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Women's NCAA DI Team Preview

Published by
DyeStatCOLLEGE.com   Nov 22nd 2013, 10:41pm
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A Wild Season Concludes Saturday in Indiana

By Scott Bush

What a season it’s been for the top ranked women’s teams this fall. Seemingly every week a trophy contender would either under perform or beat a handful of other talented teams, throwing the rankings into a tailspin. A few teams have crept up to become legit trophy contenders, while a few teams fell, but when it all evens out, the best of the best will line up Saturday morning with the dream of hoisting a championship trophy staring them in the face.

The Top Contenders

Coming into the season, the vast majority of pundits ranked Providence as the top squad in the land. After finishing second to Oregon and returning All-American talent, it only made sense. Early on in the season though a glaring weakness shown bright, as their lack of a strong fifth runner caused many to question just how successful they would be in a packed race with near equal talent. The team’s saving grace (pun intended) is Grace Thek. The senior could very well give the edge to Providence now, proving she’s fully capable of running with nearly every other team’s fifth runner.

Providence has followed the lead of their insanely talented trio of Emily Sisson, Laura Nagel and Sarah Collins all season. Sisson and Collins are top ten contenders, while Nagel is a top 20 threat. Those three, along with freshman standout Catarina Rocha, give Providence the firepower to knock off almost any challenger. In reality, it all comes down to Thek. If she can stay within 12-14 seconds of Rocha, the Friars have a very, very good chance to win. If not, lookout for another team to sweep in and claim victory. No pressure!

While Providence held onto the top ranking much of the early part of the season and now heading into nationals, Arizona took over the top spot for a few weeks. The Wildcats are a surprise team this season after finishing sixth in 2012 and not having the 3-4 talent coming into the season as some of the other notable squads had. That changed though with the emergence of freshman Maria Larsson and Iowa transfer Kayla Beattie. Both runners have propelled Arizona in a big way, giving them the best top four in the country when you throw in veterans Elvin Kibet and Nicci Corbin.

Similar to Providence, Arizona’s weakness is their fifth runner. At the West Regional, Arizona beat a fast closing Stanford team, winning 84-94. The team ran a 1-4 split of 15 seconds, but their fifth runner was 45 seconds back from their fourth. If such a substantial split happens again, Arizona’s title hopes could slip away, as could their trophy hopes.

One squad overlooked much of the season is Arkansas. Really? Yup. The Razorbacks have been on fire all season long, just no one is willing to see it. The squad finished runner-up to Arizona 117-136 at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, won the SEC Championships placing 1-2-3 up top and easily won the South Central Region with a 42 second 1-5 split. Arkansas does have top 20-25 contending talent in regional winner Dominique Scott, Grace Heymsfield and Shannon Klenke, but they also have depth that both Providence and Arizona lack. This team is literally eight deep, and while they’ll only be racing seven, if they do pull off the win it’ll be because of their depth.

Similar to Arkansas, Florida State is coming on strong when it matters most. Coach Karen Harvey knows what it takes to have her squad ready and able to win a trophy. This year’s team comes in having placed second at Pre-Nationals behind Georgetown, winning the ACC Championships and dominating at the South Regional. Top five threat Colleen Quigley and top ten threat Hannah Walker lead the way. A tight 1-5 split under 40 seconds would certainly give the squad an edge compared to Providence and Arizona.

The two other trophy contenders in the lead pack are US#5 Colorado and US#6 Georgetown. A month ago, few considered Colorado a team capable of winning a trophy and some even questioned their likelihood of making nationals. What a difference a month can make! Olympian Shalaya Kipp is coming on at the right time after a slow start to her season (she raced into the summer). Freshmen Erin Clark and Melanie Nun have added both talent and depth to the team and despite being a sophomore, Carrie Verdon is so consistent and such a veteran racer. The team placed seventh at Pre-Nationals, but finished second to Arizona at Pac-12s, then won the Mountain Regional by placing all seven runners in the top 15 and running a superb 20 second 1-5 split. 

Georgetown is having one heck of a season, especially after their disappointing 12th place finish last fall. The Hoyas run an extremely tight pack. At the Mid-Atlantic Regional, where they placed second to Villanova 31-35, the squad ran an 11 second 1-5 split and 23 second 1-7 split. They finished their entire top seven before any other team placed five. Same went for Pre-Nationals, winning the title over Florida State using a 22 second 1-5 split. This team is a nice mix of veteran talent in Rachel Schneider, Samantha Nadel and Katrina Coogan, with new talent in Haley Pierce and Rachel Paul. If this squad gets out to a great start, look out!

The Pack

While the contending pack has six teams in it, the rest of the top pack runs 15-20 deep. Some of the more notable contenders include Midwest Regional champion Iowa State, Great Lakes Regional champion Michigan, Northeast Regional champion Villanova and Southeast Regional winner Virginia. Each squad has a top 15 individual contender or two, good packs and enough talent to unseat a few of the top contending teams. 

Iowa State, behind the lead of Crystal Nelson, won by 20 points at their regional. With a fifth place finish at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational and a win at the Big 12 Championships, the team is doing very well under first year director Martin Smith. Freshmen Bethanie Brown and Perez Rotich are a strong 2-3 duo, while Katy Moen and Samantha Bluske give them veteran experience and leadership at the back of their scoring pack. 

Both Michigan and Villanova enter with a ton of confidence. The Wolverines domianted at the Great Lakes Regional, winning by 19 points and getting some redemption against in-state rival Michigan State, who won the Big Ten team title. Freshman Erin Finn leads the charge and a 46 second 1-5 split at regionals bodes well for nationals success. Villanova follows senior leaders Emily Lipari and Nicky Akande, who ran to a 1-2 finish at the Northeast Regional. The squad bested Georgetown 31-35, which was a big upset, and ran their strong 1-5 split of the year (42 seconds). At the Big East Championships and Pre-Nationals, Villanova had a tough time keeping their 1-5 split under two minutes. If they run like they did at regionals, they are a team to closely watch.

The women of Virginia have quietly gone about their business in a big way this season. The squad finsihed a rather close runner-up to Florida State, 52-65, at the ACC Championships, while beating Colorado and Michigan at Pre-Nationals to finish fourth. Led by Barbara Strettler, freshman Maria Hauger, Kathleen Stevens, Cleo Boyd and freshman Sarah Fakler, this team is six deep, run a sub-one minute pack and has a top 20 threat in Strettler. That has all the makings of a very high finish Saturday in Terre Haute.

Other teams to keep a close eye on are Stanford, New Mexico, Oregon, Michigan State, Dartmouth, Butler, San Francisco and William & Mary.



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