Interregional Weekend Recap
Just when D3GD mustered up the courage to release their mid-season rankings to the nation, interregional weekend came through with a big red pen, writing over what a group of washed-up college runners projected as truth with cold, hard facts - after this weekend it’s fun to be wrong. The four major interregional meets–Augustana, Rowan, Connecticut College, and Oberlin–delivered what was one of the most exciting weekends in D3 cross country to date. As results trickled into refreshed browsers and lead changes shifted, we found our jaws dropping again and again, our giddiness toward NCAAs in November reaching an all-time high.
Here’s what happened in D3 cross country this weekend.
Augustana
Two of the most competitive races of the weekend took place at the Augustana Interregional Invitational, which hosted three top-five men’s teams, two top-five women’s teams, and one defending national champion in Loras’s Kassie Parker, all of which lived up to this meet’s hype.
The action started in the women’s race when defending champion Parker embarked on a mission to become the first woman in D3 history to ever break 20 minutes in the 6k. She took the lead from the gun, gapping the field early. By halfway, she was over 20 seconds ahead of pursuers Aubrie Fisher of Wartburg and Ana Tucker of Hope.
Crossing through 3k in 10 minutes even, Parker would have to negative-split the race’s second half in order to break the 20-minute barrier. As she continued to press the pace and entered the race’s final straightaway, she could see 19 on the finishing clock. She could still see 19, albeit 19:59, as she crossed the finish line, knowing it was going to be a close result. Her official time of 20:00.1 makes her the closest woman in D3 history to breaking the 20-minute barrier with a month of racing yet to go. Needless to say, the next few weeks of racing for Parker will have her laser-focused on this goal, determined to add her name once more to the D3 history books.
* Editors note - despite our research, Missy Buttry Rock has broken the 20 minute barrier.
Behind Parker, a battle ensued between Fisher and Tucker, who both crossed halfway in 10:21. As both realized the win was out of reach, they focused on racing with each other. Fisher, who was otherwise defeated in D3 so far this season, pressed hard in her final 3k to edge out Tucker for second place. They ran 20:48 and 20:58, respectively.
Fisher, while on a mission to send a message as an individual contender for a top-three finish in November, was also running with another purpose in mind: a team victory for Wartburg. Alongside teammates Ellie Meyer, Lexi Brown, Shaelyn Hostager, and Riley Mayer, the Knights have strung together a strong season thus far. They were undefeated against D3 teams this year and have been running highly consistently. Both factors propelled them into a D3GD No. 2 ranking position. They had not yet, however, faced Midwest foe U of Chicago until this very weekend.
As Fisher crossed the finish line in second, she knew the rest would be up to her teammates. As she watched U of Chicago duo Frances Schaeffler and Anna Kenig-Ziesler trickle across the finish line in fifth and seventh place, she could see the orange of her teammates coming up the final straightaway. Meyer was kicking hard with U of Chicago’s Lucy Groothius, just beating her at the line. Brown came next just ahead of U of Chicago’s Katarina Birimac. Hostager and Mayer came storming up together, finishing in front of U of Chicago’s fifth scorer, Maddie Kelly. Though Wartburg seemingly bested Chicago at every position, putting two runners in front of Wartburg’s second scorer is what helped seal the deal for U of Chicago. They emerged victorious over Wartburg by three points, an upset in the rankings and a huge point of momentum as the postseason arrives. All-American Claudia Hartnett has yet to race this cross country season, if she does, it’ll add even more depth for Chicago.
Though both teams ran away with the lead, the women of WashU posted a solid third-place finish with 97 points. Frontrunners Emily Konkus and Lindsay Ott both placed within the top 10, but a sizable gap existed to their third scorer, making a top-two finish challenging. Behind WashU, Pomona-Pitzer came in fourth followed by North region school Eau Claire in fifth. Great Lakes program Calvin beat No. 1 regionally-ranked Hope to further shake up the rankings this week (we see you, Calvin! We promise we won’t forget you this time).
