Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #15 West Virginia Women

Sep 1, 2015 by Taylor Dutch

Probable Top Five:

JR Jillian Forsey (9:35 3K; 16:02 5K; 14th NCAA XC '14)

SO Maggie Drazba (16:21 5K; 35:50 10K; 91st NCAA XC '14)

SO Brynn Harshbarger (9:37 3K; 35:30 10K; 103rd NCAA XC '14)

SR Sydney Scott (9:37 3K; 16:58 5K; 129th NCAA XC '14)

JR Kelly Williams (4:13 1500; 152nd NCAA XC '14)

Impact Freshmen/Transfers:

Anna French via Plymouth, MN (4:56 1600; 10:43 3200; 34th NXN '14)
Candace Jones via Nokesville, VA (2:11 800; 2:54 1000; 5:00 1600)
Peyton Panger via Charleston, WV (5:00 1600; 10:51 3200)

Analysis:

The West Virginia women are returning from another successful cross country season that saw the Mountaineers earn an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The performance marked the team’s fifth top 10 finish since 2007, but with the loss of top finisher Katie Gillespie, the Mountaineers will have their work cut out for them this year.

Jillian Forsey returns as the Mountaineers’ leader this fall after running a season’s best mark of 16:13 in the 5K at the Portland Track Festival. Forsey had a major impact on the team in 2014 with an 11th-place finish at the Wisconsin Invitational, 12th-place finish at the Big 12 Championships and her first ever All American honor (14th) at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Right behind Forsey was Gillespie, who finished 26th in Terre Haute, but the next closest finisher was Maggie Drazba who crossed the finish line in 91st. That large gap may come back to bite the Mountaineers this fall.

The only returning cross country contributors to compete at the NCAA preliminaries during the spring track season were Maggie Drazba and Gillespie. Drazba ran the 5K, but was unable to advance to the NCAA finals in Eugene, Ore. The remainder of the returning runners either redshirted (Forsey), or raced very little in the spring (Harshbarger, Scott). Although many of the Mountaineer distance runners didn’t compete frequently during the track season, West Virginia returns a more experienced squad with a lot of potential.

Last fall, Drazba earned All Conference honors at the Big 12 Championships and a 13th-place finish at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals. Harshbarger was ninth at regionals and 16th at Big 12s while Scott was 15th at regionals and 17th at conference. To wrap up the pack, Williams was 37th at regionals and 21st at Big 12s.

As West Virginia has shown in years past, the Mountaineers have a knack for putting together a successful pack in championship races, and 2015 has the potential to be an impressive year once again.