The first weekend of the hyped races did not disappoint. We were treated to new teams coming into the fold, top names running as expected, and a legendary program returning to form. With teams facing off against each other for the first time this season, we’re able to see how they match up. But with 47 days until the national meet, a lot of things can happen. As mentioned in the preview, this weekend can serve as a momentum builder for the rest of the way. If it didn’t turn out the way you wanted, there is still a lot of time before regionals. As much anticipation as the pre national weekend brings, it surely didn’t disappoint. If you missed what happened, here’s a look back at the weekend.

Paul Short

The weekend started with the Gold Race at the Paul Short Run. D3 was represented by Johns Hopkins, RPI, and John Carroll in a majority D1 field. 4x National Champion, Alex Phillip, worked his way into the lead pack right away and was sitting comfortably in 17th at the first mile split. With the lead pack going out in 4:35, the rest of the field either had to go with it or fall behind. From a team standpoint, RPI had a slight advantage over Johns Hopkins and distanced themselves from John Carroll. With 4 miles to go and a very hot pace, there was a lot of racing left.

By 5k, Phillip solidified himself into the main pack, hoping his teammates were feeling the same about their race. The team battle for the top D3 team was changing every split as Johns Hopkins fell back and John Carroll bridged the gap to RPI. In a race that featured 46 teams, having two guys towards the front of the race proves beneficial in your team score. RPI’s Cory Kennedy and Matthew Lecky positioned themselves near the top quarter of the race and at 5k, were six seconds apart in 71st and 90th. Hopkins used team tactics as well with Gavin McElhennon and Matthlew Kleiman running side by side through 5k, just 15 seconds back from the RPI duo.

The five D3 runners all crossed the finish line just outside the top 100. Phillip, in an exciting kick to the finish to edge out Notre Dame transfer Zach Kreft of Walsh, placed seventh overall behind several prominent D1 runners in a time of 23:14, a whole 25 seconds faster than his time on this course last year. Kennedy was the second finishing D3 man, placing 59th in 23:43. Teammate Lecky was close behind at 61st in 23:44. McElhennon and Kleimann came in next at 113th and 119th, running 24:09 and 24:13, respectively.

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Rounding out the team score for RPI, duo Patrick Smyth and Mitchell Dailey came in at 218th and 219th, respectively, both crossing the finish line in under 25 minutes. William Hawkins rounded out the score with a 267th place finish in 25:02, securing the win for RPI over Hopkins by 31 points. John Carroll placed third for D3 teams in the gold race. 

The Johns Hopkins women’s team was the only school to represent D3 in the Gold Race. Alex Ross continues to lead the way for the defending national champs. Despite being only three seconds behind her teammate at the first mile, Sara Stephenson found herself almost 40 places behind Ross. The deep field made it difficult for Hopkins to work together.

In the middle of the race, first years Cooper Brotherton and Mackenzie Setton found each other mid-race to have a familiar face to run with in the big race. The downside for Hopkins was that they collectively weren’t able to move up throughout the race and a worry for Hopkins is their 1-5 split. While they navigate through a team that lost four scorers from last year's national meet, they’ll need their 3-5 runners to bridge the gap between Ross and Stephenson. Given the history of Hopkins, it’s too early to count them out. For all we know, Coach Bobby Van Allen has an athlete we haven’t seen yet ready to strike when the time is right. 

We mentioned in the preview that CMS should be in contention for the win. Not to pat ourselves on the back, but boy were we right. In a decisive victory, CMS’s  journey across the country was the right call. They beat D1 George Washington by 132 points. Led by the dynamic duo of Natalie Bitetti and Meredith Bloss, the Athenas look to be clicking right now. Coming off a runner-up performance by two points last year, they seem determined to be on the right side of that close finish.

While we’re not sure if taking over our Instagram account led to their success, we’d like to think it played a small role. With their 60s split, CMS saw all their top five all come through in the top 33 of the race. A result they would love to repeat in Lansing, Michigan in November.

Outside of the team battle, Annika Urban stole the show with a breakout race. Urban has been on a tear dating back to last year’s cross country national meet. After finishing 266th in 2019, Urban has gone on to finish 12th in XC, sixth in the 1500 and 10th in the 5k. Yet, this win stands out. She took control of the race at the two mile mark and turned her six second lead into a 25 second victory. She ran the fastest time of all D3 athletes at Paul short and the win shows her competitive mindset is ready for the rest of the season. Besting the likes of Natalie Bitetti, Meredith Bloss, Sara Stephenson and Alex Ross, Urban looks to put her name up there in the national conversation as a contender.

