On Nov. 10, 2022 the Smith Cross Country team was met with a barrage of claps and cheers from the athletic department sending them off on their trip to Michigan State University in chilly Lansing, Michigan for the 2022 NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships.
The competition represented the top 32 Division III teams in the country who each qualified by winning their regional championship or by receiving an “at-large” bid based on outstanding performances the rest of the season. The Pioneers finished fifth in one of the most competitive regions, the Mid-East, and received an at-large bid due to their second place finish at the NEWMAC conference championship and their four team victories this season. They finished at Nationals with an impressive 27th place, moving up two places higher than their finish last year.
Following their appearance at the championship last year, Head Coach Ellen O’Neil had said she wanted to make their Nationals qualification a “new normal.” The team has worked hard this season to make sure last year’s breakthrough was an upward trend rather than a fluke. Last year, Smith did not receive a national ranking until Week Six of the regular season, but this year, they started with a 25th place ranking in Week One and maintained a national rank for six weeks and maintained a top five regional ranking the entire regular season.
They continued to prove themselves at the national competition. At the race on Nov. 12, the team faced weather just above freezing with 12 to 15 mph winds and even had to run on snow that was covering the course. Despite these harsh conditions, the top seven were able to finish with only a one minute and 17 second spread between their times, using their signature packing strategy.
Laurel Kruger ’23J led the pack and finished strong with her last race for the team. Kruger placed 65th out of 293 of the country’s best racers with a time of 23:05.3 and has consistently been a frontrunner and leader for the team. She clocked in an individual win in both the 5k and 10k in the outdoor track NEWMAC championship and claimed Smith’s first and second collegiate Cross Country wins at the Wheaton and Smith Invitationals.
Mack Case ’24 took the second slot finishing in the top 150 (23:48.9) and Pria Parker ’25, Anna Louise Wildes ’25 and Shams Ferver ’26J rounded out the scorers stride in stride, all finishing within less than a second of each other. Anjali Jones ’24 and Isabel Vivanco ’25 were only about 10 seconds behind, creating a strong storm of yellow uniforms against the snowy backdrop.
When Head Coach Ellen O’Neil was asked her thoughts on the race, she said, “The conditions were tough, but so were the Smith Athletes. This has been the trend throughout the season.” The team faced challenges this season way beyond the Michigan wind and snow. Between a mid-season COVID-19 outbreak and countless debilitating injuries, Smith Cross Country had to have a lot of grit and determination in order to finish the season strong.
O’Neil credited their success despite setbacks to the depth of the team and the growth of the team as a whole. She encouraged the runners to improve by “pushing from the back.” While Cross Country only allows seven racers for the regional and national championships, O’Neil emphasized the importance of all 17 team members pushing themselves to push the frontrunners forward in the regular season meets. This allows the team to be sustainable each year when seniors graduate and injuries arise that change the makeup of the top seven.
The team’s progress is visible when comparing meet performances to prior years on the same course. Smith’s average time at the Connecticut College Invite went from 23:32 in 2021 to 22:59 in 2022. Even after their immense progress and successes this season, the Pioneers have no intention of slowing down.