The men lined up next in an exciting matchup among No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer, No. 3 Wartburg, and No. 4 North Central. Unlike the women’s race, a front pack formed early, and almost everyone who chose to lean into the hot starting pace was rewarded with a top-10 finish. The pack, consisting mostly of North Central and Pomona-Pitzer athletes, crossed through halfway in 11:59, perfectly on pace for a sub-24 minute effort.
As they entered the final phase of racing, seven athletes chose to hang onto the lead pace. Steeplechase national champion Christopher Collet proved to be too savvy to beat, outkicking the field for the win in 23:47. He was followed hot on the heels by North Central’s Connor Riss, who finished runner-up in 23:49. In fact, all seven athletes who clung to the increasingly fast final half of the race crossed the finish line in under 24 minutes:
Cal Yackin of Otterbein was third in 23:50
Spencer Schultz of Stout was fourth in 23:51
Lucas Florsheim of Pomona-Pitzer was fifth in 23:52
Max Svienty of North Central was sixth in 23:53
Colin Kirkpatrick of Pomona-Pitzer was seventh in 23:54
With three athletes each in the top ten, the battle for team title looked to be between Pomona-Pitzer and North Central. As the clock ticked on, however, a swarm of Sagehens, five to be exact, crossed the finish line ahead of NCC’s fourth scorer. With their characteristic depth that has yet to be matched, the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens brought a victory back West. The NCC Cardinals, after a gutsy performance out of their top three runners Riss, Svienty, and Braden Nicholson (eighth in 24:02), placed second ahead of previously ranked No. 3 Wartburg. A program quickly finding its groove after an uncharacteristically mediocre year last year, the NCC cardinals are reminding the nation who sat atop the national podium in 2018, alluding to where they plan to be again this November.
Behind third-place Wartburg, who trailed NCC by 15 points, No. 12 WashU placed fourth. In fifth was the No. 21 squad from Otterbein, who beat No. 26 Stout and No. 20 West-region school UC Santa Cruz, further muddying the incoming rankings.
Augustana brought team upsets, lightning-fast individual performances, and just a taste for the drama to come when the aforementioned nationally-ranked programs line up again in Lansing later this season.
Shout out to UW-Stout of taking over our Instagram
Connecticut College
Teams from across the country made their way to Harkness State Park to partake in the famed Connecticut College Invite. With one of the most scenic courses in America, why wouldn’t you want to make the trip?
Check out these shots by George Madison
The day got started on the women's side with a top ten showdown between MIT and Amherst, but as the dust settled, it became more than just a two team race. Through the first split, Sophie Wolmer of Amherst, Lauren Selkin of Mount Holyoke and Genna Girard of Williams put a small gap on the field of four seconds. All three had ambitions to be a low stick for their team and get the better of the interregional competition. As the race developed behind them, teams jockeyed for position ready to move up throughout the field in the last 3k. Through the first split the team battle looked like this:
Amherst - 88
MIT - 90
Williams - 102
St. Olaf - 129
Smith - 156
As the runners made their way through the hairpin turns, and the salty breeze of the Atlantic ocean propelled them forward, there was only one thing in mind: beat people. With MIT’s Riley Macon at the helm, we’re seeing a different style of racing from the Engineers from when Halston Taylor led the program. The pack running and moving up throughout the race has been the key to success for MIT this season, and it didn’t stop in Connecticut. MIT shaved off 28 points from their team score and turned a two point deficit into a 48 point victory. While they did that collectively, a big push came from their Gillian Roeder as she went from 31st to 11th.
The team from Minnesota did their best impression of Midwest nice and as they passed teams said, ope ‘scuse me, let me scootch by ya there, thanks.’ The Oles from St. Olaf appeared to be nervous about being far from home as they boasted an 11-second 1-5 split. Similar to MIT, they were able to move throughout the race and take 19 points off their team score to finish runner-up. While they may be missing a small-stick at the front of the race, they make up for it with one of the best packs in the country. They’ve had some good battles with Carleton this season, and after what Carleton did out at Rowan, MIACs is going to be one to keep an eye on.
