NCAA XC Countdown #16: Eastern Kentucky Men and Arkansas Women

Aug 7, 2013 by Isaac Wood

For the next few weeks, 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. Feel free to follow him on Twitter, too.

View the full NCAA Top 31 Countdown HERE.

#16

Eastern Kentucky Men

Head Coach: Rick Erdmann (35th Season)

2012 National Finish- 24th

Key Returners from 2012

Wade Meddles (Sr., 8:03 Open 3k, 13:52 5k, Returning All-American from XC '12)
Soufiane Bouchikhi (Sr., 7:53 Open 3k, 13:33 5k, 28:35 10k)
Ole Hesselbjerg (Jr., 8:17 Open 3k, 8:42 3k Steeple)
Thijs Nijhuis (Jr., 14:32 5k, 29:42 10k)
Mads Taersbol (So., 13th Euro Jr. XC '11, 3:48 1500m, 8:16 Open 3k)
Amos Kosgey (So., 8:16 Open 3k, 14:33 5k)
Ben Toroitich (Jr., 8:37 3k Steeple, 14:06 5k,
Erwin Leysen (Sr., 8:11 Open 3k, 8:55 3k Steeple, 14:21 5k, 29:35 10k)

Season Preview

Heading into this 2013 season, one of the most under-the-radar teams in the country, is the squad that Coach Rick Erdmann has put together at Eastern Kentucky. Although Coach Erdmann has had incredible success at the conference level at EKU, he has never entered a season looking at a legitimate chance to place in the top-10 at NCAAs. Last season was the highest this program has ever been ranked in its school history, as it was ranked 13th in the country in the middle of the season .

With every single athlete from their 2012 team returning for this season, the Colonels have never looked so good. This team is absolutely loaded and is coming off a fine track season as well which will provide the momentum they need to carry into a good summer and to prepare for the best cross country season in school history.

Led by Soufiane Bouchikhi of Belgium, the Colonels are in good hands up front. There are only a handful of athletes in the entire NCAA that have the kind of quality PRs that he has. He is a possible top-10 finisher individually and will be the critical low-stick that every team needs. Bouchikhi redshirted outdoor in 2013 and should use that to his advantage to build a big base and come back fit and ready to roll.

Wade Meddles is the lone American in their top seven and is a former high school stud. Meddles ran great at NCAAs finishing up with All-American honors in 2012. His 13:52 5k PR is very solid and proved worthy of it at NCAAs Outdoors where he finished 11th overall. Meddles provides a very stable and quality no. 2 runner heading into the 2013 season.

Ben Toroitich, along with being on the most under-the-radar teams in the country, could be the country's most underrated runner. After a good start to his xc season of 2012, Toroitich ran the rest of the season hurt and still ran quite well at the regional regardless of his injury placing 15th. He has a very good PR in the 3k Steeple of 8:37 and solid 5k PR of 14:06. He is definitely worthy of sub-14 for 5000m .

Toroitich had such a great start to his season last year that he was looking at possible All-American honors at the end of the season (10th at Wisco, 11th at Notre Dame). With Toroitich healthy, this three-headed monster of Bouchikhi, Meddles and Toroitich is a legitimate threat to every team in the NCAA.

What is even scarier about the Colonels is that the rest of their athletes remaining that will be contributors to this squad are not scrubs. Ole Hesselbjerg is a quality 3k steepler who placed 7th overall in the NCAA Outdoor final in 2013. This should translate into a much improved cross country season for him in '13. Thijs Nijhuis and Erwin Leysen are both mid-29:00 10k guys and will be very good core pack runners for the Colonels.

Mads Taersbol is a darkhorse on this team because of his nice cross country experience as European Junior finishing 13th as a junior at the Euro Cross meet. He struggled at nationals last year and will be wanting to prove he is capable of much better. He has the best speed on the team and closes races well.

Coming off of a second place finish as a team at the Southeast Regional in 2012, Eastern Kentucky should be considered the favorite in the region for 2013. Because of this they will be advancing to the Big Dance without a problem (barring injuries) and is quite possibly the scariest team in the entire NCAA that no one knows about.

