Published by Adam Schneider/RunnerSpace.com/College on November 16th, 2015

The results this weekend have been somewhat misleading. New Mexico lost to Colorado at the Mountain region meet, 49-50 but the Lobos weren't pushing themselves. Oregon barely edged Boise State in horrible weather at the West region meet. Arkansas has run well but hs not faced any of the top teams running their top runners since the field, including them, were destroyed by New Mexico. The conference results still give us the best picture of how these teams will do and New Mexico crushed a good Boise State team at the Mountain West meet, making New Mexico a clear favorite for the NCAA meet, the next meet for all of these teams. 

 (Previous ranking is from last week)

1. New Mexico ran as a pack and were edged by #2 Colorado at the NCAA Mountain Regional, 49-50. Mission accomplished for the Lobos . New Mexico dominated the Mountain West Championships except for being able to beat record-setting freshman Allie Ostrander of Boise State. The Lobos crushed the previous Wisconsin Adidas record with 32 (4-5-6-7-10) as senior transfer Molly Renfer became the #5 runner.The Lobos dominated (28) a field with good top end runners at Notre Dame. They went 2-4-5–6-12 over the 5000m course and their top four (Courtney Frerichs, Rhona Auckland, Alice Wright, and Callie Thackery) were in the lead pack for most of the race with athletes expected to finish in the top 20 at the NCAA meet. An issue is that #6 was in 27th. They performed as advertised without last year’s #5 runner, Heleene Tambet (like last year playing soccer). They trained through Texas Tech open and runs runners who have a chance at top 7 including freshman Kendall Kelly (seventh) as senior Anna Burton (21st) leads a pack of New Mexico runners.       (1)

2. Colorado defeated New Mexico 49-50 at the NCAA Mountain Regionals as they put Kaitlyn Benner (2nd), Erin Clark (3rd), and Maddie Alm (7th) ahead of New Mexico's runners.  won the  Pac-12 Championships with Kaitlyn Benner (2nd) and Melanie Nun (7th) running their best race of the year, Benner, and in two years, Nun. Colorado was second at Pre-Nationals (151) with all of their top runners.  Erin Clark (20:00.5) took first in the team’s first tough race of the year. Caitlin Benner (20:22) was 15th and Maddie Alm (20:27) was 18th and they were a solid #2/#3 set of runners. Colorado will need to solidify their #4/#5 to have a chance to trophy. The Buffs took the first six spots at home but no improvement over last year’s performance at Rocky Mountain Shootout.  Freshmen Dani Jones and Val Constien ran as part of their top five. They swept the Colorado State duals as 2014 #2 Maddie Alm was third in 17:38.2, Taylor Tuttle ran unattached for fourth in 17:39, and Melanie Nun ran in the pack with other Buffs.  (2)

3. Oregon repeated at the NCAA West Regional  (79-80 ahead of Boise State) with many of the same runners as last year. Waverly Neer was second to lead the Ducks as she continues to get better after taking most of the summer off. The Ducks were second to Colorado (45-51) at Pac-12 Championships after leading much of the race. They were led by Waverly Neer (5th) and Alli Cash (6th) and put their top five in the first 15 (#6 was 26th, almost ahead of Colorado's #5 in 24th).  The Ducks were third at Pre-Nationals (175 behind 131 for Michigan and 151 for Colorado) and led by Waverly Neer (8th) without their top 2 running as they had earlier in the year. Alli Cash was second to Aisling Cuffe at Washington Invitational and had a bad race (Cash was with the leaders and then fell back in the race to finish 53rd?) and Maggie Schmaedick (#2 for the Ducks in fourth at Washington Invitational) did not run. The Ducks won the Washington Invitational with a solid top five and a very strong second place finish for sophomore Alli Cash. All of the teams ran much harder (36 to 42 seconds faster) which may have an affect on their next race. Three of their runners will develop over the season after an intentionally limited summer. Oregon’s first three ran well at Bill Dellinger in a race before training camp starts at Sunriver, led by sophomore Alli Cash in 20:27.5. (2)