On the individual front, Vivian Kane of NYU came home victorious running 21:18 - 15 seconds ahead of Williams’s Girard. Kane did not show up on the first split so she either jumped in the race halfway and no one noticed, or her chip didn’t work. Presumably her chip wasn’t working, but what a big win for the first-year. With high school accolades of 5:08 in the mile, 11:17 in the 3200m, and 18:52 in the cross country 5k, Kane is already amongst the top in D3 as she takes down a field with collegiate national qualifiers and All-Americans. Having a first year make a big impact has made a big difference for this resurgent year for NYU.
This weekend was our first real look at the Bates squad as well. Their two meets prior were a dual with Tufts and the Maine State meet. Seeing as they’re only 28 points behind Amherst, Bates could be a team to watch. They have a strong front runner in Jillian Richardson as she finished third. While they were able to put their fifth runner ahead of Williams’s fourth and Amherst’s fifth, they’ll need to move up to give themselves a shot at taking these teams down later in the season. With Jillian at the front of the race and a 14-second split from their second to fifth runner, Bates has a recipe to make some noise.
The final team scores:
MIT - 62
St. Olaf - 110
Williams - 115
Amherst - 116
Bates - 144
The action continued into the Men’s blue race. Fresh off their Pre-Nationals win, the men from MIT were determined to keep their undefeated season intact. They accomplished this by claiming front positions early, packing five athletes into the top 20 for a point total of 37 at 2.8k. At this point in the race, runners-up Williams trailed the Engineers by 100 points.
Colby’s Tyler Morris led the way through 3k, trailed by MIT’s Sam Acquaviva and national cross runner-up Elias Lindgren of Williams. Morris, who was seventh in last year’s national championships, has had a quiet season thus far. He opened up his season two weeks ago at the Maine State Cross Country Championships, winning by over 30 seconds and showcased his fitness on a larger stage this weekend with his early lead at Connecticut.
By 5k, Lindgren had taken over, crossing in 15:30, but Morris held his own, trailing slightly behind at 15:39. Matt Carter of Connecticut lurked behind at 15:51, followed by Engineers duo Matthew Kearney and Acquaviva. Also still in the mix was Williams’s Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos and Mount Union’s Jeff Joseph. Much farther back, Williams’s Simon Kissam had moved up 59 places from 95th to 36th, thus slightly closing the gap from the Ephs to MIT.
In the final kilometers, Lindgren defended his lead, winning outright in a speedy 23:43. Morris hung on strong for second, dipping well under the 24-minute barrier to finish in 23:50. The squad from MIT could not be caught, as their fearless leaders Acquaviva and Kearney led the way to a 45-point finish. Acquaviva took 3rd in 24:10 with Kearney on his heels at 24:13. Vedang Lad, Andrew Mah, and 800m national champion Ryan Wilson rounded out the scoring roster, all finishing well within the top 20.
The final individual lineup:
Lindgren (Williams) - 23:43
Morris (Colby) - 23:50
Acquaviva (MIT) - 24:10
Kearney (MIT) - 24:13
Carter (Conn College) - 24:15
Tuohy-Gaydos (Williams) - 24:16
Joseph (Mount Union) - 24:17
Logan Bocovich (St. Olaf) - 24:19
Ryan Kredell (Haverford) - 24:20
Lad (MIT) - 24:20
Williams landed three finishers within the top 20, but fell off with their fourth and fifth. They finished 33 points behind MIT and 76 points ahead of third place team Middlebury. The battle for third through fifth was a tight one, as Middlebury, St. Olaf, and Haverford all finished within just 14 points of one another. The final scores were as follows:
MIT - 45
Williams - 78
Middlebury - 154
St. Olaf - 160
Haverford - 168
With representation from the East, Mideast, North, and Metro regions all within the top five scoring teams, the men’s team battle at Connecticut truly exemplified what interregional weekend is all about: beating new teams.
