Conn College Interregional
With the new regional realignment, many East coast schools get the benefit of battling other regions without having to fly across the country. We’ll get one more look at these squads before the postseason. A lot is on the line at the Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, CT. Fans will get to see 12 ranked women’s teams and eight ranked men’s teams battle it out along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline. If you haven’t seen this course, it’s one of the coolest ones out there.
Between athletes looking to make one final push to make their conference squads, coaches trying to get big interregional wins, and bubble teams looking to make a jump into the ranks, the weekend is sure to be as exciting as it is dramatic. Let’s get right into it.
Women’s Preview
As mentioned, this race will feature 12 ranked women’s teams headlined by No. 1 MIT, No. 5 Amherst, and No. 7 NYU. Each feels they have a chance to win.
Teams to Watch
MIT is coming off a decisive victory at the D3 Pre National Meet. They boasted an 89 point victory over UChicago while putting six runners in the top 25 with a 35-second spread. I’m not a mathematician, but that is a formula for success. We’ve mentioned this before but MIT is running with experience. They returned their whole crew from last year’s national team, and it’s showing. They have a low stick in Kate Sanderson, who finished third at Pre Nats, and a strong number two in Lexi Fernandez, who was only 15 seconds back at Pre Nats. We’ll get a better idea of where this pack sits in a deeper field here at Conn College. If they match their 13-second spread from their third to fifth runner, they will be a very difficult team to beat.
Amherst went to Paul Short and stole everyone’s lunches. At the time, the Mammoths were 11th and had five ranked teams ahead of them, but that didn’t matter as they left victorious over the field. What’s impressive about Amherst is their pack. They put their sixth runner in front of everyone’s fifth while having Flora Biro up in the top ten. Their 53-second spread has room for improvement, especially since they only have eight seconds between their second and fifth runner. Cutting down the gap between their first and second will be key this weekend and moving into the postseason. Unlike MIT, Amherst is relying on a lot of young talent. They feature four first-years that are helping them now and in the future. As they continue to get experience and learn the 6k distance, I expect Amherst to continue to make improvements and be in the hunt for a trophy come November.
NYU hasn’t shied away from the competition. At John McNichols, Paul Short, and now Conn College, the Violets aren’t afraid to compete. You gotta love seeing a team go chase the best meets possible and live with the outcomes. At Paul Short, they were without Kate Cochran, which could have impacted the results there. NYU returns everyone except Grace Richardson from their runner-up finish last year. IF at full strength, NYU will look to get revenge on Amherst from Paul Short and see if they can dip into MIT’s pack.
Other teams we’ll be watching for are the NESCAC schools. After Amherst, five ranked teams will be there. Throw in Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, and Trinity, and this is giving pre-conference vibes.
The ranked NESCAC teams are No. 15 Williams, No. 16 Middlebury, No. 18 Conn College, No. 21 Tufts and No. 27 Wesleyan. Can any of these teams separate themselves from the pack?
Individuals to Watch
The team battle is going to rely on their low sticks. Many of the top individuals come from teams in contention to take the title.
Audrey Maclean and Haley Schoenegge go back at it for the second straight meet. These two finished behind Jules Bleskoski at Paul Short finishing second and third. These sophomores look to be the future of D3 running. Maclean was 10th last year at nationals and followed that up with a sixth place finish in the steeple. Schoengegge, the 1500m champion, is starting to figure out cross country. After her big fourth place finish in the 5k, she looks poised to improve mightily on her 100th place finish at cross country nationals.
Kate Sanderson proved herself as a frontrunner at Pre Nats. She mixed it up with the heavy hitters to come away with a third place finish. She’s been consistently good the past two seasons and seems to have made a jump. She brings national meet experience from track and has navigated the cross country pack to finish as an All-American last year. Sanderson seems ready to take on the lead role for MIT, so look for her at the front pack on Saturday.
Rachel Brennan of Gordon will be up in the front pack. She made the solo adventure to Terre Haute to get a feel for the national course where she finished 7th. She put herself with the leaders early and finished within two seconds of fifth place. Brennan had a breakout track season where she ran new PBs from the 1500 to the 10k and ended with a 12th place finish in the 10k at nationals. Having finished 63rd last year in cross country, Brennan seems ready to solidify herself as a top 15 threat in the country. Be ready for her to mix it up.
Stephanie Ager loves seeing Wesleyan in the rankings. She’s ready to ensure they stick up there after this weekend. Her fourth place performance at Pre Nats was the welcome party she was waiting for. After a 15th place finish at the outdoor 10k, Ager seems to be prepared to make that jump into All-American status. She’s been at XC nationals before placing 67th last year. With a new 16:56 5k PB, Ager is looking to contend.
Flora Biro doesn’t seem to care that she’s a first year mixing it up with certified D3 aces. The Amherst standout has positioned herself well to lead the Mammoths in big races. Her ninth place finish at Paul Short shows she has the ability to be in the front as a low stick for Amherst. She brings a sub-5 mile PB to Amherst with a nice 10:37 3200m time as well. Add in a few high state meet finishes in Kentucky and she’s running with more big meet experience than the average first year. As she continues to figure out this 6k distance, be prepared to see her name at the top of the results page.
