you move the time spread to their #5 scorer, it was only 25 seconds. There’s clearly a strategy here that is working for the Buffaloes. Can it work this weekend against some of the nation’s best teams? We’ll have to see, but a top five finish should be in the works for them. The UCCS Mountain Lions had a strong showing at the RMAC meet two weeks ago. Afewerki Zeru leads a Mountain Lions team that consists of a strong top three (which finished 4th, 12th, and 13th at RMAC's). They’ll need improvement at the backend of their scoring lineup, but shouldn’t have any issues finishing in the top five of this region. Men's Predictions Individuals 1. Charlie Sweeney (Western Colorado) 2. Dylan Ko (Colorado Mines) 3. Taylor Stack (Western Colorado) 4. Ezekiel Kipchirchir (West Texas A&M) 5. Afewerki Zeru (UCCS) 6. Dane Blomquist (Adams State) 7. Kyle Moran (Colorado Mines) 8. Kale Adams (Adams State) 9. Ben Schneiderman (Colorado Mines) 10. Luc Hagen (Colorado Mines) Teams 1. Colorado Mines Orediggers 2. Adams State Grizzlies 3. Western Colorado Mountaineers 4. West Texas A&M Buffaloes 5. UCCS Mountain Lions Women's Preview On the women’s side of things, we'll see TSR #1 Adams State, TSR #3 Colorado Mines, TSR #6 Western Colorado, and TSR #9 UCCS vying for top five finishes spot. Also joining in on the competition will be Lubbock Christian, CSU-Pueblo, Dixie State, and MSU Denver. Let’s be clear about one thing here. This is Adams State’s race to lose. If Colorado Mines were heavy favorites on the men’s side, then the women of Adams State are somehow bigger favorites than that. The return of Stephanie Cotter and Roisin Flanagan have bolstered a lineup that was already menacing to some of the country's most elite programs. Eilish Flanagan is the TSR #1 contender for the NCAA title and has been on a tear all season long. The supporting cast of Kaylee Bogina, Haleigh Hunter-Galvan, and Tiffany Christensen give the Grizzlies three very capable runners who can make the team race even less interesting (which is good if you're an Adams State fan). Colorado Mines should be the 2nd place team after their runner-up performance at RMAC's two weeks ago. They also proved their ability to run as team when they won the Capital Cross Challenge with a score of 89 points. They placed three inside the top 15 in that race with Chloe Cook and Zoe Baker finishing inside the top 10. Their pack time at Capital Cross was 51 seconds and at RMAC's it was 1:01. Brook Eberle was the #5 runner at Capital and their #7 runner at their conference meet. They’ll need her to get back to being a regular scorer in order for them to be competitive, but they should still have no issues moving on to the NCAA meet. Western Colorado is a team that will also be advancing to the national meet, and might be trending in the right direction as we near the Big Dance. They finished 3rd at the RMAC meet, but made noise earlier in the season when they placed 6th as a team at the Chile Pepper Festival. Their most impressive feat was having three women finish within 11 seconds of each other and in the top 34 of that race which was filled with top D1 talent. Fast forward to RMAC's and the Mountaineers placed their top five inside the top 23. Their pack time between their five scorers was 31 seconds. That is an elite time spread. The issue with it, however, is that they need to place higher as a collective group in these kind of meets. The concern with Western could be they don’t place high enough for their spread time to really matter. With four underclassmen inside their top six, it’s worth wondering if their inexperience could come back to bite them (or give them an incredibly high ceiling). One of the most underrated teams this year has to be the UCCS Mountain Lions. I still don’t think they’ve put together their best performance of the season despite a 4th place finish at the RMAC Championships and a 3rd place finish at the Roy Griak Invitational. Kayla Wooten was 12th at RMAC's, but we expected her to finish higher than that. Add in Layla Almasri having a poorer race than expected, and it makes sense that UCSS finished 4th in their last race. Expect Wooten and Almasri to bounce back this week with at least top 15 performances. With the backend of their lineup consisting of Maia Austin and Marissa Kuik, this team has the potential to jump inside the top three this weekend. The 5th place spot in this region is really up for grabs. The likes of CSU-Pueblo, Lubbock Christian, Dixie State, and MSU-Denver should all finish relatively close to each other. Lubbock Christian won the Lone Star Conference with 64 points while CSU-Pueblo, Dixie State and MSU-Denver all finished within seven points of each other. Amira Cunningham of Lubbock Christian has the chance to be the lowest finisher for any of these teams. She took home individual honors from the Lone Star and certainly can give them a leg up in the team race. Women's Predictions Teams 1. Adams State 2. Colorado Mines 3. UCCS 4. Western Colorado 5. Lubbock Christian Individuals 1. Eilish Flanagan (Adams State) 2. Stephanie Cotter (Adams State) 3. Roisin Flanagan (Adams State) 4. Chloe Cook (Colorado Mines) 5. Kayla Wooten (UCCS) 6. Zoe Baker (Colorado Mines) 7. Amira Cunningham (Lubbock Christian) 8. Alden Gruidel (MSU Denver) 9. Alexia Thiros (Western Colorado) 10. Madeline Geesen (Colorado Mines)

Men's Preview by Quenten Lasseter Women's Preview by Grace McLaughlin Men's Preview American International is on the hunt to claim the East regional title after conference rival Stonehill claimed the throne last year. So far this season, the plague of graduation has hit Stonehill, losing four seniors that were notably four of their five scorers from last year. We saw this realization at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships as American International easily defeated Stonehill by 40 points. The American International Yellow Jackets were led by Ezra Mutai and Benoit Campion going 1-2 overall, along with their three other scorers finishing in the top 20. Stonehill has a lot of work to do if they want to repeat as regional champions. With the loss of various seniors and only having one senior currently on the roster, they will need to depend on close pack-running if they want a chance to defeat American International. Both teams are very talented, and it will be another two-team battle this weekend. Also joining the conversation