2022 D3 XC: Mid-Atlantic Regional Preview
Despite losing some key contributors, the men’s team from Carnegie Mellon and the women’s team from Johns Hopkins are expected to return strong rosters to the Mid-Atlantic region.
Men’s Mid-Atlantic
With the first through third place finishers from last year’s championships all having graduated, the Mid-Atlantic title is anyone’s for the taking. Perhaps the strongest candidate is that of Johns Hopkins’s Matthew Kleiman. Kleiman took fourth in last year’s regional race, was 68th at the NCAA championships, and ran a lifetime best of 4:07 in the mile at the indoor national meet to earn All-American honors.
He is joined on the line by teammate Arthur Beyer, who did not race at regionals but placed 85th at the NCAA meet and then went on to run PRs of 1:51 and 3:48 in the 800m and 1500m runs, respectively, in the outdoor track season. In the men’s race where 8,000 meters requires drastically different training than the middle distance track races, it’s nice to see these two mid-D runners step up for their teams.
Other contributing members that return to the Blue Jays’ starting lineup are Gavin McElhennnon, Charlie Teeter, Ian Spears, and Tommy Li, all of whom represented JHU at the NCAA meet last November. Only Tyler Amos will not return, meaning JHU brings a wealth of experience to the 2022 season.
They will have steep competition, however, from the Carnegie Mellon squad. Despite losing 3x NCAA cross country national qualifier and indoor 5k runner-up Michael Obroin and XC All-American Matt Karee, the Tartans return five of their seven regional competitors from last year. Behind Karee and Obroin, this squad finished sixth, ninth, tenth, 11th, and 26th to score an impressively low 30 points. They add newcomers Thomas Damiani and Ryan Podnar, who are expected to make an impact in their first years as Tartans.
After removing CMU’s Karee and Obroin and JHU’s Amos from the lineup in last year’s results, CMU just edges out JHU. This analysis, however, excludes Beyer and any impact first-years, and assumes perfectly replicated results, which we all know does not happen in cross country. The rematch between these two Mid-Atlantic powerhouses is one you won’t want to miss.
Watch for the teams of Messiah, Dickinson, and Elizabethtown to round out the top five. Messiah returns fifth-place finisher Logan Hurst as well as all-region finishers Kyle Costello and Andrew Hutchinson. Dickinson will rely heavily on its younger members after the loss of sibling duo Charles and Christopher Scharf (Charles heads to the South region as a grad transfer to Washington & Lee). Elizabethtown loses 14:14 5ker Christian Schaaf, but will return last year’s eighth place finisher Nicholas Garrett.
On the individual front, expect Messiah’s Horst, Costello, and Hutchinson as well as Elizabethtown’s Garrett to be toward the front of the pack this year. Other names to watch out for include Salisbury’s Jason Cave and Scranton’s Shane McKeon.
Men’s team predictions:
Johns Hopkins
Carnegie Mellon
Messiah
Dickinson
Elizabethtown
Men’s Individual predictions:
Matt Kleiman (JHU)
Matt Coyle (CMU)
Logan Horst (Messiah)
Elijah Sech (CMU)
Gavin McElhennon (JHU)
Colin McLaughlin (CMU)
Charlie Teeter (JHU)
Jason Cave (Salisbury)
Kyle Costello (Messiah)
Emmanual Leblond (JHU)
Women’s Mid-Atlantic
Stepping up to the line at regionals with a team who has won seven national championships can be viewed a couple different ways: as a free ride to NCAAs or as one of the most intimidating tasks in all the country on regional championships weekend. The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays will look to secure another Mid-Atlantic title this year en route to a podium finish at NCAAs, but will do so missing a few key pieces.
Perhaps one of the biggest losses to the roster is that of Ella Baran, who finished ninth in the nation in cross country last year, won the indoor mile national title indoors after setting a new D3 record, and earned All-American honors in the 5k outdoors. Baran has committed to continue running at D1 program Colorado this coming year. She did not compete at the 2021 regional championship, in which the Blue Jays won 20-88 over Dickinson.
This dominating regional squad will return Mid-Atlantic runner-up and NCAA All-American Alex Ross, as well as all-regional honorees Katharine Priu, Sara Stephenson, and Sydney Friedel. A team so deep that their regional squad can leave out multiple national-caliber athletes and still pull off a win, JHU also returns Paloma Hancock to the start line. Hancock did not compete in the 2021 regional championship but went on to place 21st in the nation just behind Ross for All-American honors.
Given the depth and talent on this team, a 2022 Mid-Atlantic title is almost guaranteed. The larger challenge for this team will be earning their eighth consecutive national title, as the squads from SUNY Geneseo out of the Niagara region and Wartburg out of the Midwest bring forth stacked squads to the national conversation.
Last year, the teams from Dickinson and Carnegie Mellon both advanced out of the region to the national meet. It’s not yet certain if these squads will have the pieces to repeat advancing, but a few key returners as well as a team like JHU to pull them along at regionals certainly plays in their favor.
Dickinson suffers big losses in all-region honoree Allyson Yanega and regional champion Isabel Cardi, but returns three all-regional finishers in Madison Garber, Myra Naqvi, and Sammy Jo Barnes. Carnegie Mellon returns five of their seven regional competitors from 2021, including all-regional honorees:
Cora Marcet (14th)
Megan Baker (15th)
Kristen Seballos (19th)
Sophia Zalewski (22nd)
Alyssa Hoffman (30th)
Based on the number of returners, Carnegie Mellon seems most likely to close the gap on JHU this season. Dickinson will have to compete hard to secure their spot at NCAAs.
Rounding out the top five are the squads from Susquehanna and Misericordia, who each return one all-regional honoree.
In the individual race, four out of seven individual qualifiers from last year return to competition this fall:
Susquehanna’s Kallan Carter
Scranton’s Jessica Hoffmann
Elizabethtown’s Kelty Oaster
Washington & Jefferson’s Cassie Carr
Look out, too, for Misericordia’s Alexa Thompson and Grove City’s Lydia Bennett, who could have a good shot of advancing this year.
Women’s team predictions:
JHU
Carnegie Mellon
Dickinson
Misericordia
Susquehanna
Women’s individual predictions:
Alex Ross (JHU)
Paloma Hancock (JHU)
Sara Stephenson (JHU)
Katharine Priu (JHU)
Sydney Fridel (JHU)
Kristen Seballos (CMU)
Kallan Carter (Susquehanna)
Kelty Oaster (Elizabethtown)
Megan Baker (CMU)
Cassie Carr (Washington & Jefferson)