Three of the top six ranked teams battle on the Indiana State cross country course this weekend at Pre-Nationals. US#2 Florida State, US#5 Georgetown and US#6 Oregon square off for mid-season bragging rights. All three squads have both strengths and weaknesses, so it’ll be quite interesting to see how it all plays out.

Individually, four of the top six returnees from NCAA XC 2012 compete in Indiana Saturday. Kentucky’s Cally Macumber, Cal Poly’s Laura Hollander, Florida State’s Colleen Quigley, William and Mary’s Elaina Balouris and Boise State’s Emma Bates all have a shot to come away victorious this weekend. The competition will be fierce as the top talent in the country starts their march toward the NCAA post-season.

Women’s Team Race

With three of the top six teams in the country going head-to-head in the women’s race Saturday, anything is possible. US#2 Florida State once again looks to prove themselves as a NCAA title contender, after a close call at the Notre Dame Invitational earlier in the season, where they barely beat US#7 New Mexico 77-82. The Seminoles are led by individual contender Colleen Quigley and Hannah Walker, while looking to close their 3-5 gap. This team is young, which means growing pains, but don’t expect anything less than the best for coach Karen Harvey’s crew.

US#5 Georgetown and US#6 Oregon both have the talent to upset Florida State. At the Paul Short Invitational, Georgetown edged Dartmouth for the team title, 112-125, behind the trio of Samantha Nadel, Rachel Schneider and freshman Haley Pierce. Running a 44 second 1-5 split, Georgetown plans to use that same pack mentality Saturday.

Oregon is a team to keep an eye on, especially with key transfer Lindsay Crevoiserat making her season debut. The Ducks finished second at the Boston College Invitational (losing to US#1 Providence) and the Bill Dellinger Invitational (losing to US#4 Washington), showing that a repeat team title might be out of the question this year. However, Crevoiserat and sophomore Annie Leblanc give the team a boost, which should play well against top competition. Megan Patrignelli has been the top finisher all season long for Oregon. If Crevoiserat and Leblanc can run with Patrignelli, the sky is the limit for Oregon.

US#11 Stanford and US#12 Colorado both look to prove their ranking this weekend, as well. Stanford enters having trumped the competition at the Stanford Invitational a couple weeks back. Led by senior Jessica Tonn and Aisling Cuffee, the Cardinal look to show they are a top ten team. Same goes for Colorado, who have plenty of question marks, but know they can count on Carrie Verdon to lead the way. It remains to be seen if Olympian Shalaya Kipp will open her season at Pre-Nationals, but if she does that gives the Buffaloes more firepower up front.

Pack running tends to play well at Pre-Nationals and US#14 Michigan should showcase that very well. Running to a 1-2-3-4 finish at the Rim Rock Invitational and a mere 18-point victory, Michigan has yet to be tested. Running strong through four may propel this team into the top five on Saturday, but they’ll need a better performance from the back of their pack.

Meanwhile, US#16 Virginia looks to build on their 42-67 win over US#21 William and Mary at the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational. Led by Barbara Strehler, Virginia hopes to show they are a legit top ten threat heading into the pack half of the season.

US#18 Villanova, US#19 Oklahoma State and US#20 Butler round out the rest of the top twenty ranked teams in the field. Villanova follows the lead of senior leaders Emily Lipari and Nicky Akanda after a third place finish at the Paul Short Invitational. Oklahoma State follows standout Monika Juodeskaite and looks to build on their Cowboy Jamboree victory, while Butler finished third at the Roy Griak Invitational earlier this season.

Women’s Individual Race

While the Wisconsin adidas Invitational receives much of the pre-race buzz two states away, the best individual showdown takes place in Terre Haute, Indiana on Saturday. With four of the top six returnees from the 2012 NCAA Cross Country Championships, the competition will be fierce at the top of the standings.

Cally Macumber (Kentucky) leads the way after a fine eight second victory at the Cowboy Jamboree earlier this season. Macumber, who seems poised to crack the top three at NCAAs this fall, bested a strong challenge from Oklahoma State’s Monika Juodeskaite. Both athletes line up Saturday with the hope to pull off the win.

Florida State, who enters as the pre-race team favorite, follows Colleen Quigley and Hannah Walker. Quigley finished second at the Notre Dame Invitational, nine seconds behind race winner Juliet Bottorff, but has shown the consistent front running abilities to challenge for victory this weekend. Walker gives the Seminoles another top ten challenger.

Boise State standout Emma Bates enters flying a little under the radar. Despite a runner up showing at the Bill Dellinger Invitational (top collegiate runner), Bates has much to prove over the fields of cross country after her third place 10,000m performance and seventh place 5,000m performance at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this past summer. She’ll be joined by teammate Marisa Howard, who eyes a top ten finish.

Not to be overlooked, last season’s ninth place NCAA finisher Laura Hollander (Cal Poly) looks to prove herself against seasoned competition. Hollander has been extremely quiet this season, only running in one race, way back on August 31, where she broke her own course record at the Lagoon Open. She broke onto the national scene last fall at Pre-Nationals and should look for similar success this time around.

Rounding out the top list of competition, William and Mary’s Elaina Balouris should contend. Balouris finished thirteenth at NCAAs last fall and has shown no signs of slowing down this season. Colorado’s Shalaya Kipp, a 2012 Olympian, returns for her senior season. It remains to be seen if she’ll race this weekend, but if so, count on her contending for top five.

Ranked Teams Competing

US#2 Florida State

US#5 Georgetown

US#6 Oregon

US#11 Stanford

US#12 Colorado

US#14 Michigan

US#16 Virginia

US#18 Villanova

US#19 Oklahoma State

US#20 Butler

US#21 William and Mary

US#23 Princeton

US#27 Penn State