Reigning NCAA Champ Graham Blanks Secures Return Trip To Nationals; Syracuse Men, Providence Women Win Northeast

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

Providence photo

RESULTS | Auto Qualifiers - Syracuse Men , Harvard Men; Providence women, Syracuse women

The Providence and Syracuse women and the Syracuse and Harvard men qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships Friday with top-two finishes at the Northeast Regional Friday morning at Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in  Contoocook, N.H.

No. 11 Providence dominated the women’s race, with the trio of Kimberley May, Alex Millard and Shannon Flockhart placing third, fourth, and fifth overall. The Friars scored 51 points, followed by No. 28 Syracuse with 105. No. 25 Boston College was third with 131 points, followed closely by Harvard and UConn with 144 and 151 points, respectively.

UConn junior Chloe Thomas, coming off an individual championship at the Big East Championships on Nov. 1, kept her hot streak going, taking first overall in 19:23 over the 6k distance. Thomas won the Spiked Shoe Invitational on Sept. 13 and the Paul Short Run on Oct. 5, and she took fifth at Pre-Nationals on Oct. 19. She should be considered an individual contender at the NCAA Championships next week in Madison, Wis.

Columbia senior Phoebe Anderson, who also won her conference meet two weeks ago, was second in 19:31. The other two individual qualifiers (the top four individuals from non-qualifying teams automatically qualify for nationals) were Jenna Zydanowicz from UConn and Vera Sjoberg from Boston University.

The men’s race was a battle between No. 17 Syracuse, No. 20 Harvard, Cornell and No. 29 Iona. At the 8k mark, the four teams were separated by just 23 points, but Syracuse put the hammer down over the last 2k, finishing with 72 points and four runners in the top 20. Harvard had 93 points, led by individual champion Graham Blanks, who finished in 29:34.

Blanks, an American Olympian in the 5,000 meters, employed his usual sit-and-kick strategy, gradually moving his way up to the front before throwing down a 5:29 for the last 2k. He finished almost 20 seconds ahead of Syracuse junior Sam Lawler, who took second in 29:52. 

Cornell and Iona were neck-and-neck in third and fourth, respectively. Cornell put up 102 points, led by senior Derek Amicon in fifth overall, while Iona had 105, led by the duo of Matt Rankin and Lachlan Wellington in third and fourth. 

The automatic individual qualifiers for the men were Rankin, Wellington, Amicon, and Army’s Nathan Davis.

The NCAA Cross Country Championships are Saturday, Nov. 23 at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course at the University of Wisconsin.