Interregional Recap
Interregional weekend, one of the most pivotal weekends of the regular cross country season, went as quickly as it came. In an action-packed afternoon across the country, we saw blazing fast times, tight team battles, and even a few upsets.
As many traveled outside of their regions see how they would fare against some of the nation’s best and attempt to secure some ammunition for at-large bids at the end of the year, we break it down for you..
Teams know that the better the teams they beat from other regions, the better their resume looks to the selection committee. We should note that ranked teams that were upset this weekend shouldn’t have to worry about their resume *if they run a different lineup at regionals. From the 2k grass track in Geneseo to the twists and turns on the Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, IL, results poured in to reveal who would emerge on Saturday afternoon victorious. Here’s what happened in D3 cross country this weekend.
Mike Woods Invite
Those who say they like cross country better than track because there’s more to look at, on account of it not being in circles, probably would not have liked cross country at the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational… until they saw the PR next to their name at the end. The course, which featured two straight-line paths toward and away from a 2k loop, was practically a grass track for competitors, who all saw very fast times should they be able to focus on executing consecutive, identical loops.
The course, combined with the national reputation of hosts Geneseo, attracted teams from across the country, including Carnegie Mellon and Johns Hopkins from the Mid-Atlantic, Lynchburg from the South, and Carleton from the North. The trip proved to be worth it for out-of-region travelers, as Mid-Atlantic powerhouse Carnegie Mellon captured a victory in the men’s race, and North standouts Carleton pulled off somewhat of an upset victory over Geneseo in the women’s race.
The gun fired first for the men’s race, unleashing early leads for members from the eventual top-three teams. By one and a half loops in, only Carnegie Mellon, Lynchburg, and Johns Hopkins jerseys could be seen in the top 12. As the field entered its penultimate lap, Carnegie Mellon saw its top five in the top 10 led by Matthew Porter, the overall leader, and Johns Hopkins pair Emmanuel Leblond and Gavin McElhennon made their move to the front. With 1k to go, the top three separated from the field. Frank Csorba of Lynchburg was neck-and-neck with Porter, trailed now by teammate Chasen Hunt, who seemed to be doing exactly what his name suggests. In a mad dash to the finish led by Csorba, Hunt finally overtook his Carnegie foe, and the duo crossed within just a second of one another.
Photo Credit: Sam Su
Even with two low-stick finishes, however, Lynchburg could not upset Carnegie, who kept five scorers within the race’s top 10. They took third, fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth, their perfect scoring interrupted only by the Lynchburg pair as well as Hopkins duo Leblond and McElhennon, who held on for fourth and seventh, respectively. Carnegie Mellon’s 32-point total took a sweeping victory over Lynchburg, who finished runner-up with 50 points, Johns Hopkins, who was third with 86 points, and Geneseo, who took fourth in 114 points and ran without their usual leader, Nick Andrews.
Top 5 Individuals:
Frank Csorba (Lynchburg)
Chasen Hunt (Lynchburg)
Matthew Porter (Carnegie Mellon)
Emmanuel Leblond (John Hopkins)
Ryan Podnar (Carnegie Mellon)
Next, a loaded women’s field took to the start line, featuring an epic battle between top-ranked Carleton and Geneseo as well as defending national champions Johns Hopkins. Traveling all the way from the southern region to throw their names into the hat as well was the team from Lynchburg. The women’s course was to feature 2.5 loops as opposed to the men’s 3.5.
One kilometer in and just halfway through their first loop, Geneseo’s Penelope Greene took an early lead. She was followed hot on the heels by Hopkins lead Sara Stephenson and Blue Jay teammates Sarah Conant and Callie Jones as well as her own teammates Rachel Hirschkind and Lilly Fowler-Conner. Determined to establish an early dominance, Geneseo and Hopkins were just one point from one another at 1k and over 30 points ahead of third place Lynchburg. Farther back, a patient Carleton lurked.