Rowan
The battle referred to in the Rowan Interregional Border Battle proved to be in the women’s race between previously No. 1 ranked SUNY Geneseo and North region school Carleton. A team used to sweeping the front of races, SUNY G entered uncharted territory this past weekend when Carleton’s Clara Mayfield took an early charge to the front. She crossed through the first mile in 5:29, several seconds ahead of chasers Kallan Carter of Susquehanna and Kathleen McCarey of SUNY Geneseo. Behind McCarey, Mayfield’s teammate Hannah Preisser remained within striking distance, followed by RPI’s Morgan Lee. The bulk of the race crossed the mile in just under six minutes, the pack swarming with Geneseo and Carleton jerseys.
As the race progressed, Mayfield extended her lead, putting more space between herself and Geneseo frontrunner McCarey, who moved into second with 2k to go. In the chase pack, three Carleton athletes and four Geneseo athletes continued to hang on, knowing a tight finish was ahead of them.
Mayfield stormed up the final straightaway, winning in 20:48. 34 seconds later, RPI’s Lee came whizzing past McCarey to take second. As McCarey crossed the finish line to join a recovering Mayfield in the chute, each waited in anticipation for their teammates to appear. Carleton’s Preisser and Sophie McManus came next, putting three Carleton athletes on the board before Geneseo’s second scorer, a hole likely caused by the absence of Windsor Ardner, who typically fills the role of Geneseo’s No. 2 runner.
Just as Carleton began to admire their team performance, in came the Geneseo scoring pack of Rachel Hirschkind, Erin Eivers, Marcie Hogan, and Lilly Fowler-Conner, sweeping places 7-10 behind RPI’s Nia Goddard. Carleton’s fourth and fifth runners lagged slightly behind, finishing in 13th and 15th place to put the North-region team in runner-up position to Geneseo. While a win would have been a thrilling memento to bring back to Minnesota, the squad from Carleton still left with exuberance in their hearts. They just finished a single point behind one of the best teams in the country. They skyrocketed to No. 8 in the rankings this week.
Though the battle took place mostly between Geneseo and Carleton, a few other key characters mixed it up out front at one of the country’s most notable interregional meets this weekend. RPI’s Lee and Goddard proved to be a great performing duo, placing second and sixth, respectively, to lead RPI to a thor place finish and No. 29 ranking this week. Niagara region athletes Megan Francoeur of Oneonta and Kerry Flower of Brockport State placed 11th and 12th, respectively, putting them both in a favorable position as they find themselves weeks out from the regional meet.
RPI stole the spotlight in the men’s race at Rowan, placing four athletes in the race’s top 10. Early on, Lynchburg’s Frank Csorba and Sam Llaneza as well as Geneseo’s Nick Andrews led the race as they took the field through the mile mark in 4:40. Four RPI men lurked close behind, including Matthew Lecky, who was the only one to respond to a mid-race move by Andrews to take the lead. Following its namesake, the race at Rowan soon became a battle between Lecky and Andrews. Lecky played the long game, keeping a solo Andrew in sight, slowly reeling him in until the precise moment where he would take over the lead.
That moment did not come until the very end of the race when Lecky kicked to the win, overtaking Andrews by just two seconds. 27 seconds later, Lecky’s teammate Cory Kennedy, who had also broken away from the pack midway through the race, cruised into third. Christopher Newport’s Nathanael Ferrante kicked ahead of Llaneza, the two of them crossing in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
A few places behind, RPI’s third and fourth finishers came in behind Geneseo’s second. An 18th place finish from fifth scorer Jonathan Craun rounded out RPI’s team score to a low 39 points, just about half as many points scored by second and third place teams Geneseo and Lynchburg, who finished a mere two points apart.
Geneseo beat Lynchburg at runners one, two, and four, whereas Lynchburg’s third and fifth runners finished higher. Geneseo also dropped off significantly after their fifth finisher, whereas Lynchburg placed both their sixth and seventh runners ahead of Geneseo’s sixth. A big loss for Lynchburg has been Max Sparks. After not racing since September, the Lynchburg coaching staff informed us he will no longer be racing for Lynchburg and is no longer on their roster. Despite that, the South-region team continues to boast a depth that will be dangerous come November.
