This past Saturday, Louisville E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park hosted its 20th annual Live in Lou Cross Country Classic, one of the highest attended cross country meets in the country, rich in history and tradition. For Division I and II athletes, this meet is a chance to drop down in distance on a fast course and assert some mid-season dominance. For Division III athletes, however, this particular meet carries a lot more weight. 

This weekend served as a chance for Division III athletes to preview the course that will host the NCAA DIII Championship meet on November 20, as well as size up some of the expected national competition.

Overall, the weekend gave a taste of what to look out for in seven weeks. Times were fast, packs were tight, and the gator even went the right way this year. For many, the weekend was a satisfying move in the right direction. 

Wilmington’s Simon Heys won the individual title this year in a riveting battle against Ohio Athletic Conference rival Jeff Joseph of Mount Union, while Trine’s Evie Bultemeyer won the women’s individual crown in a dominating 17 seconds over Emory’s Annika Urban. Hope’s Anastasia Tucker was the first DIII athlete to cross the finish line in the Gold Race, covering the 5,000-meter course in 17:11 to place 28th overall.

The men of MIT and the women of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps took the wins in this year’s pre-national race, with team scores of 46 and 43, respectively. Both Johns Hopkins’s and Hope’s women lined up in the all-division Gold Race, placing 10th and 23rd overall amid several competitive Division I and Division II teams.

Conditions were great overall--the course was dry and the temperature hovered at around 70 degrees when the gun went off for the men’s race at noon.

The men were out at an honest pace, with Redlands Tucker Cargile and Franciscan’s Liam Galligan leading the field at a mile. Positioning was key in such a packed race, and Mount Union’s Joseph parked himself comfortably up front, with Wilmington’s Heys trailing a few runners back.

As the field began to string out, an anxious Joseph made a hard move about halfway through the race. Heys responded, and the two proceeded to go head-to-head, exchanging leads from 5k all the way to the finish. 

Heys had just a little more in the tank, however, overtaking Joseph on the final straightaway to the finish. Heys took the victory in 24:11, a new cross country personal best by almost a minute. Joseph crossed at 24:14, also setting a personal best. Both individuals covered the course in times faster than the 2019 pre-nationals meet winner, who ran 24:19 on the same course. 

Hear more about Heys’s race this past weekend here. 

MIT took the team title, while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps finished second, 89 points behind MIT and just 2 points ahead of third-place Emory. 

MIT put all five scorers in the top 13 with a pack time of just 20 seconds. Plus, their remaining three men finished well within the top 40, which presumptuously makes all eight of their competing athletes “Pre-Nats All-Americans.” Talk about depth! 

Drop in D3 Glory Days #1 and #2 ranked teams Pomona-Pitzer and Williams College, who both took a bye week this weekend, and competition is sure to shake up for the better.

In the women’s race, CMS took an early lead, as four of their runners planted themselves in the 9-person front pack at 2k. Their fifth and sixth runners trailed close behind in a second pack, just behind Ohio Northern’s Tessa Pitcovich, who bridged the gap between packs. 

Of the nine athletes in front was Trine’s Bultemeyer, who ran a great tactical race--patiently hanging up front with the CMS runners until she saw a break, took it with a comfortable lead, and snagged the women’s individual title in her first 6k race of the season. She covered the 6,000-meter course in 21:32. Bultemeyer was named NCAA DIII National Athlete of the Week for her efforts on Saturday.

CMS’s Sophomore Natalie Bitetti, Senior Riley Harmon, Junior Meredith Bloss, and Senior Emily Clarke held on well after Bultemeyer’s big move, all placing within the top 10 and crossing the finish line in a span of 25 seconds of each other. Senior Sophie Gitlin rounded out CMS’s finishing scorers in 22nd place.

While CMS’s performance seemed to dominate that of any other team in the women’s pre-national race (UW-LaCrosse finished 27 points off of the lead), it was the women’s team from Johns Hopkins, who opted to compete in the earlier 5,000-meter, all-division Gold Race, that truly stole the show. 

While CMS’s five scorers had a pack time of 52 seconds, Johns Hopkins finished all five of their scorers in an impressive 23 seconds and then finished two more while CMS’s hypothetical pack time clock was still running. In fact, all 10 athletes entered for Johns Hopkins finished within an impressive 81 seconds of each other.

Of course, Johns Hopkins raced a shorter distance, but their converted 5k times combined with a much tighter pack time was sure to beat CMS’s team head-to-head. Take a side-by-side look of each team’s performance on Saturday below.

Come November, CMS and Johns Hopkins are sure to bring an exciting battle for the team title, especially if CMS plugs in Laura Zimmer, who was not present in results from this past weekend, but finished as the team’s number four runner two weeks ago at the UC Riverside Invitational.

When considering the women’s individual national title, Bultemeyer will certainly be a strong contender. In an interview with D3 Glory Days, she cites Hope’s Tucker as another athlete to watch out for in November. Tucker, who competed in the 5,000-meter Gold Race at Louisville, deserves no less of a spotlight on the weekend, as she ran 17:11 to place 28th overall in a field loaded with multi-division talent. 

Perhaps the most impressive performance from the weekend against multiple divisions, however, did not come out of Louisville, but Bethelehem, PA, where John Carroll’s Alex Phillip ran 23:39 to place sixth overall in the largely Division I field. Phillip, another member of the Ohio Athletic Conference, was named National Athlete of the Week for his performance for the second time in three weeks (the first after taking the crown at the All-Ohio Championship, becoming only the fourth Division III athlete ever to win the All-Ohio Championship race). 

Having already tackled the course at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park during the last NCAA DIII Championship meet in 2019, it makes sense that Phillip, who is quickly widening the gap on his dominance within Division III, would seek out some steeper competition. Certainly, he will look to drastically improve upon his 2019 All-American performance at the NCAA Championship meet and is in strong contention for the individual title come November. 

Phillip’s team, John Carroll, placed eighteenth overall and first of three Division III teams represented in the Men’s Gold Varsity race at Paul Short. In doing so, JCU sends the message that they will be a strong force to be reckoned with at the national level.

As Alex Phillip made his statement to the nation, Kassie Rosenbum of Loras College made hers. On Friday Night at Augustana, Rosenbum dropped the field by 85s for a statement win. The 2019 10k Champion covered the course in 2:026 to let the rest of the nation know she is going for that top spot in November. Both UChicago men’s and women’s team took the team titles over Loras.

Other standout performances from the weekend include the dual victory of SUNY Geneseo’s men’s and women’s teams at home. Geneseo’s men went 1-4-6-10-11, led by Sophomore Ezra Ruggles, who took the individual title in 24:10. The women’s team went 1-2-4-6-14 and were led by sophomores Kathleen McCarey and Rachel Hirschkind, who ran 21:43 and 21:58, respectively. 

In Iowa, the Wartburg Men look to build their case as to why they should be ranked #1. They took down the WashU men 18-39 by putting their pack in the Top 6. Joe Freiburger took the home invite win with a time of 24:27. On the women’s side, Wartburg ended up winning the tie breaker over WashU. Wartburg were led by Aubrie Fisher and Riley Mayer with a 1-2 to hold off a strong WashU Pack. Wartburg placed 1-2-4-10-13 vs WashU 3-5-6-7-9.

Overall, the weekend produced some great performances and certainly pushed fans to the edge of their seats in anticipation for November 20. Those who were granted the opportunity to preview the course at Louisville will look to replicate or better their performance at the national championship meet, and those who were not know that they will be ready when the challenge presents itself.

Division III cross country is finally back, and it’s going to be better than ever.