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THE TEAM BATTLE

TITLE CONTENDERS At least three teams appear to be tightly locked in a battle for the team championship: defending champs Brigham Young, last year's third-place Stanford, and last year's eighth place Colorado.

Brigham Young dominated last year's NCAA finals, placing all five scorers in the top 26 with an amazing 18-second 1-5 split! Already this season, the Cougars have demonstrated that they're on track to replicate this feat. BYU ran away with the Sept. 16 BYU Triple Crown, Sept. 22 Great American Festival, Oct. 14 Pre-NCAAs, and Mountain West conference champs. At their conference meet, the Cougars took five of the top six places and featured a 33-second 1-5 spread over 6k. At the regional qualifying meet, BYU fell to Colorado when the Cougars rested team leader Lindsay Thomsen as well as frosh Nan Evans and Katie Martin; however, conservatively inserting Thomsen alone back into Mountain regional gives BYU a narrow margin of victory. Sophomore Thomsen has exploded onto the scene this fall to lead a squad that includes NCAA 10k champ Tara Northcutt, Sharolyn Shields-Thayer (23rd at last fall's NCAA meet), Sarah Elliot (58th last fall), Melanie Steere, and frosh Evans and Martin. In order to repeat, Coach Patrick Shane will be relying on a tight pack consisting of Thomsen, Shields-Thayer, Northcutt, Elliot, and Evans starting in the top 15 individuals and finishing with only a 30-second spread.

The Mountain regional showed that should BYU falter even slightly regional rival Colorado will be right there to pick them off. NCAA individual favorite Kara Grgas-Wheeler, double-winner of the NCAA outdoor 3000/5000, has dominated the country's best this fall and is backed up by one of the best frosh in the country, Sara Gorton. Following Grgas-Wheeler and Gorton are Lesley Higgins, Tera Moody, and Jodie Hughes, who all sport excellent track credentials. Colorado dominated their own Rocky Mountain Shootout, then finished fifth at Pre-NCAAs without Gorton in the lineup. The Buffs scored 29 points against the rest of their conference at the Big 12 meet. At regionals, Colorado put two in front of BYU's lead runner and ended up with a 38-50 victory. At Nationals, the Buffs will need to repeat this feat and have their fifth tighten up a bit on their fourth runner.

West region winner Stanford was ranked number one in the country until their loss to BYU at Pre-NCAAs and has the talent to pull off a win. Other than Pre-NCAAs, the Cardinal have swept all comers with wins at their own Sept. 30 Stanford Invite, Oct. 6 Notre Dame Invite, PAC-10s, and the West regional. Lauren Fleshman Erin and Sullivan finished fifth and seventh respectively at the nationals with Julia Stamps a few ticks back in 14th. However, this threesome has looked suspect this fall with all three failing to show form similar to '99. Sullivan had to drop out of the PAC-10 race following a minor ankle injury and didn't appear at regionals, while Fleshman finally showed promise with a third-place individual performance at PAC-10s and a runner-up performance at regionals. Stamps did not appear in the Cardinal lineup until the regional where she ran sixth for the team (29th overall), although she ran faster in the open race at the PAC-10s than did the #4 Cardinal in the championship event. Newcomers Victoria Chang, last fall's Foot Locker champ, and Jillian Mastroianni, the Foot Locker East winner, have stepped into the Cardinal top 5 and made an immediate impact, while senior Elena Villarreal has improved significantly to become one of the team's leaders. The Cardinal need some combination of Fleshman, Villarreal, Sullivan, Stamps, Chang, and Mastroianni to all run well on the same day to pull off an upset.

TROPHY CONTENDERS Wisconsin, Arizona State, and Boston College all appear capable of picking up a trophy in Ames.

Great Lakes regional winner Wisconsin is one of the best harrier squads in the nation and features defending NCAA champ Erica Palmer. The Badgers held out Palmer at the Sept. 30 Stanford Invite and could only finish fourth against a stellar field that included three other top-10 teams. Palmer returned to lead the Badgers to a strong third at Pre-NCAAs, a dominating win at the Big Ten champs, and a comfortable win at regionals.

