2016 DI NCAA XC Championships

NCAA XC Championship Preview: Women's Teams Nos. 31-21

NCAA XC Championship Preview: Women's Teams Nos. 31-21

FloTrack previews 21-31 of the women's teams headed to the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Nov 15, 2016 by Taylor Dutch
NCAA XC Championship Preview: Women's Teams Nos. 31-21
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Check out the final breakdowns of each women's team heading to the NCAA Cross Country Championships this Saturday in Terre Haute, Indiana. Here are the previews for teams 21-31 of the women's race. 

No. 31 Louisville


​Region: Southeast, 2nd
​Conference: ACC, 4th

For the first time in school history, the Louisville women's cross country team secured a bid to compete at the NCAA championships, and the Cardinals did it automatically by finishing second in the Southeast region behind No. 2 North Carolina State. In an exciting 2-4 team battle, Louisville tallied 163 points, just one point lower than third-place Kentucky and five points lower than fourth-place Furman. Led by freshman Dorcas Wasike's seventh-place finish, the Cardinals placed all five scorers within the top 53. The performance carried on the momentum that the team experienced at the ACC championships when they finished fourth overall--the best finish since Louisville joined the Atlantic Coast Conference. After breakthrough performances at ACCs and the Southeast region, the Louisville women are probably itching to see what they can do in their historic first NCAA championship.


No. 30 Mississippi


​Region: South, 2nd
​Conference: SEC, 2nd


For the first time ever, the Ole Miss women's and men's programs are experiencing equal success. Both teams earned spots to compete at the NCAA championships after the men won and women finished second in the South region--a program first at Ole Miss. For the women's team, the NCAA bid marks the first time the women will compete at the championship. The Rebels finished one point shy of region winner Mississippi State but put together their best region championship performance. Ole Miss junior Emily Bean's 10th-place finish led teammates Bo Ummels (11th), Mary Alex England (12th), Britt Ummels (18th), and Shelby Brown (21st) to all-region honors. 

No. 29 Mississippi State


Region: South, 1st
​Conference: SEC, 4th


After an exciting South region victory separated by one point against SEC rivals Ole Miss, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are on their way to Terre Haute for the second straight year. Rhianwedd Price, the 2015 NCAA 1500m champion, led the Bulldogs with a fifth-place individual finish and was followed by four more all-region finishes from her teammates. It was a much-needed comeback from the team's disappointing fourth-place at the SEC championships two weeks ago. 


"I have told people that our team is a ticking time bomb, in a  good way," MSU coach Houston Franks told HailState.com. "We were going to blow up and put a race together that would surprise some people. We got fourth in SEC championships, and I am glad we are to a point in the program that we were disappointed with fourth. We put it together today and good things happened."

Hopefully the ticking time bomb extends to one more race this week. 

No. 28 Yale


​Region: Northeast, 3rd
​Conference: Ivy League, 2nd


The Bulldogs put together a tight spread to finish third at the Northeast region championship against Providence and Harvard. The NCAA bid marks the program's first championship since 2001. Yale has been on a rise this past year after finishing eighth in the Ivy League for several years; prior to last year's second-place finish, the Bulldogs hadn't placed in the top three at Heps since 2004. After finishing second to conference rival Harvard at Heps two weeks ago, Yale senior captain Frances Schmiede said that her team expected more.

"Today was a disappointing day for us, but I'm still very proud of my team. We've gone from being dead last four years ago to being disappointed with second. I'm proud that as a senior I'm leaving a team that expects bigger things from ourselves," Schmiede told YaleBulldogs.com

Terre Haute will be the team's final opportunity to step up and continue the program rise this season. 

No. 27 Utah


​Region: Mountain, 4th
​Conference: Pac-12, 5th

The Utes earned an at-large bid to the NCAA championships by finishing fourth to No. 1 Colorado, No. 11 New Mexico, and No. 14 Air Force in the Mountain region. The performance marks the second straight year and the second time in program history that Utah has made it to NCAAs as a team, and the Utes did it with a team of interchangeable parts. 

"We are excited to earn our way back to the NCAA championships," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler told UtahUtes.com. "It's exciting for this group. They have worked really hard for it all year, and it has been someone different leading us almost every race. That is a lot of fun when you have a team where the parts are interchangeable like that."

On Friday, the team leaders were Hannah McInturff and Grayton Murphy, who finished within a second of each other in 17th and 18th, respectively. 