4. Providence did what they need to do at the NCAA Northeast Regional (won with 49 ahead of 92 by Syracuse) with Sarah Collins in second and Catarina Rocha, #3 in 10th,  continuing her recovery. The Friars easily won the Big East Championships (26 to 54 for Georgetown) with Sarah Collins leading the way in first. Catarina Rocha was sixth at the Friars' #4 runner. Providence ran without Catarina Rocha at Wisconsin Adidas and finished 5th (264). They would have easily finished in second with Rocha in the race. The Friars dominated the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown with Catarina Rocha and Sarah Collins running 3-4. Coach Flynn believes this team will score better through four runners than NCAA championship team in 2013. They were perfect at Shawn Nassaney Invitational as Sara Collins and Briana Ilarda ran as part of the pack after the previous race where they took five of the first six spots against New Hampshire to dominate at UNH duals with Catarina Rocha wining the 5000m race in 17:28.5. (4)

5. Boise State finished second at the NCAA West Regional behind Oregon, 79-80 as Allie Ostrander continued her winning ways. Brenna Peloquin and Minttu Hukka were a remarkable fourth and fifth overall. The Broncos were second at the Mountain West Championships behind a very good New Mexico team. The Broncos were sixth at Wisconsin Adidas without Annie Bothma and Emma Hyppa (two of the top five). Coach Ihmels finally unveiled one of their top newcomers (Annie Bothma) and the freshmen were impressive at Roy Griak.  Coach Ihmels talked about this being the biggest moment yet for the program.  Freshmen Allie Ostrander and Annie Bothma went 2-3 and Brenna Peloquin (11th) was the #4 runner for the Broncos. They went 2-3-6-11-17-23. Many runners ran faster this year but this was weaker competition. It was still impressive with a 37 point score, by four runners not on the Boise State squad last year, to 116 for #10 Michigan State. (5)

6.  Michigan beat the 1-2 finish by Notre Dame at the  NCAA Great Lakes Regional, 69-79 as Erin Finn finished fifth overall. Shannon Osika is starting to run like she did earlier in the year. The Wolverines was a surprising second at the Big 10 Championships. Erin Finn won but solid #2 Shannon Osika had a rough race.  Michigan continued their undefeated run at Pre-Nationals with Erin Finn (6th) and Shannon Osaka (13th) out ahead again for Michigan. Michigan had their #3-#5 battling with Oregon and what is expected their #4/#5 runners.  Michigan will have to beat Oregon’s #4/#5 to surpass them at nationals. The Wolverines took the first two spots at the Greater Louisville Classic (Erin Finn and Shannon Osika) to win the team title. They dominated the Commodore Classic as expected with Erin Finn way ahead in first (16:43.4 over 5000m) and Shannon Osaka debuted, but still no Taylor Mannett (57th in 2013). They took six of the first eight and seven of the first ten at the Eastern Michigan Celebration 5K. (6)

7. Arkansas used the dominant performance by Dominique Scott to easily win the NCAA South Central Regional, 40 to 105 ahead of Texas. Kaitlyn Flattman was #2 runner, fifth overall. Arkansas dominated the SEC Championships against good competition (38-95 ahead of Mississippi State). Dominique Scott ran away with the individual title as Kaitlynn Flattman was the second best runner for the Razorbacks. Arkansas was a well back 2nd (188 to 32 for New Mexico) at Wisconsin Adidas. Dominique Scott (3rd) and Devin Clark (18th) make a solid 1-2 and they need development in #3-#5 to trophy. Arkansas dominated at home with the debut of senior Dominique Scott well ahead (16:07.2). Freshman Devin Clark proved she is a sold #2 and the gap was tight with 3-4-5 (2-5 :17 and 1-5 :38). Kaitlin Flattmann had a promising race in her return from recent injuries and could indicate a trophy shot for the Razorbacks. At UC Riverside they dominated with Freshman Devin Clark (3rd at 2014 NXN) was second overall in the 6000m race and freshman Claudie Verstaten (17:32.10) was the top collegian and led the Arkansas middle distance runners over the 5000m course. Clark looks like a solid #2 for the Razorbacks. (7)