Continuing in the breakthrough theme, the Lynchburg women had a great showing with their 3rd place finish in the Brown race. Their one-two punch of Kelsey Lagunas and Sarah James ran in the top 30 for majority of the race to give the Hornets an edge of D1 LIU. 41 points behind Lynchburg came NYU as they continued their strong season. 2013 was the last time NYU has made the national meet where they finished sixth and since then they haven’t finished better than eighth. It’s great to see the program turn things around and give themselves a shot at the national meet. They’re led by first year Vivian Kan and senior Grace Richardson. The newbie and the veteran will look to start and leave a new legacy at NYU.

After seeing what the Gold race produced, the Brown race had their targets set. The Brown race featured five ranked Men’s teams and they did not disappoint. The men from Carnegie Mellon got out to a quick start and saw their pack towards the front of the race and only 8 points behind D1 team American. Their D3 counterparts followed suit by putting all five teams in the top eight with Lynchburg’s Frank Csorba sharing the lead. 

As the race progressed, the D3 schools continued to move up throughout the field. Boasting condensed 1-5 splits, D3 schools went 1-2-3-4-6 in team scores, with Csorba finishing 4th overall as an individual. Carnegie Mellon took the team title followed by Emory. Carnegie Mellon’s 31-second split led them to put their top five in front of Emory’s fourth runner. Colin McLaughlin led the Tartans finishing eighth overall, running 24:12. Lynchburg finished a distant sixth but were without Max Sparks. Adding Sparks back into the lineup could see Lynchburg a little higher up.

While comparing teams from the Gold and Brown isn’t the exact science, it gives us insights into where they all fall together. RPI seemed to have the best day on paper, but you combine everything, Carnegie Mellon comes away as the top team. Something for you think about until these teams actually go head to head:

The good times didn’t stop in the White Race. SUNY Cortland took the men’s title led by individual champion Ryan Cory. Cory covered the course in 24:54 and it was his second win of the season. On the women’s side, Widener took the title by 44 points over Kutztown.

Blugold Invite

Move over, Sansa Stark, there’s a new queen in the North. Carleton’s Clara Mayfield won the Blugold Invitational at UW-Eau Claire on Friday over Eau Claire’s Carolyn Shult by a full 57 seconds. Mayfield took tenth at last year’s XC championships and went on to snag two more All-American honors in the track season: a fourth place finish in the indoor mile and a fifth place finish in the outdoor 10k. Her only loss this year was to St. Benedict standout Fiona Smith at the Hamline Invitational at the beginning of September. After consistently posting times under 21:30 this season, Mayfield is well on track to better her 2021 tenth place finish in November. 

In the team race, St. Olaf women and men both took home first-place finishes, edging out runners-up Carleton and UW-Stout, respectively. Freshman standout Mohammed Bati of Augsburg continued his winning streak, pulling off his fourth victory of his rookie season. With a pristine winning record, many wonder when Bati will finally see a challenger.

Pre-nats

Saturday race action was headlined by the mid-season pre-national meet, which took place at the Forest Akers golf course in Lansing, Mich. Teams from around the country flocked to the midwest to not just enjoy the fall foliage, but to get a better look at the course they look to run in November. 

All eyes turned to defending national champion Kassie Parker in the women’s pre-national lineup. Coming off of a hot 5k at Notre Dame two weeks ago, many were anxious to see what Parker would throw down with an honest effort over 6,000 meters. What better indicator for what’s to come later this fall than a national preview race?

Parker set the pace early, coming through the first mile in a blazing 5:24. Only Saint Benedict’s Fiona Smith, the fifth place finisher in 2021, decided to go with her, knowing that if Parker were to fall apart, she’d be in good position to pull off an upset victory. Twenty seconds back, a chase pack led by Trine’s Lydia Randolph, PLU’s Sarah Paquet, Baldwin Wallace’s Hope Murphy, and Centre’s Sophie Bouldin established itself. Lurking even farther behind, U of Chicago’s Lucy Groothuis and Anna Kenig-Ziesler crossed through the mile together in 17th and 18th place. 

By mile two, Parker had put some separation on challenger Smith, increasing her lead in the second half of the race. Around the same time, Groothuis, Kenig-Ziesler, and now a third teammate, Frances Schaeffler, began their ascension to the front. As the leaders of the chase pack started to fade, U of Chicago saw their window of opportunity and seized it. Parker charged down the final stretch, winning in a hot 20:31. Smith also dipped under 21 minutes, taking runner up in 20:54. Behind Parker and Smith, Groothuis, Kenig-Ziesler, and Schaeffler took 3-5, securing a team victory from the Midwest powerhouse school U of Chicago. Their fourth and fifth scorers, Katarina Birimac and Caitlin Jorgensen, placed 18th and 29th, respectively, for a low point total of 59. With this finish, they almost halved the point total of runners-up MIT, who only managed to score two ahead of U of Chicago’s fourth runner. 

