North Region Preview
“When it’s time, I’m going to light the biggest fire the North has ever seen.”
— Every North Region runner not mentioned on the D3 Glory Days podcast (and Mance Rayder).
With six nationally-ranked teams for both men and women, and only one guaranteed national berth, the NCAA North Region squads will be eager to prove “November is the only time anyone will remember.” We’re not sure the NCAA intended to create a super region, but based on out-of-region results both genders should be guaranteed four national-qualifying teams and a strong argument can be made for a fifth!
Women’s Preview:
The UW-La Crosse women will easily claim the regional title to follow up a strong WIAC championship that saw the Eagles place their top-seven runners within the top 15. The race for second, between UW-Eau Claire, Carleton, and St. Olaf, will be much more interesting between. The trio have met head-to-head with UW- Eau Claire edging Carleton on the tie-breaker at the Blugold Invitational. An improving St. Olaf squad edged the Knights by six points at the MIAC championship, but lack the frontrunner Carleton has in Clara Mayfield. St. Olaf was able to use strong pack running with runners 2-3-4 finishing within one second of each other, but the low-stick will be more impactful in a deeper field. Blugolds Katie Faris and Carolyn Shult are both capable of running in the top pack, which will likely be too much for the MIAC schools. We expect Carleton to avenge their MIAC loss and claim the third spot.
Wis-Oshkosh and Wis-Stevens Point tied at the WIAC championship, and senior Titan Hannah Lohrenz’s low-point tally will be needed to make up for a 1:48 2-5 spread at conference. Wis-Oshkosh was able place three runners in front of the Pointer’s No. 2 Catie Gage — negating the low-stick of Pointer first-year sensation Rachel Krouse.
We didn’t expect anyone other than All-American Emma Malooly to win the WIAC Championship. As her namesake says in Jane Austen’s classic, “a lucky guess is never merely luck.” We expect Malooly to rebound for a great battle with St. Benedict’s Fiona Smith, Lohrenz, and Mayfield. Smith has been untouchable versus NCAA DIII opponents not named Kassie Parker, so we’ll stake our claim on the Bennies sophomore edging Malooly.
Women’s Team Champion: UW LaCrosse
Women’s Individual Champion: Fiona Smith
Qualifying Teams: UW Lacrosse, UW Eau Claire, St. Olaf, Carleton, UW Oshkosh
Men’s Preview:
The men’s race will shape up to be a battle of the WIAC versus the MIAC. Both conference champions, UW-La Crosse and Carleton College, earned narrow victories — making runner-up teams UW-Whitewater and St. Olaf eager for another shot. UW-Oshkosh and UW-Eau Claire finished within five points of each other for third and fourth in the WIAC, which means the North Region Championship will be even more interesting.
This race again be a close battle between UW-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater. At the WIAC meet, the Warhawks’ big three of David Fassbender, Gunner Schlender, and Christian Patzka finished well ahead of the UW-La Crosse No. 2 man. However, a :37 gap to the Whitewater No. 4 allowed the Eagles to close the scoring as runners 3-5 finished within one second of each other.
The question remains: will an expanded field widen the gap or will the Warhawks rally? At the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble, the UW-Whitewater 3-4 gap was :11 and only :08 earlier in the year. They will need to return to form to threaten UW-La Crosse.
Stephen Lavey ran sub-25 on the challenging St. Olaf course, and will be a low-stick for the Knights. Carleton only finished nine points ahead of the Oles with St. Olaf placing six runners in front of Carleton’s No. 5 man. Logan Bocovich, St. Olaf ‘s No. 1 at the MIAC championship, has only lead the squad at races on his home course. If he can hang in the front pack, and sophomores Ian Curtis and Will Kelly run like they did at their first trip to Eau Claire, the Oles may slide into the third spot in the region.
The team battle for fifth place will likely come down to the fifth man. Wis-Oshkosh has come out ahead each time they have faced Wis-Eau Claire. The Titans beat Eau-Claire and St. Olaf at the Blugold Invite hosted on the regional course, but will need a big race from steeplechase All-American Andrew George to top the Oles and Blugolds.
The Individual battle will be exciting. Fassbender is undefeated in the state of Wisconsin this Fall and we expect that to continue. MIAC champion, Munir Ishak of Concordia-Moorhead, continues to impress with his late-season running and will put some pressure on Ethan Gregg for the runner-up finish. We’ll predict a WIAC 1-2 finish of Fassbender and Gregg, and expect Andrew Stumbo of Gustavus Adolphus to place fourth behind Ishak.
Men’s Team Champion: UW LaCrosse
Men’s Individual Champion: David Fassbender
Qualifying Teams: UW LaCrosse, UW Whitewater, St. Olaf, Carleton, and UW Oshkosh