Analysis of the 2002 NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Coaches' Poll
by Mike Scott,
University of Rhode Island
Updated: October 21
For the 6th consecutive year, I am analyzing the Women's Division I Coaches' Poll. Teams are listed according to their ranking in the current edition of the FinishLynx/NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL POLL, as conducted by the Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches' Association.
The complete version of this week's analysis is posted at:
http://miscott.home.att.net/wxcanal
Places listed in parentheses refer to finish at the 2001 NCAA D-1 XC Championships at Furman University, unless otherwise noted. Performances are from the 2001-02 year, unless otherwise noted. Performances at the Foot Locker High School Cross Country Championships are denoted by "FL".
As always, I appreciate additions, corrections, and updates. Please send them to me at
Weekend Roundup:
What a meet! Ninety-seven teams -- virtually a third of all Division 1 teams -- and 25 of the top 30 ranked teams (from the 10/14 poll) gathered in Terre Haute for the 10/19 Pre-NCAAs. Brigham Young and Stanford clearly dominated their respective "Blue" and "White" races, with BYU placing 6-8-12-14-15 and Stanford going 2-3-4-9-39 to score similar totals of 55 and 57 points respectively. In my highly unofficial combined scoring, Stanford got a 105-114 win over BYU but 11 of the 13 pollsters voted the Cougars tops -- probably on the basis of BYU's superior depth. Of course -- as Villanova showed several times in the early 90s -- it only takes five runners to win an NCAA title, so expect a great showdown when these two teams meet head-to-head on November 25.
Wake Forest was the surprise of this year's Pre-NCAA meet, claiming 2nd in the "Blue" race to Stanford (and 4th overall in the combined scoring). Missouri (5th in the "Blue" race) and Indiana (8th in the "Blue" race) also greatly exceeded their pre-meet rankings, while Griak team champ Michigan State had a major off day.
In other action (yes, there were a couple other meets!), Arkansas took its own 10/19 Chili Pepper Festival over Kansas State and SW Missouri, while Virginia Tech won the 10/19 Auburn Invite.
Weekly Preview:
The October 25-27 weekend is a training weekend for virtually every team in the country as everyone prepares for the Nov 1-4 conference championships. I'll update this site over the next week with a conference preview.
TOP TWO TEAMS:
1. Brigham Young (Mountain)
Patrick Shane's BYU Cougars won the 2001 NCAA team title by the largest margin in NCAA history and return 5 of the 7 runners from that championship squad. The Cougars -- national champions in 1997, 1999, and 2001 -- appear strong enough to overcome their "even year" curse but are likely to face a stiff challenge from Stanford. NCAA Steeple champion Michaela Mannova (5th), Jessie Kindschi (7th), Lindsey Thomsen (23rd), Nan Kennard (36th), and Amy Bair (45th) return from the championship team, but runners like USA Junior 1500 champ Kassi Andersen, Katie Martin, 34:32 10k performer Kristen Ogden, 10:28 steepler Breanne Sandberg, and sub-34:00 10k runner Devra Vierkant could also secure a spot amongst the Cougars? top 7.
Great American showed the BYU can run only half their potential top seven and still dominate one of the deepest fields in recent memory. Surprising Andersen was BYU's top finisher, a mere 9 seconds behind UNC's Shalane Flanagan. Mannova was just behind, with Sandberg and Kennard also finishing in the top 7. Running "B" race winner Katie Martin in the seeded race would have netted the Cougars an individual 8th-place too -- and an amazing 26 points. However, BYU settled for a mere 105-point margin of victory. Among those not racing at Great American were NCAA scorers Kindschi and Thomsen, as well as potential scorer Viekant. BYU's "B" team perfect-scored the 10/11 Arizona State Invitational, with Ogden and Bair finishing together in 1st and 2nd, with Lisa Antonelli just behind in 3rd.
BYU looked equally impressive at Pre-NCAAs, using a 26-second 1-5 split to down regional foe Colorado 55 to 143 and take the "Blue" race. Anderson claimed 6th, Mannova 8th, Sandberg 12th, Kennard 14th, and Martin 15th, with Kindschi debuting with a 21st-place effort. In an even more impressive display of the Cougars' depth, BYU's "B" team from the open race women's race would have finished 7th in the combined scoring behind only Stanford, BYU, Colorado, Wake Forest, Georgetown, and NC State!
