Who's Who ahead of NCAA's?

Five days.
Louisville, Kentucky, will be the host of the NCAA Cross Country Championship races on Saturday, November 18th.
That much is known (barring some apocalyptic natural disaster, that is!).
What we (might have) learned this past weekend was who has an excellent to very good to fair to not-so-good chances to win, or place in the Top 30.
And that's what this blog post is about!

As I've noted over & over & over, times matter less than margin--margin of victory, margin between runners.
But there are things other than times to think about.
For example, are the courses the correct distance?
(If you recall, the Dellinger meet for the Women was 5692 meters, not 6000!)
Did rain & wind & a hilly course affect times--and places?
Who lost a shoe?

Those are SOME of the reasons predicting XC is more difficult than predicting T&F results!
But Hell, let's give it a shot anyway!
First, the Results from the Regionals---

Southeast
Lawrence Kipkoech won easily (by 8 seconds) over Amon Kemboi.
Azoria Kirwa was another 3 seconds back, with Nadeel Wildschott at 29:03 in 4th.
Aaron Templeton was 5th in 29:05, while early season flash Peter Seufer ended 9th in 29:25.
Furman took the team title with 55 points.

The Women's race saw Caroline Sang's 20:05.8 win over Allie Buchalski's 20:10.4.
Charlotte Imer was next in 20:15, ahead of Dorcas Wasiki's 20:22 and Dominique Clairmonte's 20:23.
Katy Kunc was 9th in 20:32, while former HS stars Caroline Alcorta (17th) and Ryen Frazier (33rd) were left behind.
NC State's 68 points beat Furman's 83.

South Central
Emmanuel Rotich's 29:49 beat Brian Barazza's 29:51.
Alex Rogers and Jon Bishop were about 12 seconds back of Barazza.
Austin Dalquist's 30:12 finished 8th.
Sam Worley DNF'ed!
Arkansas won over Texas, 59 to 73.

Nikki Hiltz must have had a good fight with Carina Viljoen, as they ended less than a second apart, 19:35.5 to 19:36.0.
Anna West's 19:40 in 3rd was clear of 4th Woman Michaela Hackett by over 7 seconds!
But Michaela beat twin sister (Both Abilene Christian Seniors, so I assume they're twins!!) Alexandria by over 2 seconds.
Destiny Collins continued a solid year in 10th, time of 20:05, while Lauren Gregory was top Soph in 13th, time of 20:19.
The Razorbacks's 35 points easily defeated Texas (93).

Northeast
Justyn Knight lost a shoe at 1K, stopped to reattach it (& faded to near LAST doing so!!), caught the pack inside of a mile (!!), and just nipped Colin Bennie, 23:08.9 to 23:09.1.
Right with them (23:09.4) was Johannes Motschmann!
Gilbert Kirui finished 4th, with Aidan Tooker's 23:16.7 taking 7th.
Syracuse's 27 beat Iona's 42.

Steepler (Maybe she'll be thinking of switching after her great XC season!!) Elinor Purrier took the title with 21:20 over Paige Stoner's 21:24.
Shannon Malone was another 10 seconds back, 3 ahead of 4th placer Catarina Rocha!
Brianna Ilarda was 6th in 21:47, while Millie Paladino was 11th in 22:13.
Providence took the team race with 84 points!

Great Lakes
Team finishes were reversed, with the Men of Michigan State beating Michigan, 68 to 79, while the Blue Women beat the Spartans, 71 to 87.
Ben Flanagan's 30:54 was 6 seconds in front of Hlynur Andresson!
Oliver Hoare and Ben Veatch both ended in 31:01, with the former given 3rd.
Joe Hardy ran 31:03, while Finn Gessner ran 31:53 in 32nd.

Katherine Receveur beat Gina Sereno by 4 seconds, 20:34.9 to 20:38.9.
Jaimie Morrissey ended just behind Sereno.
Sarah Disanza might be BACK, as she was a solid 4th in 20:43.9.
Haley Meier (Remember the Meier twins??) was 29th in 21:14.3.

Midwest
Iowa State took both team wins, scores of 69 for the Men, and 90 for the Women!
Jonathan Davis's 29:06 beat Hassan Abdi's 29:11, with Dan Curts and Andrew Jordan in 3rd & 4th, both with 29:13's.

But Karissa Schweizer demolished the field, including Sharon Lokedi (2nd), by 21 seconds, 19:50.9 to 20:11.6!!
Frosh Callie Logue was 3rd in 20:13.7.
The Hasz sisters were divided by 6th placer Madeline Strandema's 20:19.7!
Megan was 5th, while Bethany Hasz was 7th!

