The collegiate cross country season truly began this weekend in an interesting fashion. Teams had the opportunity to showcase their fitness at a variety of competitive meets across the country. When the national rankings come out this week, we’ll have a much more accurate picture of the regional and national running scene.

However, the rankings still may be deceiving. While some individuals and teams performed on par with their ranking, others “underperformed” in regards to the competition. There is no doubt that there will be shakeups in the rankings, but how valid will they be? The answer is that there will be a better understanding of each team, but important details have still yet to be revealed.

Since it is Sunday and absolutely no one is doing homework or studying in the library, we might as well highlight three things that we learned from this past weekend in the college running world.


Opening weekend is your first chance to make a statement

In Pamplona, Spain, July 7th is an important date to remember. Wooden and iron barricades are constructed in the streets to quarter off the general population. Those with bravado choose to stay on the streets and participate in The Running of the Bulls. At 8am, the corral gates are opened and the bulls are let loose to roam the streets of Pamplona.

This weekend, the corral gates were opened and athletes were given the green light to run away from the field.

When a cross country team scores fifteen points, it’s usually at a dual meet with lopsided competition. But when a team scores 29 points at a major invitational, then eyebrows are raised. The #2 Florida State women won the Notre Dame Invitational with only 29 points. The hosts Notre Dame took second with 111 points.

If the race was Florida State versus everyone else, the score would have been 29 points (1, 3, 5, 7, 12) to 29 points (2, 4, 6, 8, 9) with the win going to “everyone else” for a higher placing sixth place finisher (Note: Amanda Winslow from FSU finished 7th in the individual results but was listed as eighth in the team results. She ran the same time, 16:49, as Ashlee Powers from Southern Methodist University, who was credited with 7th in the team results).

Nevertheless, it would have been very close. This kind of performance is reminiscent of Fayetteville-Manlius at the 2010 Nike Cross Nationals where they scored 27 points and the rest of the field combined would have scored 30 points.

The “big three” met at the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, KY. Lawi Lalang and Stephen Sambu from Arizona went up against Paul Chelimo from UNC-Greensboro. As expected, the duo from Arizona broke the race wide open by mile three and ran together for the rest of the way. The reported three-mile split on twitter was 13:30.



(Photo: Jimmy Byrant @Run_Jimmy_Run)

Lalang finished first in 22:33.57, Sambu second in 22:36.37, and Chelimo third in 22:59.62. The fourth place finisher, senior Mitch Goose from Iona, finished 43-seconds back in 23:42.44.

Lalang may have looked vulnerable following the outdoor season. While he won titles in cross country, the indoor 3k, and the indoor 5k, he finished third in the outdoor 5k and eleventh in the 1500m. However, Lalang may have been running on tired legs last season and comes back this fall looking quite refreshed.

There’s a popular soccer chant that goes “He scores when he wants, he scores when he wants...” When it comes to cross country, Lawi Lalang wins when he wants.

The first cross country meet to kick off the season happened in Bethlehem, PA at the Lehigh’s Paul Short Run. It’s only fitting that as the first meet of the cross country season, it seems to rain every year.

Abbey D’Agostino continues from her incredible 2012 outdoor season where she won the NCAA 5k title and finished fourth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 15:19.98. She took home the Paul Short title clear of the competition in 19:58. Katie Kellner from Cornell finished 24-seconds back in 20:22.

This type of performance should not come as a surprise for someone who is expected to contend for the cross country national title this November.

The #2 Oklahoma State men and #23 Oklahoma State women both repeated as the Cowboy Jamboree team champions on Saturday in Stillwater, OK. Pre-season questions were answered as OSU displayed an impressive pack that is trying to move one step up at the national podium from second to first this season.



(Photo: Tom Farrell, @farrell_osu)


It’s about the bigger picture

Although the lock has been opened, some bulls don’t come sprinting out of the gates. Some top-ranked teams were beaten this weekend, but as Coach Wetmore from Colorado and Coach Hayes from Texas have stated, it’s important to be ready in November.

The #6 Texas men finished sixth at the Greater Louisville Classic. On paper, this looked like a great matchup between them and the #8 Iona men, who won the meet with 47 points. The #28 Columbia men took second with 110 points and the rested and unranked Georgia men took third with 143 points.

The Longhorns were without key members Ryan Dohner and graduate student Kyle Merber. Coach Hayes told Texassports.com, “"It is important that we are out there and we get a sense of what we will see in two months [at nationals]. That's the whole purpose of going - we are not going to worry about the results. Obviously, we are at Texas and we want to win every competition, and we have the team to do that, but at the same time we are resting some key individuals."

Merber may not have raced, but he did get to see his old Columbia teammates. It’s not everyday that Austin, TX and NYC cross paths.

The #1 University of Washington women are also thinking long-term with their cross country season. The Huskies finished second with 80 points to the #12 Arizona women, who totaled 71 points. Washington sat out junior Megan Goethals, who finished 18th last year at the NCAA Cross Country Nationals and second at the NCAA Nationals Outdoor 5k.

Another perennial favorite for the NCAA Cross Country title, Jordan Hasay, shut it down this Saturday at the Oregon Bill Dellinger Invitational. Hasay ran with fellow Oregon seniors Sarah Penney and Katie Conlon to finish as the fifth scorer for her team. Dartmouth transfer Alexi Pappas won the race in 16:23 over Washington senior Christina Babcock, who no longer has cross country eligibility.

Oregon won their home invitational with 18 points. Southern Utah took second with 73 points.


Pack running is still cool

Last Sunday, the Oklahoma men were highlighted for their impressive pack running at the UVA Panorama Farms Invitational. This early in the season, it only makes sense for teams to conserve energy for more meaningful races in late October and November. A week later, pack running is still so hot right now.

The Kansas men surprised many at the Rim Rock Farm Classic in Lawrence, KS. The Jayhawks, who did not receive any votes in the national polls last week, were up against the #11 Indiana men, Air Force, and Texas Tech. The Kansas men had an eight second spread from their #1 - 5 and won their home invitational with 35 points. Indiana finished a close second with 44 points.

Assistant coach Michael Whittlesey told KUathletics.com, “We had a very specific race plan of what we were going to do. They hit the race plan to a ‘T’. We talk all the time about our small pack of five and they were fantastic; absolutely excellent execution.”

While their pack was not as close as Kansas’, the #3 BYU men opened up their season at the Oregon Bill Dellinger Invitational. Jared Ward lead the BYU squad by taking second in 23:40 behind Portland transfer Trevor Dunbar, who won in 23:38. BYU’s fifth man, Rex Shields, was 20-seconds back in 24:00.

BYU won the meet with 32 points while the host #23 Oregon finished second with 49 points. Don’t let the scores deceive you as this was essentially a dual meet between the two teams with some athletes from Southern Utah, Seattle U., Washington, and UC Riverside finishing in-between the two teams.

After watching their Workout Wednesday, the BYU squad is deeper than the Mariana Trench. They managed to place ten runners in front of Oregon’s fifth man. The BYU ‘B’ squad would have finished with 79 points (13, 14, 15, 18, 19).

A name that some New Yorkers may remember is Tommy Gruenewald. Gruenewald, who finished 54th at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Nationals, is back from his mission and finished as BYU’s ninth man on Saturday. 

With every passing week, we learn more about the fitness and strategy of each team. Some squads have staked their claim, while others are waiting patiently to reveal their fitness. We’ll find out more in two weeks at the Wisconsin Invitational and the Pre-National Invitation at Louisville. Until then, get back to your studies.