8. Washington were third at NCAA West Regional (105) with a finally healthy Katie Knight (#2 on the team, 10th overall) having her best race in two years. Washington now has a solid top three but they did not get much help from #4-#5, but it is more likely that was an anomaly. The Huskies were fourth at the  Pac-12 Championships  with Maddie Meyers third. The Huskies finished 8th (293) at Wisconsin Adidas without solid #2 Charlotte Prouse. With her they would have finished in the top 4. The Huskies had a good race at their home Invitational and #1 Maddie Meyers was third and the team was second (59-60) ahead of a Cranny-less Stanford.  The same pack running did not happen like it did at Sundodger with a much faster pace. The Huskies impressed at Sundodger Invitational going 2-5 with freshmen Charlotte Prouse and Lindsey Bradley in that group. In their first meet they took the first 10 spots at the UW-Seattle Open led by Emily Hamlin (16:42.23) ahead of Charlotte Prouse (16:42.36). Next for the Huskies is the the NCAA West Regionals on November 13th.    (11)

9. Virginia made a bit more of a separation from North Carolina State (53-74) at the NCAA Southeast Regionalwith all five finishing between 6th and 14th (:24). Virginia won a tight battle with North Carolina State at the ACC Championships (71-75). The Cavaeliers finished third (217) at Wisconsin Adidas. Cleo Boyd (20th), Iona Lake (25th) and Megan Rebholtz (28) were a solid #1-#3. The Cavaliers easily won at home with 30 points to 83 for Mississippi State.  Iona Lake (16:49.6 for 5000m) led a 1-2 Virginia finish with Cleo Boyd in second (16:59.6). They looked like they were in early season form and did not win a dual in the UVA duals.  (8)

10. North Carolina State took it even easier than Virginia at the NCAA Southeast Regional and still finished second. The Wolfpack ran a close race with Virginia (71-75) at the ACC Championships. Ryen Frazier was fifth to lead the Wolfpack. North Carolina State finished fourth at Wisconsin Adidas (240). Samantha George (13th) and Ryen Frazier (38th) were each in the top 13 with 2k to go but Frazier couldn't keep up with the pace in her first 6k race. The Wolfpack was led by Ryen Frazier’s win at Notre Dame against #1 New Mexico and the team finished second, 29 to 74. Ryan (16:06 for 5000m) dominated the  Adidas XC Challenge. Freshman Rachel Koon was third overall. (9)  

11. Stanford was fourth at the West Region (121) meet even without #1 runner Aisling Cuffe. finished third at the  Pac-12 Championships after battling for second much of the race. Aisling Cuffe repeated her 2013 title and will challenge at NCAAs. At Pre-Nationals and they were well back in fourth (244) as this was a great opportunity for young runners to run on the NCAA course. The Cardinal ran again without Elise Cranny at the Washington Invitational and not surprisingly finished third behind Oregon and Washington. Aisling Cuffe won and Vanessa Fraser led much of the race to push the pace and finally had a big race on a cross country course. The Cardinal won their home invitational using runners competing for 5-7. The Cardinal used the short course (4200m) Fresno State Invitational as a fast workout. Graduate Aisling Cuffe ran in her first cross country race in almost 2 years. Next up for the Cardinal is NCAA West Regional on November 13th.   (10)

12. Oklahoma State won the NCAA Midwest Regional and seem to keep improving as the season goes along. #1-#5 were only spread out by :29. The courses have been slow so far so it is hard to compare them to other teams. Oklahoma State won the  Big 12 Championships 34-52 ahead of Iowa State and look like they could take the next step and challenge for a trophy with a tight spread from runners #1-#5, :21. The Cowboys dominated the Crimson Classic.  The Cowboys took five of the first 12 spots at the Cowboy Jamboree and edged Alabama 39-41.  Oklahoma State returns injured runners from last year and looked good at the Cowboy preview. Igbeborg Loevnes won the race and is expected to be #1 and the emergence of freshman Katie Spencer could put them into the top 20. (12)

13. Penn State defeated Georgetown 60-75 at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and edged Michigan (53-58) at Big 10 Championships  with Tori Gerlach leading the Nittany Lions. Penn State was tenth at Wisconsin Adidas to and led by Tori Gerlach in 32nd. They were third (112) at the Greater Louisville Classic (Michigan was 1st with 42 and Iowa State was second with 77) won the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe (21-34) as Tori Gerlach won (21:01.1) and redshirt freshman Tessa Barrett (6th in 21:43.0) was #4 for the Nittany Lions. (13) 

