Why I’m Picking Nico Young & Katelyn Tuohy to Win at 2022 NCAA XC

Jonathan Gort
September 26, 2022

Over the past two weeks, we’ve scanned NCAA cross-country rosters and talked to college coaches to get an idea of ​​what the 2022 NCAA XC season will look like.the result is our Men’s When Women’s Top 10 pre-season rankings, but during our research we found a few things that didn’t quite fit into these rankings.

That is the purpose of this article. With the season kicking off in earnest last weekend, he shares four more thoughts on NCAA personal favorites the Oklahoma State Course and why everyone needs his No. 5 runner this year. .

Nico Young wins men’s individual title

(Photo by Shane Bevel/NCAA Pictures via Getty Images)

A few men’s claims can be made as preseason favorites for the 2022 NCAA individual title. Charles Hicks Last year’s championship top returner, he built a solid track season with a 4th place finish at Tallahassee, 3rd place in the NCAA 3000 indoors and 6th place in the 10000. despite a very bloody nose.his teammate Kai Robinson He was 2nd in the NCAA 5k indoors, ran 13:20, and was 4th in the outdoor 5k. Dylan Jacobs (now representing Tennessee) set an American indoor college record of 13:14 in the 5000m in February and won the NCAA 10,000 title in June. He is also the #4 returner from the NCAA XC.

But I’m picking Northern Arizona’s Nico Young for victory. Young was “only” 11th in his NCAA XC last year, making him a 5th place repeater.And he stayed in his 5th place at Saturday’s Cowboy Jamboree, won by his NCAA 10k runner-up in OK State Alex MeyerBut Young ran a 13:11 on the track last spring — only four college students have ever run faster — and finished third behind a seventh-grade senior in the NCAA outdoor 5k. finished Orin Hacker and sixth grade morgan beadlescomb (Young was finishing his second year at NAU).

Moreover, this is important in cross-country. Young knows how to: sufferThe NCAA takes place at Oklahoma State University this year. This is a brutal course that rewards anyone who can take a punch or two and keep going.That’s why Conor Muntz won two years ago. And who do you think came in 4th in that race as a true freshman? Nico Young.

Young just turned 20 at the end of July, and winning the NCAA XC at 20 is rare. Not to mention Americans. Only in the last 10 years, Edward Cheserek He won an NCAA title before he turned 21 (and there are still questions about Cheserek’s official age).

To find the 20-year-old American who won the NCAA XC, you have to go all the way back to 2003. Dathan RitzenheinLitzenhein is the greatest American high school XC runner of all time, then professional three-time Olympian, American record holder in the 5,000 m, and bronze medalist at the World Half Championships. That’s the type of talent it takes to win the NCAA XC as an American junior in college.

The thing is, Young might be that good. Young compiled his best ever XC season in 2019, achieved a high school record of 3,000m (7:56), and ranked him among the best distance prospects the United States has ever produced. One person. In 2021, at age 18, he ran his US U20 record of 13:24 and at the Olympic Trials he finished ninth. At 20, if he were to pick an American to win the NCAA XC, they would have done everything Nico his young did.

Another thing you may have missed: In August, A young man who came out as gayGiven that there are very few openly gay male athletes at the elite college/professional level in the United States, Young could get mainstream media attention if he wins the NCAA this fall.

Caitlin Tuohy won the women’s individual title

of Alabama Mercy Cherangut Last year’s NCAA Championship top returner (she was second overall) and won the NCAA 10,000m title in track. She won the NCAA XC The last meeting was held in Oklahoma in March 2021. Kaitlyn Tuohy How to win the NCAA XC this year?

It’s easy. 2022 TRACK During his season, Tuohy outperformed his Chelangat. Tuohy has gradually improved with each season of his college career. Last fall he finished only 15th in the NCAA XC, putting him 14 seconds behind Chelangat, but in the NCAA Indoors he finished twice (3k and 5k), and in the NCAA Outdoors (5k — Chelangat finished 10k. doubled from and Tuohy was fresh). Tuohy’s 5k pb was also faster (from 15:14 to 15:17). One of the things that Chelangat does better than her Tuohy is her XC performance, but Tuohy won her NXN individual titles in 2017, 2018 and 2019, making her an all-time US champion. I was a prospect for the best high school girl XC. She translates well on cross-country courses.

Another thing Chelangat has on her side is history. Tuohy, like Nico Young, is a 20-year-old American in her junior year of college. Chelangat she is 25 years old in her fifth grade. If she’s experience that counts, Chelangut is the pick (and history suggests it is: in the last decade she won the NCAA XC at age 20 she won the NCAA XC at 1 only people).

*Kurgatz World Athletics page She said she was 26 when she won the NCAA XC. Kurgat told LetsRun at the time. she was 22 years old.

(Table idea courtesy of LetsRun leader Fast Tuohy)

Nearly Every Team Has Questions At The End Of The Lineup

Last year it felt like every NCAA team was packed. The 2020 Championship (held in March 2021) didn’t count against anyone’s qualification clock, so most teams returned the majority of their athletes and didn’t have many holes to patch . This year, some of these athletes ultimately disqualified (or simply chose to move on) and decided to remain in fifth and sixth grades rather than eagerly recruiting in the 2021 high school class. The team that chose to now urgently need to find a replacement.

Of course, that’s the NCAA cross-country lifecycle. Athletes graduate, but new players step up to fill their places. The team seems dependent on someone stepping up to fill the big hole in 5th place. NAU can be vulnerable, especially if she can’t find her fifth man. If Colin Searman not runIf the OK State men win it all or the Tulsa men finish on the podium, they both need to break through in fifth place to put the seasoned veterans ahead. The women’s team at Notre Dame can get on the podium if they find fifth place, but if they don’t, they will be on the podium.

Some coaches love the tough OK State course, some hate it

Courses that host NCAA championships are typically not aggressive. They do not provoke a wide range of opinions.Courses at Oklahoma State University is not one of those courses.

NCAA coaches agree that OK State’s courses are demanding. Not everyone agrees on whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

of NAUs Mike Smithfor example, I love the difficulty of the course.

(Photo by Shane Bevel/NCAA Pictures via Getty Images)

“The harder the better,” says Smith. “The worse the conditions, the better. The more hills, the better. The longer, the better.” It’s just that fewer people have to do it.Some people will have a fast PR and not finish where they should.”

Smith might be a bit biased, though: NAU won the men’s race two years ago. Diljeet Taylor She also coached her team to the title at Stillwater, but she holds the opposite opinion.

“We had one national title and it was on the course, so I think I’ll like it,” says Taylor. “So naturally I feel like I should probably have some good feelings about it. But it’s brutal. It’s just hard. It’s really, really hard. No but I’m letting the women know that they know how hard it can be and the incoming message is like hey we’re gonna leave our souls out there is. [at the Cowboy Jamboree in September (the BYU women were 3rd)] I will receive it in November. ”

My opinion: It’s nice to have a challenging NCAA XC course. It’s going to be a cross-country race, not a track race on the grass. 2019 World XC course it was ridiculously hardbut the race was great and the best athlete came out on top.

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MB: Former teenage prodigies Caitlin Tuohy and Nico Young become NCAA xc champions.