Follow our 2017 FloXC Countdown, where FloTrack ranks the top ten cross country teams and individuals in the NCAA this season which will be LIVE on FloTrack. The No. 2 women's spot goes to Washington U., and here's why:

Probable Top Four:

SR Alison Lindsay (10:28 3K SC; 2nd at '17 NCAA 3K SC; 14th at '16 NCAA XC)
SR Aly Wayne (8th at '16 NCAA XC; 47th at '15 NCAA XC)
JR Ellie Degen (17:18 5K; 85th at '16 NCAA XC; 79th at '15 NCAA XC)
SR Anna Maurer (86th at '16 NCAA XC; 126th at '15 NCAA XC)

Fifth Woman Battle:

SO Elizabeth Hagstrom (4:43 1500; 167th at '16 NCAA XC)
SR Audrey Western (4:38 1500)
JR Abby Martin (10:46 3K SC)
JR Natalie Rogus (17:55 5K)
FR Lara Rix (4:35 1500; 9:56 3K; 17th at '16 NXN NW)

Impact Freshmen/Transfers:

Annemarie Michael via Urbana, IL (5:10 1600; 5th at '16 IL State XC)
Lara Rix via Portland, OR (4:35 1500; 9:56 3K; 17th at '16 NXN NW)

Analysis:

This is one of the two teams in DIII with the most credible shot at the 2017 national title, but head coach Jeff Stiles has earned the right to talk about that the way he does: "What [the women] talk about behind closed doors is fine. . . . I don't even know what the date is -- November 18, November 19, whatever." He will admit that "winning two national titles last year in track, it has filtered into the seniors," but he will go no further, saying that "the next three months, we go to practice, the next three months are going to be good because of every day, not because of an end result."

Well, here in the crooked media, we get paid to guess about end results, and my best guess is that this team will finish first or second at Principia in two months. The Bears bring back two single-digit scorers from last year, as Aly Wayne and Alison Lindsay finished eighth and 14th, combining for 14 points en route to a second-place team finish.

Lindsay is healthy and a national title contender after finishing second in the steeple at outdoor nationals. But Wayne is more of a question mark. She has only finished four races since cross country nationals and missed April, May, June, July, and August, according to Stiles.

This roster is so loaded that it can afford some imperfections up top, though. Anna Maurer and Ellie Degen are both in the top 50 returners, and Degen in particular is capable of doing even better -- in two years of track, she's only finished five races according to TFRRS, but one of them is a 17:18 5K.

Maurer and Degen will have to fight for top-five spots. Abby Martin has had minimal cross country experience: she played field hockey in high school, missed her freshman season of college after high school surgery, and had mono her sophomore fall. But her 10:46 steeple says that there's a chance she could be an elite cross country runner.

There's much more data on freshman Lara Rix, whose 4:35/9:56 high school bests would've put her at the fringe of DIII national qualifying last year. She has XC chops too: Rix was third in the largest class at the Oregon state meet and 17th at the NXN NW regional meet.

All told, if everything breaks right, WashU is nearly as good as Johns Hopkins and can contend for a national title. I believe Stiles when he says that "it's an incredible group, not just as runners, but as people. They put me to shame. I'm striving to be more like them in life."

FULL WOMEN'S RANKINGS HERE