Jonathan Gault unveils his top 10 women's NCAA xc teams. Agree or disagree?

Thanks for the article. I especially loved the details on Natalie Cook -- specifically that Dave Smith didn't believe a word of the 10-miles-per-week story until he saw for himself that it was true. And the fact that she is still limited to four days per week, but is now up to 25 miles.

What a freak of nature.

Agreed.

…and Gault’s thumbnails indicate he actually talked to the coaches. Lotsa good insight into how/why they approach both team and individual training.

a lot of questions at the back end of many lineups - except the top 2. If things click for AL they could vault to #3. ND is tough to call given the inconsistency at the top of the lineup. The potential is there for OSU but the back end has to come through.

Yes. it is super inspiring & interesting to see how much she and others (thinking of Parker Valby) not only maintained but actually advanced performance by doing high volume / high quality cross training and low miles. I wonder if this will change some of the thinking in the sport to help injury prone runners in general. She is obviously a super talent. My guess (but who knows) is that cross helps her maximize training without fear of injury.

Common Jon Gault W

It's crazy to think Cook is only running 4 days a week, and still more than doubled her mileage from last year. I don't wanna make any bold predictions yet, but I imagine that must make a big difference, even with the cross training she was doing? She might be the biggest wildcard in every race she's in.

>Runs sub 15:30 5k

>Hasn't run more than 10k in a single session

Talk about talent

Came to write this too. Super interesting to read.

The top 4 all seem right

Starliper did a lot of her training on an EliptiGo last year and made the NCAA 5k finals. She said, "You can get fit on that thing."

OK-State might have the most potential of the teams listed. If Cook and Roe can stay healthy, that is two top 10 runners right there. The Norwegian and Kenyan recruits are a wild card, but if they are the real deal they are top 20 caliber. Then they just need a reasonable fifth and they will be able to compete with NC State & New Mexico.