Mid-Atlantic
Jonathan Green's 30:28 beat Casey Comber's 30:31, with Andrew Marston (30:32) & Conor Lundy (30:33) not far behind.
Princeton's 57 points was enough!

Bella Burda, once a NY HS stud back in the days of Mary Cain, beat Jillian Hunsberger by 4 seconds for the win, time of 20:01.
Danae Rivers--better known as a Miler--was 8th in 20:05.
Rachel McArthur, another short distance person, was 14th in 20:17.
Sophie Cantine--she of the infamous 2:47.64 INdoor 1000 run on Seattle's OT a few years back--was 31st in 20:55.
She's now a Frosh at Princeton!!
(Hope she steers clear of OT's as a Collegian!!)
Penn State's 31 points easily won over Villanova's 60!

South
Kenyan Collegians took places 1-2-3-4!!
Gilbert Kigen's 29:44.5 prevailed over Alfred Chelanga (29:47.1), Jacob Choge (29:50.9), and Vincent Kiprop (30:04.9).
Sean Tobin was 6th in 30:15.7.
Middle Tennessee State won by 5 over Ole Miss, 71 to 76.

Several sister duos here--here meaning all the Regionals!
This one saw the Drop's take 1st and 3rd--Samantha the winner in 19:40.9, with Jessica ending in 19:45.4.
Karissa Nelson finished between them in 19:43.4.
Brenda Kigen upheld the Kenyan presence with her 4th place 19:46.2!
Ole Miss's 59 prevailed over Georgia's 73.

Mountain
Joe Klecker's 30:13.6 won over Rory Linkletter's 30:14.6.
Tyler Day was 3rd,with Conner McMillan 4th, both a couple of seconds behind Linkletter.
Jerrell Mock was 6th in 30:19, while Josh Kerr was 15th in 30:43.5.
Northern Arizona won the team title with 49 points, with BYU's 79 edging Colorado's 80!

Ednah Kurgat's 20:01.4 won over Grayson Murphy's 20:04, with Weini Kelati a strong 3rd in 20:05.5.
Winny Koech was 4th in 20:08.5, while Charlotte Prouse was 5th, but 7 seconds behind Koech!!
Dani Jones--maybe the co-favorite here!--ended in a tie for 12th, about 28 seconds behind Kurgat!!
McKinleyville (CA) HS flash Morgin Coonfield was 50th in 21:20.5!
Colorado beat New Mexico, 62 to 70!

Finally--
West
Someone named Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse (WHO???) took the Men's title with 29:33!
Five seconds back came Jeff Thies--another Who?!!--in 2nd.
Steven Fahy and Nick Hauger were 3rd and 4th, both around 29:41.
A quartet ended in 29:43, in this order-- Colby Gilbert, Tanner Anderson, Andrew Gardner, and Miler (??) Haller!
Grant Fisher said he just wanted Stanford to make the final, so cruised to an 11th place finish in 29:47, just ahead of Michael Williams.
Mahmoud Moussa was 18th, while Cooper Teare ended in 23rd, Blake Haney in 32nd, and Reed Brown in 42nd, time of 30:20!
Portland (!!!) beat Washington, 63 to 65, with Stanford's 85 taking 3rd, way ahead of Oregon's 149!!

Allie Ostrander stuck with Charlotte Taylor, but Taylor's finish was stronger, 19:14 to 19:16!
Taylor's time was a Course Record!
Amy Eloise-Neale was 3rd in 19:25, with Weronika Pyzik's 19:29 prevailing over Katie Rainsberger's 19:30!
Fiona O'Keefe was just 1 second farther back in 6th, with Isabelle Brauer's 19:35 taking 7th.
Vanessa Fraser (19:40), Lilli Burdon (19:43), Bethan Knights (19:44), and Brie Oakley (19:45) taking spots 8th through 11th!
Elise Cranny was 18th, time of 20:05, with Ella Donaghu 20th in 20:08.
In 24th came Christina Aragon (20:13), while Alli Cash was just 43rd in 20:41.
San Francisco (NOT SF State!!) won the team title in 59 over Stanford's 76.
Oregon was 3rd with 92, while Boise State took 4th with 104 points!

Predictions??
How about Knight & Fisher up front--despite Grant's 11th place!.
Maybe a few of those Kenyans--such as Kipkoech, Kigen, Choge, Rotich, Chelanga!!
Joe Klecker, Colin Bennie, Jerrell Mock!
But what about the "newcomers"--the ones first noticed (by me!) this season??
Linkletter, McMillan, Jonathans Green & Davis!
Then there's Monsieur (assuming a French connection!  LOL) Roudolff-Levisse and Oliver Hoere!!