West regional runner-up Arizona State has been running strongly all fall, despite competing without the services of Olympic Trials qualifier Kelly MacDonald. Junior Lisa Aguilera has stepped it up to lead the Sun Devils this fall, and is joined at the front by Mary Duerback. Arizona State finished third at the Sept. 23 Roy Griak Invite, fourth at Pre-NCAAs, and second at PAC-10s and regionals.

Northeast regional winner Boston College has exploded onto the scene this season. The Eagles dominated a strong interregional field at the Sept. 30 Iona Meet of Champions, followed up with an excellent sixth-place finish at Pre-NCAAs, then dominated the Big East champs with 4 runners in the top 10 and a strong 37-second 1-5 spread over 5k. BC's top four all placed in the top 9 at regionals, but their fifth had an off day and their normal sixth had to pick up the slack. Northeast regional champ Megan Guiney leads the Eagles and is backed up by Katie Ryan, Laura Smith, Cate Guiney, Jen Kramer, and Julie Spolidoro.

TOP-TEN CONTENDERS Arizona, Colorado St., Georgetown, Kansas State, Michigan, Minnesota, NC State, and Yale are all capable of claiming a top ten finish on the right day.

Midwest regional winner Kansas State has developed into a national power during the last three seasons. The Wildcats return just about everyone from their squad that finished fifth at last fall's NCAA harrier meet. Amy Mortimer and Korene Hinds are one of the nation's strongest front-running duos. The Wildcats finished third behind Stanford and Washington at the Sept. 30 Stanford Invite, then placed eighth at Pre-NCAAs, garnered runner-up honors behind Colorado at the Big-12 meet, and won the Midwest regional. A stronger fifth-runner would put them in contention for a trophy. Arizona finished fourth at the Sept. 23 Roy Griak Invite, third at the Oct. 6 Notre Dame Invite (where the squad's number one run sat out to rest up for Pre-NCAAs), seventh at Pre-NCAAs, third at PAC-10s, and third at regionals. At the regionals, several of the Wildcats were suffering the effects of a flu bug that was circulating around the squad. PAC-10 champ Tara Chaplin and Katrin Englen lead Arizona this fall.

Mid-Atlantic champ Georgetown finished ninth at Pre-NCAAs, third at Big Easts, and ran away with their regional. NCAA Indoor mile runner-up Autumn Fogg has led the squad this fall, with Emily Enstice, Marina Kruppa, Lorena Adams, and Amanda Pape giving them a 34-second 1-5 spread at regionals.

Surprising Yale is another team that has significantly improved since last season. Yale burst onto the national scene this fall with a huge runner-up performance at Minnesota's Roy Griak Invitational (Sept. 23), which they followed up with a dominating win at the Oct. 13 New England Championships over regional rival Providence, then edged Ivy rivals Brown and Columbia at the Oct. 27 Heptagonals before claiming second at the Northeast regional. Twin sisters Laura and Kate O'Neill lead the Bulldogs, who featured an excellent 35-second 1-5 spread at regionals.

Great Lakes regional runner-up Michigan won the Sept. 23 William & Mary Interregional, finished second to Stanford at the Oct. 6 Notre Dame Invite, second to Washington at the 10/15 Wolverine Interregional, and second to Wisconsin at Big Tens. Katie Jazwinski and Katie Radkewich lead the Wolverines this autumn.

Southeast regional champ North Carolina State featured an excellent top five in Lindsey Rogers, Christy Nichols, Katie Sabino, Beth Fonner, and Beth Kraft but have been up and down this fall since they lost Rogers for the season to injury. In her place, Amy Beykirch has stepped in to run fourth for the Wolfpack at regionals. With their full lineup, NC State finished second to top-ranked Brigham Young at the Great American Festival. Then without Rogers and Nichols, the Wolfpack tied for fifth at the Oct. 6 Notre Dame Invite. Nichols returned to the lineup at ACCs as NC State edged North Carolina 43-52 for the loop title and repeated their win over UNC at the regional, this time displaying a tight 30-second 1-5 spread.