is Southern Connecticut State. They were 3rd at the Northeast-10 Championships behind a 5th place finish from Connor Shannahan. Along with Jake Mattei, they have two strong low-stick runners who are capable of putting their team in a top five position. Terrell Patterson was their top finisher at the Paul Short Invite (Brown race) when they took 2nd overall as a team. If he comes back, the chances for the Owls only improve. This would give them a top three that is arguably stronger than both of the teams that beat them at their conference meet. The individual side of things will likely run through American International teammates Ezra Mutai and Benoit Campion. These two have proven to be the favorites after dominating the Northeast-10 Championships. All eyes will be on Le Moyne’s Chris Davitt as he is one of the more interesting factors in this race. At last year's East regional meet, Davitt finished 3rd overall behind two seniors who will no longer be present this weekend. Although on paper Davitt is projected to win the individual crown in regards to top returners, he was defeated by both Mutai and Campion at their conference meet. We'll see a repeat matchup this weekend to see who takes the individual regional title this time around. If the aforementioned Patterson returns, he will surely stick his nose into the mix of things as well. He could be joined Redhawk senior Christopher Sims in the top five who has quietly put together a very nice season so far in 2019. Men's Predictions Teams 1. American International 2. Stonehill 3. Southern Connecticut State 4. SNHU 5. Roberts Wesleyan Individuals 1. Chris Davitt (Le Moyne) 2. Terrell Patterson (So. Conn. St.) 3. Ezra Mutai (American Int’l) 4. Benoit Campion (American Int’l) 5. Christopher Sims (Roberts Wesleyan) 6. Noah Simatei (NYIT) 7. Macgregor Cox (American Int’l) 8. Jake Mattei (So. Conn. St.) 9. Micah Hewitson (SNHU) 10. Josiah Ottolini (Roberts Wesleyan) Women's Preview The East region is headlined by Roberts Wesleyan, who should easily take home the crown. The Redhawks started their season off with a win at the Hamilton College Short Course, then another win at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational, a 26th place at the Louisville Classic, a 3rd place result at the Canisius Alumni Classic, and then a win at the East Coast Conference Championships. They had six runners in the top 10 (as well as the individual champion) to dominate the field at their conference meet. Leading the team is Brittany Shumway, Michaela Bierly, Ashley Watson, Bailey Gostomski, and Abigail Gostomski. Three team wins (which includes a conference title), should give the Redhawks some major confidence entering this weekend. Next up is Stonehill. They won the Northeast-10 Conference Championships by putting four runners in the top 10 with Samantha Curtin, Jillian Howard, Siobhan O’Keefe, and Jordan Callahan. Stonehill started their season with a 3rd pace finish at the Shawn M. Nassaney Memorial Invitational, a runner-up performance at the Kutztown Division II/III Challenge, a 41st at the Paul Short Gold race (which was loaded with respectable D1 programs), and an 8th place finish at the NEICAAA Cross Country Championships. Their Paul Short result was truthfully far from ideal, but Stonehill has made improvements throughout the season in their smaller meets. Their #5 scoring spot will need to be improved, but that shouldn't hold them back too much this weekend. Behind Stonehill at the NEICAAA Championships was Southern New Hampshire in 14th. I'm predicting them to be 3rd in the East Region after their runner-up finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships and a win at the Shacklette XC Invitational earlier in the season. This smaller field should benefit SNHU. On the individual side of things, it seems like Brittany Shumway of Roberts Wesleyan should take home the individual title after her win at the East Coast Conference Championships. Shumway’s teammates of Michaela Bierly, Ashley Watson, Bailey Gostomski, and Abigail Gostomski should join her in the top 10. Kialeigh Marston of Assumption won the Northeast-10 individual title and could make things interesting behind Shumway. Ashley Corcoran of Southern New Hampshire finished just behind Marston and should be in the top five if all right. Behind Roberts Wesleyan and Brittany Shumway, this race could go several different ways. Multiple teams will try to fight their way to Nationals, as well as individuals fighting for a handful of top finishes. Women's Predictions Teams 1. Roberts Wesleyan 2. Stonehill 3. Southern New Hampshire 4. Saint Anselm 5. Adelphi Individuals 1. Brittany Shumway (Roberts Wesleyan) 2. Kialeigh Marston (Assumption) 3. Samantha Curtin (Stonehill) 4. Ashley Corcoran (Southern New Hampshire) 5. Michaela Bierly (Roberts Wesleyan) 6. Abagaile Kimbrell (St. Thomas Aquinas) 7. Ashley Watson (Roberts Wesleyan) 8. Bailey Gostomski (Roberts Wesleyan) 9. Abigail Gostomski (Roberts Wesleyan) 10. Jillian Howard (Stonehill)

Men's Preview by Quenten Lasseter Women's Preview by Grace McLaughlin Men's Preview The Charleston (W.V.) Golden Eagles will look to defend their 2018 Atlantic regional title this weekend as they face challengers from Shippensburg and Edinboro. So far this season, Charleston has had great success, as their most noticeable performance came at the Royals Cross Country Challenge. The Golden Eagles finished 4th overall in that meet behind top teams such as Lee, Mount Olive, and Queens. The eye-opener at this meet was low-stick Jack Mastandrea’s (TSR #7) time of 23:41, which gave him a runner-up finish and also a new school record. As for Charleston’s #2 and #3 runners, they dipped into the 24-minute time range with performances of 24:34 (Kyle Hinson) and 24:39 (Alex Kitony). Most recently at the Mountain East Championships, Charleston successfully captured their second consecutive title with Jack Mastandrea leading the way again, winning the individual crown. The team put all seven of their runners in the top 15 in order to score 20 points, well ahead of Davis & Elkins' 45 points. Only losing by just 14 points at last year’s Atlantic Regional Championships, the men of Shippensburg will look to rebuild after losing their top three runners from last season due to graduation. As you can imagine, having eight out of your 11 runners on the team being freshmen can be tough on a team, as the