Photo Credit: Sam Su
As another loop whizzed by, Hopkins women began to fade. Jones fell back to 15th, while Conant fell amongst teammates in 19th. Geneseo maintained their lead and Lynchburg their third place standing, but now a new team entered the chat. Phoebe Ward and Hannah Preisser jumped from outside the top ten to fourth and fifth, respectively, and Sophie McManus and Helen Cross rose from top 20 to top 10, delivering a blow which propelled Carleton women ahead of Lynchburg and Johns Hopkins all the way up to second place. They now trailed Geneseo by just six points. In the individual race, Greene held her lead, now joined by a new challenger: Kayla Werner of Lynchburg.
In the final lap before sprinting down the finishing chute, Carleton’s McManus now joined Ward and Preisser, while Cross held her top-10 placing. Four Carleton runners were now ahead of Geneseo’s third, giving Carleton the upperhand in a one-point lead, 55-56. Hopkins’s Stephenson now took the lead from Greene, ready to try to run away with the crown. Seconds back, Werner and Hirschkind held onto their field leads.
In a mad dash to the finish, Greene reclaimed her lead from Stephenson, overtaking her for the win by just one second. Hirschkind, in an attempt to gain another valuable point in this tight team race, cruised past Werner for third. Behind Werner, the Carleton trio of Ward, Preisser, and McManus came in a line. Next came Wittenberg steeple runner-up Sydeny Khosla, then Oneonta’s Francoeur, and then Carleton’s fourth, Cross. Where was Geneseo’s third?
Six seconds elapsed and in came Geneseo’s 3-4 together, finishing 16th and 17th. Shortly after came Hopkins’s Conant and Jones. Then, in a moment of heroism, Carleton’s fifth runner, Aliya Larsen came barreling up the homestretch ahead of two Geneseo jerseys. As Larsen crossed the finish line, the victory belonged to the team from the North. They finished ten points ahead of Geneseo, a defeat that is sure to move them into podium contention for next week’s rankings, as Geneseo was ranked fourth last week.
In an impressive finish from the team down south, Lynchburg finished just 22 points behind Geneseo for third place, beating Hopkins by a sizable 21 points. Midwest program Wittenberg took fifth, capturing a valuable victory over Mid-Atlantic regional program Carnegie Mellon.
Top 5 Individuals:
Penelope Greene (Geneseo)
Sara Stephenson (Johns Hopkins)
Rachel Hirschkind (Geneseo)
Kayla Werner (Lynchburg)
Phoebe Ward (Carleton)
Augustana Interregional
Four states over in Illinois, excitement heightened at Augustana as two number-one-ranked teams prepared to take to the course against forces from within their own Midwest, the nearby North, and even the faraway West. On this day, North Central men and U of Chicago women had the chance to prove they are two of the best teams in the nation.
Photo Credit: Nico Klementzos
In an agonizing virtual viewing experiences, fans everywhere but at the Saukie Golf Course had to wait a grueling 20+ minutes for results to populate on their screens. Imagine being a kid trying to watch a sporting event behind a wall of adults’ backs: “What’s going on? I wanna see!” Glimpses from stories on Instagram were just enough to show off the massive race fields as well as grow anticipation for the race’s final result.
When the PDF of results finally went live, it was the North Central Cardinals fans that likely cheered the loudest. North Central pulled off a sweeping victory against northern competitors Whitewater and regional foes Wartburg, 60-90-97. Led by the brilliance of Max Svienty and Connor Riss at fourth and sixth overall, 3-4 runners Andrew Guimond and freshman BJ Sorg held down the middle at 13th and 15th, and fifth scorer Braden Nicholson rounded everything out with a 22nd place finisher. Having returned almost all of their national squad from last year and coming off of capturing three All-Americans in the outdoor 5k, the Cardinals have shown that this rise back to glory for the storied men’s distance program is one you’re going to want to root for.
Another team that has been steadily on the rise is that of the Whitewater Warhawks, who took a second place finish ahead of Wartburg. Led by Christian Patzka and Gunner Schlender, who could arguably win an award for men’s distance duo of the year, the Warhawks cleaned up with three finishers ahead of Wartburg’s second to secure their win. The scoring five of Patzka, Schlender, Craig Hundley, Dan Anderson, and Justin Krause seem to be on a mission this year with a podium finish as its treasure.