Midwest regional runner-up Minnesota opened the season with a bang, winning their own Sept. 23 Roy Griak Invite over a strong national field. However they've slid a bit midseason, finishing 12th at Pre-NCAAs and third at Big Tens. Senior Elaine Eggleston and frosh Darja Vasiljeva have led the Gophers all season; senior Corinne Nimitz was the team leader early, but dropped back at Pre-NCAAs and Big Tens before rebounding at regionals.

Colorado State claimed third in the top-heavy Mountain region behind Colorado and BYU. The Rams finished sixth at the Sept. 23 Roy Griak Invite, 10th at Pre-NCAAs, and second to BYU at the Mountain West conference. Elizabeth Roodell and Marissa Keefe lead CSU.

TOP-TWENTY CONTENDERS Arkansas, Brown, Marquette, North Carolina, Providence, Texas A&M, Villanova, Weber State, West Virginia could all contend for a Top-Twenty spot.

Brown surprised many last fall with an excellent ninth-place finish at the NCAA championships. Sara Tindall and Kim Thalmann finished 1-2 for the Bears at the Heps, paving their way to a close second to Yale at that meet. The duo then finished 2-3 at the Northeast regional to enable Brown to edge Providence for third. Earlier this fall, Brown finished third at Iona and 15th at Pre-NCAAs.

The Providence Friars, 10th at the '99 NCAA meet, have struggled a bit this season with '99 leader Heather Capello sidelined with injuries. Despite this loss, PC finished fifth at Griak, second to Yale at New Englands, and a surprise second to Boston College at Big Easts before falling to fourth at regionals. Senior Rachel Hixon leads the Providence squad, where she's joined at the front by Roisin McGattigan and Fracine Darroch.

North Carolina had some injury problems early this fall, but put everything together at ACCs and the Southeast regional for a close seconds to NC State. UNC features wonderfrosh Shalane Flanagan, who has been tearing up the trails this fall with wins in virtually every meet. Fellow newcomer Victoria Jackson, last fall's Foot Locker runner-up, debuted at ACCs and made an immediate impact for the Tar Heels.

Weber State finished just three points behind Colorado State at the Mountain regional. Earlier, the Wildcats finished ninth at the Griak Invite, 11th at Pre-NCAAs, then won the Big Sky conference title. Rebecca Bennion and Cynthia Losee lead Weber State.

Texas A&M has stepped it up this season, winning the Sept. 16 Aztec Invite, finishing second at the Sept. 30 Iona Invite, and fourth at the Big 12 meet. Melissa Gulli and Andrea Bookout led the Aggies to an upset win over Arkansas at the South Central regional.

Arkansas features one of the best pair of lead runners in the nation in Lilli Kleinman and Tracy Robertson. They have finished 1-2 in every race they've run this season -- and that includes the Sept. 16 Iowa State Open, Sept. 30 Stanford Invite, the Oct. 14 Chili Pepper Festival, SEC Champs, and South Central regionals. Arkansas finished fifth at Stanford behind four top-ten ranked teams, then easily won both the Chili Pepper and SEC meets. Arkansas had been improving considerably over the course of the season, with Amy Wiseman and Christine Wurth closing the gap on their front-running teammates; however they fell to Texas A&M at regionals when their third and fifth runners had off days.

Mid-Atlantic region runner-up West Virginia redeemed themselves for last fall's failure to advance to NCAAs. The Mountaineers placed 16th at Pre-NCAAs and fifth at Big Easts. Rebecca Stallwood, Merissa Sexsmith, and frosh Megan Metcalf lead West Virginia.

The Villanova Wildcats have won 7 NCAA titles since 1989, the most recent coming in 1998. This year's squad finished 13th at Pre-NCAAs, fourth at Big Easts, and third at the Mid-Atlantic regional -- only two points behind West Virginia. Ann McGranahan took the Big East and regional titles.

Great Lakes region third-place finisher Marquette missed advancing to last fall's NCAA meet by a mere four points at the regional. Susan Barth led the Golden Eagles to eighth at the Sept. 23 Roy Griak Invite, 14th at Pre-NCAAs, and the loop championship at the Conference USA meet.