No. 26 UCLA


​Region: West, 6th
​Conference: Pac-12, 7th

UCLA was the final team to qualify out of the West region after finishing sixth overall to Stanford, Washington, San Francisco, Oregon, and Portland. The Bruins secured the bid despite No. 2 runner Claire Markey running through an injury. The freshman battled for a 30th-place finish, which helped secure the sixth-place team result. Earlier in the season, Markey led the Bruins with a 25th-place finish at the Wisconsin Invitational but sat out at Pac-12s. She returned to help the Bruins compete for a spot at the NCAA championships and the strategy worked. With her help, UCLA has earned the opportunity to compete in Terre Haute. 

No. 25 BYU


​Region: Mountain, 5th
​Conference: West Coast, 2nd


Despite a less-than-ideal regional performance, the Cougars have punched their ticket to the NCAA championship. It was a close call in the tough Mountain region, which includes No. 1 Colorado, No. 11 New Mexico, and now No. 14 Air Force. BYU came away with a fifth-place team finish behind those teams and Utah but still managed to secure an at-large bid after earning points in the team's second-place finish in the West Coast Conference and 10th-place finish at the Wisconsin Invitational. Cougars head coach Diljeet Taylor said that her team went out too "aggressive" at the beginning of the Mountain regional, running in second with Colorado, and paid for it later on in the race. 

"We wanted to let them do all the work, but they got excited and that's OK--we just learn from this. I am proud of the work they put in to get to this point though," she told BYUCougars.com

If the Cougars can stay composed through the beginning portions of the course in Terre Haute, they should be able to replicate another standout performance from the regular season. 

No. 24 Baylor


​Region: South Central, 2nd
​Conference: Big 12, 5th

After a tough Big 12 championship showing, the Baylor Bears returned with a vengeance in the South Central region. Baylor finished second behind No. 8 Arkansas by just 14 points to secure an automatic spot into the NCAA championship. The Bears displayed depth up top with a runner-up finish from Maggie Montoya and a third-place finish from Lindsey Bradley. Anna West followed in ninth, Peyton Thomas finished in 13th, and freshman Gabby Satterlee rounded the top five with a 35th-place finish. It was a considerable improvement from the Big 12 championship where the Bears finished fifth after one of their top scorers dropped out. Baylor has shown its talent in highly competitive situations before--as seen in the team's fifth-place finish at the Wisconsin Invitational--and look to be on the upswing once again after its South Central result. 

No. 23 Penn


Region: Northeast, 3rd
​Conference: Ivy League, 3rd


The Penn Quakers were selected as an at-large bid to compete at NCAAs after the team finished third behind No. 7 Penn State and No. 15 Villanova in the Mid-Atlantic region. Penn's performance, which improves on a sixth-place finish in 2015, marks the first time in program history that the women have earned a chance to compete as a team at the NCAA championships. The Mid-Atlantic region performance follows another improvement at the Ivy League championships where Penn secured a third-place finish behind No. 12 Harvard and No. 28 Yale--the Quakers' highest placing since 2005. 


No. 22 Oklahoma State


Region: Midwest, 2nd
​Conference: Big 12, 2nd

The Cowgirls experienced a surprising upset when Missouri claimed the Midwest region crown, but they still managed to secure an automatic spot into the NCAA championships with a runner-up finish. Oklahoma State earned the automatic spot when it beat 17th-ranked Iowa State by one point. In her second race of the season after returning from an injury, NCAA indoor champion Kaela Edwards led OSU with a sixth-place finish. The performance was a continuation of Edwards regaining her fitness as she didn't start running until September of this year. If Edwards continues to improve in the next week and the remaining scorers close the gap between three and five, the Cowgirls could break the top 20 in Terre Haute. 



No. 21 Missouri


​Region: Midwest, 1st
​Conference: SEC, 3rd

In possibly one of the biggest upsets of regional weekend, Missouri threw down the program's best performance since 2004 to upstage No. 22 Oklahoma State and No. 17 Iowa State for the Midwest region crown. Led by an individual victory from All-American Karissa Schweizer, the Tigers pulled through with an 83-point victory over the second-place Cowgirls. According to Missouri head coach Marc Burns, the Tigers "have been flirting with this type of performance all year, and we finally put it together today. We hit on all cylinders, and it was fun to watch."



Missouri started the season conservatively with a 12th-place finish at the Pre-National Invitational but continued to build with a third-place finish at the SEC championships--taking down No. 29 Mississippi State and finishing behind No. 30 Ole Miss and No. 8 Arkansas. The team finally put it all together at the Midwest regional by claiming the victory with six points over Oklahoma State and four scorers in all-region spots. 

The NCAA bid marks the Missouri's first qualification in 12 years, since the Tigers won their last regional championship in 2004. With a potential top five contender up front, Missouri has another shot to shake things up in Terre Haute. 


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