Patzka pulled off a gutsy finish ahead of Colorado College’s James Settles, who has been shaking things up out west before this weekend. Until Saturday, Settles was undefeated in Division 3, and a trip out East with a near kickdown of XC national runner-up Patzka shows he is one of the best in the nation and not just the western half of the country. He will certainly be a name to watch in the latter half of the season.
Rounding out the top five was U of Chicago’s, formerly Case Western’s, Jack Begley, who beat some big names, including Riss, WashU’s Cullen Capuano, Wartburg’s Christopher Collet, and La Verne’s TK Berhe, en route to his fifth place finish.
Top 5 Individuals:
Christian Patzka (Whitewater)
James Settles (Colorado College)
Gunner Schlender (Whitewater)
Max Svienty (North Central)
Jack Begley (U of Chicago)
Some twenty-minutes later, results for the highly-anticipated women’s race finally populated (Who’s winning?! Is it Chicago or Wartburg?!) The women of U of Chicago pulled it off again–they packed all five scorers into the top 15 to post a 48-point win over Wartburg’s 68 points. It did not appear at first that they might win, however.
Photo Credit: Nico Klementzos
After Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel crossed the finish line first, it appeared her team could be in trouble. Eau Claire’s Carolyn Shult took an impressive runner-up finish, her first loss in D3 so far, and then came Wartburg’s 1-2. Lexi Brown and Aubrie Fisher cruised in at third and fourth overall. When Chicago’s number two, Maddie Kelly, came in, she was trailed closely by Wartburg’s third, Shaelyn Hostager. Wartburg was giving it all they had. Then, however, Chicago’s Sophie Tedesco, Caitlin Jorgensen, and Emma Kelly came in to seal the deal. They finished 11th, 14th, and 15th, respectively, to all finish ahead of Wartburg’s fourth, who came in at 17th. Chicago even managed to finish a sixth runner ahead of Wartburg’s fifth to further showcase some depth. Their split from 1-5 was just 39 seconds.
While pack running appears to be the strength of Chicago, Wartburg has not-so-secret weapons in Brown and Fisher. The pair finished 14th and 16th at nationals last year and were followed shortly by Ellie Meyer at 22nd. If this pack can replicate a trio of low-stick finishes, all they need is close finishes from their fourth and fifth to have a chance at a national title. Until then, they will likely spend the rest of the season until November sharpening their training and strategizing.
Photo Credit: Nico Klementzos
Though these two teams clearly established themselves as the teams to watch, WashU and Colorado College showed their strengths by posting third and fourth place finishes with 129 and 148 points, respectively. For Colorado College, victories over Midwest program Calvin and North Program Eau Claire could prove to be valuable in their future and will certainly move them up in the rankings.
Rounding out the top five individuals was Centre’s Meghan Owens, who posted an impressive victory over Stevens Point’s Rachel Krouse, Chicago’s Kelly, and Wartburg’s Hostager. After finishing 136th at nationals last year, Owens has come back strong this year, placing no lower than fifth in every race she has run. The postseason will continue to challenge the Centre star as competition starts to steepen.
Top 5 Individuals:
Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel (U of Chicago)
Carolyn Shult (Eau Claire)
Lexi Brown (Wartburg)
Aubrie Fisher (Wartburg)
Meghan Owens (Centre)
Conn College
Out on the east coast, two major interregional showdowns took place. One of these was the Connecticut College Invitational at the Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, Conn. St. Olaf men, NYU women, Central College’s Caleb Silver, and St. Benedict’s Fiona Smith all stole the spotlight that shone down over the Long Island Sound on Saturday.
The men’s race showed that both Tufts and Central College deserve some more attention in the national rankings and that Central College’s Silver is on a mission. Central split squads this weekend between Augustana and Connecticut College, sending their varsity to the east coast to rival teams from the East and Mideast regions, including Middlebury, who they beat on a tie.
Last week, Middlebury was 17th in the national polls, while Central came in at only 26th. As part of the Midwest region, Central is among some of the stiffest competition in the nation. The Midwest currently has six nationally ranked teams, including No. 1 North Central. Of the Midwest schools, Central was ranked fifth of six, meaning an at-large bid for them could be tough. Rather than staying in the Midwest to beat teams they’ll spend all year racing at Augustana, a trip out East proved to be fruitful for the Dutch. A victory over Mideast team Middlebury, who is currently ranked third in the Mideast, gives them ammunition for a bid to nationals.