THE REST OF THE FIELD Columbia, Duke, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Oregon, South Florida, Wake Forest, and Washington round out the national's field.

Oregon, which opened well with a seventh at the Roy Griak Invite, suffered a mid-season slump at Pre-NCAAs (21st) and PAC-10s (seventh). The Ducks rebounded at the West regional and were able to grab fourth ahead of an understrength Washington squad. Transfer Hanna Smedstad and metric miler Katie Crabb lead Oregon in a return trip to NCAAs.

Washington opened strongly this fall with a runner-up performance to BYU at the Sept. 16 BYU Triple Crown and to Stanford at the Sept. 30 Stanford Invite. The Huskies edged Michigan at the Oct. 15 Wolverine Interregional but then slipped to fourth at the PAC-10 meet when top runner Gillian Palmer struggled. Sans Palmer, Washington fell to fifth at the West regional; Palmer is not expected to return for nationals. Cami Matson and Kate Bradshaw lead the Huskies in Palmer's absence.

Missouri has been improving all season. The Tigers finished 12th at the Sept. 23rd Roy Griak Invite, won the Sept. 30 Lakefront Invite, then placed 17th at Pre-NCAAs, third at Big-12s, and third at the Midwest regional. Kerry Hils, Katie Meyers, and Anne Marie Brooks lead the Tigers.

Wake Forest finished 10th at Griak, fourth at the Iona Meet of Champions, won the Furman Invite prior to finishing third at ACCs, then finished third at the Southeast regional. The Deacons feature senior Susan Day.

Another big surprise this fall has been Columbia, which burst onto the scene with a 19th-place effort at Pre-NCAAs, finished a strong third at Heps, then edged BU for fifth at the Northeast regional. Caitlin Hickin leads the Lions.

South Florida repeated as South regional champs behind Rita Arndt's leadership. Earlier, the Bulls won Sept. 16 Crimson Classic on the regional's course, then edged Iowa State for the win at the Sept. 30 Greensboro Classic. South Florida suffered an off day at Pre-NCAAs and finished 27th, but rebounded with a close second to Marquette at the Conference USA meet.

Duke finished fourth at the Southeast regional in a tight three-way between Wake Forest, the Blue Devils, and Virginia for the first bubble spot then squeaked into the NCAA finals as the final at-large selection. All-American Sheela Agrawal leads the Blue Devils. Earlier this season, Duke finished fifth at the Great American Festival, fourth at Notre Dame, 25th at Pre-NCAAs, and fourth at ACCs.

Georgia Tech perfectly timed a peak to claim the South region's second automatic berth after placing 47th (out of 56 teams) at Pre-NCAAs and seventh (out of 9) at ACCs. Frosh Renee Metivier, a '99 Foot Locker finalist, led the Yellow Jackets at regionals.

THE INDIVIDUAL BATTLE

THE FAVORITE Colorado's Kara Grgas-Wheeler is the overwhelming individual favorite. For most observers, it isn't so much a question of whether she'll win but rather how big her margin of victory margin will be. However, Grgas-Wheeler faded to ninth at last fall's harrier championships despite carrying the favorite's mantle. In addition to winning last spring's NCAA 3k/5k and making the finals of the Olympic Trials 5000, Wheeler simply ran away from excellent fields at Pre-NCAAs and Big 12s.

THE CHALLENGERS Wisconsin's Erica Palmer, the defending NCAA harrier champ, will need to upset Grgas-Wheeler to retain her title. Palmer finished second at Pre-NCAAs and easily won the Big Ten and Great Lakes regional meets.

North Carolina newcomer Shalane Flanagan, the 2000 USA Junior Cross Country Champion, had her only loss this season at Pre-NCAAs, where she finished third behind Grgas-Wheeler and Palmer.. The standout frosh scored runaway wins at invitationals at Wake Forest, William & Mary, and North Carolina as well as at ACCs and the Southeast regional.

