The NYU men’s cross country team – national Div. III champions a few years ago and fourth last year – are ranked fifth nationally in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association preseason poll. Coach Nick McDonough’s Violets are led by Sebastian Schwelm and Matt Turlip, both of whom finished in the top 40 in last year’s championship race. NYU has won its UAA conference championship each of the last four seasons.
In Division I, Iona continues its excellent run, begun years ago by then-Head Coach Mick Byrne and continued by Coach Ric Santos, an ex-Gael himself. Their men’s squad is preseason-ranked 10th nationally. They finished eighth in 2009, and are led by Ryan Sheridan, senior from Walt Whitman (Melville, NY), who finished 12th in last year’s NCAA meet.
Sheridan is joined by Matt Bayley of Australia, Daniel Lipus of Germany and Jason Weller, senior from Boyertown, Pa.
Columbia, the upset winners of last year’s Ivy League men’s championship, are ranked fourth in the Northeast Region Div. I. Coach Willy Wood’s Lions, led by Kyle Merber, have been strengthened by an excellent incoming freshman class, including Timothy Cousins of Texas (8:53 in high school for 3,200 meters), Nicolas Composto of Chicago (9:03) and John Gregorek of Seekonk, Mass., namesake of the legendary steeplechaser.
Columbia’s women’s team is ranked No. 5 in the region. The Lions are led by veterans Jackie Drouin and Caroline McDonough. Their top recruits include Laura Vigilante (West Morris, NJ), 16th in last year’s Foot Locker nationals, and Danika Simonson (Shenendehowa, Clifton Park, NY), 10:04 for 3k in high school.
The Stony Brook women, featuring the New Zealand twin sisters Holly and Lucy Van Dalen, are ranked third in the Northeast. The Van Dalens will be joined by another Kiwi, Hayley Green.
Other New York schools are also ranked in Division III. The Geneseo men are ranked sixth and women ninth, while the St. Lawrence women are ranked second. St. Lawrence’s Wendy Pavlus returns to defend her individual national championship. She led the school to the runnerup spot a year ago, finishing just nine points behind Wisconsin/Eau Claire.
Eau Claire is ranked No. 1 this year in Div. III women, while Washington University of St. Louis is ranked No. 1 for the men. NYU will face Wash U. in the UAA meet.
In Division I, Stanford is the top-ranked men’s squad, ahead of the defending champions, Oklahoma State, who are ranked second. The Villanova women’s team received all 12 first-place votes in defense of the national championship it won a year ago.
Gina Procaccio’s Lady Wildcats return four top-25 finishers -- Amanda Marino (sixth), Sheila Reid (13th), Bogdana Mimic (22nd) and Alison Smith (24th).
The Big East, as usual, is loaded. The top-ranked men’s team in the conference is Syracuse, ranked ninth, ahead of such traditional powers as Georgetown (ranked 16th), Villanova (15th) and Providence (20th). In the women, in addition to ‘Nova, ranked Big East teams include Syracuse (ninth), Georgetown (11th), Providence (14th) and West Virginia (15th).
Div. I
The championship meet will be Monday morning, Nov. 22, in Terre Haute, Ind.
The Oklahoma State men won a year ago despite another disappointing finish by their star, German Fernandez. Fernandez is a junior this fall.
Georgetown is the top-ranked Middle Atlantic Region men’s team, ahead of Villanova, Princeton and St. Joseph’s. In Northeast, it’s Syracuse, Iona, Providence, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth and Binghamton.
Princeton, Columbia, Cornell and Dartmouth will all meet for the Heps title on Friday, Oct. 29, at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
The Villanova women are of course top-ranked in the Mid-Atlantic, just ahead of Pete Farrell’s Princeton Tigers. Princeton, led by senior Ashley Higginson, is ranked seventh nationally. The Northeast Region women’s rankings are Syracuse, Providence, Stony Brook, Harvard, Iona, Columbia, Cornell and Boston College.
Div. II
The championship meet will be held Dec. 4 in Louisville, Ky. Adams State of Colorado is favored to repeat as men’s and women’s champions.
A number of Pennsylvania schools are ranked preseason, including the Shippensburg men (11th) and women (fourth), the Edinboro (12th) and Lock Haven (15th) men, and the Kutztown (17th) and Slippery Rock (18th) women. Shippensburg is led by Neely Spence, national Div. II champion at 5,000 meters.
Men’s teams from Colorado finished 1-2-3 a year ago, Western State and Colorado Mines finished behind Adams State.
Div. III
The national championship race will be held Saturday, Nov. 20, in Waverly, Iowa.
In the men’s division, North Central of Illinois, which won in 2009, is ranked No. 2 behind Wash. U. North Central has won the cross country championship 13 times and last season won the Triple Crown – indoor and outdoor track plus cross country.
The Haverford College men of Pennsylvania are ranked fourth, St. Lawrence and Williams College 12th.
Among the women, Middlebury College is ranked third, Williams 10th, Johns Hopkins 11th and Haverford 16th. The NYU women are tied for 19th. The Lady Violets finished 24th last year in their first appearance in the NCAA championships. They are led by Maeve Evans, Kirsten Keller and Paige Zelinsky. /JP/