NCAA DI XC Championships: Women’s Individual Race Breakdown

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — After Boise State decided to redshirt Allie Ostrander this cross country season, the race for the individual title was wide open.

Then pundits settled on Brenna Peloquin, Ostrander’s teammate, to be the heir apparent.

And in the weeks leading up to the 2016 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, the focus shifted to Michigan’s Erin Finn.

Now that the big day is almost here, we have a clearer picture of what could happen in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Let’s make sense of the favorites, contenders and dark horses that will be competing on Saturday. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll list them alphabetically. Favorites are those with a lot of hype this late in the season. Contenders are those with multiple strong performances under their belts and dark horses are those flying under the radar.

Favorites

Erin Finn, Michigan — Name a runner who has been on more of a tear over the past few months. That’s right: You can’t. After a loss to Boise State’s Brenna Peloquin at the Roy Griak Invitational in mid-September, Finn has been untouchable. Finn set a course record at the Louisville Classic the next week and shortly after, ran one of the fastest times in the history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Pre-National Invitational. Once the postseason hit, she added a Big Ten title and a Great Lakes Region crown to her trophy case. There is very little standing between her and a fifth consecutive win, which would be the biggest of her career to date.

Alice Wright, New Mexico — This might come as a surprise, but Wright is the top returning finisher from NCAAs last year. Wright, now a junior, finished 5th in Louisville, Kentucky and was a key cog in the Lady Lobos’ historical performance. This year on the grass, Wright hasn’t finished worse than 2nd at any meet and is on a two-race win streak. Wright avenged an early season loss to Boise State’s Brenna Peloquin and two of the contenders she has yet to beat — or face — are Michigan’s Erin Finn and Notre Dame’s Anna Rohrer (five-second winner at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational). If either want to go from the line, Wright should be right there with them as she doesn’t mind running away from the pack as her past two wins came by an average of 13 seconds.

Contenders

Erin Clark, Colorado — If the top-ranked Buffaloes get out and run on Saturday, expect their lowest stick to come from their senior leader. Clark returns to the course where she finished runner-up to Michigan’s Erin Finn at the Pre-National Invitational. The two other times Clark ran for the win, she placed well. Clark became one of the few women to break 20 minutes in the Rocky Mountain Shootout and took 2nd at the Pac-12 Championships, a split second behind Washington’s Amy-Eloise Neale. Clark was 11th last year at NCAAs.

Amy-Eloise Neale, Washington — Something must have clicked in Neale’s mind between the end of the track season and the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. There is no other way to explain it. Neale transformed from a 10th-place 1500-meter runner at NCAA Outdoors to an XC national title contender in a matter of months. We took notice of Neale at Wisco when she placed 4th. Then she won individual titles at both the Pac-12 Championships and the West Region Championships. Both meets featured runners who expect to finish in the top-15 or better on Saturday.

Brenna Peloquin, Boise State — It wasn’t long ago that Peloquin was the Flavor of the Month. How could she not be after breakthrough wins at the Roy Griak Invitational (over Erin Finn) and the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational? Since then Peloquin — the 9th place finisher at NCAAs last year — hit a rough patch (at least by her lofty standards). Peloquin was 4th at the Mountain West Championships and 3rd at the West Region meet after leading both at one part of the race. If Peloquin finds her stride again, look out.

Anna Rohrer, Notre Dame — Thanks to Notre Dame’s schedule, Rohrer hasn’t taken a break from racing the best of the best week in and week out. Rohrer went from the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (Alice Wright) to the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational (Brenna Peloquin, Wright and a host of others) to the ACC Championships (which she dominated) to the Great Lakes Region Championships (runner-up to Erin Finn). That gauntlet could pay off in a big way for the Irish sophomore on Saturday.

Dark Horses

Elinor Purrier, New Hampshire — Purrier is in her own little part of the nation up there in New England. When she jumps in larger races, she opens some eyes. After a track season that saw her finish 3rd in both the indoor mile and outdoor steeplechase, Purrier won the Coast to Coast Battle in Beantown to open the XC season, finished 5th at Pre-Nats and won the America East and Northeast Region individual titles. In other words, she knows how to race.

Karissa Schweizer, Missouri — If you’re reading this, you probably know about Schweizer already. If not, allow this to be a crash course. Schweizer is 4-1 this season with victories at the Commodore Classic, Chile Pepper Festival, SEC Championships and the Midwest Region Championships. Her only loss came at the Pre-National Invitational, where she finished 4th. Schweizer also showed her chops on the track with a 3rd-place finish in the outdoor 5000.