Raiders recently finished 3rd at the PSAC Championships. However, not all hope is lost as Shippensburg is led by great young talents such as freshmen Chayce Macknair and Andrew Foster. Each of these men finished in the top 20 at their conference meet, with Macknair being the top freshman overall in the race. It will be interesting to see how these first-year collegiate runners react at the regional meet as the Pirates look to return to the NCAA Championships. Edinboro is the team this weekend that will be looking to shock a lot of people with the hope of knocking off Charleston for the regional crown. The Fighting Scots took down PSAC defending champions Shippensburg at their conference championship without their top runner Colton Cassel (who was out due to injury). It is reported that he will be back for regionals this weekend after his 11th place finish last year. Returners Ward Reis and Brendan Oswalt will be back to better their All-Region accolades from last year as both had stellar performances at the PSAC Championships, acting as two low-sticks for their team. The only question that weighs for this Edinboro team is how healthy Colton Cassel will be on race day. If he is anywhere close to 100%, then you better believe that the Fighting Scots will be ready to challenge for that Atlantic region crown. Individually, the heavy favorite is, of course, Jack Mastandrea (TSR #7). Mastandrea finished 3rd overall last year at the Atlantic Regional Championships, but his improvement this season has put him in the conversation for the individual crown. Teammate David Cecchi is an interesting factor as he was runner-up, beating Mastandrea at this meet last year. Cecchi has had a bit of a down year as he was Charleston’s #4 runner at their conference meet. If he gets back to the shape he was in last season, both of these men will have an opportunity to go 1-2. The most recent individual winner of the PSAC championships, Joseph Westrick of Gannon, will look to cement his legacy this weekend. The senior has had a stellar 2019 as he has three individual wins dating back to early October. Westrick placed 5th overall last year at the Atlantic Regional Championships and will try to build off of his 2019 success as he looks to qualify for Nationals and maybe even add an individual regional title to his name. Men's Predictions Teams 1. Charleston (W.V.) 2. Edinboro 3. Shippensburg 4. Concord 5. Indiana (Pa.) Individuals 1. Jack Mastandrea (Charleston) 2. Kyle Hinson (Charleston) 3. Alex Kitony (Charleston) 4. Joseph Westrick (Gannon) 5. David Magda (Davis and Elkins) 6. Evan Adanatzian (Kutztown) 7. John Marenkovic (Slippery Rock) 8. Ward Ries (Edinboro) 9. Aaron Pfeil (Lock Haven) 10. Jack Lacina (Edinboro) Women's Preview At a quick glance, the Atlantic region seems to be a bit quiet compared to some of these other regions. However, there are some solid developing teams competing against each other and this weekend's race should be strongly contested. There really isn’t a clear front-runner or a guaranteed winner. In other words, anything can happen, and that is pretty dang exciting to me. The Atlantic Regional Championships will more or less be a rematch of the PSAC Championships, but add Davis & Elkins of the Mountain East conference to the mix. I predict Davis and Elkins to be the team champions. They started their season with winning the Bethany Invitational, followed by a 2nd place result at the LHU XC Open Invitational. They went on to win the Rt. 33 Cup before recording a 12th place finish at the Royals XC Challenge. Despite all of their impressive accolades this season, their greatest accomplishment thus far is winning the Mountain East conference title. Their 12th place finish at the Royals XC Challenge was their only real big race of the season. Their top three (Svea Timm, Anya Miller, and Madison Michels) were all inside the top 41 that day which, generally speaking, is very encouraging. However, the backend of their lineup may hold some weaknesses as their #4 and #5 runners finished 135th and 154th at the Royals XC Challenge. That may be fine for a regional meet, but it could hinder them at NCAA's. Regardless, they have improved a bit from a year ago and should earn themselves a spot to Nationals. Behind Davis & Elkins will likely be the Edinboro women. They were 23rd at Nationals last year and should earn their spot to the Big Dance yet again this year. Edinboro started their season with a 3rd place finish at the Doug Watts Invitational, then an 8th place finish at the LHU XC Open Invitational. However, they really started to pick up some momentum at their larger, more impactful races with a 12th place finish at the Lehigh Paul Short Run (Brown Race) before winning the PSAC title. Stefanie Parsons is their clear front-runner and gives Edinboro a very strong low-stick at the top of this race. Hope Pietrocarlo will join Parsons as another ace in this race, giving them the edge over most teams in their region this weekend. They'll need both of these women to finish near the top after seeing a time spread of 2:27 at their conference meets a couple weekends ago. If that happens again, it could be tough to overcome in a race with essentially double the number of athletes. The runner-ups of the PSAC Championships, West Chester, should be the 3rd place team. They were 10th in this race last year, which just goes to show their huge jump in talent this season. They won the Philadelphia Metropolitan Invite, were 3rd at the Kutztown DII/III Challenge, 3rd again at the Delaware Invite, and won the Bloomsburg Invite prior to entering the postseason. We will see if they can continue their momentum and possibly sneak into the national meet. The 3rd place team at the PSAC Championships, Seton Hill, is projected to be our 4th place team. They beat Edinboro twice this season at the Doug Watts Invitational (1st) and LHU XC Open Invitational (3rd) and then won two other meets, the Race in the Park and the Bill Lennox SRU Invitational. Despite their great regular season, other teams have more experience or have proven that they are peaking at the right time (i.e. PSAC Championships). Although I'm sure Seton Hill will be eager to prove us wrong... Slippery Rock is the final team that we have battling for a top spot this weekend. They started their season with a 4th place finish at the Doug Watts Invitational, a 7th place finish at the LHU XC Open