Date: Friday November 1st, 2024
Location: Orange and Blue Golf Course; Savoy, IL
Time Schedule:
10:35am - Womens 6K
11:35am - Mens 8K
12:30pm - Awards
Teams: University of Illinois, University of Indiana, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, University of Oregon, Penn State University, Purdue University, Rutgers University, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Southern California, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin
On the boys team side we enter the meet with #9 Wisconsin, #18 Washington, and #25 Oregon all being ranked in the latest USTFCCCA Poll. Wisconsin enters this meet as the favorite after a great day at their home course as they took 6th at Pre-Nats as they were only 21 points behind National powerhouse Northern Arizona University. The Badgers are led by 3x Big 10 individual champion, Bob Liking, who will be in contention for another individual championship. After Liking is a great pack containing Liam Newhart, Rowen Ellenberg, Matan Ivri, and Micah Wilson who were within 9 seconds of one another at Pre-Nats, if they can do that again here then its going to be a great day for the Badgers. We could potentially see them put their top 5 runners within the top 12 in this race. We haven't seen Washington run their top dogs since the Nuttycombe Invite that happened over a month ago. There they were 5th place overall. They are led by the 1-2 punch of Tyrone Gorze and Leo Daschbach who will be near the front of this race. This team has a lot of talent on its roster with names like NCAA 1500m Champion Nathan Green being on the roster. This of course this is Washington's first year in the Big 10 Conference so if they can pull out the win that it will be massive for this program. Oregon is also entering its first Big 10 XC Championships in its program history. The Ducks are probably the most historic Cross Country and Track & Field programs in the NCAA's history. While they come in ranked 25th in the nation, this roster is one of the most talented rosters in the nation. Their most recent result was a 2nd place finish at the Bill Dellinger Invite. The team had a 29 second split at that meet, but Freshman sensation Anthony Fasthorse ran unattached in the race and would have been the teams 5th man. Could he race for the Ducks in this race? It would bring their 1-5 split to only 23 seconds. Elliott Cook looks to lead this team along with Tayson Echohawk. High School phenom Simeon Birnbaum has led this team this season and could be in the mix with those two as well at the front of the race. Talking about talent, Connor Burns who was part of this groups Top 7 last year has yet to compete this year, could he make his season debut at the Conference meet? Evan Bishop was 4th at the Big 10s last year, but in a Wisconsin uniform. He has yet to compete this year, if he does he will help out this team. Evan Dorenkamp didn't have his best day in his season opener, but was 17th at the Big 10s a year ago for Penn State. Don't count out Michigan as well. They were ranked 14th in the Nation up until this past week. Their Pre-Nats performance wasn't great, but could bounce back here.
Individually this looks to be Bob Liking's race to lose. The Badger's top dog has ruled the Big 10 Conference over the past few years in cross country as he has won the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Championships. He enters the meet ranked as the 22nd individual in the NCAA by FloTrack. In the lead pack early will also be Tyrone Gorze and Leo Daschbach of Washington who haven't race over the last few weeks as mentioned earlier. They are wildcards in this race that will be fighting for 2nd place. Elliott Cook of Oregon was the runner-up this past track season in the 1500m. He opened up his season at the Bill Dellinger Invite and will look to be in the mix this race. Evan Bishop of Oregon if he does end up running was the 4th place finisher last year in this race. He did that for the Wisconsin Badgers, could he aid his new squad here with another top 5 finish? He has yet to run this season though. Andrew Nolan of Michigan State was 6th in this race a year ago. He will be once again in the lead pack as he looks to improve on his place from last year. Nathan Green of Washington was 3rd at the Pac-12 Championships last season. He has an NCAA 1500m Title to his name and is a dangerous runner in a sit and kick type race. He could find himself surprising some in this race. Watch out for a dangerous Wisconsin pack as well. They have 5 guys with Liam Newhart, Rowen Ellenberg, Micah Wilson, Adam Spencer, and Matan Ivri that can finish within the top 10 runners in this race.
On the girls side we enter the meet with #2 Washington, #11 Wisconsin, #17 Oregon, #22 Minnesota, #24 Penn State, and #26 Michigan State all ranked in the latest USTFCCCA Poll. Washington enters this meet on a very positive note after their 2nd place finish at Pre-Nats. They had a great 1-5 split at Pre-Nats of only 20 seconds! If they do that once again here then its going to be a pretty dominating win for the Huskies. Their scoring five at Pre-Nats included Chloe Foerster, India Weir, Maeve Stiles, Julia David-Smith, and Sophie O'Sullivan. Expect Amina Maatoug to be in that pack as well. Their top 6 runners will likely be in the first 15 finishers. Wisconsin is coming off an 8th place finish at Pre-Nats and have had a very impressive season up to this point. They had a 16 second split on 1-5 there. They will need to rely on that pack in this race. The pack consisted of Shea Ruhly, Leane Willemse, Annika Cutforth, Lindsay Cunningham, and Bella Jacobsen. Oregon is led up front by superstar Maddy Elmore who will be in contention for the individual win here. Their 2-5 split was only 15 seconds at Bill Dellinger with the group of Anika Thompson, Kate Laurent, Wilma Nielsen, and Ali Ince. The have been without Katie Clute this year as well who was the teams 3rd runner at the NCAA XC Champs last year. If she runs then she will make a difference for this squad. Minnesota was 13th at Pre-Nats just a few weeks ago. The issue with this Gophers team is they just haven't had a pack form like other teams have at this point. If they develop that pack in this race then they could surprise some people. They are led by Ali Weimer who will be near the front of the race. From Weimer though, its a 50 second split to their 2nd runner and another 16 seconds from their 2nd to 5th runner.
Florence Caron of Penn State enters this meet as the highest ranked individual in the race via FloTrack. She is coming off an excellent race at the Princeton Fall Classic where she was 3rd overall. She was 2nd at the Nuttycombe Classic and will look to dictate this race. Ali Weimer of Minnesota has also had an excellent season up to this point. She is coming off an 11th place finish at Pre-Nats. She was also the winner of the prestigious Roy Griak Invite this season as well. She will definitely be up near the front of this race. Maddy Elmore of Oregon is a multi time All-American on the track, but looked exceptional in her season debut at the Bill Dellinger Invite where she won the race. Last season she was 52nd at the NCAA XC Championships. She will be up in the lead pack until late in the race. Chloe Foerster of Washington was 16th at Pre-Nats as she finished just behind Ali Weimer. Last year Foerster was close to being crowned an all-american as se finished 47th overall at the NCAA Champs. She will be another runner in the front of the race. Maeve Stiles of Washington transferred to the Huskies from Penn this year and has made a big impact to this group. She was 60th at the NCAA XC Champs in 2022 and is a very accomplished runner. She was 8th at the Nuttycombe Invite so expect her to be in the front of this race.
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