BYU, Northern Arizona now established favorites

By Adam Schneider of Dyestat

Impressive performances at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational (Northern Arizona) and NCAA D1 Pre-Nationals (BYU) set the favorites Nov. 18 for the NCAA championships. Top-ranked BYU, second-ranked Northern Arizona and third-ranked Arkansas have separated themselves from the competition.

At the NCAA D1 Pre-Nationals Invitational held on the E.P. Tom Sawyer course in Louisville, Ky., BYU continued its dominance. The Cougars scored 41 points to 118 for fifth-ranked Colorado, 129 for seventh-ranked Oregon, and 148 for eighth-ranked Virginia Tech. Junior Rory Linkletter (23:08.4) beat a deep field and led a tight group of Cougars with 1-5 split of 16.9 seconds. National championship contenders junior Peter Seufer (23:10.4)  of the Hokies, freshman Amon Kemboi of Campbell (23:11.1), junior Azaria Kirwa (23:11.4) of Liberty, and senior Dillon Maggard (23:12.1) of Utah State followed Linkletter across the finish line.

Colorado ran without All-American junior John Dressel and had a 1-5 spread of 32 seconds.  Oregon ran as a pack and put its top five between 17th and 32nd (18.8-second gap).

In Wisconsin, Northern Arizona dominated with 50 points to 123 for sixth-ranked Portland, 151 for fourth-ranked Syracuse and 155 for ninth-ranked Stanford. The Orangemen and Cardinal did not run everyone anticipated to be in the their top fives. Syracuse senior Justyn Knight (23:38.9) and Stanford junior Grant Fisher (23:39.1) took the top two spots ahead of a trio from Northern Arizona (senior Andy Trouard, junior Tyler Day and senior Matthew Baxter). The Lumberjacks’ 1-5 split was 23.9 seconds.

Big meets the next two weekends:

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, and Kentucky at SEC Championships at Athens, Georgia

Oct. 27 Virginia Tech, Virginia, and Florida State at ACC Championships at Louisville, Kentucky

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

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

Oct. 27 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. Brigham Young (3)

2. Northern Arizona (2)

3. Arkansas (1)

4. Syracuse (4)

5. Colorado (5)

6. Portland (14)

7. Oregon (11)

8. Virginia Tech (NR)

9. Stanford (6)

10. Furman (10)

11. Iona (7)

12. Mississippi (15)

13. Southern Utah (13)

14. Colorado State (16)

15. Oklahoma State (12)

16. Wisconsin (8)

17. Campbell (NR)

18. Iowa State (9)

19. Eastern Kentucky (18)

20. UCLA (NR)

Watch list: Michigan, Michigan State, Virginia, Boise State, Air Force, Minnesota, Washington, Washington State, UTEP. Penn State, Middle Tennessee State, Alabama, Princeton, Utah State, Texas, Georgetown, Illinois