Big weekend meets help to cement rankings

By Adam Schneider of Dyestat

Even without two of its potential top-five runners, Oregon dominated the NCAA Division 1 Pre-Nationals in Louisville, Ky. Sophomores Katie Rainsberger (fourth) and Lilli Burdon (seventh) led No. 1 Oregon (63) to a convincing victory over No. 3 Colorado (91), led by junior Dani Jones (third). The Ducks put their fourth runner in front of Colorado’s second. Oregon had a 44-second gap from 1 to 5, compared to Colorado’s 58 seconds.

Eighth-ranked Arkansas was third (148) and 10th-ranked Utah State was fourth (214), ahead of fifth-ranked Michigan (235) and 18th-ranked Georgia (236). Senior Elinor Purrier of New Hampshire (19:28.5) won the race, just ahead of defending NCAA champion and fellow senior Karissa Schweizer of Missouri (19:29.7).

Sophomore Ednah Kurgat (19:23.2) was impressive in leading No. 2 New Mexico to a victory at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. The Lobos put their first four runners in the top 15 spots and their fifth was 60th, 46 seconds behind the team's fourth. Fourth-ranked San Francisco was led by NCAA 10,000-meter champion senior Charlotte Taylor (19:40.2), who was third. Junior Weronika Pyzik was second for the Dons, finishing fifth (19:46.2). San Francisco’s first three were within 23 seconds, but the fourth, fifth and sixth runners were well back.

Big meets in the next two weekends:

Oct. 20 Providence at CCSU Mini Meet at New Britain, Connecticut

Oct. 20 Michigan, Michigan State and Eastern Michigan at Eastern Michigan Fall Classic at Dexter, Michigan

Oct. 20 Minnesota at Jack’s Twilight Run at Minneapolis, Minnesota

Oct. 27 Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, and Yale at Ivy Heps at Van Cortlandt Park, New York

Oct. 27 Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Missouri and Kentucky at SEC Championships at Athens, Georgia

Oct. 27 North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State, Notre Dame  at ACC Championships at Louisville, Kentucky

Oct. 27 Abilene Christian at Southland Conference Championships at Abilene, Texas

Oct. 27 New Mexico, Utah State, Boise State, Colorado State and Air Force at Mountain West  Conference Championships at Albuquerque, New Mexico

Oct. 27 Oregon, Colorado, Stanford, Washington, Utah, Cal, and UCLA at Pac-12 Championships, Springfield Golf Club, Oregon

Oct. 27 San Francisco, BYU and Portland at West Coast Conference Championships at Oakland, California

Oct. 28 Eastern Kentucky at Ohio Valley Conference Championships at Charleston, Illinois

Oct. 28 UTEP at Conference-USA Championships at Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Oct. 28 Eastern Michigan at MAC Championships at Oxford, Ohio

Oct. 28 Providence, Villanova, and Georgetown at Big East Championships at Kenosha, Wisconsin

Oct. 28 Furman at Southern Conference Championships at Spartanburg, South Carolina

Oct. 28 Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Baylor at Big 12 Championships at Round Rock, Texas

Oct. 29 Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan State, Penn State and Indiana Big 10 Championships at Bloomington, Indiana

Top 20 (last week)

1. Oregon (1)

2. New Mexico (4)

3. Colorado (2)

4. San Francisco (6)

5. Stanford (3)

6. Michigan (5)

7. NC State (7)

8. Arkansas (8)

9. Boise State (10)

10. Utah State (9)

11. Providence (11)

12. Wisconsin (12)

13. Washington (14)

14. Furman (16)

15. BYU (13)

16. Iowa State (15)

17. Minnesota (17)

18. Georgia (NR)

19. Michigan State (20)

20. Eastern Kentucky (NR)

Watch list: Portland, Villanova, Penn State, Georgetown, Utah, Eastern Michigan, Abilene Christian, Air Force, Mississippi, Indiana, Columbia, Cal-Berkeley, Northern Arizona