La Crosse finished third behind MIT and were led by eighth place finisher Maddie Hannan. The west region squad from George Fox surely secured their bid to NCAAs with their fourth place finish and victories over several prominently ranked programs such as Calvin, John Carroll, and Loras, all of whom were ranked ahead of George Fox in the latest USTFCCCA national polls. The George Fox women finished with an impressive 28-second split from their first through fifth runners, the tightest pack time of any other team in the top five. Calvin rounded out the top five teams, showing their strength against previously higher ranked teams Loras and John Carroll.

The men’s race welcomed back defending pre-nationals champion Simon Heys from Wilmington. However, a new champion was evident from the gun this year: last year’s third place pre-nationals finisher Ethan Gregg of UW-La Crosse. Gregg led the charge early, taking the first mile out in 4:45. Otterbein men followed hot on his heels, packing four of their athletes into an early top 15. Heys sat back in the pack, crossing the mile in a comfortable 11th place. By mile two, not wanting to give Gregg any more ground, Heys moved up to match Gregg’s stride. They both crossed the two-mile mark in 9:39 ahead of the rest of the field. Behind them, Otterbein men began to fade back and the men of MIT and North Central made their moves to the front. 

Heys and Gregg forged on together toward 5k. At this point, a new name entered the conversation: steeplechase runner-up Christian Patzka of Whitewater, who moved into second. Gregg started to press, pulling away from Heys and Patzka and toward the win. Others from the chase pack started to break away as they entered the final 2k of racing. Connecticut College’s Matt Carter and La Crosse’s Isaac Wegner made their move to catch up to Heys. 

Gregg cruised to a victory, winning in 24:12. Patzka came flying in behind him, placing runner-up in 24:21. Carter, Wegner, and Heys came through next in two-second increments. MIT’s Andrew Mah took sixth, leading the way for the victorious MIT Engineers. Behind him, his teammates finished in 9th, 11th, 16th, and 20th with a pack time of 38 seconds. Their third and fourth finishers were broken up by North Central duo Max Svienty and Braden Nicholson, who led the way for the Cardinals. All five scorers for NCC finished within 12 places of each other, posting a tight 25-second split. Their victory over previously No. 3 ranked team La Crosse showed that the North Central Cardinals are back in contention for a place on the podium for the first time since 2019.

Other teams with breakout performances included George Fox, who took down five teams that were previously ranked ahead of them in last week’s USTFCCCA rankings: Loras, Otterbein, Chicago, Connecticut College, and Calvin. Similar to the women, this performance solidifies their entry into the national conversation with west-coast rivals Pomona-Pitzer, CMS, and UC Santa Cruz, making four advances out of the west region highly likely on both sides. The program from Wilmington also posted a strong performance, placing eighth overall ahead of ranked teams U of Chicago, Connecticut College, regional rivals Calvin, and conference rivals Mount Union. Previously unranked, Wilmington is sure to skyrocket in the national polls after this weekend. While Simon Heys headlines the program, Noah Tobin is having a breakout year. From 115th last year at Pre Nats to 19th this year, Noah is out to help put Wilmington on the map.

Other Meets

In other Saturday news, Wartburg swept team titles at the Dan Huston Invitational. Race winners Christopher Collet on the men’s side and Aubrie Fisher on the women’s side add to their resumes yet another decisive victory, continuing both of their winning streaks among D3 competition this year. Look for both to be in contention for top-5 finishes in November. 

At the Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational, Case Western took down SUNY Geneseo in the men’s race. Case Western looks to make a case for themselves to be ranked higher in the Nation and get a big head to head win over Niagara’s top team. 

The Geneseo women continued to send a message from afar when they swept places 1-6, all finishing in 22:16 or faster. The squads from Dickinson and Case Western posted impressive second and third-place finishes, respectively over No. 14 Middlebury. 

Further East at the Purple Valley XC Classic hosted by Williams, Mary Kate McGranahan continued her winning streak so far this season with a first place finish that saw her 25 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Amherst bested Williams by 22 points without running national qualifier Sidnie Kulik. In the men’s race, Williams swept places one through ten, led by national runner-up Elias Lindgren, who won in 24:43, a full 37 seconds ahead of teammate Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos. 

If you aren’t excited for the rest of the season, it’s time to get excited!