Invitational, a 3rd place finish at the Roadrunners Invitational, and then a runner-up performance at the Bill Lennox SRU Invitational before finishing 4th in their conference. This team is consistent and plenty familiar with their competition. That familiarity should allow them to hang around some of these top teams for a good portion of their race this weekend. On the individual side of things, Edinboro could have three in the top 10 with Stephanie Parsons, Hope Pietrocarlo, and Tori Klimowicz. Laurel Mayer and Cadie Kiser of Lock Haven have had solid seasons thus far and were especially impressive at their conference meet. This train of thought also applies to Caitlyn Padgett and Alexis Cunningham of Seton Hill who should be able to contend with the top pack. Kacey Raible (Slippery Rock), Claire Otte (Davis and Elkins), and Hannah Kemp (West Liberty) round out my top 10 predictions. Anna Elbert of Mercyhurst and Kimberly Goerss of Edinboro could infiltrate the top 10 as well based on their consistency and respectable results so far this season. As I mentioned previously, this meet consists of several developing teams as well as several athletes with almost identical talent levels. With national qualifying on the line, we should see some gutsy, all-out performances. Women's Predictions Teams 1. Davis and Elkins 2. Edinboro 3. West Chester 4. Seton Hill 5. Slippery Rock Individuals 1. Stephanie Parsons (Edinboro) 2. Hope Pietrocarlo (Edinboro) 3. Laurel Mayer (Lock Haven) 4. Caitlyn Padgett (Seton Hill) 5. Tori Klimowicz (Edinboro) 6. Cadie Kiser (Lock Haven) 7. Alexis Cunningham (Seton Hill) 8. Kacey Raible (Slippery Rock) 9. Claire Otte (Davis and Elkins) 10. Hannah Kemp (West Liberty)

Men's Preview by Quenten Lasseter Women's Preview by Grace McLaughlin Men's Preview The three-way battle for the Central regional crown will go through Augustana (TSR #6), Missouri Southern (TSR #7), and NW Missouri (TSR #8). Each team has had great seasons with major wins along with their top runners being legitimate All-American candidates. Augustana started their season a bit on the slower side, but began to build serious momentum after their 1st place finish at the Roy Griak Invite. The Vikings fed off their win and later took home the NSIC title over defending champions Sioux Falls. They were able to do this by putting four runners in the top 10, including low-stick Aaron Runge (TSR #16) taking the individual title of Mason Phillips. Last year at the Central Regional Championships, the Vikings fell short of the win by 18 points, as they were defeated by Missouri Southern, forcing them to finish 2nd place as a team. This year, however, could be much different as Runge could mix it up with Gidieon Kimutai at the front of this race. Although Augustana has an excellent lineup through four runners, they still have some questions at their #5 spot. It's a position that has been distant from the rest of their scorers throughout the season. Missouri Southern has been led all season by a runner who seems to be the clear-cut favorite to win it all at Nationals, Gidieon Kimutai. Kimutai has easily won all season long, beating TSR #2 individual Tanner Chada of Grand Valley State during the regular season, proving his legitimacy in the process. Teammates Nickson Kiptoo and Tulsa transfer Ryan Riddle have proved to be reliable low-sticks along with Kimutai. After winning the MIAA Championship over TSR #8 NW Missouri, the Lions proved to be one of the most consistent teams in the NCAA and they will have another opportunity to prove that as they battle for the top spot at their regional meet. NW Missouri is the definition of a dark horse. This team finished 17th last year in this race, but have been on a steady trend upwards all season as it looks like they are finally putting all the pieces together. The Bearcats may have the strongest top three runners in the region (and maybe the nation) in Jhordan Ccope, Karim Achengli, and Augostine Lisoreng. This trio finished 2-3-4 at the MIAA Championships, offering lethal firepower and giving Missouri Southern a challenge through three runners. Each of these men have run times of 24:38 or faster, including Ccope’s 23:57 at the Chile Pepper Festival. With these three leading the way, and NW Missouri’s #4 and #5 runners consistently making improvements (albeit, with a considerable gap still present), there can be a good case for the Bearcats to threaten for a regional victory this weekend. As predicted, Missouri Southern’s Gidieon Kimutai (TSR #1) is the favorite to win the individual title after successfully winning it at last year's Central Regional Championships. He has shown no signs of weakness this season and I don't think an upset will happen anytime soon. NW Missouri’s three-headed monster consisting of Ccope, Achengli, and Lisoreng will be a threat to Kimutai’s reign as all three have proven that they can run fast and together. Lastly in the mix, individuals such as Aaron Runge (Augustana (S.D.)) and teammates Nickson Kiptoo & Ryan Riddle (Missouri Southern) will also be in the mix to win it all. Each must show up and show out in order to do so, but it’s not impossible. Nadir Yusuf (MSU-Moorhead) will make his case for the individual title as well. He recently placed 3rd at the NSIC Championships and has performed well all season, putting up consistently strong performances. The switch to 10k should help him as he has performed well over that distance in his career. Men's Predictions Teams 1. Missouri Southern 2. NW Missouri 3. Augustana 4. MSU-Moorhead 5. Sioux Falls Individuals 1. Gidieon Kimutai (Missouri Southern) 2. Jhordan Ccope (NW Missouri) 3. Nadir Yusuf (MSU-Moorhead) 4. Karim Achengli (NW Missouri) 5. Mason Phillips (Sioux Falls) 6. Ryan Riddle (Missouri Southern) 7. Aaron Runge (Augustana (S.D)) 8. Augostine Lisoreng (NW Missouri) 9. Nickson Kiptoo (Missouri Southern) 10. Jesus Urtusuastegui (Augustana (S.D.)) Women's Preview The MIAA and NSIC conferences will collide at the Central Regional Championships. U-Mary and Augustana headline the race with several rising teams behind them. On the women's side, expect the Marauders of U-Mary to pull off the win. Their 2nd place finish at Roy Griak paired with their NSIC title makes them the favorites in this race. They have a clear front-runner in Ida Narbuvoll (who might be one of the best runners in the nation) and a solid pack behind her. The supporting