NCAA XC Countdown #23: Villanova Men and Cornell Women

Jul 31, 2013 by Isaac Wood

For the next month, The Wood Report will be counting down projected team finishes in this year's NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, IN. Make sure to stay up-to-date with The Wood Report throughout the season. You should follow him on Twitter, too.

View the full NCAA Top 31 Countdown HERE.

#23
Villanova Men

Head Coach: Marcus O'Sullivan (14th Season)

2012 National Finish- 27th

Key Returners from 2012

Sam McEntee (Jr., 3:36.81 1500m, 3:57 Mile, 7:54 Open 3k, 14:19 5k)
Jordy Williamsz (So., 3:36 1500m, 4:00 Mile, 8:04 Open 3k)
Robert Denault (So., 3:41 1500m, 3:59 Mile, 8:15 Open 3k)

Impact Recruits/Transfers

Ben Malone (Fr., 3:46 1500m, 4:11 1600m, 9:12 2 Mile, NXN Nats Finalist)

Season Preview

After a very good Mid-Atlantic Region race in 2012 where the Wildcats were one point away from tying for first place with Georgetown, the wheels fell off at NCAAs and they saw themselves finish 27th as a team. Villanova will have an opportunity in 2013 to redeem themselves from that with five of their top seven returning and most of them coming off of career track seasons.

Villanova returns one of the deepest and strongest 1500m programs in the country. The question that always comes along with metric milers is if they have the range to run 8k and 10k (10k is the real kicker). Maybe a reason why the Wildcats struggled in Louisville was because their team is stock full of 1500m runners and the jump to 10k is too difficult. If that were the case though, then there is no way they would have run as well as they did for 10k at the Mid-Atlantic Regional.

With a fresh season ahead of us all of these questions will be answered, the good news for Wildcat fans is that they have a legendary coach in Marcus O'Sullivan to guide this group of milers. He knows a thing or too about middle distance runners.

Sam McEntee is the returning no. 1 man and leader of this team and is coming off of a very good track season. Although he was not able to improve upon his 3:36 1500m PR of '12 (brutally tough to ever duplicate that performance), McEntee did reach the NCAA 1500m final for the second year and placed seventh overall. He should be able to ride that momentum into a solid summer of training. If he can keep his miles up and stay healthy that jump to 10k will suit him just fine (as he proved at the regional).

Jordy Williamsz was the star recruit of last seasons class for the Wildcats and was a solid contributor as a no. 2-4 runner. He, like McEntee, had a great regional where he placed fourth overall and ran a solid 30:35 on grass. This proves he has the range to go up to 10k, he just needs to do it on back to back races. If Williamsz can figure that out, he has the ability and talent to roll right with McEntee and should prove a very good no.2.

The wildcard for this team lies in Robert Denault of Canada. Like McEntee, Denault was able to reach the NCAA 1500m final where he finished 18th in the country. It is always good to start summer training, looking ahead toward xc, after a very good end to a track season. Denault will be critical to the success of this team if he can prove his range in the latter portions of the season.

Villanova has two very good recruits in Ben Malone and Patrick Tiernan. Malone ended up being one of the nation's best 1500m runners (go figure) in the country last track season as a prep where he ran 3:46. Malone has had some quality cross country experience in high school. Ben qualified for NXN Nationals and had to struggle through the mud and rain where he did not have the race he expected. This kind of experience will be very helpful to the Villanova 1-5 as he has a chance to break into that group and be an impact player.

Patrick Tiernan, from the moment he steps on campus, could be the best true cross country guy on the team. His three junior xc championships in Australia proves he is capable over the long distances on grass and his track PRs are very good for his age group. Tiernan is an instant-offense kind of recruit that could put himself in the no. 3 spot the very first real race of the season. In fact, by the end of the season, we could see Tiernan challenging McEntee as the no. 1 runner for the Wildcats.

Other athletes such as Brian Basili and Alex Tully were solid contributors in cross country for Villanova in 2012 and should be in the mix of their top seven where they will be critical to keeping the 1-5 spread as grouped as possible.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional is always tough and Villanova will once again need to figure out how hard to go at Regionals to make sure they save themselves for a good run at the Big Dance. With Coach O'Sullivan leading this team, that should be no problem and these metric milers could show the long-distance guys a thing or too in Terre Haute.

#23
Cornell Women

Head Coach: Artie Smith (15th Season)

2012 National Finish- 13th

Key Returners from 2012

Rachel Sorna (Sr., 9:12 Open 3k, 15:53 5k, 9:50 3k Steeple, 33:34 10k)
Emily Shearer (Sr., 9:17 Open 3k)
Devin McMahon (Sr., 16:37 5k, 34:04 10k)
Caroline Kellner (So., 9:37 Open 3k, 16:23 5k)
Dina Iacone (So., 16:56 5k, 35:35 10k)
Claire DeVoe (So., 10:20 3k Steeple)

Season Preview

Of all of the rankings and previews that have been done so far the Cornell Women's Cross Country team could be the most underrated. Cornell ran out of their minds in Louisville last season where they qualified for the championships for the first time since 2001 and made their best of the situation. Their 13th overall team finish was the best this team has finished since 1993.

Coach Artie Smith is a very good developer of his athletes and has proved himself with the women he has coming back for 2013. With six of the nine girls that competed on the Ivy League HEPS Conference Championship winning team in 2012, Cornell is back and could be better than ever.

Rachel Sorna and Emily Shearer are the two front-runners returning for the Big Red that will assume their role once again in 2013. Sorna had a very good indoor and outdoor track season where she finished 11th at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 5000m (she ran 15:59 and was the first time she did not finish in the top ten all season) and fourth at the NCAA Championships in the 3k Steeple. Sorna is almost a lock (no one is ever a lock in xc though) to be an All-American.

Emily Shearer was so unbelievably consistent in 2012 and that is what makes her so valuable to this team. Shearer was 2nd at the HEPS Conference meet and was 15th overall at the Northeast Regional. A mediocre NCAA meet will bring her back motivated and ready to finish the season off strong.

Caroline Kellner and Devin McMahon are both extremely solid no. 3-4 runners and would be a lot of teams in the NCAAs 1-2. Both have mid-16 minute 5k PRs and have pretty good range. If these two can stay healthy that will keep the Big Red spread very tight.

A no. 5 runner will be essential to find for Cornell in 2012. If they can find a good fifth, Cornell should be looking at repeat HEPS titles and a shot at the top 10 at NCAAs. The concern, and this is where the ranking comes in, is if they can find one.

Some good options are Dina Iacone and and Claire Devoe. Devoe had a good outdoor track season where she qualified for the East Regional in the 3k Steeple. Iacone had a good, but below her potential outdoor, which will need to be overcome for her to take the no. 5 spot.

If one of these two athletes or anyone else that comes out of the very good Big Red depth can fill the hole in the place of the fifth runner, Cornell will be one to watch for in 2013. Granted the Northeast Regional is a beast with Providence, Uconn, Harvard, Boston College, and Syracuse all vying for a spot at the Big Dance. But with the amazing depth and the quality returners that Cornell has, they are going to put a lot fear into the coaches of the perennial powers in the Northeast Region.