Tufts proved a similar worth, having beat both Central and Middlebury and coming within just six points of champions and No. 10 St. Olaf. The East school will likely need an at-large bid if MIT takes the automatic bid, so this runner-up finish proves to be advantageous.
St. Olaf ran particularly well to secure the crown, spreading just 43 seconds from their leader, Will Kelly, to their fifth. Kelly has been off to a strong start this season, his only loss over 8k before this weekend to Whitewater’s Patzka by a mere 7 seconds. He opened up in 8k with a new course record at St. Olaf’s home meet and took 13th at last year’s NCAA championships.
To beat him at Conn College took a school record for Central’s Silver, who had arguably the best race of his career so far, winning in 24:13. Silver got out hard and kept good pace with Kelly, kicking toward the win with just 600 meters to go. Known to be wearing a white hat for races, watch out for Silver in the postseason. He was 25th last year and is on good trajectory this year for a top-10 finish.
Others in the top five at Connecticut College included Babson’s Anthony Rodriguez, Tufts’s Ivan Appleton, and Vassar’s Miles Takiguchi.
Top 5 Individuals:
Caleb Silver (Central College)
Will Kelly (St. Olaf)
Anthony Rodriguez (Babson)
Ivan Appleton (Tufts)
Miles Takiguchi (Vassar)
The women’s team and individual races created similar narratives: each had uncontested winners. In the team race, it was all NYU, who came two and a half hours up I-95 to dominate traveling schools from the Midwest, Mideast, and North alike. Similarly to Chicago at Augustana, NYU had all five of their scorers finish in the race’s top 15. Grace Richardson led the way, taking runner-up in 20:54, while trio Vivian Kane, Kate Cochran, and Morgan Uhlhorn came in next at fifth, sixth, and eighth. Finally, Janie Cooper rounded out the scoring pack, crossing in 15th. NYU’s spread from 1-5 was just over one minute.
With a team structured similarly to Chicago (a big frontrunner and a tight pack of three), NYU has the pieces to be a national threat. The difference between Chicago and NYU this weekend, however, was the placement of NYU’s fifth. Where Chicago had a finisher between their frontrunner and their pack of three to tighten their pack time, NYU did not, instead having this person come in after their pack of three, creating a larger spread than they would probably like.
In almost all of the races that NYU has run so far this season, they’ve been largely uncontested. They ran in the less competitive Brown race at Paul Short and beat the runner up team, Central College, at Connecticut by almost 100 points. As the postseason creeps in, the Violets will face the inevitable, charged by the confidence they’ve gained from their streak of wins. They will face No. 1 Chicago at UAAs in two weeks in Atlanta and then they’ll head north to Rochester for regionals to face No. 4 Geneseo, all before the big dance at NCAAs. With three big opportunities ahead of them, we are excited to see what this up-and-coming squad can do.
The individual race of the weekend undoubtedly goes to St. Benedict’s Fiona Smith, who covered Connecticut’s 6k course in a blazing fast 19:51. Only Wartburg’s Missy Rock (nee Buttry) was recorded to have broken 20:00 over a 6k course during her time as a D3 athlete. She ran 19:28 in 2003 in Grinnell, Iowa and then went on to win that year’s national title in 20:00.2. Loras’s Kassie Parker ran 20:00.1 last year at Augustana after winning the 2021 national title in 20:11. No woman in D3 history has run under 20:00 for 6k in an NCAA championship meet, meaning Smith could just be the one to make history this year in Pennsylvania.
Top 5 Individuals:
Fiona Smith (St. Benedict)
Grace Richardson (NYU)
Audrey Maclean (Middlebury)
Caroline McMartin (Central College)
Vivian Kane (NYU)
Rowan
When the meet info document specifically says:
“The individual champion of each Championship race will receive a commemorative Border Battle sword…”,
You know it’s going to be a fun weekend. Teams from the North, South, Mid-Atlantic, Metro, and more regions all gathered across the Delaware River where the borders of New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania converge (hence the namesake). For a day, DREAM park, an equestrian facility, becomes the site where nearly 800 cross country runners take to the dirt and grass trails that wind into a 6k and 8k running course.