cast of Kayla Ogle, Taylor Hestekin, and Starlynn Costa are going to be too much for the rest of the region to handle as each of those women have made appearances in our XC Top 25 rankings. U-Mary should have another impressive performance this weekend that propels them to Nationals. Augustana should easily be 2nd team in the final standings. They beat the Marauders at Roy Griak before placing runner-up at the Lewis Conference Crossover. However, once the postseason rolled around, the U-Mary women got their revenge and forced the Vikings to settle for 2nd at the NSIC Championships. Claire Boersma, Cait Savey, and Nicolette Schmidt have been consistent low-sticks for the Vikings all year, acting as interchangeable front-runners. This team will be a legitimate threat to the Marauders, but the talent in this field replicates what we saw at the NSIC Championships which is why we are giving the edge to U-Mary...for now. These two teams are clearly some of the best in the country. They're both deep, they both have firepower near the top of the field, and both have been on the big stage before. Pittsburg State should easily be in the top three after their win at the MIAA Championships. The Gorillas haven't had too many standout performances where they have wowed the rest of the NCAA, but they are quietly consistent and have found a way to stay competitive against some respectable teams. Piper Misse and Cassidy Westhoff will lead their team and help Pittsburg State tremendously in the scoring. Their top four have been pretty consistent and overall, the Gorillas have had a solid season. At their conference meet, their top four were all inside the top 20 before their #5 runner finished 40th. They're likely okay for this weekend, but heading into NCAA's, they'll need a stronger performance from the backend of their lineup if they want to stay competitive. Central Missouri will likely be 4th after their close runner-up finish at the MIAA Championships. They had their best performance of the season at the Chile Pepper XC Festival where they placed 3rd in the "B" race. They have a similar lineup dynamic to Pittsburg State, but their backend is arguably not as stable. Winona State should be in the top five as well. The Warriors started off their season with a 7th place finish at the Augustana Twilight Meet, an 11th place finish at the Lewis Conference Crossover, a win at the Lucian Rosa Invitational, and a 3rd place finish at the NSIC Championships. Winona State has slowly improved the bottom half of their lineup (specifically at the NSIC Championships) and have found ways to stay competitive against some respectable programs. They could sneak up on a few unsuspecting teams this weekend. Oklahoma Baptist is another team that deserves a shoutout. They easily won the Great American Conference Championships by putting their top five in the top 10. Earlier in the season, they won the UCO Land Run and won the Chile Pepper XC Festival (B race). On the individual side of things, Ida Narbuvoll of U-Mary should have another dominating performance over the field. She has won multiple races by over a minute throughout the season and the Central Regional Championships will be no exception. Narbuvoll’s teammates Kayla Ogle, Starlynn Costa, and Taylor Hestekin should also place in the top 10. They have all been consistent low-sticks for U-Mary who have had major success throughout the season. Augustana will also have several women in the top 10, including Claire Boersma, Cait Savey, and Nicolette Schmidt. Piper Misse and Cassidy Westhoff of Pittsburgh State will likely find their way inside the top 10 (or at least one of them). Misse won the MIAA Championships while Westhoff placed 3rd. Risper Mengich of Central Missouri placed 2nd and should be in the top 10 as well. The freshman has proved that she can run with the more experienced runners this season. The Central Region will be centered around Division II powerhouses U-Mary and Augustana, but several other teams have improved throughout the season which should make for an exciting competition in the fight to get to Nationals. Women's Predictions Teams 1. U-Mary 2. Augustana (S.D.) 3. Pittsburgh State 4. Central Missouri 5. Winona State Individuals 1. Ida Narbuvoll (U-Mary) 2. Claire Boersma (Augustana) 3. Kayla Ogle (U-Mary) 4. Cait Savey (Augustana) 5. Starlynn Costa (U-Mary) 6. Taylor Hestekin (U-Mary) 7. Piper Misse (Pittsburgh State) 8. Nicolette Schmidt (Augustana) 9. Risper Mengich (Central Missouri) 10. Cassidy Westhoff (Pittsburgh State)

Run the Numbers is a new column that we will be debuting where we pull out some significant statistics from the running world. Right now, the focus will be with respect to Division One programs, with the goal of expanding into other divisions some time in the future. 3 - Number of programs that earned a perfect score at their respective conference meet this past weekend. Those three programs were the California Baptist women, the Iona men, and the South Dakota State men. CBU won the WAC with a score of 15 points over runner-up Utah Valley who totaled a score of 69 points. The Iona men placed 1-2-3-4-5-7-8 to win the MAAC title over Siena. Only Evans Kibet of Sienna was able to break up the Iona group with his 6th place finish. The South Dakota State men claimed the Summit League Championships over rival North Dakota State by a margin of 49 points by taking the top six spots in the meet. 1 - Number of points that separated the 5th, 6th, and 7th place women’s teams at the BIG 10 Championships on Sunday. Ohio State and Illinois both ended the meet with 144 points, with the Buckeyes winning the tie-breaker over the Illini’. Minnesota was 7th with 145 points. For good measure, the Penn State women finished 4th with 138 points, only six points ahead of Ohio State and Illinois. 372 - Number of points the top five teams in the women’s PAC-12 Championships scored combined. 400 - Number of points the University of Southern California women scored in the PAC-12 Championships. All of the top five teams - Stanford, Washington, Utah, Colorado and Oregon - placed a combined 47 runners ahead of USC’s #1 runner. Those 47 runners make up all of the athletes who competed for the respective schools (Colorado, Stanford, and Utah all ran nine athletes). 