Other noteworthy individual performances out of the men’s race included Messiah’s Logan Horst (sixth in 25:04), Stockton’s Cooper (tenth in 25:08), and Washington and Lee’s Charles Scharf (11th in 25:08).
Oberlin
A trip to Oberlin, OH proved fruitful for Mid-Atlantic region program Carnegie Mellon, who posted a 40-point win to beat Great Lakes ranked team Case Western. CMU took charge early, placing ten of their athletes into the top 20 by 2k. Though at first uncontested, the team from Case Western crept closer to the lead as the race progressed. Just after 2k, CMU was ahead by 47 points. By 5k, Case only trailed them by 2 points after big mid-race moves from Jack Begley, Robert St. Clair, and Joseph Jaster. At 7k, Case trailed by 4 points, but as CMU held onto their positions in the final kilometer and Case’s fourth and fifth runners started to fall behind, CMU emerged victorious. They finished with eight athletes in the top 20.
In the individual race, the absence of defending national champion Alex Phillip, who sat out this weekend in competition, opened the door for a new crowning Oberlin champion. Up until 50 meters left of the 8-kilometer race, Jack Begley was in strong contention for the crown. That was until Manchester’s Enrique Salazar turned on the jets, surging ahead for the win by 0.6 seconds over Begley. Just missing out of a national qualifying spot last fall, look for Salazar to go after a top place at the Great Lakes Regional Championships at the start of November.
Behind Case, Niagara team Rochester took third led by 1500m All-American Scott Sikorski, who placed third overall. No. 16 John Carroll took fourth with a partial roster, looking to return to full force at the Ohio Athletic Conference meet in a few weeks.
Hope Murphy and No. 25 John Carroll women dominated the women’s race at Oberlin. JCU placed all but one scorer within the top 20 of the race, finishing with 70 points for the win over North region school Stevens Point. A pack of Murphy, Trine’s Lydia Randolph, Muskingum’s Macy McAdams, and Franciscan’s Claire Walters took the race out early, separating themselves from the chase pack. By 5k, only McAdams started to fade away from the frontrunners, just as Stevens Point’s Rachel Krouse made her move to the front. Murphy, a 1500m All-American showed her speed in the final kilometer, outkicking her challengers for the win in 21:54, the only performance under 22 minutes. Walters took second in 22:05, followed by Randolph in 22:09, then Krouse in 22:13, and finally McAdams in 22:13. Excluding North-region athlete Krouse, look for many of the same names to be in contention for national qualifying spots at the Great Lakes Regional Championships in November.
Other
In other weekend news, UW-La Crosse competed at home for the annual Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer Invitational. Both programs pulled off easy home-course victories. The women were led by Maddie Hannan, who took second in 22:02. She finished behind St. Benedict’s Fiona Smith, who finished a full 64 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, clearly on a completely different level than most of her competitors this weekend and across the entire season. UWL men were led by Isaac Wegner, who placed fifth in 24:47. He was joined by teammates Corey Fairchild and Ethan Gregg, who crossed the line alongside him in sixth and seventh, respectively. Augsburg freshman sensation Mohammed Bati took a narrow runner-up finish to NJCAAA school Iowa Central CC’s Aspel Kiprob, who beat him with a lean. Many are looking forward to seeing what Bati does in the postseason.
At the UAB Blazer Classic, Emory’s Annika Urban took down a strong field of D1 athletes in a winning time of 20:44. She led her team to a fifth place finish, which moved them to No. 28 in the rankings. The men’s team placed third overall ahead of several low-tier D1 programs, moving them up a spot to No. 8 this week in the D3GD rankings.
At the Wilmington Jenna Strong Fall Classic, No. 24 Wilmington pulled off a 1-3 sweep with trio Simon Heys, George Rickett, and Noah Tobin, all of whom ran under 25 minutes to finish ahead of individual national qualifier Luke Wilson of Berea. Wilmington started the season unranked, but after an exciting Pre-Nats victory over ranked programs U of Chicago, Connecticut College, and Calvin, they have continued to justify their position in the rankings.