Men’s Preview
While the Men’s field may not feature three top 10 teams, the field is still deep and will answer questions we have about teams sitting in the 10-20 range. Please give a New England welcome to St. Olaf as they will be far from Northfield, Minnesota (so be nice).
Toeing the line at Conn College will be eight ranked teams, including seven top 20 teams. Similar to the women, we’ll get a quick pre NESCAC preview as all the heavy hitters will be at Harkness on Saturday.
Team Preview
NYU comes in as the top ranked team. They showed out at the John McNichols Invite taking down everyone but La Crosse, North Central, and Wartburg. Led by Ryan Tobin, NYU seems poised to improve upon their 16th place performance at Nationals last year. They have beaten everyone in this field so far this season including a handful of teams at Paul Short. They had a 45-second spread at Paul Short and a huge performance from Tobin where he finished third. If they can replicate a similar performance to two weeks ago, NYU looks to be in the driver’s seat on Saturday.
Tufts finished just 25 points behind NYU at Paul Short with their 23-second spread. While Alex Friedman finished just outside the top ten in 11th, the Jumbos relied on their pack to make an impact. In another crowded field, Tufts will have to utilize their pack if they want to stay ahead of their conference rivals and jump NYU as the top team. They’re currently running four returners from last year’s 24th place team. The experience and the big jump from Friedman is looking like it is paying off. Don’t be surprised if Tufts shakes things up at the top.
Williams has been under the radar for most of the season. They haven’t ventured to the big meets and their only test was a loss to RPI at the Purple Valley Invite. Their most recent performance at Keene State raised the alarm bells for the D3GD teams. Are we counting out Williams too early? While they went 1-9 and didn’t face super strong competition, they had some good things happen for them, including a 37-second spread from 1-5. While we don’t have splits, it appears they treated this as a true race effort as Chuckie Namiot won in 24:25, leaving their fifth running 25:02. A big key for Williams is the return of Grahm Tuohy Gaydos. He burst onto the scene as a freshman finishing 19th in cross country and was runner-up in the outdoor 5k. He had a handful of races after finishing 63rd at XC nationals in 2022 but went on to miss all of the 2023/24 school year competition. He looks back and ready to help the Ephs.
Individuals to Watch
Nathan Tassey is ready for the limelight. Even with a fall from Grant Matthai at John McNichols, Tassey seems ready to be viewed as a national contender in November. He hasn’t raced since then, but after a quick Strava search, he looks healthy and ready for this weekend. Tassey joined the podcast earlier this season and credits his breakthrough in track to finally being healthy. He’ll have a tough task this weekend but should be viewed as the favorite.
Chuckie Namiot brings national meet experience that Williams needs right now. Mix in an All-American award from the 10k and Namiot looks to make the leap into the contenders conversation. He enters the competition undefeated and is fresh off a large victory at Keene State. If Williams wants to use this as a return to the big leagues, look for Namiot to set the tone.
Anthony Rodriguez of Babson is making sure people pay attention to the small D3 schools, the true small D3 schools. Rodriguez flew out to Terre Haute to make sure he knew what he would be taking on in November, and it was a successful trip. His sixth place finish behind a strong field has to give him confidence going into this race. While he didn’t make XC nationals last year, his breakthrough happened in track. He ran 29:43 in the 10k and later ran 14:18 in the 5k. He ended his season finishing 12th in the 10k but looks to assert himself as a top 20 threat in the nation during the cross country season.
Ryan Tobin was the top finisher from this field that ran at Paul Short. His third place performance was key for NYU’s runner-up team performance. If they want to have a shot at a team win or place high, Tobin seems to be the guy to get NYU their short stick. Tobin was 45th at nationals last year and seems to be in good position to get into an All-American spot.
Sharing the 5th spot because I can’t make up my mind will be Drew Donahue of Middlebury, Nicholas Lyndaker of St. Lawrence and Ryan Russell of Union. All of these guys were just behind Tobin at Paul Short. Russell had a big win at Wesleyan’s invite that included Amherst and Tufts. If Paul Short is any indication of what this meet will look like, watch for these three to be together.
We mentioned St. Olaf at the top as they bring their squad out to get out-of-region wins. They’re coming off a win at the Carleton Running of the Cows meet where they were led by Kevin Turlington and Andrew Skemp. While they haven’t left Northfield, Minnesota to compete this year (classic Midwest homebody team), the structure is there for another strong team from the Oles. They had a 52-second spread in their last win, and if they can get Parker Max and Ignatius Fitzgerald up a bit, they’ll be looking at a top three finish at Harkness.
What a way to wrap up the regular season with a crazy deep interregional meet hosted by Conn College.
You can find live results here: https://live.pctiming.com/meets/41115