Five teams have a shot at NCAA women's title

By Adam Schneider of Dyestat 

The Mountain and West regions featured battles among contenders for the NCAA Division 1 team and individual titles. The most impressive win was third-ranked San Francisco taking the West title. 

San Francisco senior Charlotte Taylor (19:14.2), the reigning NCAA 10,000-meter champion, and 2015 NCAA cross country runner-up Allie Ostrander (19:16.5) of Boise State dominated on the Seattle course and both established themselves as individual contenders. Dons’ teammates, junior Weronika Pyzik (fourth in 19:29.1) and sophomore Isabelle Brauer (sixth in 19:35.6) make for a solid top three. They led third-ranked San Francisco (59) to a West region title over fourth-ranked Stanford (76) and fifth-ranked Oregon (92), although the Dons’ spread among their Nos. 3-5 runners was 51 seconds.  

Sophomore Fiona O’Keeffe was sixth (19:31.7) to lead Stanford. The gap was 41 seconds among Stanford’s top five runners. Oregon was led by sophomore Katie Rainsberger (19:30.9 in fifth) and the Ducks had a 50-second spread among their scoring runners. Oregon had a similar performance at last year’s West Region (fourth) and then won the NCAA meet the following week. All-American Amy-Eloise Neale (19:25.3) of Washington placed third in the regional. 

Neither top-ranked Colorado or second-ranked New Mexico ran all out at the Mountain Region. Colorado won 62-70 after capturing the Pac-12 Championships over Oregon and Stanford. Junior Makena Morley was the leading Buffaloes in seventh, as Pac-12 champion Dani Jones (12th) ran in a pack with her teammates and the Colorado had a 12-second spread for its top five. 

New Mexico’s Ednah Kurgat took the Mountain Region title and she is one of the NCAA individual favorites. Teammates Weini Kelati (third in 20:05.5) and junior Charlotte Prouse (fifth in 20:15.3) are three of a very strong group of four, but senior Alice Wright sat out this race. The gap for the Lobos’ expected No. 4 (Prouse) to No. 5 Alex Buck was 42 seconds. 

Third was 10th-ranked BYU  (113) and fourth was 12th-ranked Utah State (125). Utah’s Grayson Murphy (her team was barely edged out of an at-large berth to the NCAA meet) finished second (20:04.0) to lead her team to fifth place (149). 

Colorado’s exceptional depth make the Buffaloes a slight favorite. Last year, they were also the favorite but had an unfortunate off day by one runner, which opened the door for Oregon and Michigan. New Mexico must have a better performance by its No. 5 runner for the Lobos to win. San Francisco must have improved performances by its Nos. 4 and 5 runners to win the title. Stanford and Oregon could win with season-best performances, since they both have the talent to win the title. North Carolina State and Arkansas could trophy. 

New Mexico’s Kurgat, Kelati, and Wright, San Francisco’s Taylor and Pyzik, defending champion Karissa Schweizer of Missouri, Boise State’s Ostrander, Oregon’s Rainsberger and Lilli Burdon, Colorado’s Jones, Washington’s Neale, Utah’s Murphy, New Hampshire’s Elinor Purrier, Kansas’ Sharon Lokedi, Charlotte Imer of Eastern Kentucky, Caroline Sang of Charlotte, Alyssa Snyder of Utah State, and Katherine Receveur of Indiana should contest for the top 10 individuals. Kurgat, Purrier, Taylor, Rainsberger, and Schweizer have been the most impressive this year. 

Top 20 (last week’s ranking) - NCAA D1 Regional Meet Performance on November 10th 

1. Colorado (2) - 1st Mountain Championships 

2. New Mexico (3) - 2nd Mountain Championships 

3. San Francisco (4) - 1st West Championships 

4. Oregon (1) - 3rd West Championships 

5. Stanford (5) - 2nd West Championships 

6. North Carolina State (6) - 1st Southeast Championships 

7. Arkansas (8) - 1st South Central Championships 

8. Michigan (7) - 1st Great Lakes Championships 

9. Boise State (9) - 4th West Championships 

10. BYU (11) - 3rd Mountain Championships 

11. Penn State (19) - 1st Mid-Atlantic Championships 

12. Utah State (10) - 4th Mountain Championships 

13. Providence (12) - 1st Northeast Championships 

14. Furman (15) - 2nd Southeast Championships 

15. Villanova (14) - 2nd Mid-Atlantic Championships 

16. Iowa State (17) - 1st Midwest Championships 

17. Oklahoma State (NR) - 2nd Midwest Championships 

18. Minnesota (13) - 3rd Midwest Championships 

19. Michigan State (20) - 2nd Great Lakes Championships 

20. Georgia (NR) - 2nd South Championships 

Other Team Entries: Mississippi, Wisconsin, Cal, Washington, Eastern Michigan, Eastern Kentucky, Texas, Syracuse, Indiana, Columbia, Dartmouth