35 - Points scored by the men of Ole Miss and by Alabama’s #4 runner at the SEC Championships. Ole Miss and Alabama were tied through three runners, but the 4-5 combo for the Rebels scored a combined 22 points compared to the 77 scored by the backend duo from Alabama. Despite having potentially the best 1-2 duo in the country, the consistent drop-off in those final two scoring positions over the past few seasons has kept Alabama from competing with the Rebels. 49 - Seconds that Mountain West champion Weini Kelati finished ahead of runner-up (and teammate) Ednah Kurgat. Kelati had already gapped the field by eight seconds at 1.1 kilometers into the race and had built this lead up to 31 seconds at four kilometers. Kelati is currently #2 in the TSR Individual XC rankings. What makes this even more impressive is that Kurgat currently sits at #8, meaning Kelati absolutely dominated one of the best women in the country. 3.5 - Number of seconds separating Penn and Harvard for the team title at Heps this past weekend. These two teams finished only three points apart with Penn taking the win. Had the Quakers' #5 runner finishe 3.5 seconds slower, Penn would have added four points to their overall score and Harvard would have come away with the win. 2 - Number of points separating the women of 1st place Oklahoma State (52 points) from 2nd place Texas (54 points) and the number of points separating the women of Texas from 3rd place West Virginia (56 points) at the BIG 12 Championships. It is also the number of potential Kolas points that the Oklahoma State women may have scored after beating Texas and WVU. There is a lot to unpack with this, but the women of Oklahoma State, Texas, West Virginia all finished within four points at the BIG 12 Championships this past weekend, with each team being separated by two points each. There were two instances where the overall standings was decided by one place. The first instance being Oklahoma State's Molly Born (3rd) finishing one spot ahead of Texas' Kathryn Gillespie (4th). Had those two switched spots, Oklahoma State and Texas would have tied. The second instance was Texas' Destiny Collins (6th) finishing one spot ahead of West Virginia's Candace Jones (7th). Had those two spots been flipped, then the two teams would have tied. However, in those theoretical scenarios, the Oklahoma State women win their tie-breaker over Texas and still take the title. The same can be said for Texas and West Virginia as the Longhorns would have still won their tie-breaker and maintained their 2nd place finish. However, now that Oklahoma State has won the title, we could see the Cowgirls earn two very important Kolas points. Texas will likely qualify for Nationals out of the South Central region. Meanwhile, the West Virginia women seem to have a realistic shot to earn an automatic qualifying spot to Nationals in a somewhat wide-open Mid-Atlantic region. If that were to happen, the Lady Pokes would be in a very interesting position as far as national qualifying is concerned. If they can't place inside the top two of their regional meet, they might be able to earn one of the final at-large bids to NCAA's.

With so many meets happening this weekend, it was hard for us to focus on just one conference. Now that nearly all of the championship meets are finished (with the exception of the BIG 10 Championships which are taking place on Sunday), we thought it would be a good time to review and analyze some of the major storylines that came across our computer screens... PAC-12 Men The Colorado men took home the PAC-12 title this weekend, trouncing a Stanford team that had a rough day and dropped to 3rd. I think we can count this win as an "upset", but it's also the least surprising upset of the weekend. While I'm not necessarily surprised that Colorado won, I am astounded by how well the second half of their lineup performed. Kashon Harrison was the #2 man this weekend finishing 7th overall while Dressel was 8th (Klecker won the individual title). With Alec Hornecker having a breakout race (placing 12th) and Eduardo Herrera one spot behind (13th), it's fair to say that this Colorado top five was scarier than anything I saw on Halloween. What was more surprising? Oregon placing 2nd without Affolder or Stanford dropping to 3rd place in the team standings? For me, it has to be Stanford. The Cardinal were expected to be so good this season and for good reason! But something isn't quite right with Alek Parsons or Steven Fahy. Neither of these men have given the Cardinal the necessary firepower that they were expected to have this season. Let's put Stanford aside real quick. How about them Ducks? Finishing runner-up overall was outstanding despite not having Affolder. Teare is now a true cross country superstar, West is a legitimate low-stick, Hocker is one of the better true freshmen in the country, and their depth has filled any and all scoring gaps. It's hard to dislike this team after finishing 2-9-14-15-17. UCLA finished 4th, but was only three points ahead of Washington. The Bruins had a strong top three as expected, but their bottom two continue to be a cause for concern. Meanwhile, the Huskies continue to underwhelm after taking spots 3-18-19-23-24. It's not terrible, but it doesn't inspire much confidence. Women Despite what my fellow TSR colleagues thought, I was never under the impression that Washington was going to beat Stanford. There were too many "if then" scenarios that needed to happen for the Huskies to take home the title. Seeing the Cardinal go 1-2-3 does surprise me, but the fact that they dominated their competition was not at all a shock in my eyes. Washington still ran well, but their 3-4-5 just didn't offer the same scoring potency that Stanford's did. I like Melany Smart and Katie Rainsberger a lot, but if this team wants to be on the podium at NCAA's, then they need Lilli Burdon to be the All-American version of herself that we know she can be. Granted, we saw this from her last year before she finished 33rd at Nationals, but I'll be interested to see if she can do that again this fall. Utah gets the better of Colorado (again!) for the 3rd place spot. However, before we overreact, we need to understand that usual low-stick Tabor Scholl struggled, finishing 30th in a race where she could have been in the top 10. If that happens, then the Buffs easily pull away from the Utes and begin flirting with the Huskies. I still don't totally dislike the Colorado women in the postseason. Even so, how about the women in red and white? Utah continues to impress with an excellent group of scorers. They have legitimate, consistent low-sticks in Poppy Tank, Bella Williams, and Sarah Feeny who finished 6th, 7th, and 10th this past weekend. Their bottom two scorers (27th and 36th) will need to close the gap between them and their top three, but gosh, the ladies from Salt Lake City look very strong. ACC Men Wow. Unbelievable. Syracuse bounces back from a horrific performance at Nuttycombe to take home the ACC team title in a super deep field without Aidan Tooker. I can't put into words how incredible of a rebound race this was, but they succeeded with their patented depth and pack-running. Taking spots 9-10-15-16-18 is the prototypical Syracuse racing strategy and it clearly paid off. Kudos to them. Not a bad race by the Irish men. They had a better top three than Syracuse by a relatively hefty margin, but relinquished their lead in their final two scoring spots. 