The weekend proved fruitful for hosts Rowan in the men’s race and South region travelers Emory in the women’s race.
Rowan, though lacking any heavy-hitting frontrunners, leaned on their pack in the men’s race. Their spread from 1-5 was just 27 seconds, an extremely impressive split, all things considered. They were led by Jacob Riley, who placed eighth overall in 25:11. Their point total of 87 bested runners up DeSales by a full 48 points. As members of the metro region, Rowan’s stiffest regional competition comes from Haverford and TCNJ. At Pre-Nats last weekend, Haverford finished right behind Tufts, who just posted an impressively close runner-up finish to No 10 St. Olaf at Connecticut. Though Haverford remains the favorites to win the Metro region, a win in Rowan’s corner certainly helps provide some confidence headed into the postseason. Plus, who doesn’t love winning at home?
The individual race was taken by Cortland State’s Hunter Brignall, who ran away from the rest of the field early. He got out calm and collected in 4:56 with the pack, but began to separate after the first mile. By mile three, he was winning by 16 seconds and by under 800 meters to go, he was 18 seconds in the lead. He crossed the finish line in 24:44, 12 seconds ahead of St. Vincent’s Tim Patterson, who closed hard to overtake Moravian’s Owen Nahf, DeSales’s Shane Artis, and Macalester’s Reece McKee, all of whom made up the chase pack behind Brignall.
Top 4 Teams:
Rowan 87
DeSales 135
Moravian 144
Macalester 170
Top 5 Individuals:
Hunter Brignall (Cortland State)
Tim Patterson (St. Vincent)
Shane Artis (DeSales)
Owen Nahf (Moravian)
Reece McKee (Macalester)
The women’s race was dictated early by a flurry of Emory and Misericordia jerseys. Emory’s Liesl Scherrer led the field through the mile in just under 5:47, followed hot on the heels by Misericordia’s Brianna Wagner and Grace Gallagher, as well as teammate Brigid Hanley and Ramapo’s Dale Leonard. Over time, the duo from Emory began to separate, knowing they did not travel all the way from Atlanta, Georgia to leave without a sword. The question became: which eagle would get to yield the celebratory weapon?
By 4.25k, Hanley led by 8 seconds over Scherrer. In a fantastic last 1k, Hanley held her lead, winning the race in 21:27, 9 seconds ahead of teammate Scherrer. The commemorative sword was hers. Behind this duo, Jenna Daly came in at 7th, Cameron Gupta at 12th, and Natalie Sandlow at 16th. Their spread was just over a minute, mimicking the results of conference rivals NYU from their performance out at Connecticut. Similarly to NYU, Emory garnered an uncontended victory, beating runners up Misericordia by 64 points.
Though a win for the Eagles appeared easy this weekend, they will face NYU and No. 1 Chicago in two week’s time at the UAA championships at home. This time, the fun desire for a sword will be replaced with sheer grit and determination if Emory wants to better their fourth place finish from last year’s championships. Regardless, they traverse the next two weeks ahead of conference with fresh confidence from this interregional win.
Top 4 Teams:
Emory 37
Misericordia 101
Rowan 164
Cortland State 197
Top 5 Individuals:
Brigid Hanley (Emory)
Liesl Scherrer (Emory)
Dale Leonard (Ramapo)
Micah Gordley (Arcadia)
Emily Smeds (Bridgewater)
Overall, this weekend in D3 cross country was filled with fireworks. From Northern dominance in the Niagara region to defending the Midwest stronghold at Augustana, from sub-20 history along the Long Island Sound to sheathing steel at the border of three eastern states, the national rankings certainly got mixed in a blender after this weekend. As most teams rest and recover for their upcoming conference meets at the end of October, anticipation for the postseason heightens evermore.
And while the focus of this week’s recap is on current D3 runners, we’d be remiss not to give a shout out to all the D3 alums who tore it up in races this weekend. From JCU alum Alex Phillip’s 11th place finish at Nuttycombe to Williams alum Ben Decker’s leading Olympic Trials qualifying performance at the McKirdy Micro Marathon: thanks for continuing to make D3 proud.
Here’s to the glory days.
