Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #16 Boise State Women

Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #16 Boise State Women

Aug 31, 2015 by Gordon Mack
Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #16 Boise State Women




Probable Top Five:

FR Annie Bothma (34:39 Road 10K; 48th World XC ’15)
SO Emma Hyyppa (9:27 3K; 114th NCAA XC ’14)
SO Minttu Hukka (9:56 3K Steeple; 16:42 5K)
JR Sarah Hastings (206th NCAA XC ’14)
FR Allie Ostrander (4:47 Mile; 9:58 3200; 1st NXN ’14)
 

Impact Freshmen/Transfers:

Allie Ostrander via Kenai, AK (4:47 Mile; 9:58 3200; 1st NXN ’14)
Minttu Hukka via Lamar University (9:56 3K Steeple; 16:42 5K)
Annie Bothma via South Africa (34:39 Road 10K; 48th World XC ’15)
Brenna Peloquin via Gig Harbor, WA (4:51 Mile; 10:32 3200; 50th NXN ’14)
Katy Wood via Great Britain (9:31 3K)
Alissa Pudlitzke via Camas, WA (10:50 3200; 57th NXN ’14)
Alexis Fuller via Camas, WA (4:27 1500)
Kyra Lopez via Phoenix, AZ (10:48 3200; 47th NXN ’14)
Jordan Jacob via Bismarck, ND (10:54 3200)
 

Analysis:

The recruiting class Corey Ihmels has brought in at Boise State would make any coach excited. But Ihmels should be ecstatic for this program, maybe not for this upcoming season but for the years to come. Landing NXN Champion Allie Ostrander was huge. Then Ihmels nabbed Annie Bothma, a very experienced cross country runner from South Africa, and Lamar transfer Minttu Hukka. These three will add so much to the Bronco squad that lost NCAA Champion Emma Bates and new Oiselle athlete Marissa Howard.

Boise State’s top returner is junior Sarah Hastings, whose 38th-place finish at the NCAA West Region (Boise’s fifth scorer) was huge in getting this team into the NCAA Championships. After another year of experience under her belt, she should be better than ever. The same goes for sophomore Emma Hyyppa, who was named the 2014 Mountain West Freshman of the Year. They’ll need to step up big time to show the newcomers just how hard they worked to get the team to the Big Dance in 2014.

The unknown factor of these newcomers is what makes Boise State very difficult to rank in 2015. Will they be good next year? Probably. And the year after? Most definitely. Ostrander was injured late this spring, causing her to pull out of the highly anticipated Brooks PR 2 Mile. So are we counting on Ostrander to be the top freshman at the NCAA Championships? Probably not. But the future of this team looks so good.

WATCH: On The Rise - Allie Ostrander Ep. 1
WATCH: On The Rise - Allie Ostrander Ep. 2