2018 All-American Danny Kilrea continues to struggle this season after placing 29th. If he runs to his full potential, Notre Dame pulls ahead of the Orange without too much trouble. Virginia Tech and UVA actually tied for 3rd, each scoring 100 points, but the Hokies won the tie-breaker thanks to having the better top three. Seufer continues to be a star, Zarate has been a pleasant surprise, and Fitsum Seyoum continues to improve with each passing week. Their bottom two scorers need to close the gap, but VT's firepower was what gave them the edge on Friday. As for the Virginia men, they ran exactly like we thought they would. Just like Michael Weidenbruch explained in his meet preview, this team has tremendous depth with no clear flaws within their top five (or six). They do, however, lack firepower and that is ultimately what held them back on Friday. Finishing 12-20-21-22-25 is still super impressive and I like to think that it will benefit them later in the postseason. Florida State underwhelmed and Wake Forest had the best race of their season. With NC State also falling to 8th (more on that in a moment), the Deacons may have just thrown themselves into the national qualifying conversation...maybe. NC State...what happened? Shanklin (3rd) and Gaynor (6th) were both super impressive, but when your final three runners finish 40th, 60th, and 61st, there isn't a lot to be excited about. The Wolfpack finished 8th overall, but it should be noted that we didn't see some of their top scorers toe the line such as JP Flavin (reportedly injured) and Joe Bistritz. This performance seemingly sheds a little more light on their non-result from Nuttycombe. Women Just so everyone knows, TSR contributor Michael Weidenbruch correctly predicted the top five teams (and 7th place team) in his preview of this race. We're not saying that he can see the future, but we're also not NOT saying that he can see the future. Elly Henes is an absolute star. She crushed a very talented ACC field en route to the individual and team victory. The Wolfpack secured their fourth straight conference win and did so by beating out a very talented Florida State team by 12 points. Kelsey Chmiel has further established herself as a legitimate low-stick while Julia Zachgo continues her breakout season. There were some gaps in the second half of their lineup, but none large enough to cause concern. Let's make sure that we don't undersell the return of Nevada Mareno who was NC State's #5 runner. Mareno making her season debut is huge as it gives the Wolfpack even more scoring options and scoring security as we enter the postseason. We need to give a lot of props to the Florida State women. Skyring and Funderburk were the low-sticks to watch in this race, but it was actually Villanova transfer Lauren Ryan who had a breakout performance (placing 6th), giving the Seminoles a total of three women inside the top 10. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to dislike this FSU team. They are loaded with talent and Ryan's breakout result only makes them better. Notre Dame (3rd) and Virginia Tech (4th) ran about as well as we expected them to. Both teams need to clean up the latter half of their top five, but I'm not sure we learned anything new about these teams. However, Freix finishing runner-up for the Hokies was a pleasant surprise. Syracuse finishes 5th overall. They're probably still a top candidate to finish in the two of the Northeast region, but I'm not loving the fact that they are underwhelming in the postseason yet again. Real quick, let's talk about the UNC women. They finished 8th overall which, at first glance, doesn't seem all that exciting. However, top low-stick Morgan Ilse was a DNF. Had she finished 10th overall (which is very realistic), the Tar Heels cut off 57 points and leap ahead of Virginia Tech for 4th place. The final results may tell you one thing, but this was a VERY impressive performance for the North Carolina women. Mountain West Men This was a big statement win for the Utah State men. Dallin Farnsworth won the individual title and established himself as a true low-stick that the Aggies needed. Yet, arguably even more important is that the pack behind him didn't fall apart like it typically does in these circumstances. Utah State went on to finish 1-5-6-14-16 to score 42 points, beating the runner-up team by over 30 points. It looks like the Utah State men are the real deal after all. Maybe the most surprising result of the weekend was seeing the Colorado State men emerge for a 2nd place finish. They have been so unimpressive throughout the regular season, but this was a nice result. Forest Barton had a huge breakout performance to finish 2nd overall while their depth supported the rest of their scoring with finishes of 15-18-19-20. I'm not sure this will be enough to save their national qualifying hopes, but it does open the door for them just a little bit. Boise State severely underwhelmed. By a lot. They've had a decent season so far, but this was just not a great race for them as they finished 4th in a field that they were expected to win. Their top three runners did their job, but their bottom two is where they gave up a heavy amount of their points. I'm not ready to write them off just yet, but it's hard to find too many positives. Women New Mexico dominated the field with a score of 31 points. Kelati and Kurgat went 1-2, but what was unexpected was seeing Adva Cohen finish 33rd overall in her season debut. In