Although Stanford edged BYU in the unofficial combined scoring, many observers (including 11 of 13 pollsters) think that BYU's incredible depth gives them the edge at the pressure-packed NCAA championships. Although Coach Shane -- who never likes to be ranked #1 -- downplayed his team's effort with me ("There's no way we should be ranked #1 after today."), the BYU mentor let his guard down when talking to the Terre Haute Tribune Star when he told their reporter that his team had trained hard through the meet and added "So we were a little flat."
Meets: 11/1 MW Conf (BYU), 11/16 Mtn Reg (NMex)
Returnees: Michaela Mannova (5th, 148th '00; 9:18.49i, 9:45.94 s/c; steeplechase champ; 8th ind 3k), Jessie Kindschi (7th, 28th '00 D-2; 34:32.48), Lindsey Thomsen (23rd, 150th '00; 16:16.47; 33:58.20; 8th ind 5k; 16th 10k), Nan (nee Evans) Kennard (36th, 152nd '00; 10:14.16s/c), Amy Bair (45th), Kassi Andersen (WXC, 4:18.04, 1st USA Jr 1500), Devra Vierkant (16:16.97; 33:56.02), Breanne Sandberg (10:28.87s/c), Kristen Ogden (34:32.28), Not returning -- Sarah Taylor (24th, 94th '00, 55th '98),
Newcomer: Shalice Pugmire (4:56.62y)
2. Stanford (West)
The Cardinal, the 1996 NCAA champions, have the best shot at dethroning BYU at next month's NCAAs. Two-time NCAA 5000 champ Lauren Fleshman (3rd), who also won the '02 NCAA indoor 3000, USA Junior 3000 champ Sara Bei (89th), and All-American Alicia Craig (28th) compose one of the nation's top trios and are ably backed up by NCAA indoor mile 4th-place finisher Malindi Elmore.
In their season opener at Cal-Fullerton, Craig and Bei tied for the win, while Malindi Elmore and Jeane Goff finished 3-4 about 30 seconds back. Anita Siraki, Erin Sullivan, and Mariel Ettinger finished 9-11-13, about a minute behind the leaders; Fleshman apparently sat out this race. Stanford swept the long and short course titles at its own invitational, with Bei and Craig taking and easy 1-2 over the 6k, while Fleshman finished 2nd to Canadian star Emilie Mondor at 4k, with Mailindi Elmore claiming 4th. The following week at Notre Dame, the Cardinal dominated the field with Bei, Fleshman, and Craig running away from the field to claim the top three finishers and Elmore claiming 5th behind star Irish frosh Molly Huddle. Stanford's 5th at South Bend was a resurging Anita Siraki, as the Cardinal apparently rested Sullivan.
Stanford demonstrated that it has the strongest 1-2-3 in the country at Pre-NCAAs, with Craig, Bei, and Fleshman claiming 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively in the "White" race, while Elmore was only a few seconds behind in 9th. The Cardinal's potential Achilles heel is their 5th runner; currently 10:22 steepler Goff is filling that role. Goff finished 39th at Pre-NCAAs -- 79-seconds behind Craig and 52-seconds behind Elmore. While Stanford edged BYU in the unofficial combined scoring, the Cardinal needs to tighten-up the gap between their 4th & 5th runners; Stanford can't do much to improve their score in the 1-2-3-4 positions, so their title hopes rest at their 5th.
Meets: 11/2 Pac-10s (Pasadena), 11/16 West Reg (Stanford)
Returnees: Lauren Fleshman (3rd, 11th '00, 5th '99; 2nd '98 FL; 4:18.11, 9:07.45i, 15:35.59; '01 & '02 out 5000 champ, ind 3k champ), Alicia Craig (28th; 20th '00 FL), Erin Sullivan (52nd, 25th '00, 7th '99; '97 & '98 FL Champ; '99 USA Jr Champ; 16:30.04, 34:10.32; 10th 10k), Sara Bei (89th; '00 FL Champ; 4:22.98, 16:22.54; 12th out 5k; USA Jr 3k champ), Mariel Ettinger (126th, 96th '00, 217th '99; 2nd '97 FL; 16:47.31), Jeane Goff (10:22.46s/c), Anita Siraki (2nd '00 FL), Malindi Elmore (4:20.12, 4:39.88iy; 4th Mile)
Newcomers: Kristen Cohoon (10:04.77), Yfa Kretzschmar (2:10.05, 5:01.95y); Not running (deferred admission): Julie Allen (11th FL; 4:59.27y, 10:37.75y),
The complete version of this week's analysis is posted at: