2018 DII NCAA XC Championships

NCAA XC DII Recap: Colorado School Of Mines Sweeps Pre-Nats In Pittsburgh

NCAA XC DII Recap: Colorado School Of Mines Sweeps Pre-Nats In Pittsburgh

NCAA D2 Pre-Nats recap.

Oct 22, 2018 by Lincoln Shryack
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With conference championships rapidly approaching for many teams across the country, this past weekend was a mostly low-key one with just a handful of races taking place. But with the Division II calendar pushed back this year due to an early December national meet, DII teams still have two weeks until conference foes do battle. 

As such, some of the top squads in the NCAA from that division met up over the weekend in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for DII Pre-Nationals on the same course that will host nationals in seven weeks.

Here were the highlights from the final regular season meet of 2018:

D2 Men: Colorado School of Mines Puts Seven In Top 15, Easily Dominates Pre-Nats

The No. 3 Colorado School of Mines men waited until this weekend to race all of their top guns, but based on their impressive showing on the Bob O’Connor Golf Course on Saturday, the Orediggers haven’t missed a beat despite racing so sparingly in 2018. Three of CSM’s top five made their season debuts in Pittsburgh-- including individual winner Grant Colligan, who took the Pre-Nats title by 12 seconds in 24:56-- and yet last year’s third place NCAA squad showed no rust as they easily crushed the field with just 19 points.

Led by Colligan’s win, the Orediggers put all five of their scorers in the top 10 (1, 2, 3, 5, 8) and seven inside the top 15. While the other DII heavyweights-- Adams State, Grand Valley State, Western Colorado, etc.-- were absent on Saturday, the meet still featured two other top 10 teams in Mount Olive and Queens (N.C.). The fact that Mines beat them both by over 100 points is a great sign for the perennial powerhouse going forward.

Colligan, who was fifth at NCAAs last November, was joined in the top five by his fellow 2017 All-Americans Josh Hoskinson (2nd, 25:08) and Logan Ramlet (5th, 25:17). Sophomore Luc Hagen finished between those two in third in 25:13. 

Mines will have the added bonus of being the lone NCAA men’s contender to have previewed the national course before the big race. That could come in handy, especially if the weather goes south on race day.

D2 Women: No. 5 Colorado School Mines Women Make It A Sweep In Pittsburgh

With no other top 10 ranked teams in the women’s race, the Lady Orediggers had no problem dispatching of their competition in Pittsburgh, winning with ease 37-91 over Walsh.

Even so, the fifth-ranked CSM women impressed on the Bob O’Connor course by placing four in the top 10 and finishing with just a 44-second spread 1-5. That was particularly notable considering that Mines ran without two of their projected top five runners, Chloe Cook and Brook Eberle.  

Senior Megan Wenham led the squad for the second straight meet, finishing third in 22:23 for the 6k course.

Still, the Orediggers looked strong in a relatively weak race on the women’s side, so it’s tough to gauge exactly how good their podium chances are heading into the postseason portion of the schedule. 

Mines will all but certainly need the services of Chloe Cook (71st at NCAAs in ‘17) and Brook Eberle (93rd at NCAAs in ‘17) to kick one of Adams State, Western Colorado, Grand Valley State, or U-Mary off the podium come December, but neither woman has raced in uniform yet this season.

In the individual battle in Pittsburgh, Mount Olive junior Leah Hanle, who is currently ranked seventh in the FloXC DII individuals rankings, picked up the win in 21:54.