14.  Iowa State was second at the NCAA Midwest Regional (51-98) and Big 12 Championships (34-52) to Oklahoma State in both meets. Perez Rotich and Erin Hooker were the tandem leading the Cyclones in both (1-2 at Big 12). The Cyclones finished 7th at Wisconsin Adidas  using what might be expected to be their top 7 without #1 Bethanie Brown.   Iowa State first ran almost all of their top 7 at the Greater Louisville Classic and they ran well but weren’t in the mix at all with Michigan (42 to 77). Bethanie Brown was their top returner (53) and she didn’t race.  Perez Rotich ran well in fourth (17:05.2). The Cyclones lost #1 runner Crystal Nelson to a redshirt due to a knee injury and personal reasons. They ran without their top five at Roy Griak and at the Oz Memorial.  (14)

15. Georgetown finished 2nd at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional  (60-75) as they had a tight 1-5 split, :24. The Hoyas were second at Big East Championships (26-54) as most runners ran well. They did not race Samantha Nadel at Big East or Pre-Nationals but everyone else ran and they were seventh at . Andrea Keklak was 33rd and freshmen Audrey Belf ran her best race of the year to get 51st. They did not run well at Coast to Coast Battle-in-Beantown (3rd with 134) and finished well back of Providence (42) and behind Syracuse (127). The same thing happened last year as they trained through the race and finished the season as one of the favorites at the NCAA meet (they finished fourth). They dominated the JMU open (5200m) led by senior Samantha Nadel in 18:37.3.  (16)

16. Mississippi State was second at the NCAA South Region Championships (65-78) placing their first four in the top 16. Missississippi State finished well behind Arkansas in second (35 to 98) at the SEC Championships. Rhiannwedd Price was well back with two teammates in 22nd. Mississippi State was fifth (247) at Pre-Nationals with a solid front two of Marta Freitas (12th) and Rhianwedd Price (14th). Mississippi State was second at Virginia Panorama Farms. (16)

17. Notre Dame went 1-2 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional  with Molly Seidel and Anna Rohrer once again and they were 2nd overall (69-79). The Irish were third at the ACC Championships (96) led by the 1-2 finish of Molly Seidel and Anna Rohrer. The Irish finished 12th at Wisconsin Adidas and were led by a fantastic performance by Molly Seidel in 19:21 (superior to the meet record) The Irish were third (143) at their home invitational way behind #1 New Mexico (29) and #13 North Carolina State (74). Molly Seidel was third and Anna Rohrer was eighth but #3 was :28 behind Rohrer and #5 was :39 back.  dominated the National Catholic Championship (20 to 84 over Xavier) as freshman Anna Rohrer won the 5000m race (17:20.7) and the Irish were second at the Crusader Open with runners looking to make the top seven. (18) 

18.  Michigan State was third at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional  as Ali Wiersma has become the #1 runner with Rachele Schulist hurt. The Spartans had another great race by Alexis Wiersma at the Big 10 Championships. Michigan State was way back in third (104) without Rachele Schulist. The Spartans were led by Alexis Wiersma (25) without Rachele Schulist at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational. The team was 14th. The Spartans ran their freshman at the Michigan Intercollegiate championships. Freshman Morgan Fleishchmann was eighth to lead the young Spartans. Michigan State did not run nearly as well at Roy Griak as the did last year and were well back from Boise State in second (37 to 116).  They also did not have Lindsay Clark and Katie Landwehr, two of their top four runners, who are working to get back from injury. They dominated the Spartan Invitational with Rachele Schulist the winner. . Sophomore Erin McDonald won Jeff Drench the race for the Spartans (17:29.94).     (19)

19. Minnesota was third at the NCAA Midwest Regional. Minnesota finished fourth at the Big 10 Championships with runners 1-4 within :23 of each other. Minnesota was 15th at Wisconsin Adidas and had their first off race. Minnesota was fourth (126) at the Greater Louisville Classic as the team has shown solid improvement since last year. They were third at Roy Griak with Haley Johnson and Liz Berkholz leading them. . (20)

