Central aiming for NCAA women’s cross country berth
PELLA—It’s the season the Central College women’s cross country team has been pointing to.
A team that narrowly missed a berth in the NCAA Division III Championships returns with the top seven intact as all-America honoree and two-time national qualifier Caroline McMartin (senior, Pella) enters her senior year. And the lineup gets a major lift with the return of track and field all-American Megan Johnson (senior, Parkersburg, Aplington-Parkersburg HS), who missed last fall’s campaign due to overseas study. Impactful as well is the return of all-conference performer Hailey Hill (5th-year, Las Vegas, Nev., Palo Verde HS), who made a late decision to use the extra year of eligibility the NCAA granted to athletes following the global pandemic.
Even without Johnson, Central was third in the American Rivers meet last year and fifth at the 29-team NCAA Division III Midwest Regional.
“Last season definitely left us hungry,” coach Joe Dunham said. “I think a lot of the women were not quite satisfied. We wanted more and felt like maybe we deserved to go to the NCAA Championships. We didn’t get picked and that left a little bit of a sour taste in our mouths.
“But I think there’s a lot of excitement especially after such a great track season. A lot of our runners really ran well last spring.”
And the Dutch have a result in mind.
“The goal is to qualify (for the national meet) as a team, 100%,” Dunham said. ”That’s what we’re going to be shooting for.”
Outsiders agree. Central debuted in 21st in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division III rankings and fourth in the Midwest Region.
McMartin, who also gained all-America distinction in the distance medley relay by placing at the Division III indoor track and field meet and in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in finishing third at the national outdoor meet, is Central’s school record-holder on the cross country course. She posted a 6,000-meter course time of 21:50 at the Augustana Interregional Invitational Oct. 15, topping the standard of 21:53 set in 2004 by Beth Cunningham. She’s a three-time all-conference honoree, climbing to seventh last year, then finishing 11th at the regional meet. Finishing 118th at the 2021 NCAA Championships, McMartin, also a CSC Academic All-America® pick, surged to 24th last year on a snow-covered course in Lansing, Michigan. She was Central’s top runner in every race last year, taking the individual crown in three meets.
Her sights are set even higher entering her final Dutch campaign.
“Caroline took a huge step last year,” Dunham said. “But we need to manage those expectations for her senior year and bring her along so that we can continue to see that improvement. We don’t want to look behind and dwell on the past. We’ve got a whole new season here in front of us. So just progressing her along realistic lines of where she can get to and continue to take those steps forward.”
Johnson also gained all-conference honors in 2021 by placing 13th and was 51st at the regional meet. She came back from international study in the spring and joined McMartin as an all-American in the indoor distance medley relay and in the steeplechase, placing seventh.
“She changes the game,” Dunham said. “It’s exciting to have her back. She’s really fit, she’s in a good place mentally and she’s extremely experienced.”
Her return gives the team a boost but McMartin in particular.
“They are training partners so just what they do in terms of working together, encouraging each other, when you’ve got somebody alongside you when you’re doing the things they’re doing, it makes things a lot easier,” he said.
Again, however, Dunham preaches caution.
“The theme for the season is really, just staying healthy, making sure our team stays healthy and not overtraining,” he said. “These young women are chomping at the bit. They want to train and they want to run. So it’s my job to harness that a little bit and just try to keep them within themselves and be smart about our training so that we’re running fast at the right time of year.”
McMartin and Johnson could have company at the front of the pack as Addison Parrott (junior, Danville) is coming off something of a breakout year. She was among Central’s top three finishers in every meet, and at No. 2 in four of them, narrowly missing all-conference honors in placing 18th at the American Rivers meet before taking 40th at the regional. Dunham was encouraged not only by that but by her progress during track and field season.
“We did see improvement from a performance standpoint but what I also saw in Addy was the mental engagement and the belief in herself,” Dunham said. “She’s got big goals. I think we accomplished something at the last chance meet last spring. She missed qualifying for the national meet in the steeplechase by four seconds and ran 21 seconds faster than the week before. Something clicked right there at the end of the year, just her belief in herself and being able to kind of see what she’s capable of.”
Meanwhile, Hill was Central’s No. 2 runner in last season’s final three meets. She placed 15th in the conference and 35th at the regional. The announcement of her return was a day-brightener for Dunham.
“It’s huge,” he said. “She’s a big, big part of our team. Having her experience and her leadership will be really important for us.”
Close behind Parrott at the conference meet was Leah Bontrager (sophomore, Kalona, Hillcrest Academy), who was 19th. She was Central’s No. 6 runner at the regional placing 56th. Emma Rocha (junior, Franklin, Wis.) was 25th at the conference meet and was the team’s No. 4 runner at the regional, finishing 51st. Peyton Steffen (sophomore, Marion) was 52nd at the regional, Lindsey Davidson (senior, Northwood, Northwood-Kensett HS) was 34th in the conference and 61st at the regional, and Rachel Mullennax (sophomore, Glenwood) was 37th at the conference meet.
They’ll be joined by Abby Alberti (senior, Harlan), Sara Goodenbour (junior, Cedar Falls), Kate Hoogensen (senior, Ankeny, Centennial HS), Kira Hooper (junior, Henderson, N.C., Citrus Valley, Calif. HS), Alyssa Mayhew (senior, North Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS), Chloe Ristau (sophomore, Denver), Eva Hoch (junior, Norwalk), Layken Bytnar (senior, Bettendorf) and Ellie Roorda (senior, Pella) among those competing for varsity positions. And Dunham isn’t ruling out having a freshman crack the lineup.
“The top group is going to be difficult to pick out,” he said. “I really don’t have a clue who is going to be in our top seven. We kind of know who are frontrunners are, but after that, we’ve got a slew of good runners.”
A challenging schedule awaits. After opening at home with the Central Dutch Invitational Sept. 1, schedule highlights include the Sept. 22 Roy Griak Invitational at the University of Minnesota where Central competed in a 30-team field of primarily NCAA Division II opponents. The Dutch will get also get a taste of national-level competition with a major trip to the Connecticut College Invitational Oct. 14. Central was also in the meet in 2016.
“All the good New England schools will be there but also Carleton (Minn.) is flying out,” Dunham said. “I think they may have a team there from every region. It’s a huge meet.”
Central’s conference meet hopes should be bolstered by staging it on the college’s campus cross country course Oct. 28. The course is a demanding one and Dunham wants to make it an advantage by training on it.
“We’re going to spend a lot of time on our course this year,” he said. “We’re going to know that thing like the back of our hands by the time conference comes around. Some of our athletes run really well on our course but there are others that don’t so it’s something we’ve got to do some work on in building confidence on our course.”
Central will need every edge it can get in a highly competitive conference. Defending champion Wartburg College was third in the Division III meet while Loras College was 18th. Simpson College has jumped to sixth in the regional rankings and Nebraska Wesleyan University is ranked as well.
“The conference is recognized as probably on a par with the Wisconsin state schools, if not better,” Dunham said. “Wartburg finished third at nationals last year and has pretty much everybody back, so we’re all chasing them.”
The Midwest Regional meet is Nov. 11 at Waverly. Finishing higher than last year and leaving no doubt about its status as national qualifiers is Central’s focus. But Dunham has bigger ambitions than just reaching the NCAA meet in Carlisle, Pennsylvania Nov. 18.
“Our goal is not just to qualify but to do well there,” he said. “And, judging by our region, I think we can be competitive out there. We haven’t had a women’s team at the national meet since 2009, so that’s my real focus. But as we get into the season and we know what we have and start to feel more confident in what we can do in terms of qualifying, we’ll be able to shift that conversation.”
