Weekend Preview: September 17-19, 2021

It’s the third week of September.

That means the cross country season is about to hit another gear.

From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results | Scoreboard

We’ve already seen a few meets with multiple ranked programs – We’re looking at you, Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational – but many more are right around the corner.

Here are a few meets we’re keeping our eye on this weekend.

Cowboy Jamboree

Date: Saturday, September 18 | Location: Stillwater, Oklahoma
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Elite competition and the OSU Cross Country Course.

Name a better duo … We’ll wait.

Oklahoma State hosts the Cowboy Jamboree, which features seven combined top-25 programs from the most recent NCAA Division I Cross Country National Coaches’ Polls, including three top-10 men’s squads: No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 6 Oklahoma State and No. 8 Tulsa are those top-10 men’s teams with No. 12 Colorado in attendance, as well; No. 8 Colorado and No. 23 Oklahoma State are the top women’s teams.

The last time this many nationally-ranked programs competed in Stillwater, Oklahoma, was nearly six months ago to the day when NAU’s men and BYU’s women romped to national titles at the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships on March 15. The Lumberjacks put four runners in the top-10, as they won by 27 points. The Cougars, who are competing at the Florida State Open this weekend, had four All-Americans and cruised to a 65-point victory.

Fans could see as many as eight All-Americans from this past March battle in the men’s race with Nico Young of NAU (4th), Abdihamid Nur of NAU (7th), Isai Rodriguez of Oklahoma State (8th), Peter Lynch of Tulsa (12th), Alex Maier of Oklahoma State (17th), Isaac Akers of Tulsa (19th), Ryan Smeeton of Oklahoma State (26th) and Victor Shitsama of Oklahoma State (34th) all listed on their team’s respective rosters. The women’s race could see two top-20 finishers from this past March – Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State (2nd) and Abby Nichols of Colorado (18th).

Florida State Open

Date: Friday, September 17 | Location: Tallahassee, Florida
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET

Athletes will get their first look at the Apalachee Regional Park course that will host the 2021 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 20.

Fans will see some excellent cross-division competition in Tallahassee, Florida, too!

An early-season top-5 matchup headlines the women’s race with co-No. 1 BYU squaring off against No. 3 Stanford. This will be the first time those teams faced each other since this past March when the Cougars won the national title and the Cardinal finished third. Behind BYU and Stanford lurks No. 19 Florida State and RV Furman from NCAA Division I with No. 6 Lee (Tenn.) holding it down for NCAA Division II.

Five All-Americans from this past March will potentially run in the women’s race: Aubrey Frentheway of BYU (15th), Whittni Orton of BYU (17th), Maudie Skyring of Florida State (23rd), Sara Musselman of BYU (33rd) and Rebecca Clark of Florida State (40th). Don’t forget about Celine Ritter of Lee (Tenn.), who is a favorite to win the individual title in NCAA DII.

A pair of fifth-ranked teams lead the way in the men’s race with NCAA DI Stanford and NCAA DII Lee (Tenn.) toeing the start line. Behind the Cardinal sit No. 20 Furman, No. 25 Southern Utah and RV Florida State from NCAA DI. The Flames will be joined by fellow NCAA DII top-10 program Alabama-Huntsville, which is No. 10.

Four All-Americans from this past March will potentially compete in the men’s race: national runner-up Adriaan Wildschutt of Florida State, Charles Hicks of Stanford (14th), Cole Sprout of Stanford (15th) and Christian Ricketts of Southern Utah (31st). Don’t forget about Christian Noble of Lee (Tenn.), who is a favorite to win the individual title in NCAA DII.

Missouri Southern Stampede

Date: Saturday, September 18 | Location: Joplin, Missouri
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET

The 31st annual Missouri Southern Stampede gets underway on Saturday in Joplin, Missouri.

There will be eight nationally-ranked NCAA Division II programs vying for team titles this weekend with an even split between races: No. 6 Missouri Southern, No. 17 West Texas A&M, No. 26 Nebraska-Kearney and No. 28 Mississippi College on the men’s side; No. 12 Southwest Baptist, No. 22 Dallas Baptist, No. 29 Mississippi College and No. 30 Nebraska-Kearney on the women’s side.

Expect a great battle for the individual title in the women’s race between reigning National Athlete of the Week Elysia Burgos of Southwest Baptist and Florence Uwajeneza of West Texas A&M. Burgos earned the award based off her win at the Southwest Baptist Invitational, while Uwajeneza won the Texas Tech Open this past weekend and remains undefeated in cross country at the NCAA Division II level after transferring from Iowa Central CC last summer.

St. Olaf Invitational

Date: Saturday, September 18 | Location: Northfield, Minnesota
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This will be the 50th running of the St. Olaf Invitational.

The golden anniversary of the usually-stout NCAA Division III meet features four nationally-ranked women’s teams (No. 12 UW-La Crosse, No. 19 UW-Eau Claire, No. 20 Carleton and No. 30 St. Olaf), while the men’s race will have three nationally-ranked squads (No. 7 UW-La Crosse, No. 19 UW-Eau Claire and No. 22 St. Olaf).

Both the men’s and women’s meet record were set back in 2014: Grant Wintheiser of St. Olaf established the men’s mark at 24:52.6; Samantha Rivard of Minnesota Duluth posted the quickest time for the women at 21:35.

The course records have been around for much longer: Tyler Sigl of UW-Platteville posted the men’s best of 24:24 back in 2007; Missy Buttry of Wartburg remains atop the women’s chart with her 20:17.3, set nearly 19 years ago at the NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships.

Ray Bullock Invitational

Date: Friday, September 17 | Location: Upland, Indiana
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You’ll see NAIA top-10 matchups galore at the Ray Bullock Invitational!

Nine of the nation’s best programs will descend on the Taylor University Farm for the twilight meet: No. 1 Taylor (Ind.), No. 2 Huntington (Ind.) (JV squad), No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan and No. 9 Cornerstone (Mich.) on the men’s side; No. 1 St. Francis (Ill.), No. 2 Taylor (Ind.) and No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan and No. 10 Huntington (Ind.) on the women’s side, in addition to No. 14 Cornerstone (Mich.). Both of the reigning NAIA National Athletes of the Week should be competing, as well: Daniel Gerber of Taylor (Ind.) and Shelby Christman of Huntington (Ind.).

These programs are very familiar with each other, so expect some great racing.

Greeno/Dirksen Invitational

Date: Saturday, September 18 | Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS FROM THE MEET

Cross-divisional competition is on the menu at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational.

Thirteen teams who were ranked – or received votes – in recent National Coaches’ Polls will be in action: NCAA DI RV Air Force, NCAA DII No. 18 Northwest Missouri, NAIA No. 4 Saint Mary (Kan.), NAIA No. 21 Benedictine (Kan.), NJCAA DI No. 2 Iowa Central CC, NJCAA DI No. 3 Cloud County (Kan.) CC, NJCAA DI No. 14 Southwestern (Iowa) CC, NJCAA DI No. 16 Pratt (Kan.) CC and NJCAA DI No. 21 Highland (Kan.) CC on the men’s side; NAIA No. 8 Saint Mary (Kan.), NAIA RV Benedictine (Kan.), NJCAA DI No. 4 Cloud County (Kan.) CC and No. 13 Highland (Kan.) CC on the women’s side. Don’t forget about both of Colby (Kan.) CC’s programs or both of Iowa Western CC’s programs and Iowa Central CC’s women, who aren’t ranked but will be ready to debut loaded rosters.