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NCAA Cross Country Preview Part 3 — Women’s Top 10 Individuals

NCAA Cross Country Preview Part 3 — Women’s Top 10 Individuals

1. Katelyn Tuohy (NC State)

The wunderkind out of New York has come into her own as a collegiate competitor. She placed only 15th as a frosh last year but really showed her potential in track, placing 2nd in both the 3000 and 5000 at the NCAA Indoor, then winning the 5000 outdoors in 15:18.39. She showed she has solid speed with her 4:06.84 win in the ACC 1500. With the Wolfpack being the favored team — and with Tuohy’s training partner Kelsey Chmiel being another top contender — it’s likely that Laurie Henes will coach her top stars to stick together as long as possible in the race.

2. Mercy Chelangat (Alabama)

Last year’s runner-up, she placed 3rd in the NCAA Indoor 5000 and 4th outdoors. The longer the better, as she handily won the track 10,000 by more than 10 seconds with her 32:37.08. Last year, she won SEC titles in cross country as well as the 5000 (in/out) and 10,000. Most notably, the last time this race was held in Stillwater, she took the victory by 5 seconds over Taylor Roe. If the Kenyan senior can use her strength to get away from Tuohy and the rest of the speed merchants before the kicking starts, she stands a good chance of returning to the top.

3. Taylor Roe (Oklahoma State)

The runner-up last time the meet was in Stillwater, Roe then placed 5th last fall. Indoors, she showed plenty of speed in winning the NCAA Indoor 3000 in 8:58.95, using a gutsy burst from 800 out to run away from the field. Outdoors, she PRed at the 5000 in 15:21.47 then placed 3rd in the NCAA race. The senior’s familiarity with her home course should definitely give her an edge.

4. Kelsey Chmiel (NC State)

Consistency is Chmiel’s strong suit. In March ’21, she was 9th on the Stillwater course. In last fall’s championships, she improved to 6th. After placing 6th in the NCAA Indoor 5000, she missed the outdoor campaign with an apparent injury. The school’s press releases indicate she’s back, albeit with no details. We’re going to hope and assume that she’s at full-strength for our purposes here.

5. Ceili McCabe (West Virginia)

The Canadian demonstrated great progress on the NCAA learning curve, placing 42nd last March in her first championship and improving all the way to 3rd in the fall. On the track, she produced an 8:52.52 PR indoors, then focused on the steeple outside, winning the Big 12 and taking 3rd in the NCAA. She went on to win the Canadian title in a PR 9:30.69 and competed at the Worlds.

6. Grace Forbes (Rice)

The…

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