 The Women again show Karissa Schweizer up front, probably followed by Ostrander, Taylor, Eloise-Neale, Rainsberger, Purrier, Receveur & Ednah Kurgat!!
But what about the strong "2nd tier" group of O'Keefe, Fraser, Burda, Hiltz, Sang, and Lokedi??
Finally, some "rookies" (Collegiately speaking!) might "show--like Brie Oakley, Weronika Pyzik, and Callie Logue!!
Should they fear the Sisters--the Drops, the Hasz's, or even the Hackett's??

This is going to be a LONGGG one, so hang in there!!

HS results---
NXN Regional races began with the Northwest seeing an upset of sorts!
Lexi Halladay was 2nd to Camila Noe's 17:13--time of 17:30!
Did she just have a "poor" race, or is this Ms Noe a "find"?
Noe is a Senior, while Halladay is a Soph!
A Frosh took 3rd--Sydney Thorwaldson!
And a Senior--Annie Hill--was just 18th--64 seconds behind Noe!!
James Mwaura won the Men's race in 15:06 over Duncan Hamilton's 15:16.
Both are Seniors, while Stetson Moss (3rd in 15:17) is a Soph!

The Midwest saw Dustin Horter (sp?) win in 14:57.
Danny Kilrea's 15 minutes flat was 2nd, with Conant Smith 3rd another 5 seconds back.
Katelynne Hart took the Women's race in 17:28 over Emma Wilson's 17:33.
Taylor Ewart--best known as a Walker (!!)--was 4th in a respectable 17:44.
She's just a Soph!!

The Heartland Men's race was won by Drew Bosley in 14:53.
Derick Peters was 2 seconds back, with Khalid Hussein in 3rd in 14:56!
The Women's race was won by Tierney Wolfgram's 16:48!
Emily Covert took 2nd in 16:55, with Anna Fenske--a Frosh--taking 3rd in 17:05.
But in 4th, SEVENTH GRADER Lauren Ping timed out in 17:07!!
Sister Grace didn't run--apparently having run a USATF race the day before!!
(More info on that in another post--if I can find it!!)

Assorted other results--
Stephanie Garcia won an 8K Road Race in a solid 25:39!!
Second was Rachel Johnson, a full 40 seconds behind!!
Erin Teschuk--like Garcia, better known as a Steepler!!--was 3rd in 26:28.
Craig Nowak took the Men's race in 22:40.

Claudia Lane won a XC race in Riverside CA in a Course Record time of 15:50!!
The CR was her own!!

The Shanghai Marathon was won by Stephen Mokoka in 2:08:35, while the Women's race saw Rose Dereji win in 2:22:43.
In 2nd came a familiar name--for students of 1990's distance running!
Remember Lydia Cheremoi?
In the early 90's, she ran some FAST track times, breaking Age 13 & 14 records!
She's done it again!
Now 40 years old, she broke the Age 40 record with her 2nd place time of 2:23:31.
Mariya Konovalova ran 2:22:27 in 2015 for the Age 40 record, but her time was expunged, due to a drug bust!!

Finally, Camille Herron--Marathon PR of 2:37+--and recent winner of the 56 Mile Comrades race--SHATTERED the World and American Records in the ONE HUNDRED Mile run--on trails and roads, so counted as a Road race!
Her time of 12:42:39 works out to FOUR 25 Mile races--run back-to-back!!!--of 3:10:40!
(If you give her a split of 9:20 for the final Mile & 385 yards, that's four FULL Marathons of 3:20:00 run consecutively!!  What's the Women's Boston Qualifying time again??)

A few Society column items--
Carmelita Jeter has officially retired!!
She'll be coaching and giving speeches!

Meb Keflizighi might be retired from Marathon racing, but not from HALF Marathons!!
He's signed up to race the Indy Half on May 5th!!

Helen Obiri said she wants to break the OUTdoor 5000 World Record of 14:11.15!
No word of the venue yet!

Is Yelena Isinbayeva pregnant again??
Becca---aka PoleVaultPower--thinks she is!
She provided a family photo--showing Isi with her husband and first child--something PVP says she's never seen before!!

Finally--yes, FINALLY!!--Mary Cain will be returning to track racing in 2018!
In response to a Let's Run feeler, her agent said she was injured for a lot of 2017--thus the ZERO appearances--and is returned to full training under John Henwood!
No word from Mary herself, or of when and where her initial "rust buster" will be!!

See you soon with my INdoor Previews--and more!!