THE CONNING TOWER by Keith Conning: Three-Time Defending Champ Johns Hopkins the Team to Beat in DIII Women’s Cross Country

By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA

September 2, 2015

NEW ORLEANS – For the third consecutive year, the Johns Hopkins women were tabbed as the preseason favorite in Division III Cross Country by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The three-time defending champ received seven of eight first-place votes in the poll released Wednesday.
MIT, the runner-up at least year’s national meet, earned the other first-place vote.
National PDFs: Preseason Top 30 Summary | Week-by-Week 2015 | Week-by-Week All Time
Regional Rankings: Preseason Summary | Preseason Recap

NCAA Division III National Coaches Poll Top 5 – Women
1)	2)	3)	4)	4)
Johns Hopkins	MIT	SUNY Geneseo	St. Lawrence	Washington (Mo.)
View Complete Women’s National Coaches Poll

Arguing about Johns Hopkins’ merits might fall on deaf ears. The Blue Jays won the 2014 title going away (five runners inside the top 30) and return three of their five scorers including Sophia Meehan (sixth in 2014), Tess Mehan (24th) and Bridget Gottlieb (37th). Another national championship is definitely in the realm of possibility.
Like Johns Hopkins, MIT welcomes back three scorers and two others from last year’s national meet to bring them to an even five. The Beavers earned 273 points from the voters, just six points shy of the aforementioned Blue Jays.
SUNY Geneseo enters the season ranked third overall, its highest spot in the preseason poll since 2012 (also third). The Knights were fifth at 2014 NCAAs.
St. Lawrence and Washington (Mo.) are locked into a fourth-place tie and both have four of their five scorers from last year returning. Eighth-place finisher Cassia Hameline and Megan Kellogg (11th) are back for the former, while Washington (Mo.) returns five runners whom finished in the top 100 one year ago.
Also in the top 10 of the preseason poll are Middlebury (sixth), Williams (seventh), Calvin (eighth), Hope (ninth) and the University of Chicago (10th). Calvin has the strongest returning runner out of the group (Cassandra Vince was third overall last year), while Hope is the most interesting case having finished 23rd at 2014 NCAAs.
SUNY Oneonta is another surprise, jumping from 24th last year to a tie for 11th in the preseason poll. Claremond-Mudd-Scripps joins Oneonta at the ranking and they’re ahead of Wisconsin-La Crosse (first showing in the preseason poll since 2007), Carleton and Amherst in the top 15.
Of note, Oberlin went from finishing seventh at national to being left out of the poll completely. RIT (19th) and Case Western Reserve (20th) make their first ever appearance in the preseason poll.
The Division III Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, November 21 at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wisconsin.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division III
Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll
2015 Preseason — September 2
next poll: September 16

Rank	Institution (FPV)	Points	Region	Conference	*Head Coach (Yr)**	Last Week
1	Johns Hopkins (7)	279	Mideast	Centennial	Bobby Van Allen (17th)	1
2	MIT (1)	273	New England	NEWMAC	Halston Taylor (9th)	2
3	SUNY Geneseo	264	Atlantic	SUNYAC	Dan Moore (1st)	5
4	Washington (Mo.)	252	Midwest	UAA	Jeff Stiles (15th)	4
4	St. Lawrence	252	Atlantic	Liberty League	Mike Howard (17th)	3
6	Middlebury	238	New England	NESCAC	Nicole Wilkerson (5th)	6
7	Williams	223	New England	NESCAC	Pete Farwell (16th)	8
8	Calvin	213	Great Lakes	Michigan Intercollegiate	Brian Diemer (10th)	9
9	Hope	210	Great Lakes	Michigan Intercollegiate	Mark Northuis (28th)	23
10	Chicago	203	Midwest	UAA	Chris Hall (15th)	12
11	SUNY Oneonta	195	Atlantic	SUNYAC	Angelo Posillico (6th)	24
11	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	195	West	SCIAC	John Goldhammer (32nd)	10
13	UW-La Crosse	179	Midwest	WIAC	Derek Stanley (4th)	13
14	Carleton	177	Central	MIAC	Donna Ricks (23rd)	14
15	Amherst	165	New England	NESCAC	Cassie Funke-Harris (4th)	11
16	Willamette	163	West	Northwest Conference	Matt McGuirk (12th)	15
17	UW-Eau Claire	148	Midwest	WIAC	Dan Schwamberger (9th)	17
18	Dickinson	145	Mideast	Centennial	Don Nichter (26th)	18
19	RIT	125	Atlantic	Liberty League	David Stevens (8th)	NR
20	Case Western Reserve	123	Great Lakes	UAA	Kathy Lanese (18th)	NR
24	Tufts	99	New England	NESCAC	Kristen Morwick (16th)	16
25	SUNY Cortland	95	Atlantic	SUNYAC	Steve Patrick (8th)	26
26	Luther	93	Central	IIAC	Yarrow Pasche (11th)	NR
27	Otterbein	76	Great Lakes	OAC	Dara Ford (2nd)	NR
28	Emory	62	South/Southeast	UAA	John Curtin (31st)	29
29	St. Thomas (Minn.)	49	Central	MIAC	Joe Sweeney (36th)	21
30	Swarthmore	46	Mideast	Centennial	Peter Carroll (16th)	NR
31	UW-Oshkosh	42	Midwest	WIAC	Drew Ludtke (4th)	NR
32	Whitworth	41	West	Northwest Conference	Toby Schwarz (20th)	NR
33	RPI	29	Atlantic	Liberty League	John Lynch (5th)	NR
34	Ohio Wesleyan	24	Great Lakes	NCAC	Matt Wackerly (6th)	NR
35	St. Olaf	23	Central	MIAC	Chris Daymont (35th)	27
Also Receiving Votes: Carnegie Mellon 15, Christopher Newport 12, Macalester 1, Keene State 1

(* year as head coach of that team in women’s cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)