Follow our 2019 FloXC Countdown, where FloTrack ranks the top 10 cross country teams in NCAA DII/DIII this season. The 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships will be LIVE on FloTrack for all three divisions. The No. 1 DIII women’s spot goes to Johns Hopkins, and here's why:

Projected Top Five:

SR Caelyn Reilly (16:42 5K; 34:56 10K; 6th at ‘18 NCAA XC)

JR Therese Olshanski (4:52 Mile; 35th at ‘18 NCAA XC)

SR Sam Levy (17:06 5k; 47th at ‘18 NCAA XC)

SR Rebecca Grusby (17:00 5K; 101st at ‘18 NCAA XC)

JR Ariel Keklak (4:36 1500; 34th at ‘18 Mideast Regional)

Impact Freshmen/Transfers:

Katharine Priu via Raleigh, NC (10:34 3200; 68th at ‘18 NXN)

Analysis: 

Even for a team that had won five of the six previous women’s DIII cross country national titles, losing the 2018 championship by one point had to hurt for Johns Hopkins. 

The Blue Jays ran into a buzzsaw in the form of WashU, who put four women in the top 30 to narrowly eek out an upset. Coach Bobby Van Allen’s group had all five scorers amongst the first 43 finishers, but it wasn’t quite enough. Even after losing three of those five to graduation, however, JHU will hope to reclaim the throne with plenty of experienced women and some talented newcomers.

Despite losing a big chunk of last year’s team, the Blue Jays bring back their No. 1 from the national meet in senior Caelyn Reilly. Reilly was sixth last November, and she went on to notch three top four NCAA finishes between indoor and outdoor track. She enters the fall third in our preseason FloXC individual rankings. Junior Therese Olshanski was also an All-American last year, just as she was in 2017.

Van Allen has several more top 40 candidates beyond his top two runners. Senior Sam Levy was 47th last fall, and she has shown she’s better than that by placing second at regionals. Another senior, Rebecca Grusby, has run a 17:00 5k. The fifth woman could come from anywhere, but keep an eye on freshman Katharine Priu, who qualified for NXN as an individual in 2018.

FULL RANKINGS HERE