Arkansas' Lilli Kleinmann and teammate Tracy Robertson have finished 1-2 at every meet this season: Sept. 16 Iowa State Open, Sept. 30 Stanford Invite, Oct. 14 Chili Pepper Festival, SEC championships, and the South Central regional. Kleinmann has now won three regional titles (she also won the Northeast regional two years ago as a frosh at BU) and placed third at last fall's collegiate harrier championships, while Robertson claimed 37th.

TOP-TEN CONTENDERS Kansas State also features an outstanding front-running duo in Amy Mortimer and Korene Hinds, who placed 12th and 10th respectively at last fall's champs. This fall Mortimer finished fourth at Pre-NCAAs and was the Big 12 runner-up, while Hinds -- the NCAA outdoor 3000 runner-up -- finished eighth at Pre-NCAAs and stuggled in Boulder's thin air to place eighth there too. Mortimer and Hinds ran away with the top two places at the Midwest regional.

PAC-10 rivals Arizona's Tara Chaplin and Arizona State's Lisa Aguilera have battled each other all fall and have a 2-2 record against each other: Chaplin won the Sept. 23 Roy Griak Invite and the PAC-10 champs where in each case Aguilera earned runner-up honors, while Aguilera earned a measure of revenge at Pre-NCAAs -- where she finished fifth ahead of Chaplin's 10th -- and by winning the West regional while Chaplin battled a flu bug and faded to ninth.

Toledo frosh Tuula Laitinen won the Oct. 7 Paul Short Invite, finished sixth at Pre-NCAAs, ran away with the MAC title, and claimed runner-up honors behind Palmer at the Great Lakes regional.

Wheeler's frosh teammate Sara Gorton appears to be a top-10 contender. The Colorado newcomer claimed third at both the Big 12 champs and the Mountain regional.

Texas Christian's Gladys Keitany has only lost twice this fall -- both times to Arkansas' Kleinmann and Robertson at Chili Pepper and the South Central regional -- and ran away with the WAC individual title.

New Orleans frosh Michaela Mannova finished fourth at Chili Pepper behind Keitany, won the Sun Belt individual crown, then claimed fourth at the South Central regional.

Another potential top-10 national's finisher is Montana's Sabrina Monro. The Mountain region runner-up finished seventh at Pre-NCAAs and ran away with the Big Sky title.

Villanova's Ann McGranahan finished second at the Oct. 7 Paul Short Invite and 17th at Pre-NCAAs before claiming the Big East and Mid-Atlantic titles.

Duke's Southeast region runner-up Sheila Agrawal, a member of the USA Junior harrier team at last spring's World Champs, won the Notre Dame Invite, finished 20th at Pre-NCAAs and third at ACCs.

ALL-AMERICAN CANDIDATES BYU's juggernaut of Lindsey Thomsen, Tara Northcutt, Sharolyn Shields-Thayer, Sarah Ellett, and any one of several other Cougars will be running in a tight pack near the front the field. Thomsen finished second at Great American Festival, ninth at Pre-NCAAs, and won the Mountain West conference. Northcutt, who missed some early meets due to a minor knee injury, won last spring's NCAA 10k title.

Any of Stanford's leading runners group could put together a race at nationals and challenge for Top-10 and All-American honors. Lauren Fleshman, fifth last year in Bloomington, finished third at PAC-10s and second at the West regional, while Elena Villarreal finished fourth at the regional. The Cardinal lineup includes two-time Foot Locker champ Erin Sullivan, seventh at last fall's harrier meet, former Foot Locker champ Julia Stamps, a three-time NCAA top-14 finisher, last year's Foot Locker champ Victoria Chang, and '99 Foot Locker East winner Jillian Mastroianni.

Arizona's Katrin Englen has also improved this fall, finishing 22nd at Pre-NCAAs and eighth at PAC-10s, while Oregon's Hanna Smedtad, 18th last fall at NCAAs for Oklahoma State, finished ninth at the conference meet and eighth at the regional. Washington's Cami Matson stepped it up at PAC-10s, where she finished fourth, while Kate Bradshaw finished 10th; at the West regional, Bradshaw garnered fifth and Maston seventh. UNLV's Katie Barto was the only runner to break up BYU's top five at the Mountain West champs with her fifth place effort and finished sixth at regionals, while Irvine's Kareen Nilsson won the Big West individual title and grabbed 11th at the regional.

