November 11, 2021 | by Taylor Pill

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Friday, both Maranatha Cross Country Teams compete for 2021 NCCAA DII National Cross Country Championships, and they will be looking to make some noise on a team level and an individual level in the season finale.

Jeremy Fopma and Abigail Doak go into this year's national meet as the defending individual champions, and both teams are slated to finish third in the nation based on previous-best team times from the 2021 season.

OVERVIEW

• Date: Friday, 11/12 at 10:00 a.m./11:00 a.m.
• Venue: Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course
• Location: Joplin, Mo.
• Fields: (Below)
• Info: (Men's Meet) (Women's Meet)
• Live Updates: (Live Stats) (Twitter)

Men's Preview

Bob Jones University is the favorite, as the Bruins are set to defend their national title. Jeremy Fopma has recorded the best time this season of anyone in DII with a 25:52 8K, but BJU's Doug Stone's best time this season is 25:56. So it could be a tight race between the two top men in the NCCAA DII. Alice Lloyd College's Ryan Morris has posted a season-best time of 26:04 and is an outside contender for the individual title.

(click here for Men's Individual and team times this season)

Women's Preview

Bob Jones is the favorite on the Women's side as well, but the team race is slated to be a dogfight between them and Alice Lloyd. Just 29 seconds (less than six seconds per runner) separates Bob Jones and Alice Lloyd, while the Sabercats look to contend for third place with a time that's seven minutes slower than their top two targets. Abigail Doak will have to pull off an upset to defend her title, as injury has prevented her from beating her Nationals-winning time of 19:36 from 2020. North Central's Elizabeth Lofstad has the lowest recorded time this season with a 24:40 6K (a 19:52 5K split).

THE FIELD (MEN)

Here's a brief overview of the field that is expected to lace it up on a complete-team (at least five runners) level:

(Only teams that have met the team qualifying time are eligible for the rankings)

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THE FIELD (WOMEN)

Below is the field of complete teams for the women. Schools may enter individually qualified runners but will not be considered for team finishes:

(Only teams that have met the team qualifying time are eligible for the rankings)

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THE SOUND BITE

"This course has a lot of tight turns and hills, so we'll have to be tactical and make our moves at the appropriate time," said Head Coach John Warnke. "The course has run relatively well this season. 

"We've worked on pushing harder in the middle and second half of the race, so I'm excited to see how we execute. We've done a lot of work in practicing what the course elements will be and we've been practicing making moves and responding to opponents' moves as well. 

"We'll be missing Jonathan Gilliam [due to a scheduling conflict], so that's very disappointing. We've battled injuries on our women's team, so things have been less than ideal but we're focusing on just managing through the difficulties - but sharpening up for those looking for an extra edge going into the meet.

"After checking out the course today I think the teams are going to run well. The small hills, corners, and short straightaways play to our strengths. Looking forward to some strong racing which usually leads to some fast times.

"Our mindset is a mixture of excitement and anticipation and some nervousness that comes with the culmination of all the efforts from this season. We've focused on trying to stay as healthy as possible, and we're really excited to put it all out there against excellent competition and see what we can do."

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For other information on the races, visit mbusabercats.com/schedule.