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#1 Michigan State Spartans



In the buildup to the NCAA cross country season, the fight for a national title was hyped as the battle of Michigan. The Spartans and the Wolverines were 1-2 in the pre-season rankings, as both Michigan and Michigan State returned all of their key pieces from fourth and sixth place teams, respectively. 

Unfortunately, Michigan could not fend off the injury bug, and have likewise plummeted out of the rankings. By the time regionals rolled around last Friday, the girls from Ann Arbor were without four of their top five. While the Wolverines were left wondering what they did to deserve all this, the Spartans continued to roll through their dream season. At regionals last Friday, O’Connor and Schulist made it clear that they run best when keying off each other, as they both crossed the line simultaneously in 19:45 to finish 1-2. Given that their entire top five finished in the top 15 of a region that put six teams through to nationals, it doesn’t look like there is much hope for anyone not wearing green. With the battle of Michigan won, the Spartans will conquer Terre Haute.

 

Projected Top Seven: 

1. Rachele Schulist

2. Leah O’Connor

3. Lindsay Clark

4. Julia Otwell

5. Sara Kroll

6. Alexis Wiersma

7. Katie Landwehr

#2 Georgetown Hoyas

The Hoyas may be the only team with a shot of beating Michigan State for the team title. Here’s why: 

They lost to Michigan by 22 points in September, but tightened up their pack, added a few key players, and won Pre-Nats by 29 points. After taking the wins at the Big East Championship and Mid-Atlantic Region, Katrina Coogan has her eyes on Terre Haute, where she was the fifth-scorer for the Hoyas when they took the 2011 team title. Now she’s their obvious number one, and the Hoyas 2014 strategy has been paying off. In their Pre-Nats win, top five girl Samantha Nadel (47th in 2013) did not compete. At regionals, they rested Kelsey Smith and 800m All American Andrea Keklak, two runners important to their Pre-Nats victory. Their overwhelming dominance at the Big East Championships was the only race where they featured their full squad, and when assembled in Terre Haute, the results look similar to 2011 (upsetting favorite Washington by 8 points).

Projected Top Seven:

1. Katrina Coogan

2. Haley Pierce

3. Samantha Nadel

4. Kelsey Smith

5. Madeline Chambers

6. Andrea Keklak

7. Annamarie Maag

 

#3 Iowa State Cyclones



We started to really take notice of the Cyclone force at the Roy Griak Invitational in September when the 1-2 punch of Crystal Nelson and Katy Moen made their debut together to finish third and fourth overall and lead Iowa State to a runner-up finish behind No. 1 Michigan State. The Cyclones continued the streak in Wisconsin, where they took home a third-place team finish led by a huge individual title from Crystal Nelson who covered the course in 19:35, taking down high-ranked individuals Rachele Schulist and Shelby Houlihan in the process. The Cyclones’ team performance was rounded out with a total score of 212, behind meet winners Michigan State and runner-up Arkansas, but knocking out 19 ranked teams overall. Iowa State continued the dominating season with a Big 12 conference title in an astounding 29-point spread, the program’s fourth consecutive conference victory. Most recently, the Cyclones clinched a sixth-straight NCAA bid with a fifth-consecutive D1 Midwest title led again by the 1-2 punch of Katy Moen (4) and Crystal Nelson (5). 

Projected Top Seven:

1. Crystal Nelson

2. Katy Moen

3. Margaret Connelly

4. Erin Hooker

5. Perez Rotich

6. Heidi Engelhardt

7. Colleen Riley

 

#4 Arkansas Razorbacks



The Razorbacks have been posting impressive team and individual performances all season long, beginning with a ridiculously fast showing at Chilli Pepper that saw six women run under 16:40 over 5k to easily take the team title. Led by another strong 1-2 punch between Dominique Scott and Grace Heymsfield, the Razorbacks returned to post a runner-up finish at Wisconsin, just behind No. 1 Michigan State. Scott claimed eighth overall while Heymsfield finished just behind her for 10th. The pack fell off slightly in the 3-5 spread in Madison, but recently regrouped to claim a decisive team title at the SEC conference championships, posting just 32 points that was again led by an individual win and runner-up finish from Scott and Heymsfield. Most recently, the Hogs claimed an easy team win and automatic berth to the NCAA championships with a victory at D1 South Central. It was the fourth-consecutive regional crown and one that saw all five scorers finish inside the top 11 with a total of just 29 points, 53 less than runner-up Baylor. 

Projected Top Seven:

1. Dominique Scott

2. Grace Heymsfield

3. Jessica Kamilos

4. Diane Robison

5. Shannon Klenke

6. Samantha Mohler

7. Regan Ward