Northeast rivals Sara Tindall (Brown) and Megan Guiney (Boston College) have battled all season. Tindall won the Heps crown, while Guiney won the Iona Invite and took runner-up honors at Big Easts. In head-to-head competition, Guiney edged Tindall at Iona and the Northeast regional, while Tindal returned the favor by finishing 14th at Pre-NCAAs -- five places ahead of Guiney. Yale's twin sisters Laura and Kate O'Neill finished 1-3 at the New England champs and 5-6 at the Northeast regional, while the New England runner-up, Providence's Rachel Hixson, 15th at the '98 NCAAs and fourth at this fall's Big East meet, finished eighth at regionals on an off day.

Georgetown's Autumn Fogg, the NCAA indoor mile runner-up, finished third at Big Easts and second at regionals. Fellow Hoyas Marina Kruppa and Emily Enstice claimed fourth and fifth at regionals. Navy's Melissa Foon grabbed third at Heptaganols and the Mid-Atlantic regional meet.

Wake Forest's Susan Day was the ACC runner-up and grabbed third at the Southeast regional. She also finished fourth at both the Griak Invite and the Iona Meet of Champions. Virginia Commonwealth's Maria-Elena Calle, the Colonial runner-up and eighth last fall at NCAAs, has struggled a bit to regain her '99 form but did claim fourth at the Southeast regional. Appalachian State's Mary Jane Harrleson, the 1999 NCAA 1500 titlest, finished 11th at this year's Pre-NCAAs, won the Southern Conference, and finished sixth at regionals.

Tennessee's South regional champ Sharon Dickie looked like a potential All-American at the SEC meet, where she finished third behind Arkansas's front-running duo.

Palmer's Badger teammate Beth Brewster was the Big Ten runner-up, 18th at Pre-NCAAs, and third at the Great Lakes meet.

1999 NCAA RESULTS

Teams: 1, Brigham Young 72. 2, Arkansas 125. 3, Stanford 127. 4, Wisconsin 185. 5, Kansas St 232. 6, North Carolina 294. 7, Georgetown 321. 8, Colorado 351. 9, Brown 354. 10, Providence 368. 11, Northern Arizona 381. 12, Arizona State 385. 13, Washington 403. 14, Michigan State 411. 15, Michigan 416. 16, Nebraska 430. 17, Minnesota 434. 18, Boston 436. 19, Oregon 460. 19, NC State 460. 21, Villanova 462. 22, Texas 472. 23, Missouri 480. 24, Bucknell 546. 25, Duke 572. 26, South Florida 575. 27, Arizona 608. 28, Boston College 622. 29, Notre Dame 626. 30, UCLA 631. 31, Florida 676.

Individuals: 1. Erica Palmer, Wisc 16:40. 2. Amy Yoder, Ark. 16:45. 3. Larissa Kleinman, Ark. 16:49. 4. Hanna Lyngstad, Tulane 16:51. 5. Lauren Fleshman, Stan 16:51. 6. Leigh Daniel, TxTech 16:52. 7. Erin Sullivan, Stan 16:57. 8. Maria-Elena Calle, VaComm. 16:58. 9. Kara Wheeler, Col 16:59. 10. Korene Hinds, Kansas St. 16:59. 11. Elizabeth Jackson, BYU 17:00. 12. Amy Mortimer, Kansas St. 17:00. 13. Christy Nichols, NCSt 17:02. 14. Julia Stamps, Stanford 17:03. 15. Trish Nervo, UNC 17:08. 16. Kara Ormond, BYU 17:12. 17. Tara Rohatinky, BYU 17:14. 18. Hanna Smedstad, OkSt 17:14. 19. Janelle Kraus, WakeF 17:14. 20. Jessica Dailey, Ark. 17:14. 21. Kendra Versendaal, NAz 17:15. 22. Karin Ernstrom, Baylor 17:16. 23. Sharolyn Shields, BYU 17:16. 24. Carmen Douma, Vil 17:17. 25. Erin Aufderheide, Wisc 17:17.