20. BYU finished fourth (126) at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships behind Utah (116). Byu was second to Gonzaga after a tie-breaker at the WCC Championships but they did not run all of their top runners. The Cougars finished ninth at Wisconsin Adidas to continue their strong season. The Cougars ran very well at a tough Washington Invitational.  They finished fourth (77) led by the eighth place finish of Natalie Sheields-Connally, leading the Cougars for the first time since early in 2014.  Her injury recovery has made BYU a trophy contender. Yesenia Silva, third for the Cougars in 17th, recovered from a fall in the first 400m to finish as well as she did. Freshman Alice Jensen, with her victory, led BYU to the title at the WCC preview. (15)  

also of interest due to their team's potential

Vanderbilt won the NCAA South Region Championships ahead of Mississippi State after finishing third at the SEC championships behind Arkansas and Mississippi State. Freshman Caroline Pietrzyk had developed into a solid #1. She was third at SEC championships and second at the South Regional

William and Mary had to have been disappointed after finishing fourth at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships. Regan Rome was fifth but Emily Stites did not run and the team seemed to be off compared to earlier this year. The Tribe easily won the Colonial Athletic Association Championships (23) with Emily Stites winning the title and the team took the first three spots. William and Mary was 16th at Wisconsin Adidas to and led by Regan Rome (9th). They had the second fastest average time at the Princeton Inter-Regional but finished sixth as these races don’t have a lot of depth. Regan Rome and Emily Stites went 1-2 and they are still waiting for Carolyn Hennessey (last year’s conference champion and second at the regional) to start racing like she did last year. William and Mary took the first three spots at their home invitational as sophomore Regan Rome won ahead of senior Emily Stites and sophomore Molly Breidenbaugh was off the pace.   (18)

Syracuse was fourth at the ACC championships led by the fourth place finish of Margo Malone. Syracuse finished 11th at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational.  They were 2nd (127) behind #3 Providence (42) at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown and led by Margo Malone, 2nd overall. The Orange was second to Penn State at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe (21-34) with the Orange’s Margo Malone second over 6k (21:10.9). At Harry Lang (4800m) graduate transfer Cassia Hameline (St. Lawrence) won the race in 17:17 Next race is NCAA Northeast Regional on November 13th.  (20)

Princeton won the Ivy League Championships led by Elizabeth Bird's win. Princeton was 13th at Wisconsin Adidas. barely won the Princeton Inter-Regional over North Carolina (80-90). Elizabeth Bird led three in the top seven. They were second to Wisconsin (22-44) at the Paddy Doyle Meet of Champions without #1 runner Elizabeth Bird. The Tigers will next race at the Mid-Atlantic Regional on November 13th. 

Utah was led by Hannah McInturf (4th) again at Mountain Region. With McInturf and Feeny leading Utah, the Utes finished third.

North Carolina was fifth at the ACC Championships. The Tar Heels finished 19th at Wisconsin Adidas after a toned down performance by the team. The Tar Heels were led again by Josette Norris and they had a 42 second separation from 1 to 5 and finished second to Princeton at the Inter-Regional meet. The Tar Heels were crushed at the Adidas XC Challenge after not running many of their top runners and finished as a pack and seventh overall. They dominated the Homie Invitational with Josette Norris (13:53.11 for 40000m) starting to show her talent with her win. North Carolina will race next at the Southeast Regional on November 13th.

West Virginia finished third at the Big 12 championships using pack running led by Maggie Dragba (1-5, :23 separation). West Virginia was 27th at Wisconsin Adidas to without Jillian Forsey. They dominated the second tier race at Greater Louisville Classic and would have been well back by average time. They have not looked good all year. They used none of their top seven at Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational and finished third then ran the WVU Open relay race as only one of their top seven ran. Their next race is the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on November 13th. (15)

Wisconsin was 7th at the Big 10 Championships as Shaelyn Sorensen (7th)had another good race. The Badgers did not run the runners they expected to be in their top five this year and they finished 25th at  Wisconsin Adidas as Shaelyn Sorensen ran very well in 37th to lead the Badgers. Wisconsin was sixth at Greater Louisville Classic without many of their top runners. They dominated the Iona College Meet of champions as Shaley Sorensen got another victory with a group battling for spots 6 and 7 on the team.  Redshirt freshmen Sorensen and Erin Wagner went 1-2 at Badger Opener (21 without top 3).  Next for the Badgers is the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on November 13th.   (19)  

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