Sisson to Providence
Big news in the NCAA XC scene! Our sources have confirmed that former Wisconsin All-American, Emily Sisson, has transferred to Providence College in Providence, RI (it was double confirmed via her Facebook wall...gotta love it). As a freshman, Emily Sisson finished a very respectable 14th place at the NCAA National Cross Country Championships and was Wisconsin's top runner throughout the year. Quiet through most of the indoor season, Sisson returned outdoors to finish 3rd in the 5000 and 3rd in the 10000 meters at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships running season's best times of 16:06 and 35:07 respectively.

Sisson's achievements
If you remember back Sisson's 2009-2010 senior year in high school the girl was simply on a tear! She finished third place at the Footlocker Cross Country Championships and went on to become the 2010 US Junior Cross Country Champion. Representing Team USA in Poland at the 2010 IAAF World Junior Cross Country Championships, Sisson was the top American finishing 18th amongst the world's best junior women. During the outdoor season she went on to run the fastest high school 5k ever in 15:48.91, twelve seconds off Molly Huddle's American Junior record (15:36.96), as she finished 6th place at the 2010 IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships in Moncton, Canada. She added another top 10 finish at the World Championships with her 9th place finish in the 3000 meters (9:16). Her 5k mark was 19 seconds faster than the indoor auto mark for the NCAA Championships.

The New Squad
Sisson will join a Providence team that now looks to be contenders for a national championship. In 2010 the Providence women finished 9th at the NCAA XC Championships and return all but one runner from last year's top seven, which was number five runner Emma Perron (even without Emma the Friars would have finished 10th, only 4 points out of 9th). Shelby Greany, Providence's top runner a year ago, was two places ahead of Sisson to finish 12th place at the Championships. Greany also set the American Junior record in the steeplechase when she ran 10:00.88 to finish 6th at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships (she broke Emma Coburn's Jr record in 2010).

And I wouldn't be a true cross country enthusiast if I didn't give you the "what if"stat. If Emily Sisson had been scored with the Providence team a year ago at the NCAA Championships the women would have finished 5th place with 221 points. Adjusted scores below:

1. Villanova 123
2. Florida State 158
3. Texas Tech 169
4. Georgetown 171
5. Providence 221
6. New Mexico 232

2010 NCAA Women's XC Championship Results TEAM | INDIVIDUAL

Lastly, remember a Workout Wednesday two years ago when we thought there was a possibility of some future national champs???

Watch more video of Workout Wednesday, Season 4 on flotrack.org

Others in the mix
There are three other teams in the last's years top 10 that return most of their scoring squad. Georgetown returns six (4th in '10), Colorado returns six (6th in '10) and Iowa State returns all seven (8th in '10). Other noteables in the top 20 are former PAC-10, now PAC-12 schools Arizona (11th), Stanford (13th) and Washington (16th) who return four of their top five. North Carolina (14th) returns their whole team including Kendra Schaaf who was runner up in 2009. Duke (17th) and Texas (20th) both return six members, with their only loss being their #7 finishers. Duke also has the 2011 NCAA 10k Champ, Juliet Bottorff. The two-time defending champs, Villanova, only return three of their top seven.

Follow Flotrack through the preseason for more cross country news and preseason rankings.