WEEKEND PREVIEW: Pre-National Invitational

NEW ORLEANS – If you thought that this weekend’s NCAA DI Cross Country excitement ended with Friday’s Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, think again.

Though the fields aren’t as large as those in Madison the day before, Saturday’s adidas Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, will still have significant impacts on the national landscape as the regular season draws to a close this weekend.

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Nine nationally-ranked women’s teams and five top-15 men’s teams will battle on the same LaVern Gibson Championship Course that will host the NCAA Cross Country Championships in one month’s time on November 19.

The women’s six-kilometer “Blue” race goes off at 11am ET, followed by the men’s eight-kilometer “Blue” race at 11:35am ET. The “Blue” races are the top-seeded races of the day, with “White” and open division races following afterward.

Fans can stream the meet with a FloTrack PRO subscription, and can follow the meet live on the USTFCCCA National Results Wall. The Wall will also be active Friday covering the action at Penn State and Wisconsin.

MEN’S RACE

A record five teams are currently receiving first-place votes in the latest USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll, with two of them – No. 4 Oregon and No. 6 Colorado – in action in Terre Haute on Saturday. Sandwiched between the two but devoid of first-place support is No. 5 Arkansas, which is also running at Pre-Nats.

The Ducks are the better-known quantity at this point in the season, having run a mostly full “A” squad – led by three-time national champ Edward Cheserek – in a victory at the Washington Invitational on October 1. Cheserek will likely be joined by the likes of Jake Leingang, Blake Haney, Sam Prakel, Tanner Anderson and Matthew Maton, and the Ducks could also debut highly touted frosh Austin Tomagno.

Colorado, meanwhile, hasn’t yet suited up it’s “A” squad against national-level competition (though this isn’t out of the norm for Mark Wetmore-coached teams from the past). Having graduated three of its five scorers from last year’s national runner-up squad, this is something of a transition year for the Buffaloes. CU still returns a pair of All-Americans in Ben Saarel (twice a top-10 finisher) and John Dressel, who lead a much younger squad with less NCAA Championships experience than in recent years.

Looking to potentially steal one or both of those first-place nods is Arkansas. The Razorbacks will get their first true test of the season, and are slated to add potential No. 1 runner Andrew Ronoh to the mix. Alex George has already notched a pair of wins this season, and the Hogs return a pair of All-Americans from last year in Jack Bruce and Frankline Tonui.

No. 12 UTEP, led by All-American Jonah Koech, will look to follow up on its runner-up showing at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational two weekends ago. The Miners led through nearly two-thirds of that race, but were outgunned by eventual winner Ole Miss in the late stages of the race. This will be another test in late-race fortitude.

Largely untested this year, No. 13 Indiana will get to make its first statement of the year as the top-ranked tea m in the Great Lakes Region.

The Individual Race

It’s doubtful that Cheserek allows anyone to pull the same trick as Virginia Tech’s Thomas Curtis at this meet a year ago – build a huge lead early and hang on for dear life for the win. Especially considering distance coach Andy Powell recently said that the King is in his best shape ever for this point in the season.

The race will most likely come down to a late-race kick initiated by Cheserek, with a pack of top-flight runners in hot pursuit. Expect the biggest challenges to come from the aforementioned guys from Arkansas, Colorado and UTEP, as well as a few other notable individuals.

Returning to this race as All-Americans from a year ago are Kyle Eller of Air Force and Edwin Kibichiy of Louisville. Another duo to watch is Campbell’s Lawrence Kipkoech and Amon Terer, who were second and third at the Virginia Panorama Farms Invitational last month.

WOMEN’S RACE

Nearly a third of the women’s teams in the most recent USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll will be in action in Terre Haute this Saturday, headlined by No. 2 Colorado – the recipient of two first-place votes.

The Buffaloes will test and be tested by a No. 5 Portland team that made a splash last month as the surprise runaway victors at Griak, as well as a host of perennial contenders in No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 Oregon, No. 12 Arkansas and No. 13 Michigan. All of those programs (except for Portland) have finished top-five nationally at least once in the past four seasons.

Colorado, last year’s national runner-up, will once again be led by the All-American duo of Erin Clark and Kaitlyn Benner. The Buffaloes return all but one scorer from last year’s team, but – like their male teammates – have only run a time trial at the Rocky Mountain Shootout so far this season.

Led by third-place finisher Lauren LaRocco, Portland went from the ninth-highest-ranked team entering the Roy Griak Invitational to the meet champion. The stage will be set very differently for the Pilots in Terre Haute this weekend, entering with much higher expectations placed upon them.

Portland also has an opportunity to pick up big head-to-head wins against regional rivals in No. 7 Stanford and No. 9 Oregon – wins that would go a long way in helping the Pilots navigate their way out of an always-difficult West Region.

Oregon fell to No. 4 Washington earlier this month on Washington’s turf, despite the addition of frosh phenom Katie Rainsberger to the lineup. This weekend could be a big bounceback with top runner Alli Cash potentially making her season debut.

Stanford has yet to be tested this season, though top runners Elise Cranny and Vanessa Fraser have run well in limited appearances. They will be joined by a pair of newcomers making their collegiate debuts in Christina Aragon and Ella Donaghu.
No. 13 Arkansas will get its first test of the season, while No. 13 Michigan, led by Erin Finn (more on her in a moment) will look to bounce back from a fifth-place finish in the same Roy Griak Invitational race that propelled Portland into the top-five.

Looking to make its second-ever appearance at the NCAA Championships and its first since 1996, No. 16 Eastern Michigan will also look to follow up a strong third-place showing at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational two weekends ago.

The Individual Race

A combined 10 women who have earned All-America honors in cross country will line up on Saturday, including a pair of two-time All-Americans in Colorado’s Erin Clark and Michigan’s Erin Finn.

Of the two, Clark finished higher at NCAAs a year ago, taking 11th to Finn’s 19th (though Finn did run a significant portion of the race without shoes, for what that’s worth). Clark has not yet been tested this season, while Finn has already run the gamut with two impressive wins (including one on this very course to open her season) and a hard-fought head-to-head loss to Boise State’s Brenna Peloquin at Griak.

Neither woman can claim the honor of being the highest-finishing athlete from the 2015 NCAA Championships in the field, however. That honor goes to Sharon Lokedi, who took 10th. The Jayhawk ace has been slow out of the gate so far in 2016, though, finishing fourth at the Kansas Rim Rock Classic.

Clark’s teammate Kaitlyn Benner was 16th at NCAAs a year ago. Also featuring in this race as All-Americans from a year ago are Natalie Schodrowitz of Brown, Alli Cash of Oregon and Vanessa Fraser of Stanford.

Two years ago, Elise Cranny of Stanford finished 11th as a frosh. She missed last year’s XC campaign with injury, but came back strong in the spring with the narrowest of runner-up finishes in the NCAA outdoor mile.

That same 2014 race saw Rhianwedd Price of Mississippi State, Bethan Knights of Cal and Samantha Nadel of Georgetown (now of Oregon) earn All-America honors. All are entered here this weekend.

Former National Athlete of the Week Elinor Purrier of New Hampshire will also figure to be a big player in this race, though she has never earned All-America honors – or even qualified to the NCAA XC Championships.

Among those entrants into this race who could break into All-America territory this year are the likes of Lauren LaRocco of Portland, Peyton Bilo of Cal Poly, Devin Clark of Arkansas, Annie Bothma of Coastal Carolina, Karissa Schweizer of Missouri, Katie Rainsberger of Oregon, and Jordann McDermitt of Eastern Michigan.