NJCAA DIII National Championship Preview

NEW ORLEANS – All eyes in the world of NJCAA Division III Cross Country will be focused on Stanley Park in Westfield, Massachusetts come Saturday when the national championship races are contested.

Out of the 2014 team champions, only the Harper College men are ranked (1st) and both individual champions (Harper College’s Juan Barajas and Herkimer County Community College’s Victoria Campanian) are gone. This should add up to another exciting competition for national glory.

Let’s start with the men’s race, where Harper College will get a tough battle from several other contenders – No. 2 Howard (Md.) Community College, No. 3 Mohawk Valley Community College and No. 4 Joliet Junior College to name a few. Many thought that would be the case last year, but Harper College scored 28 points to win its fourth consecutive title.

When it comes to the race for the individual crown, there are several former National Athlete of the Week honorees in the mix. Mohawk Valley’s Zakaria Djouma is a clear favorite, but Suffolk Community College’s Christopher Swenson, Rowan-Gloucester Community College’s Martin Maldonado and Potomac State College’s Jared Hallow should all contend.

With the women’s defending team champion Mohawk Valley not ranked, it opens the door for a new victor. Those possible winners could be No. 1 Suffolk Community College, No. 2 Harper College, No. 3 Fashion Institute of Technology or No. 4 Joliet Junior College.

The individual race will be tightly contested between the following athletes: Harper College’s Ali Gutt, Northampton Community College’s Meseret Hall, Rowan-Gloucester’s Sarah Meighan, Suffolk County Community College’s Ryleigh Donegan and FIT’s Shannen Gallardo, among others.

It all gets underway Saturday morning at 10 a.m. EDT for the men’s race and then an hour later (11 a.m.) with the women’s race.