#16

Arkansas Women

Head Coach: Lance Harter (24th Season)

2012 National Finish- 18th

Key Returners from 2012

Grace Heymsfield (Jr., 9:12 Open 3k, 16:15 5k, 9:57 3k Steeple)
Andrina Schlapfer (So.,10th SEC XC '12, 98th NCAA XC '12)
Paige Johnston (Jr., 4:25 1500m)
Keri Wood (Sr., 4:18 1500m, 4:43 Mile)
Jessica Kamilos (Jr., 16:28 5k, 10:10 3k Steeple)
Diane Robison (Jr., 9:19 Open 3k, 15:59 5k, 34:30 10k)
Shannon Klenke (Jr., 16:15 5k, 10:10 3k Steeple)
Kaitlin Flattmann (Jr., 16:23 5k, 34:56 10k)
Stephanie Brown (Sr., 4:14 1500m, 16:24 5k)

Impact Recruits/Transfers

Sandie Raines (Fr., 4:52 1600m, 10:13 3200m, 32nd NXN '12, 11th FL Finals '12)
Regan Ward (Fr., 4:54 1600m, 10:38 3200m)

Season Preview

After a good, but somewhat disappointing end to the cross country season in 2012, the Razorbacks are back, and deeper than ever and scarier than ever. Lance Harter has (there have been many deep teams previewed so far, but none like this) quite possibly the deepest team in the country (obviously more will be highlighted later on and could rival this). There are eleven different girls on this team that could be on any team in the NCAAs top five. With this kind of depth, Arkansas is ready to improve upon their NCAAs finish of 2012.

Grace Heymsfield is the no. 1 returner on this team who was very close to being All-American in 2012. Heymsfield is coming off of the best track season of her career where she finished her season 7th in the country at the 3k Steeple. She is a well-rounded athlete that will be a nice front-runner for the Hogs.

The only real consistent runner (in terms of placement on the team) in 2012 was Heymsfield. The rest of the season saw nine or so girls interchangeably within their top seven and running at different spots in their pack.

Diane Robison had moment of greatness in 2012 when she finished 10th at the Regional and 11th at SECs. She struggled at the NCAA meet and she will be looking for redemption in 2013. Her track PRs for 5k and 10k are the best on the team, and if anyone is going to be challenging Heymsfield for the no. 1 spot, Robison is.

Finishing right ahead of Robison at SECs in 2012 in 10th place was then-freshman Andrina Schlapfer. A 98th place finish at NCAAs put her as the no. 2 runner on the team and will be battling Robison and Heymsfield up-front throughout the season. Without having had a track season, Schlapfer should be coming into camp and the season fit and with a solid base beneath her.

Paige Johnston, Jessica Kamilos, Shannon Klenke, Keri Wood and Kaitlinn Flattmann are all quality runners, with good if not great track PRs, that like was mentioned above, would be in the top five on the majority of teams in the NCAA. These athletes will be spending their entire season solidifying their spot in their top seven as this team is so deep that there is a legitimate chance that someone else could take their place at any race at any time.

In all truthfulness, Harter would be better off redshirting a few of these girls to keep them around a little longer because of how deep this team is.

The wildcard on this Razorback team is middle-distance star Stephanie Brown. A sixth place finish at NCAA Outdoors in the 1500m will have her amped for her final xc season of her career. Being a mid-distance runner sometimes lends to a lack of faith in their cross country abilities, but if Brown can overcome that, she is another capable and very quality athlete that could be a force up front. Her fiery competitiveness and speed are top-notch and if she can find a way to go from 1.5k to 6k (definitely doable) she will provide one more high-quality scorer for the Hogs.

If what has been mentioned was not enough to convince how good this team is, their recruiting class will do the job. Sandie Raines was one of the nation's premier cross country runners in 2012 with high finishes at both high school championship races, NXN and FL Finals. Her 10:13 3200m PR is outstanding and she is someone that should be taken seriously as a possible scorer for Arkansas.

This #16 ranking could be way off. We're talking Arkansas is so deep and so talented that them not being in the top-10 could be a joke by the end of the Wisconsin Invitational if they run like they are capable of there. Coach Harter has been around a long time, but you can bet he's rarely had a team returning with this kind of depth of quality athletes. Razorback fans should be extremely excited for this upcoming season because these Hogs are for real and ready to improve upon their NCAA finish of 2012.