9/8-9/9 D3 XC Recap

Anticipation grows as more teams and individuals across the country begin to open up their 2024 cross country seasons. Some teams rested after opening up last weekend, a few teams returned to the course for the second week in a row, eager to soothe their competitive itch, and others have yet to show any of their cards yet. Regardless, this weekend in cross country produced some noteworthy results. Here’s what happened in D3 cross country this week. 

Fiona Smith is fit

St. Benedict’s Fiona Smith is the heavy favorite for national champion come November but had yet to open up her cross season until Friday. Most expected Smith to kick off her season in a dominating way. Last year, she started her season with a win over 5k in an impressive time of 17:21 at the CSB-SJU Invitational. This year, however, Smith appears to be on an entirely different level. 

She returned to action following her two runner-up finishes in the 5k and 10k last spring with an indisputable victory at the Toni St. Pierre Invitational against St. Cloud State. Smith covered the 5k course in 16:41, a full 40 seconds faster than last year. Though this year’s run appeared to be at a different course from last year, her margin of victory was no less impressive. Smith won the meet by a full two minutes over teammate Anne Kiolbasa. As a whole, the St. Benedict team showed an impressive sweep over Saint Cloud, placing their first through fifth runner all under 19:33. After Kiolbasa, St. Benedict’s third through fifth runners were just ten seconds apart. 

With a dominant low-stick such as Smith, it’s possible St. Benedict could make a run at qualifying for the national meet this year. What is for certain is that Smith comes into 2023 extremely fit. 

Vassar upsets Williams

Call it a home court advantage or call it a spectacular win, but however you choose to look at it, Vassar women pulled off an impressive victory over Williams this past weekend at the Ron Stonitsch Invitational. The final score was 27-30. Vassar was led by Anika Mueller-Hickler who placed second overall in 19:03 behind Williams’s Ella Ball. Behind Mueller-Hickler was Vassar’s Haley Schoenegge in 19:08, Norah Reade in 19:14, Noni Pattington in 19:18, and Cailey Swaim in 19:25. The total spread between first and fifth was just 22 seconds.

It should be noted that Williams was without XC All-American Genna Girard. However, for a team that didn’t make the national meet last year, Vassar’s defeat over last year’s No. 9 team in the country is definitely significant. 

Name a better cross country duo…we’ll wait

When it comes to the men’s race, many are anticipating the return of Whitewater’s Christian Patzka and La Crosse’s Ethan Gregg this year. While La Crosse has yet to open up their season, Whitewater showcased their depth last Friday, led by an impressive performance from duo Patzka and teammate Gunner Schlender. The pair cruised to the finish line within one tenth of a second from one another, both running an impressively fast 24:24 over 8k. Whether Patzka was pacing Schledner or the pair were honestly working together, the fact that Whitewater has two low-sticks on their side plays heavily in their favor in the team standings. 

Their pack was interrupted only by Augsburg standout Mohammed Bati, who ran 25:05 for third place. Behind Bati, Whitewater’s third through fifth runners came in after them within eight seconds of each other. Among these finishers was two-time mile/1500 All-American Justin Krause and Carthage transfer Craig Hundley, who will add more depth to the Warhawks roster this season.

Stars out west

There’s a name from out west that you’re going to want to remember this year: Riley Buese. The Lewis & Clark standout opened up her season with a 17:53 runner-up finish at the Ash Creek Collegiate Invite, beating a field of mostly D2 runners. Last year at this meet, Buese placed 13th in 18:44. Now faster and more race savvy, look for Buese to translate her fitness and experience to a big 2023 season.

Last XC championships were Buese’s first NCAA championships. She placed 165th but will likely have her eyes on a top-40 finish this year. 

Freshman spotlight

Up north, the spotlight shone brightly on Concordia Wisconsin freshman Emma Ahrens, who won the Ken Weidt Classic in 22:49, an impressive time over the freshman’s first collegiate 6k course. She opened up her season last weekend at St. Norbert, covering the 5k course in 19:14, good for fourth place. Though she lost to two Ripon athletes in this race, some quick learning from the rookie helped her translate last week’s loss into this week’s win. 

Ahrens hails from Stephens City, Virginia, where she ran a cross country 5k PR of 18:58. It will likely not be the last win in Ahrens blossoming career.

More notable races

This weekend was undoubtedly a big weekend for the female stars in cross country. Some other notable victories from around the country include:

• Aurora’s Deyanneira Colon Maldonado, who won the Spartan Classic 6k in a time of 22:38. Maldonado was 113th at the NCAA XC Championships last year but will likely have her eyes set toward top 40 this year. Winning her first race of the season is a step in the right direction.

• Central College’s Caroline McMartin, who won the Les Duke Invitational. McMartin will look to follow up last year’s All-American XC finish by adding another medal to her collection.

• St. Lawrence’s Alison Sibold won the Hamilton College Short Course 4k in a time of 14:08. This is almost 30 seconds faster than her time from this race last year, which indicates a good trajectory into All-American position in November for last year’s 64th place finisher. 

• Washington and Lee women. Although they trailed D1 program Seton Hall by 15 points at the LVC Dutchmen XC Invite this weekend, runner-up was a strong finish for W&L. They were led by two freshmen–Olivia Warr and Reese Brown. Their pack of first through fourth runners finished within six seconds of each other, ranging from Warr at 18:59 to Elise Molinaro at 19:05. Their fifth runner crossed the finish line in 19:34, completing a pack time of 35 seconds. The pack running of this nationally ranked team might just be their secret weapon this year.