NCCA Chatter

So for those of you who come here for high school talk, feel free to check out the post below this one which examines some of the brewing story lines after Weekend 1 of the 2014 XC season in PA. This post will be dedicated to various levels of NCAA Cross Country.

Stanford, early on, is projected to be one of the top teams in the NCAA this year. Flotrack just recently ranked them #2 in the nation thanks, mainly, to the addition of Maksim Korolev from Harvard. Korolev was 3rd (barely short of 2nd) at Nationals last year, and will be using his remaining eligibility for the Cardinal. Stanford is an intriguing squad because of the blossoming talent of the Rosa twins, both of which are coming off break through years. In high school, Jim and Joe each had a slew of impressive performances. The highlight was likely when Joe Rosa beat Dathan Ritzenhein's Junior Class record for two miles as he squashed Lukas Verzbicas in the second half of the 2 Mile at Outdoor Nationals and stopped the clock around 8:44. It was a big moment for the Rosa twins who struggled to get their hands on a major National level championship (a few losses at the Penn Relays, a heartbreaking loss at NXN to Craig Lutz, some tough losses on a variety of DMRs to teams like Hamden and St. Benedict's). The 2-mile over Verzbicas seemed to be the big break. But injuries and inconsistencies continued to hold back the twins from taking the next step when they got to college. Well, at least until this past year. Jim started things off with an extremely clutch 5th place run at NCAAs in the fall and then followed it up with sub 29 10k performance to earn himself another podium finish outdoors. Joe ran a big PR in the 5k and dipped into the 13:30s, also landing himself on the podium in one of the fastest 5000m finals in NCAA history.

Throw the rapidly improving Rosa twins on a squad the features Mike Atchoo (anchor of National Championship DMR and NCAA 1500m finalist), Sean McGorty (sub 13:40 5000m last year as a true frosh) and the aforementioned Korolev and you have a very strong team. Stanford opened their season with a pack running affair, taking 4-8 in San Fransico, with all their guys at 25:26. The group was Joe Rosa, Garrett Sweat, Sam Wharton, Mike Atchoo and Jack Keelan. Wharton was a very successful high school cross country runner who is now a redshirt freshman for Stanford this season. No McGorty, Korolev or Jim Rosa in the opener, so hopefully all those guys are helpful. Pair that trio with the group we saw in Meet 1 and this team is very dangerous. Adam Thorne, Marco Bertollotti and PA's own Tom Coyle are other members of the team looking to make an impact this season based on the Season Opener.

I still don't see Stanford as a top 5 team. They still seem to be one or two guys short having a dominant top 5 that is on par with the defending champion Colorado and they have not shown the poise at the championships themselves to be ranked ahead of teams like OSU and NAU or even the U of O. Teams like BYU, New Mexico and others always peak excellently for the 10k at Nats and will always be dangerous against a team like Stanford that, unfortunately, has tended to underachieve at the big dance. Last year the Trees were 19th, despite the breakthrough race from Jim Rosa. It should be interesting to see if adding a clutch leader like Korolev, getting a one year stronger and more experienced McGorty back and returning 5k All American Joe Rosa can change the tides for this squad.

In other Pac 12 news, the defending champion Colorado Buffaloes had their traditional 8k time trial race to start of their season. The Buffaloes return all their scorers from their championship team a year ago, plus they add back in Jake Hursyz, a brilliant 1500/5k runner who has been an All American for this team in the past. In another typical early season pack running affair, Hursyz and freshman Adam Peterman, were the first of a pack of 6 to cross the line under 26 minutes. Morgan Pearson, one of the studs from last year's squad, ran unattached in the race and Ben Saarel, the freshman sensation who finished in the top 10 last year (8th overall) to lead the Buffs was MIA. I'm unsure of what this means for both men's status looking ahead.

Saarel was phenomenal in his rookie campaign a year ago and has people like me thinking he could be one of America's next great distance runners. He ran a 7:52 for 3k indoors, one of the fastest ever for an American Junior, ran 3:41 for 1500m and broke 14 minutes for 5k. All of this came a year after he ran 4:02 to best one of the best Dream Mile fields of all time in horrid conditions. He showcased a furious kick and excellent wheels to go along with 10k strength that landed him a top 8 spot at Nats and #2 freshman honors behind the one and only Ed Cheserek. Hopefully Saarel is healthy and in the line up this year.

Colorado is loaded with Ammar Moussa, Conor White, Blake Theroux, and Pierce Murphy all running strong after last year's excellent National title run and a track season that featured multiple runs at or sub 14 in the 5k. The healthy runners this team showcased in their first meet are enough to believe they can compete for a national title, even without Saarel and Pearson.

The last Pac 12 team with National title hopes, the University of Oregon will look to carry the momentum from their back to back track national titles indoors and outdoors at their first meet on September 5th, the Bill Dellinger Invite. It will be Edward Cheserek's first race of the year. Cheserek is currently the reigning NCAA champ in Cross Country and his Ducks were 5th last year. Chesrek also ran mammoth PRs of 3:36 and 13:18 on the track. Indoors he won the 3k and 5k National Titles. Outdoors he won a couple Penn Relays wheels and added a 10k National Championship. It took an impressive meet record run from Lawi Lalang in the 5k to outlast a tired Ed Cheserek who was trying to become 5/5 on National Titles over the course of his freshman campaign in Yellow and Green. 


In Division III news, defending Mideast Regional Champions Johns Hopkins opened up their season first out of the big name schools in the region with a convincing win at the Salisbury Invitational. At the very fast course that is Salisbury, Hopkins averaged an 8k time of 25:53 and scored 18 points for a convincing win over squads like Salisbury and Navy (although Navy was running almost exclusively freshman on race day). Their top 5 had a spread of just 15 seconds, led by Andrew Cerruzzi and Austin Stecklair. Hopkins really emerged as an XC powerhouse last year when they stunned Haverford and Dickinson back to back weeks to snag both the Conference and Regional titles from them. Unfortunately, the team could not carry the momentum to Nationals the following weekend. With an extra year of experience at the top and many returners from that squad, the Jays hope to place better this year, eyeing a possible top 5 finish nationally.