fact, she wasn't even in New Mexico's top seven! Instead, it was Hannah Nutall stepping up big time to finish 5th overall. The breakout performances didn't stop there as freshman Gracelyn Larkin came up huge with a 10th place finish of her own. Alex Harris closed down the scoring with a 13th place finish to cap off a rare, complete performance from all five of the Lobo's scorers. Nice run by the Air Force women. Four in the top 12 is great, but having your #5 runner drop to 26th isn't ideal. Even so, this team has simply been better than we expected them to be this season. They may not have won, but they have a lot to be proud of. Boise State settles for 3rd place overall. They actually had a good race with their entire top seven all finishing inside the top 20. However, having only one runner finish inside the top 10 (Parle in 7th) was not going to give them an edge over Air Force. Ivy League Men Princeton, the heavy favorite, drops to 3rd place overall (68 points) with Penn winning the conference crown (62 points) and Harvard placing 2nd (65 points). The Tigers did everything right through their top three runners, but their #4 and #5 scorers is where they left themselves vulnerable. This is a concerning result for the Princeton men given how tight the Mid-Atlantic region is. I think they'll do better in a larger race two weeks from now, but they needed their depth to come through and that unfortunately didn't happen. Props to the Quakers. Russo is a true low-stick and one that doesn't get enough attention. The rest of their lineup stuck together and crowded the 10th through 19th spots in the race. Coach Dolan's group was primed for a potential upset, but to actually execute when it matters the most is impressive. Truthfully, Harvard should have won this race. Kieran Tuntivate, the individual favorite, struggled quite a bit, dropping to 11th place overall. If he finishes a couple spots higher, then the Crimson men are the Ivy League champions. Don't forget about that fact when the Northeast Regional Championships come around. Women As we predicted, the Columbia women took home the win (rather comfortably) thanks to their top-tier front-runners and a "good enough" backend. I feel rather confident that we'll be seeing them at Nationals. Harvard and Penn tie for runner-up at 89 points each with the Crimson winning the tie-breaker. The real story was seeing Anna Juul placing 3rd overall after not finishing a race since September 13th. Her unexpected return vaulted Harvard up the team standings. The Yale women dropped all the way to 5th in this race which is one of the more surprising developments of the weekend. We thought they could be a possible title contender, but we may have over valued their top two runners. Their 3-4-5 severely underwhelmed. SEC Men Can someone please let us know if the SEC Championship course was short? There is no way on Earth that 33 different men actually ran under 24 minutes (the top four were under 23 minutes). I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that this race was short and if it was, it will be the second year in a row where the SEC Championships wasn't a full 8000 meters. How does that happen two years in a row? Ole Miss men easily take home the win (as expected) with four in the top 10 and five in the top 13. Not many surprises here, but Waleed Suliman was extremely close to beating out Gilbert Kigen for 2nd place (placing 3rd by only a tenth of a second). The Alabama men took home a runner-up performance. Kiprop and Kigen finished 1-2 as expected, but the addition of Noel Rotich (who finished 10th overall) makes this team relevant in the South region when it comes to the national qualifying conversation. I'm still not sure this will be enough to save their season, but it could happen. Women I don't really have much to say here. Arkansas dominated and Ole Miss finished runner-up just like we thought they would. However, it's important to note that Katrina Robinson still didn't toe the line for the Razorbacks. At this point in the season, we can probably assume that we wont see her race in 2019. BIG 12 Men Iowa State wins rather handily just like we thought they would. They placed all five men inside the top 10 and had their entire top seven inside the top 15. They were the class of the field and they showed it. Oklahoma State finishes runner-up in a performance that was somehow encouraging and concerning at all at the same time. It was encouraging to see the Pokes place all five men inside the top 20 with Ryan Smeeton earning a 3rd place finish. However, Hatte recorded yet another DNF for the second time in a row this season. That is super concerning given that the Cowboys can't afford to lose anyone from their "Big Three" (Rodriguez, Smeeton, Hatte) if they want to advance past the regional meet. Women Oklahoma State took home the win, but only barely. They edged out a Texas team (2nd) by a mere two points and a West Virginia team (3rd) by only four points. This win is huge for the Cowgirls as they will earn a key Kolas point by beating Texas and potentially another point if the West Virginia women somehow sneak into the national meet. The Iowa State women finished 4th overall, effectively ending their national qualifying hopes due to a lack of Kolas points. BIG East Men The firepower of Villanova vs the depth of Georgetown. In the end, it was the Wildcats who emerged victorious, scoring 36 points to the Hoyas 42 points. The 'Nova men put four men inside the top 10, but their final scorer finished 17th. As for the Hoyas, they only had two men inside the top 10, but had all seven of their runners cross the line before Villanova's final scorer. This season could have gone downhill rather quickly for Villanova with Comber clearly not at 100%, but the rest of the team rallied and stepped up in a big way. Women Butler was the better team today and it showed. By finishing 5-6-10-14-17, they simply had the more complete top five. There's a reason why we had projected them to qualify for Nationals. How about Villanova? After losing so many top-tier runners to transfer and graduation, they still came up with a clutch 2nd place finish. Lydia Olivere took home the individual title while Ann Campbell finished 3rd and Maggie Smith finished 8th. There was a pretty heavy drop-off after those three, but I'm not sure we expected to see this kind of scoring potency from the Wildcats this weekend